can someone tell me if Australia is better than Canada or has an equivalent lifestyle?

Any cities than can be compared to Toronto or montreal?

in what terms?

Hi I am Canadian and have lived twice in Australia. Sydney and Melbourne would compare to Toronto and Montreal in terms of amenities. They are both fabulous cities. But I am quite sure they would be considerably more expensive for real estate, rental costs and retail costs. Also, unlike Canada where most Medicare is free, Medicare in Australia is not free and you will pay for doctor visits most of the time. I find retail prices very high in Australia and often double for name brand clothes and cosmetics, CD's, DVD's and books. I think the quality of housing is not as good as Canada due to no insulation, no furnace ( yes it does get cold in Oz in winter). I think the restaurants and cafes in Sydney and Melbourne are amazing for quality. Hope that helps.

If I were to do it all again I would choose Canada. If only for the housing, availability and cost of goods, not being situated at the arse end of the planet and access to cheaper travel. As mentioned above, a well built house rather than the paper mache efforts of queensland might be nice.

The sun in Australia is great, however, in the summer months you tend to find yourself covering up and avoiding nuclear levels of radiation. I find the sun is getting old real quickly. Probably like my skin thanks to the damage is too

That said, I would have to weigh up carefully the notion of living in months of cold weather and lack of light.

Similar thoughts, especially on the nuclear radiation, if your blonde/fair you dont do much outdoor living with a UV level of 16/17 The one reason I would not move to OZ is for its harsh climate, it is an extreme climate but many move here for the weather probably knowing little about it IMO.

Australia is too isolated for us and has become extremely expensive.

We do have a visa application in for Canada, much more difficult process than getting into Australia. 3 year wait estimated for us and the conditions on that visa are now twice as tough as when we applied.

Usually if we say we have applied for Canada it attracts comments such as life isnt perfect there no shite sherlock were not moving for perfection, just a change and different way of doing stuff. I know Canada is much cheaper but wages can be lower, eyes wide open.

I'm also Canadian in Australia and would second everything said by Adirane. While Sydney and Melbourne are fantastic cities in their own right they are different to Toronro or Montreal.

And if I could do it all again I probably would not have moved to Australia in the first place; would have moved to Kingston instead where I could be 1/2 way between family in the GTA (just west of Toronto) and either Montreal or Ottawa.

Cold weather - yep. Gets a tad chilly

Lack of light - heck no - so bright and sunny in most/many of the provinces. I do love the Alberta skies.

Expected temp high for Winnipeg over the next 14 days is -7c. That sun sounds more attractive by the second.

Not that cold where I'm from. Was talking to my mother yesterday and she said it was +10 at her place. (Southern Ontario)

I always wondered did we apply to the right place as we were going through the process for the reasons you mention. But my OH just did not fancy Canada due to the winter.

Your mum is just showing off Dorothy

We're up to a positively balmy -4 today

Will Cochrane get above freezing at any point in the next two weeks?
Those "bright and sunny" skies.... see much of those in mid-Winter during the eight hours of daylight?

I agree with this. The overall standard of living is higher in Canada, though expensive RE is also a big issue where I am in Vancouer.

that's really only a problem on the west coast of canada, or so my cradle friends tell me. In Ontario/the prairies etc it is still sunny during winter.

Based on what? The only sort of index that makes any sort of attempt at quantifying this would seem to disagree with you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...elopment_Index

Think we might hit +2 degrees on Thursday. It was about 6 degrees on Xmas Day - stunning day.

Yes - we do get many bright and sunnies - it is mid-Winter and it's bright and sunny outside right now at 4pm. Has been all week. We'll get another sprinkling of snow by Friday - that will be cloudy for a day - then clear once more.

Hard to explain the expanse and delight of the skies here really. (Check out my blog, she says blatently, for tons of sky piccies!)