Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Living overseas

Whether you're considering emigrating or an expat abroad, you'll find likeminds on this forum.

Original poster

Anyone here emigrated/living in Canada...

35 replies

Callisto · 28/07/2006 12:15

...and what is it like? DP and I are considering Oz or Canada based mainly on education, health service and lifestyle. I know next to nothing about Canada apart from it is hugely big, it is very beautiful and it spends six months under snow. If any MNers could tell me the best places to live/work and all of the pluses and minuses I would be very grateful.

OP posts:
NotQuiteCockney · 28/07/2006 14:55

I'm not in Canada, but I'm from there. Different bits of Canada are very very different. (There are a few other Canucks on here, too - I think hana is from Nova Scotia or New Brunswick?)

At any rate, what does your DP do for a living? Are you worried by snow? The coasts are less snowy. Do you want a city or the countryside? The countryside means much more of a car-based existance.

Original poster
Callisto · 28/07/2006 17:37

Hi NQC, dp would be looking for operations management in manufacturing of some kind. I run a marquee hire company plus a couple of other things from home which I am hoping will translate well to wherever we go. No idea if the Canadians have many outdoor events that require marquees?

Anyway, ideally we would be based in the countryside with a largish town or city close by (within an hour?). We are pretty stuck with being car dependant at the mo as live in a village with rubbish public transport.

I am not really worried by snow apart from the obvious inconveniences and the 'what happens if I need to get dd to hospital asap in a blizzard' scenarios. But I do love my garden and I don't know if I could live without it for 6 months of the year.

OP posts:
NotQuiteCockney · 28/07/2006 20:17

I don't know whether marquees are normal there - I don't think I knew what a marquee was until I came here. That being said, people often have really big lawns. (They also often have really big houses, too.)

I'd look to see where there are manufacturing jobs. I think you'd be looking in Ontario? Maybe? I thought all the manufacturing had gone down to Mexico, but I'm sure that's not 100% true.

There are reasonable-ish cities all over the place in Canada, at least in the well-inhabited bits, i.e. the south (which is where you'd be unless your DH switches to operations management in mining or oil or something).

sandradee · 28/07/2006 20:35

I live in Emgland but we are also considering a move to Oz or canada at some point. My Mum's from Oz and she says it's too far to go and I think have to agree with her (she lives in England) - for now anyway. I have a good friend who lives in Toronto and she loves it. I'm so jealous of her lifestyle. The only downer is the snow in the winter - full on until March.

Other friends have spent time in vancouver and they say it's wonderful.

I guess it's all the other things that weigh it up on the positive side - the great educational system, the nice working life, the weather, the people (I've never met an unpleasant Canadian) and the beauty of the country more than make up for it. I wish you luck

Lmccrean · 29/07/2006 15:42

Its weird cause I just came on here to ask same thing!

My ncle in Vancouver is very ill and my mum is back from visiting them to help out. My aunt is ther now, and another aunt will go out in a few weeks.

Im sorta thinking about maybe relocating out there with the intention of helping out for 6-9 months, as he has a major op coming up. If I can, I would love to stay longer. Where do you start when you want to make such a big move? Im 21 and a single mum, so no partner to help work it all out, and dont want to say to my family Im thinking about it, until Im sure I can do it. (sorry for hi-jacking, but figured it woudl be good to try to keep all info on one thread!)

nicnack2 · 29/07/2006 15:45

i would love to move to Canada. My cousin lives in toronto and has down for the last 25 years and they love it. DH and i have considered it and i asked my cousin for advice for emploment fo me

Original poster
Callisto · 29/07/2006 20:20

Lmac - google 'emigrating to canada' or 'work visa for canada' or some other thing and you should get the basic visa requirements. It may be different with rellies there and if you are going to be nursing your uncle. A call to the canadian embassy might be worthwhile. Don't be put off by having to do it all yourself either - airlines etc are amazingly helpful these days.

I think southern Canada would be my preference - I saw a perfect house for sale, blue clapboard, 3 bed, 5 acres, garage etc for Ca$79,000 (about £30,000) but it was in Newfoundland - shiver.

What would all the Canadians say are the best job-hunting newspapers to look in?

OP posts:
Waswondering · 29/07/2006 20:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

NotQuiteCockney · 29/07/2006 22:07

Lmccrean, depending on your aunt and uncle's financial and immigration status, they may be able to "sponsor" you to move over. I know people sponsor their relatives all the time, so that sounds like a sensible thing to look into.

Original poster
Callisto · 29/07/2006 22:33

No green for six months . In the south of the country how snowy does it get?

OP posts:
NotQuiteCockney · 30/07/2006 09:05

Depends which bit of the country. In Toronto and Montreal it's essentially snowy for about four months (well, it was 10 years ago, I think it's even milder now). I think the coasts have very little snow (that's Vancouver, or Halifax, if you're after a city).

Original poster
Callisto · 31/07/2006 11:34

NQC, I can definitely cope with winter for four months, I find winters in this country so boring, especially when everyone panics as the first flake of snow and a national emergency is declared if we have an inch. Could you tell me are the summers cool/warm/wet/dry? Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my inane questions.

OP posts:
NotQuiteCockney · 01/08/2006 09:04

The summers vary with where you are, but generally they're consistently hot. You get some rain, but it's a thunderstorm, and over very quickly. (Vancouver is different, I think.)

In the prairies, it's even hotter, but most people have aircon at home (I think).

There's a site called "weather underground" that gives average weather for various time periods for various places, that is probably more reliable than my memories ...

Original poster
Callisto · 01/08/2006 09:53

Thanks NQC, I'm just trying to establish whether it is feasible to set up a marquee hire biz there. Don't know if Canandians have the garden party/bbq/outdoor wedding reception culture of this country.

OP posts:
NotQuiteCockney · 01/08/2006 13:12

We have loads of outdoor stuff. But it rains much less in the summer there than it does here. Also you can get legally married just about anywhere, I've been to a few weddings in private houses, or outdoors. (Actually, one had a marquee, a big big one. It was near Moncton, in NB, in the far eastern bit.)

Insects are a real hassle in the summer (at least in the evenings), but I'm not sure a marquee helps that much? Maybe with anti-bug candles etc?

I'd:

a) look at wunderground for weather forecasts
b) look to see if other marquee rental places
c) consider Vancouver, it's rainy there

Original poster
Callisto · 01/08/2006 14:52

If it is hot and insecty I think my marquees would be great as they are more for shade and showers than loads of rain. I had a look at weather underground - great site - has Canada always got such high humidity or is it like here where we get a build-up then a thunderstorm and then low humidity in a cycle?

OP posts:
golds · 01/08/2006 15:01

My brother lives in Vancouver and would never return home to England. He absolutely loves it there and is now married to a Canadian.

In the winter he goes skiing at Whistler, if you like I could ask him about the process he had to go through to get there. I would go for it, what has England really got to offer ???

Original poster
Callisto · 01/08/2006 15:30

Thanks, Golds, any positive stories would be great. I know what you mean about what has GB got to offer. I get so depressed by this country and our govts attitudes and it really worries me that it will just get worse and worse.

OP posts:
brimfull · 01/08/2006 15:31

Well I grew up in Canada but moved over here in 1983,my family all still live there.

Personally I love it in Britain but I can understand the wanderlust attitude that people have.I did live in Bermuda for a while so that feeling of wanting to live somewhere else has gone now.

Anyway I have a db in Vancouver,who also lived in Victoria for 10 yrs.Personally if moving to canada ,I would love to live in Victoria, but the job prospects are probably too limiting.
My other db's and parents live in Ontario about an hrs drive from Toronto.

What is it about Canada that attracts people and how do they envisage their life will change?Not stirring ,just genuinely interested.

Amanda1 · 01/08/2006 16:39

Message withdrawn

brimfull · 01/08/2006 17:49

hey Amanda,should we start a thread about how great GB is?

bobblehead · 01/08/2006 18:06

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Amanda1 · 01/08/2006 19:50

Message withdrawn

Amanda1 · 01/08/2006 19:52

Message withdrawn

NotQuiteCockney · 01/08/2006 21:04

I'd be into a thread about how lovely GB is. I love Montreal, but it's just too small, really.