It does all sound very tempting. How long have you been out there now? Have you a partner and/or kids. Have they settled to the life? I think we are prob going to go for it. My husbands company has said they will fly both of us out there to look at property/schools etc and get more of a feel for the place. No contracts have to be signed until after that visit so I suppose we are in a very good position. So disollusioned with the UK .......

If you have the chance to come out and have a look around, it's worth doing.

You do need to be aware that if you're from a big city or town in the UK, Thunder Bay will seem small by comparison.
T-Bay population - 110,000. A big city by Canadian standards but an average sized town/area in the UK. It's completely self sufficient but if you like the big city night life, you might find it a bit underwhelming....

As for us, it's just me, the wife and the dog. We're both mid/late 30s and have been over here since Jan 2009. We lived about 40 miles out of London but neither of us were city people and rarely went up there.
The change in life style is quite dramatic but I'd say for us has been a positive change. One of the things I notice most is the work ethic. Work hard, save hard, play hard, retire early - play some more.

You sound similar to us. We left the UK so we would have a more stable environment to possibly start a family as we were fed up with life in the UK.
According to a lot of people on here, you shouldn't come to Canada to escape the UK - you should do it for the love of Canada.
I feel we did it to escape the UK and have now fallen in love with Canada.

We are early 40's, and live in Derby, so not a huge city. Obviously nightlife is not of much interest now we have the kids. Really appreciate your advice, its a difficult decision to make but to be honest think we are going to go for it, at least visit, we have nothing to lose. Bit disappointed when looking at property as not as nice as imagined but I suppose we have pre-conceived ideas that we could afford something much bigger than we have now and a lot of the houses seem to have wood panelling (I presume for extra warmth!). Hoewever, money and property isn't our main reason for making the dramatic change. Only live this life once and may regret it when we are 80 and look back if we didn't take the risk. If only we had crystal balls! I will keep you updated, will be travelling out to visit in August and if in agreement will relocate in October so quite quick! God knows what the parents are going to say - I can feel emotional blackmail kicking in already! Thanks you so much for your info - I can honestly say its invaluable. The more info we have the more informed we can be in our decision making. Will keep you informed if we go for it !

We're in North Bay, so about 5 hours east of Thunder Bay (I think). North Bay is about half the size of TB (population 55,000) and we are loving it.
Weather here is hot and sunny - actually very hot. Quite humid at the moment, but not unpleasant.
We have four children (14, 12, 9 and 7) and they have settled very well. We have just got on with their normal routines, enrolled them in appropriate clubs and summer camps, and they are making friends left, right and centre.
I have not been to Thunder Bay, and can't comment on it, but I can comment on making the move to 'small-town Ontario', and settling the children - and I'd say go for it. The lifestyle here is much more laid back, much more relaxed, and there is so much more to do. Our children totally love it here, and would not go back even though they miss friends.
Pick somewhere beautiful, where you are reminded all the time of how lucky you are. I drive everywhere with a huge grin on my face.
Good luck.

Its so nice to hear that your four kids are settling in and loving it! That is one of my biggest concerns, particularly with my 13 year old but am trying to sell it as a big adventure! Have decided we are just going to go for it, if we don't like it we will just come back to the uk as we are not going to sell our house here just in case. It does sound like a much better quality of life - thanks so much for letting me know about you and your family

Downtown Dryden Ontario! What a change must be for yourself. I am a born and bred Canadian raised in THunder Bay and just stumbled across this by chance. Living in Kenora right now so not much further west of Dryden. How are you finding Dryden?

Also about the North Bay being 5 hours east of Tbay you are a wee bit off. Its more around 12 hours east and south of Tbay.