AIBU to think life would be better in Canada?

[ButtercupsAndBluebells]

I've always been very happy with my life in the UK, but I am starting to feel so disillusioned (as many others are too, judging by several other threads I've read today). My brother moved to Canada (Calgary, Alberta) a few years ago and is currently staying with us for a visit. Although he hasn't been openly critical or boastful, it's obvious that he's been taken aback by how things have deteriorated here. He seems to have such a wonderful life, and it's left me feeling very flat about my own.

I know I shouldn't compare, but it's hard not to. DH and I have similar jobs to my brother and SIL. They have the huge house and cars, a fantastic family doctor, a mobile home that they take into the mountains most weekends, access to the most incredible wilderness despite living in a city. In contrast, we have a small 3 bed terrace without any parking, disposable income is shrinking month by month and let's not even mention the state of the NHS. We live in a really nice area, but there's still litter everywhere and it's like nobody cares about their surroundings.

I have done some reading online and I think we'd have a good chance of being accepted to migrate ourselves, but would it really be that different? I'm tying myself in knots thinking about it. Please can someone either talk me down or give me some encouragement!

I'm a west coast Canadian living in the UK and would have gone back yesterday if not for my partner, who is English. We live in London, make good money, and have a decent lifestyle, but I will strongly encourage my DCs to make full use of their Canadian citizenship to work and live there. I will be going back when DCs are independent. I want space, big roads, better food, lots of nature, mountains, a proper winter with winter sports, friendlier people, fewer taxes and better services.

I've lived in Calgary, Montreal, Vancouver, and Toronto, yes all places have their issues/problems, but I'll take Canada's problems over the UK's.

My parents' neighbours emigrated from the UK in their 50s with 2 teenagers. It cost them north of £50K and took them about 5 years.

My father and his wife live in Canada (20 miles from Montreal), also their eldest son and his partner and two children.

Somehow, my father tailgated their son over there (can't remember how or why he went - but his UK qualifications, language skills and degree helped), and they somehow managed to stay, getting citizenship three years ago. Very wealthy, so maybe that helped.

Last time they were I England (?2016), I heard she (my stepmother) said "How does anyone afford to LIVE in this country??"

I know my father stays up=to-date on UK goings-on, just so he can be smug and superior. He does ration the maple syrup though (he is mean). This is they house they bought a couple of years ago when downsizing.

Canada has always appealed to me and I don't know why I badly want to go there and it's a place that both my Dh and myself discuss about going to should things get worse in this country for our DCs sake.
He has an uncle that lives out in Calgary as well and thankfully my DH is in an industry that he could easily get work out in Canada.

It always depends. You could visit anywhere and it seem run down or not. We went on holiday recently and it was luxurious but the drive to it wasn’t at all, it looked very run down. I would t judge the whole country by that - I think when the few pp do this they are trying hard to v denigrate tbh

Not sure why maybe self confirmation re move

I would love to live in Canada and have a close friend from there who moved back a few years ago with their husband. But they’re talking about coming back here as they miss it so much so there’s two sides to every coin!

Don’t quote me on this but I don’t think the employment benefits (or rights) are as good there for things like annual leave and sickness and things like that can stack up.

That said, I would absolutely give it a go atm!

Losing parents as they age has been really shit from afar, not going to lie

I’d offer this view (not that we’ve been through it but distance gets harder as everyone gets older) , plus parental relationships with dc are missed

Life is what you make of it. No where is perfect.

I would in a heartbeat if I could find a way of transferring my job over there (I can’t). BUT my reasons include an already known circle of people who are just lovely (without that I guess it would be quite different). In terms of life generally, I found dealing with customer services (of which I had to do a lot) so pleasant - an abundance of kindness and friendliness. Some of the stereotypes are true! But there is also a lot of poverty, drug addiction in cities and I think a very fractured relationship with its history and First Nation people (I am in no way qualified to express an opinion). The scenery is wild, the cities more utilitarian and perhaps a bit less in the way of architectural glam. I echo what others said - those with jobs like nurses, firemen etc were earning wildly different salaries and had, to my eyes, just improbably large houses. The weather is a big deal. In some places the snow starts October and might concede summer in May, it’s not for the faint hearted.

Still would though!!

I'm Canadian and agree with PP - we are quite boring. When Canadians converse, they tend to say whatever they want to say, rather than what they think might amuse or interest the other person. It was refreshing for me to get away from all that when I moved to the UK. People seemed so witty!

Parts of Canada are indeed very lovely, but UK people often don't appreciate how big it really is. You can't just hop from town to village to city like you can here. When I went to university, it took me a day and a half on the train to get home, and that was only about a third of the way across the country. So once you live somewhere, you're pretty much stuck there, unless you don't mind long trips. Most Canadians are very car-dependent.

Still, Tim Horton's though, eh?

@maddy68 the whole of the UK is run down?! The Lakes, the Cotswolds, Cornwall? Have you been to run down parts of other countries, the US, France, even Sweden isn’t perfect? Sometimes I think me and my friends are the only people in the UK that love living here 😅

@franticflip I live in Edinburgh. All the good bits of living in a city - loads to do, the city itself is gorgeous, but I can drive out to the Pentlands in 20 mins. Loch Lomond in an hour and a half. Wouldn’t get out of London in an hour and a half sometimes! Two hours drive would get me to Brighton with every other Londoner on a sunny day (so it was not very nice 😂).

Edinburgh wouldn’t suit everyone. It’s still expensive - although for the price of a 75m sq flat in zone 3 London we have a 120m sq flat (in a gorgeous Victorian tenement with 3 metre high ceilings!) And I can walk into the city centre in 20 mins. Also it’s colder here! But I love having all the amenities of a city but being able to walk everywhere - it’s so much easier to meet a friend for a quick drink or coffee here. London was always an hour or so to meet anyone central.

I also researched before moving to find somewhere with a good range of jobs and it works for me here, but again wouldn’t necessarily work for everyone.

All about finding what (or where) ticks your boxes!

@maddy68 don't visit then and im sure you haven't actually seen the whole of the uk have you

@Squiblet we’ve got a new Tim Horton’s that’s just opened near up, it’s lovely!!

As opposed to Bros, Liz , Rupert Murdoch and the right wing ERG shower that we have to endure 🙄

The grass isn't always greener as they say but everyone is different
Some people live living in london some not , another would love paris , whilst another hates it
Sometimes you can do all the finding out , checking up but until you live in a place you never know

I have exactly the same thoughts about JT! I can never understand why he is so popular with some people on here. I hate when he does that fake emotional/crying thing!
Positives about Canada: legalised cannabis, beautiful countryside and a good standard of living (although housing is expensive and small in the cities).

We like Canada, we spent a few weeks in and around Ottawa this summer. We’re planning a move to Sweden, if for some reason that wasn’t possible Canada would be next on our list.

Me too I think it’s more pronounced on mn though. Hot topic

The immigration process really put me off Canada, and I’m in a high demand industry. It seems visa’s can take a long long time. I really did look into it, we also looked at Australia and New Zealand.

as @Simonjt sweden is a better option but again now we are no longer apart of the EU it’s a very long difficult process and much harder now, I love Sweden as a country.

Canada is VERY cold in the winter. I have relatives there and while they generally like it, they found the winters very hard to get used to in the first few years. Below freezing temperatures, day and night, for months on end, and snow piled up everywhere. The summers are warmer than here.

I really wish we had a like button when I see comments like this. I salute you, DuckBilledFattypus

This. I live in Canada, it's good for lots of things, less good for others, but it will be a massive culture shock if you just come here thinking it will be "better" compared to where you are. Also I'd say that your brother is incredibly lucky to have a family doctor - they are in short supply in western Canada and I've only now just got one after a year here.

If culture is your thing, I'd stay well away from Calgary! Toronto, Montreal are better bets. Nature, Calgary is ok, Vancouver better.

The boring thing is kind of true! But having lived in the USA and UK, with the crazy politics in both, it's a relief to be somewhere a little boring for a change.

Canada appears to be well entrenched in the Transwomen are Women thing

So that would put me off.

I married a Swede 😁

a friend of mine moved to Toronto but moved back after a couple of years. Two long winters, not just the endless snow but the fact that people more or less hibernated for 6 months. She missed the buzz of London.

I think they generally have the same annual leave allowance as in the US too. That would be a massive adjustment.