What should I know about Canada...

[Barmcake]

Hi

Following on from the thread about what surprised you about Australia when you first moved there, I was just wondering if any Canadian based MN's could give me tips on what surprised you the most when you first moved there,are there things that weren't as you expected? What surprised/pleased you the most? Do I need to investigate anything that I might not obviously think about? Do you have any tips or things that you wished you had known prior to moving there? I am looking for positive and negative answers!!

Thanks

I exchanged my UK license last year - no test, no theory, just a straight swap. Costs about $75. This was in Ontario. You have to do it within 90 days of arrival I believe.
Tetley teabags are in plentiful supply here. There are also plenty of Brit shops if you need a fix of British chocolate. Agree that fashion is dire, the shops are just not as good and grocery shopping is on par with UK costs (if not pricier on some items). The supermarket experience is not as inspiring.
Ontario has pretty good access to other provinces if you are prepared for a drive, but it can be done. One thing I would say is that taxes on air fares are crazy, so whilst the list price might look reasonable you have to add the tax. We flew to Montreal earlier this year from TO. - just 2 adults and it cost $500. There ain't no Easyjet or Ryanair here. A Christmas flight to visit family in BC for the two of us was $1700. We are investigating the option of flying from Buffalo instead and hopping across to the US as the taxes are much lower there and the additional drive may well save us $$$$.
One other thing to mention is that paid vacation here is not as generous as in the UK. 10 days is normal to start, growing to 15 days after a couple of years. So it's worth considering especially if your aim is to do a lot of travelling in the country.
That said, I do enjoy it. People are generally friendly, if a little conservative. TO is multicultural, so with that comes lots of good food and diverse little enclaves in one city. Coffee is also great! Countryside is fun to explore and the summer weather is great if a bit humid at times. My most favourite thing, and this maybe a little sad, is the sweetcorn - or just corn as they refer to it here. It is soooo sweet and delicious. Try the peaches & cream variety, so called cos the kernels are different shades of peachy yellow and cream. It's very good.

Your descriptions are all making me want to come back to visit, remind myself of places I saw in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and then visit the west coast (as I didn't get to that side in '87). Still recall my visits to the TO main library (tinted glass, shaped like part of a pyramid) and the Science place north-east of the downtown area. I loved Niagara Falls as my trip was pre-Easter and it was snowy and relatively quiet (I flew from UK on Friday 13th March, maybe the reason for there being a spare seat!).

Might even think of retiring there, but probably in somewhere like Toronto, as I'm not a skating / camping type. Had not been aware that online banking and so on were still 'catching up'. Have any/many of you found internet service costs creeping up if you download a lot of data (esp if you have teens, for example) as I saw a report about there being pans to increase costs...

On bad language - I do remember everyone being very polite - with the exception of two loud-mouths at the back of the bus (I don't drive) and they were regarded with contempt by most of the passengers when they were getting off.

I was also rather shocked (it was only pointed out afterwards, by the people running the B+B) that whenever I stood at a street corner (to check my map) the traffic came to a halt... part of that 'pedestrians cross' situation which I was unaware of at the time... I then checked map well away from corners!

Is there still the rule about carrying alcohol in cars (in Ontario, I think) - where you must be en route to your home address from the liquor store?

Think there was some 'best practice' of putting booze in the boot so you could not be accused of drinking while driving, but that was from a friend who had visited relatives in Canada a while ago.

No issues with carrying unopened alcohol in a car, afaik. But any opened bottles (yes, even with the lid back on) must be in the boot. This is the 'open container' law. It's not best practice - it's actual law! It's law in the US too.

And it's illegal in Ontario too.

thanks for all the tips esp about drink in cars, after living in the desert for years we are used to being careful about transporting alcohol but didn't think the same rules would apply to a western country!!

Hopefully we can just swap our driving licences, sooo don't want to take a test again was bad enough when I did it years ago.

thanks again

LOL about carrying alcohol in the desert... significant penalties in some countries, aren't there! I just found it odd about the strictness over access to alcohol in N America, but I guess it is better to be strict than not...

blueline.ca - seems an interesting idea for a website, where one can get informal (and formal) info on daft laws !

On the issue of driving licenses, we are looking at moving to Alberta (Calgary area) and both have car and motorcycle licences. Do we have to the motorcycle licence again?