Canada. Can you tell me about it?

[SweetLorraine]

Hi! I am planning to go and study and live there for a while with two dcs. What's the best province to study and live in. Also with a very reasonable cost of living?

I came back on here and realised nooka had said what I was going to but MUCH better. Canada is beautiful and amazing, but very different dependending on where you are. Even Vancouver Island is the size of the UK. Good luck.

lol - alberta is very flat until you hit the rockies...

i'm going to live on the flat/ sunny bit and weekend in the mountainous bit

until i can convince dh to get a job in the mountains lol

Well that's the cool bit about the cities in Alberta, you can get to the mountains so easily, and they are fantastic mountains. I find flat really difficult - dh wanted to move to Manitoba (the really cold bit in the middle) originally, and I said no more for the flatness than the winter (although Winterpeg is a common nickname for Winnipeg).

Wow Nooka! See... i did get very meaningful answers for my "what's Canada like?"

Yes very well done thank you.

So where exactly are the Maritimes and the Prairies?

Thanx theselegswermad. And cookielove too. And ggrl... Ok Thanx all y'all!

maritimes are the east coast of canada (and it's a 4 hour time difference not 3)

prairies are in the west, but not on the coast

you really have to google a map I think and get a feel for the size. and geography

am v impressed with nooka's post - pretty spot on.

There are a number of universities in Nova Scotia (east coast) specifically Halifax (cracking little city btw.....)

Dalhousie
St Mary's
Mount St Vincent

cost of living cheaper than some of the larger centers
That would be my choice. Good multicultural mix too.

Thanks Hana! i'll look at them. Whats the weather like in Nova Scotia?

4 clear seasons
lots of snow in the winter - it gets pretty cold with the wind , regularly below 0, autumn is gorgeous and summers can get pretty hot, 25 - 30. snow lasts sometimes till march.

am going home for a month this summer, can't wait. would love to move back. I did a BEd at Dalhousie, thinking about it now, that faculty doesn't exist anymore, so not sure if they would offer courses in what you're looking for.

Never mind the weather .... you need to do your research and do the maths. We lived in Ontario, and contrary to popular belief here in the UK, the cost of living is not low. You will get more space for your money in terms of housing, but others costs are similar, only you will be living in a low wage/high tax economy for all but the most affluent professionals. When you consider the price of goods in stores you need to add 14% sales tax onto everything other than basic food. Books and newspapers are very expensive compared with the UK (v. relevant if you are studying!).

It is a brilliant place to live in many ways and we loved the outdoor life (both summer and winter), but it is NOT cheap. If you are a single parent and a student you need to think that through very carefully.

yes - becky's right - it's not particularly cheap, esp now with the exchange rate below $2.

becky-totally agree there...wish my mother would remember that! Every time she visits me here in the UK she moans about the prices here...drives me mad.

Thank you all very much. I am currently thinking very carefully about it. And also considering other options.

Hi all, this is my first visit to Mumsnet and feeling a bit overwhelmed with all this info! Please be gentle with me
Hubbie just got offered a job in Toronto, and whilst I am v. excited I am also v.v. anxious. I've visited once for a long weekend but have no idea where to start finding out about nice areas to live, how to explore schooling, how to find friends, how to empty all the guff in my loft etc... The company will be paying so I'm looking for a smart suburb with fantastic schools and a bevy of women on standby to be my friends really... any ideas? My daughter is 4 and starts school here next month (great suburb great school we fought so hard to get into ironically)will she even be school age yet over there? Is there some sort of Ofsted equivalent I can read up on? I'd love to hear from ex-pats with tips on how to avoid insanity?

Hi Sally
My dd2 was 4 when we moved here (Ottawa) 3 years ago. Your DD will not be school age - however she will be eligible for Kindergarten (junior or senior depending whether she will be 5 before Christmas)senior) (usally in a school setting) - which is usually half days, although full day Kindergarten is just being phased in, in Ontario.

I found that searching for Ofsted type stats didn't help me much, and that the differences between schools are much fewer than in the UK. Every person I asked about finding a good school, looked suprised and said "They're all good".

Read up on French Immersion - that will make a huge difference to your dd's schooling. (I can answer q's on that if you are interested.)

We love it here and are very happy that we came.