Anyone leaving Canada?
#76
Banned
Joined: Mar 2008
Location: Winnipeg
Posts: 1,252
Re: Anyone leaving Canada?
That is 100% the truth. I see the original poster has reached 4 months and is increasingly homesick.... Do people not look into culture shock and homesickness as part of the emmigrating process? It should really be a compulsory part of the curriculum. Around about that time the initial honeymoon is over, the adrenaline rush of finally getting here long gone, but for most people if you stick at it, then in time, like another 6 months, things will start to fall in place and feel familiar, and then you can make a rational decision about how you feel.
Making any decision in the first year or two is really asking for trouble in the long term.
Making any decision in the first year or two is really asking for trouble in the long term.
#78
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,782
Re: Anyone leaving Canada?
On this forum a lot of the people moving back to the uk seem to be coming from Australia. Are there any unhappy people leaving Canada?
We have been in Canada for four months and although its a great lifestyle for the kids and where we are is low in crime and a great place to raise kids, we are finding it tough. In all honesty its all a bit dull. The canadians i have met and socialise are very nice people, but i'm craving some good old British banter, and am starting to feel more homesick as times go on.
If i could transfer all the area has to offer for amenities and activities and deposit it in the beautiful yorkshire Dales (where we came from) it would be fab!!
Just interested if there are any other expats in Canada feel the same way?
We have been in Canada for four months and although its a great lifestyle for the kids and where we are is low in crime and a great place to raise kids, we are finding it tough. In all honesty its all a bit dull. The canadians i have met and socialise are very nice people, but i'm craving some good old British banter, and am starting to feel more homesick as times go on.
If i could transfer all the area has to offer for amenities and activities and deposit it in the beautiful yorkshire Dales (where we came from) it would be fab!!
Just interested if there are any other expats in Canada feel the same way?
#79
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Joined: Jun 2008
Location: oakville ON
Posts: 350
Re: Anyone leaving Canada?
Is there no way you can go back to uk? It must be very hard when one of you likes it and one of you doesn't. We always said to eachother if one wasn't happy then we would go back, as we know we could settle back into life in the uk, but it must drain you and as a couple if one person is miserable.
i hope you can find some compromise, life is short and being being miserable for 3 years in a place must be all consuming.
Hope you can work something out
#80
Cynically amused.
Joined: Oct 2002
Location: BC
Posts: 3,648
Re: Anyone leaving Canada?
Is there no way you can go back to uk? It must be very hard when one of you likes it and one of you doesn't. We always said to eachother if one wasn't happy then we would go back, as we know we could settle back into life in the uk, but it must drain you and as a couple if one person is miserable.
i hope you can find some compromise, life is short and being being miserable for 3 years in a place must be all consuming.
Hope you can work something out
i hope you can find some compromise, life is short and being being miserable for 3 years in a place must be all consuming.
Hope you can work something out
#81
Re: Anyone leaving Canada?
Myself and my wife are planning to return to the UK in the next 6 months.
We came to Canada in January 2004 on a work visa and lived in Okotoks south of Calgary for 10 months before becoming homesick and moving back to the UK for six months. We made the mistake of going back to the same town we left (Milton Keynes). Our PR visas arrived in April 2005 and we moved back to the same house in Okotoks, Alberta as it hadn't sold....too easy to return. If the house had sold I don't think we'd have come back.
In August 2006, having got tired of the cold winters and the barren landscape in Alberta we moved to Maple Ridge, British Columbia (about an hour east of Vancouver). We have been back to the UK on holiday since moving to BC and did feel somewhat homesick on the return to Canada.
Over the last few months we've become increasingly disillusioned with life here in Canada and are now planning to return to the UK in about 6 months after building up some more savings- earlier if I can get a transfer to the UK with my present employer. Although Canada is a nice place and the Canadians are nice people, we miss the English way of life, culture, the people and the landscape.
Financially we are comfortable here and have a nice house in a good location but feel we have lost something in the move to Canada and seem to be existing rather than living.
For anyone considering emmigrating from the UK I'd suggest looking at living somewhere else in the UK first as the reason for wanting to leave may be more related to where you're living rather than with the UK itself.
From and Englishman in BC
We came to Canada in January 2004 on a work visa and lived in Okotoks south of Calgary for 10 months before becoming homesick and moving back to the UK for six months. We made the mistake of going back to the same town we left (Milton Keynes). Our PR visas arrived in April 2005 and we moved back to the same house in Okotoks, Alberta as it hadn't sold....too easy to return. If the house had sold I don't think we'd have come back.
In August 2006, having got tired of the cold winters and the barren landscape in Alberta we moved to Maple Ridge, British Columbia (about an hour east of Vancouver). We have been back to the UK on holiday since moving to BC and did feel somewhat homesick on the return to Canada.
Over the last few months we've become increasingly disillusioned with life here in Canada and are now planning to return to the UK in about 6 months after building up some more savings- earlier if I can get a transfer to the UK with my present employer. Although Canada is a nice place and the Canadians are nice people, we miss the English way of life, culture, the people and the landscape.
Financially we are comfortable here and have a nice house in a good location but feel we have lost something in the move to Canada and seem to be existing rather than living.
For anyone considering emmigrating from the UK I'd suggest looking at living somewhere else in the UK first as the reason for wanting to leave may be more related to where you're living rather than with the UK itself.
From and Englishman in BC
#82
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Joined: Oct 2005
Location: Formerly Montreal now Oxfordshire, UK
Posts: 545
Re: Anyone leaving Canada?
Us people disillusioned with Canada seem to be a rarity. During the 4 years that I lived there every single Brit I spoke to seemed to be happy with Canada.
#83
Re: Anyone leaving Canada?
Certainly there are many people happy with the change, but when we decided to go back we heard a lot of wistfulness. We encountered a lot of people who clearly would like to move back but felt they couldn't.
In many cases it was kids and grandkids. In our case, living in Victoria, our sons are so far east it hardly makes any difference, but if we return it could well be to Halifax for that reason.
In others it was work, and feeling they couldn't get the same back in the UK.
Quite a few older people had heard all the scare stories and believed them but it seemed to me they'd be on the next plane if they were sure of their safety.
I think with Canada for most people, it's not awful, and especially from eastern Canada visits back to the UK aren't too arduous or expensive, so people don't get desperate to leave, and minor problems are enough to stop them.
Also, it's so similar in many ways, and the people in general so pleasant, that it can take a while to realize that the funny feeling deep inside is alienation.
But definitely, for some people Canada is the ticket. If you're a winter sports enthusiast, or sailing, or love hiking and kayaking through wilderness etc you can probably do those things in Canada much more easily and cheaper than in the UK if you pick the right location. There's also probably some spillover American support of initiative and entrepreneurship that's a bit different to the UK.
If you can live away from the big cities, it's probably cheaper, as long as you don't drive a lot to get to things.
But I'm searching my memory for a single expat we've met who's said, "Wow. I'd never go back!"
Bev
#84
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Joined: Oct 2005
Location: Formerly Montreal now Oxfordshire, UK
Posts: 545
Re: Anyone leaving Canada?
We were in the East so that may well have had something to do with it. Regarding the scare stories there are certainly some ridiculous perceptions of the UK, it's no wonder some of the older ones are too scared to go back.
The worst thing is that they don't seem to read the news and realise exactly the same thing goes on under their noses in Canada
The worst thing is that they don't seem to read the news and realise exactly the same thing goes on under their noses in Canada
#85
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Joined: Nov 2003
Location: Formally Scotland. Now Bay of Quinte...Ontario
Posts: 2,466
Re: Anyone leaving Canada?
I for one feel that it is extremely unlikely that I would go back....but 'Never'?...that is a bit of a stretch!
Last edited by macadian; Aug 23rd 2009 at 11:59 am.
#86
Re: Anyone leaving Canada?
Perhaps it's people on the west coast who are more ambivalent. Just a wild theory, but many moved there because the climate is so English, and some like us have moved from other parts of Canada for the same reason.
So perhaps we never really embraced true Canadianship, which many would say involves dealing with Winter, and maybe toughing it out together forges bonds.
Or perhaps it's mobility itself, that moving around Canada, even if it seems to be for jobs, is a sign of not putting down roots.
Just wild theories on a Sunday morning.
Bev
So perhaps we never really embraced true Canadianship, which many would say involves dealing with Winter, and maybe toughing it out together forges bonds.
Or perhaps it's mobility itself, that moving around Canada, even if it seems to be for jobs, is a sign of not putting down roots.
Just wild theories on a Sunday morning.
Bev
#87
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Joined: Nov 2003
Location: Formally Scotland. Now Bay of Quinte...Ontario
Posts: 2,466
Re: Anyone leaving Canada?
Perhaps it's people on the west coast who are more ambivalent. Just a wild theory, but many moved there because the climate is so English, and some like us have moved from other parts of Canada for the same reason.
So perhaps we never really embraced true Canadianship, which many would say involves dealing with Winter, and maybe toughing it out together forges bonds.
Or perhaps it's mobility itself, that moving around Canada, even if it seems to be for jobs, is a sign of not putting down roots.
Just wild theories on a Sunday morning.
Bev
So perhaps we never really embraced true Canadianship, which many would say involves dealing with Winter, and maybe toughing it out together forges bonds.
Or perhaps it's mobility itself, that moving around Canada, even if it seems to be for jobs, is a sign of not putting down roots.
Just wild theories on a Sunday morning.
Bev
#88
Re: Anyone leaving Canada?
Especially since Vancouver Island could easily disappear in a earthquake.
#90
Just Joined
Joined: Aug 2009
Location: Dumfries, Scotland
Posts: 23
Re: Anyone leaving Canada?
And I thought I was alone...
We've been in Canada for 7½ years now and I've had enough. It's a great country to live in, but it's not home and I really do think it's time to go home. Now all I need to do is convince the rest of the family...
Thank you all for sharing your feelings. I will now lurk in the background and revell in the fact that I am not weird for wanting to go back.
Cheers,
Steve
We've been in Canada for 7½ years now and I've had enough. It's a great country to live in, but it's not home and I really do think it's time to go home. Now all I need to do is convince the rest of the family...
Thank you all for sharing your feelings. I will now lurk in the background and revell in the fact that I am not weird for wanting to go back.
Cheers,
Steve