Ragdogs

BritInParis

To move back all you would need is a valid British passport. If you haven't become a Canadian citizen yet then that would be highly advisable to do so in order to leave that door open should you have a change of heart or circumstances.

Given the age at which you emigrated you may or may not have a National Insurance number (NINO). You will need one if you plan to work in the UK. Once you have moved back one of your first priorities would be to establish if you have one and, if not, apply for one.

https://www.gov.uk/lost-national-insurance-number

Another top priority will be to open a bank account. This can be difficult without a UK address and renting property can be difficult without a bank account. You may need to shop around for an arrangement that will initially allow you to do one without the other. Staying with family may be one way; another is a short term let or becoming a lodger.

If you have a Canadian driving licence then you can drive on that for up to a year before you need to exchange it for a British licence. You can do a straight swap however unless you can provide evidence that you passed your Canadian test in a car with a manual gearbox then you will be restricted to automatics. That may or may not be a concern for you. Manuals are far more common than automatics in the UK but it's not that difficult to buy a car, new or second hand, with an automatic gearbox. If you do want to drive manuals but you passed your test in an automatic then you should consider applying to take your UK driving test. I wouldn't recommend leaving this to the last minute - the UK test is markedly more difficult than any North American test. You will likely require several driving lessons to familiarise yourself with UK roads, driving on the left and the Highway Code and you should also factor in that you may not pass first time. Therefore starting on this sooner rather than later would be prudent.

Apart from those considerations there's nothing else that you would need to do differently compared to moving to another part of the country e.g. find accommodation, register on the electoral roll, register for council tax and sign up for utilities. It's also a good idea to register with your local GP. As a British citizen ordinarily resident in the UK you will have full access to NHS care free of charge from day one. Some GP surgeries will ask for proof of address to ensure you are in their catchment area, some take a more laissez faire approach. Either way it's relatively easy thing to tick off your checklist early.

Godzuke

Just an side. If you have an HSBC Premier account you can open a UK account in Canada as I did....

Benson55

HSBC want $100,000 to open the account, Premier that is.

durham_lad

It is often possible, as we did and later our son did, to sell your house, open an HSBC Premier account with the proceeds, then open a UK HSBC account from abroad, and move and transfer your money to buy a house in the UK. You will eventually lose your Premier status once the balance in the UK HSBC account drops below £50,000 for an extended period, but you don't lose your bank accounts.

scot47

People usually go wher there is work for them. Look at the best areas for work in your field and head there !

Benson55

Thats true I believe HSBC vary the conditions from country to country so the $100,000 is in CDN dollars.
They have a lower level account, forget the name which has a $20 a month fee and acts in the same way in that they will open a UK HSBC account in the town you request. They say it takes 3 weeks to set everything up.
They charge a lot on foreign exchange rates so best to use Transferwise and move the money accross when they open the account in the UK, it will save a lot in the rates and fees.

durham_lad