Talk to me about what it's like to live in Canada

[GabrielleChanel]

DH got made redundant earlier in the year - I WFH in digital marketing - could do it anywhere have 1 DC at high school and three in primary.
Just really thinking about changes we can make in our life and whether now is the time to do it.

And by now I mean when restrictions are lifted obvs.

Where in Canada? It's a truly enormous country and moving to Toronto is a very different proposition to moving to rural Saskatchewan. I moved to Calgary, Alberta from the UK in 2018 and overall I love it here but there are definite pluses and minuses. Have you checked to see if you're eligible to move here? It has been made more difficult in recent years. I got sponsored by a Canadian citizen and was then able to apply for a work permit from within Canada but it was still a lengthy and expensive process.

Life here varies hugely depending on where you are, but much of the country is extremely cold in winter, and 'winter' lasts for around 7 months of the year. Where I am it basically snows from the beginning of October through to May, and regularly gets below -30. I saw on Instagram that there has been a heavy snow dump today in the mountains near Banff, which is just over an hour from here. The coastal provinces - The Maritimes in the east and coastal B.C. in the west, have milder, wetter climates, but still much more 'extreme' than the UK.

The cost of living in Canada is very high. Property prices in Toronto and Vancouver are astronomical. There are cheaper areas but they may well be cheap because they're in the middle of nowhere, and Canada being the size it is, the middle of nowhere really is just that. Petrol is cheap but car insurance is very expensive, as are mobile phone contracts, Internet, cable etc. Food is extremely expensive unless you want to eat a lot of processed crap. Fresh food like fruit, vegetables and cheese is easily 3x the cost of the UK. Supermarkets don't have anything like the same selection either, there's nothing like M&S or Waitrose here (or Lidl/Aldi).

On the good side though - it is beautiful, or at least parts of it are! Other parts are enormous swathes of nothingness. The beautiful parts are heart-searingly gorgeous though. The people are by and large lovely, although tend to keep themselves to themselves (at least where we are). Shops stay open until 9-10pm during the week (pre/post Covid) which I love. There's an insane choice of take-out type food, some very healthy and some not so much.

It's a country you'll really get the most from if you're outdoorsy, unless perhaps you live in Toronto which is by far the largest and most cosmopolitan city, or Montreal. There are endless amazing opportunities for hiking, camping, skiing, skating etc. Bear in mind the wildlife though - no pun intended - when hiking in summer bear spray (super concentrated pepper spray) is essential because bears are found pretty much everywhere. There are also cougars, lynx, wolves, coyotes, skunks, moose, elk, rattlesnakes etc. and not just in the mountains or the backcountry, I've seen black bears, moose, elk, coyotes and bobcats in various parts of Calgary. It's very different to the UK, much wilder. I think it's amazing but some of my UK friends and family have been very perturbed by the prospect of coming across bears when out walking and having to carry bear spray etc.

Ice hockey (just 'hockey' here) is like religion - I love it! The other big sports are baseball and basketball but hockey is king. Calgary is definitely not the most culturally exciting place if that is your thing, and tbh many places are similar, but other cities are better in that regard.

I can't comment on schools as I don't have children, but in general from what I know from friends and other expats, provision/quality can be patchy and overall education in the UK is better. I think the more generalised/flexible university system here is good though - whereby you don't have to choose a specialism before you actually get there.

Hope this helps a bit, if you have any specific questions I'm happy to answer if I can!

What @VetOnCall said. We relocated from the UK 9 years ago. My husband was offered a job here in a specialised industry. His employer sponsored our application for a work visa and then PR.

We live in a city of about 60,000 but in the middle of nowhere. It’s a 4.5 hour drive to the nearest city, which people often visit just to go to Costco.

DH works hard and is compensated well, far between than he could ever have achieved in the UK.

I thought I’d miss the sea but I’m happiest in the mountains. We have a second home in the mountains, about an hour from where the PP lives. It’s a 7.5 hour drive, which is just down the highway in Canadian terms.

Winters are long and cold. It’s regularly -40 here with the windchill. Schools don’t close when it’s cold/snowy - waiting for the school bus is unpleasant. Summers are lovely and warm but can be a mosquito fest. We’ve had both a devastating forest fire and a flood in the last 4 years.

Health care is partially funded by the provincial governments but you need a private plan to top up prescriptions, dental, optical etc. You get charged a fee if you need an ambulance.

School supplies aren’t free. You get a list - binders, exercise books, headphones etc before the school year starts.

Positives and negatives. I wouldn’t go back to the UK though. DS was born here and the opportunities he will have far outweigh anything the UK could offer.

The government has really clamped down on immigration criteria. You’d basically have to have such a niche skill set that your prospective employer would have to prove that there was no one in Canada capable of doing the job.

Do any of you have any preexisting long term health issues? If so, they could count against you.

It’s lovely if you have money. It’s expensive. Beautiful but a very different culture here. Passive and more quiet people. I am used to more chatty and loud folk but that’s ok. School is better and more intense in the UK but probably easier here but somehow it all balances out I’m sure. So there’s no GCSEs and no A levels so that’s what I mean. And the Brits get more worked up about schools, education, tutoring and exams from an early age so that’s why it’s easier here. Any other questions? As the other poster said it’s cold here lots of snow but pretty and lots of winter sports. You get used to the snow. Also where you are depends on what it’s like. Im more west coast and the east coast if much different as is every province between the two coasts. Where might you head OP? I’d suggest East coast of your still looking I believe it’s cheaper outside the big cities but that’s only what I’ve heard.

You’d need a package - shipping furniture etc is expensive and takes a long time. Your electrical stuff won’t work here as it’s a different voltage. Because of the cold we have really low humidity here. One of the only pieces of furniture we brought across has cracked and warped slightly because it has dried out.

what's it like? relaxed.

It varies massively from province to province. I used to live in the UK, came home to Canada. I live in coastal BC.
Where I live; no charge for ambulances, most employers have benefits for prescriptions and dental (ridiculous it’s not in our basic, very good, socialised healthcare).

We have amazing supermarkets, lots of varied fruit and veg. I don’t find car insurance pricey, my cell plan is $40 a month unlimited except for phone calls (about £23).

The weather here is pretty much like the south of England but much drier summers and wetter winters. It pours from November through January and then drizzles through to mid-April. We have a winter excess of humidity! Some years there’s no snow, it doesn’t get cold here like the rest of Canada.

If I was young or moving here though, I would move to the other coast. House prices here are atrocious. Housing in the Maritimes is very affordable.

I went to school here, as did my kids, I now work in one. I think overall they are crap. Low expectations and too many teachers who don’t seem to like kids or who have scant general (never mind specialized) knowledge. Good universities though.

In my area same as others have mentioned, people keep to themselves. I’ve heard it’s much friendlier on the east coast.

Personally I know I couldn’t handle real Canadian cold, but I guess people get used to it.

we moved to Toronto from London when my DC was 4 and I was pregnant with my 2nd DC.
For the few years we lived there DH and I were always in two minds about the place and madly home sick. The culture is very different. Although Toronto is as cultured as you can get in Canada, it still feels like a small village mentality, very laid back, a bit lazy, vey provincial. Canadians are very conservatives in their opinion and behaviour, sense of humour is evidently absent and generally it's just really boring. After about a year we have exhausted all there is to do in the city, and as people said above, it is mainly the outdoors to turn to for entertainment. So we took skiing, but it's an expensive hobby. The lessons, equipment, clothing, day trips.. you need a good income to make it your central entertainment.

Life is more expensive as already mentioned. Toronto property is super expensive for the quality of homes you can buy. Generally architecture and the city looks so ugly. Houses are very underwhelming for the price, unless you have lots of money to buy a lovely period property which still have any features left. Not that I think only period properties are worth considering, but we found newer homes charmless and very poor quality.I found it very hard to get used too coming from Europe and London in particular.

Education is not as good as here, very shallow in imo and again, very inwards looking. A bit weird to sing the national anthem every morning at school while standing still..."oh Canada..." considering how multi national the country is, it feel a bit wrong.

We starved for news and good TV, missed the bbc for example as all the other news don't go beyond the local issues or Hocky (always on the headlines!) very little international perspective.

So while the outdoors offer endless opportunities we figured that skiing can be done in the Alps, camping also if you like it, education is much better here, relatively cheaper life, being in Europe keep you on your toes a bit and much more connected to the world and culture. I feel
More inspired here.

Overall it didn't offer anything spectacular other than boredom and superb dental care.
It felt too American-like to me as they are quite obsessed with 'living the dream', buying 'big' and 'more' even if you don't really need much, and chasing money. (at least in Toronto, not sure about other places).

We eventually decided to come back. We figured that if we are going to work hard and unfortunately still need to live in an expensive city because of our work, we much prefer to do it here.

Happy to be back but I do miss a few things:

Very good friends we made over the years.
Dental care
Bulk stores and access to some very high quality food!
Stores like MEC and outdoor clothing and gear, much cheaper and super quality in North America
Skiing is still easier to do in Canada if you are ok with small hill 2hr away from home, makes a fun weekend out.
Oh..and snow! I love snow.

Oh, and yes to the wild animals. I live in a city and have been chasing deer out of my garden all day (bastards). On the north shore (of Vancouver) they have bears and coyotes. On Vancouver Island there are more cougars (not sure what you call them?) than anywhere else in the world. Personally you could not pay me to go camping as I don’t think it’s safe (bar the small islands where happily there are no cougars nor bears). But camping is very popular so that’s a minority opinion.

Food wise where I live it’s very healthy food, lots of farmers markets, locally owned cafes, vegetarian options galore, loads of cafes and restaurants of food from all over the world and great bakeries. But the two main cities on the west coast (Vancouver and Victoria) have such high-priced housing, unless you own in London buying here might be tricky.

Stop first with the "it's extremely cold" stuff. I grew up in Vancouver and it goes to -5C there in winter, often warmer, only very occasionally colder. It's also not helpful to say that the shopping is terrible - it might be in Calgary, but in Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal it's more like London - again it depends on the neighbourhood. Just saying "Canada" is pointless because it's so different from province to province - it's so much bigger and more differentiated than the UK.

Even the house prices depend on where you're going. Vancouver, Toronto are very expensive. Other places, it depends.

Can you even move there, OP? Or is it just a fun fantasy? Canada doesn't accept all comers.

@littlegreener Canadians think Torontonians are grasping and for a long time Toronto’s nickname was “Toronto the good” as it was seen as uptight and prim. So I’m not sure some of what you say applies across the country.

It baffles me, too, as to why the bloody news goes on about sports. The comment about lack of international news baffles me though. I watch news online and when I watch traditional newscast on the National (CBC, the govt official station like the Beeb) they always cover international affairs.

I don’t watch traditional telly, just CBConline and Netflix and just about get enough UK telly that way. Corrie is on CBC.

Oh, and just noticed the comment about skiing on “little hills”. Snort. Not in BC - the Rockies are massive and the coastal range is not too shabby either.

Toronto the good” as it was seen as uptight and prim.

I like to think we are reserved. 🙂

I don't understand what is wrong with singing the national anthem. We are a multicultural country, yes, and Canadians of all backgrounds are, you know, Canadian.

Also mystified at our apparent lack of humour.

@Ritascornershop yes, I was only talking about my experience living in Toronto, sorry if that wasn't clear. Including the "little hills". Of course you can get amazing skiing elsewhere in Canada but that would be even more expensive for a family holiday, unless of course you live in BC, Alberta, Quebec...
You will not convince me about the news though, not nearly as in-depth, interesting and challenging debates, great interviews and real wide perspective as here.

Don’t shoot the messenger 😬 I’m just saying how people used to perceive Toronto. I’d say it’s unlikely to have retained that flavour as the makeup of the city has hugely changed in the last 40+ years.

My kids did not sing the anthem nor did I (I went to school in the 60’s and 70’s), it was for assemblies only. But ya, it applies to all of us, not just those born here so that comment seemed odd to me too.

Sorry, meant to say we didn’t sing the anthem daily.

We don’t have more than a few interview shows but the radio programs are first class. I don’t think the nightly news is any better in the UK, but I haven’t lived there in a quarter century so maybe I’m not up to date on that.

Generally Canadian tv is a bit shit (except Schitts Creek! And I like Kim’s Convenience and Mr D), but that’s okay as there’s plenty of UK telly available online. I don’t know anyone under 65 who watched normal tv anymore, we all watch online.

Don’t shoot the messenger 😬

@Ritascornershop was that in reply to me? I wasn't offended and didn't mean to offend. I know other parts of Canada really don't like Toronto. I also do think we tend to be more reserved than say, BC or the Atlantic provinces. I also agree about the tv.

That’s okay, Andy, I was joking. See! We do have a sense of humour 😭

That’s interesting Torontonians are still more reserved, I kind of assumed that would have changed as the original very Scots-English population changed to a more varied city.

As pps have said depends what you want, although you may find getting a visa more difficult that you think.

We are in Vancouver and moved from the UK. Certainly prefer pace of life, natural beauty and all that stuff. It’s 30 minutes to decent skiing, 30 minutes to beautiful beaches, the people are friendly (in my experience). It’s easy to live here.

I’d start with what you enjoy doing and work back. Toronto feels like a city. Vancouver definitely doesn’t. Everything is very expensive wherever you go. I’d say food wise around 30% higher at least, when I first came here I nearly died at the price of cheese and ham etc but just got used to it now. Car insurance as pps have said is expensive as it’s state controlled. We pay 2400 a year and that’s as cheap as it gets (depends on the car obviously, but for a normal family mini van that is).

Living in the prairies would bring its own challenges but anywhere further East that BC you are subject to the weather all year. In Manitoba it can be 30 degrees and then snowing in the same week. Vancouver and the bc interior don’t have the extremes but of course it rains a lot. Last week while I saw London was enjoying boiling weather it rained last Saturday for 26 hours straight.

The summers are wonderful though- in honesty I wouldn’t live in Toronto because the lifestyle I like is in bc. The weather is also too extreme for my tastes, but everyone’s different in what they want. If you want a big city and more jobs, Toronto is where you need to be. If you want the outdoors on your doorstep and can get a job, Vancouver is a better bet. Anything in between you may struggle with being isolated and getting jobs but it’s very beautiful.

It's the most beautiful country on Earth in my opinion

@Coffeeand - isn’t your car insurance that high because you don’t have a long driving record in BC? They’re looking at changing the system in some respects, but I pay $1200 for a sedan and I’ve been driving for 15 years. It generally comes down the longer you have a clean driving record.

Wow! Wasn't expecting quite so many replies - I knew I could rely on Mumsnet
Is it just a fantasy? - well yes probably. I think there have been a few big shifts in my thinking during lockdown about what family means and why we are staying in the UK. I don't know who may look after my parents who are in their mid-late 70s and in good health now but this may change (have two siblings but I am the best at keeping in touch with them) but I also know that my inlaws who claim to be interested are not when the shit hits the fan.

DH's world is finance so we are currently based in the £££ commuter belt of London. We live in a village where the schools are good and we can be in London in an hour (but we very rarely are - with 4 small kids we haven't gone to museums etc as much as I though perhaps we might - it's ££ and hassle-filled)
Anyway because of our proximity to London to get the kind of space we would like for our growing kids, we are looking at £2m easily for a 5/6 bed house with a decent space.

I have shamelessly been perusing property porn and looking at PE Island and Nova Scotia and found one that looks just like Green Gables with 8 bedrooms for £100K !!! - obvs i'm not taking car insurance and food in to costs nor what the hell my other half would do for money nor how we would get anyone to sponsor us to arrive.

We would need to be in Toronto I think if we were following what he currently does and the houseprices are similar to London as a PP said.

When I posted on Sat night it was just a small sliver of an idea - I do realise it was a massively open-ended question, I'm so grateful for all these thoughts and advice.

Actually MN helped me buy the house I live in now, 12 years ago, so it doesn't surprise me that I'm asking you lot again