Move to Nova Scotia or stay in UK?

[FiKelly]

Currently DH & I live in a seaside town in Somerset with our 2 dc's.. ds 3yrs and dd 3months. Although originally from scotland we moved here 5 yrs ago to help my parents who'd been down here for a while. I'm an only child and my mum was undergoing chemo for the 3rd time. She has had the all clear for 4yrs now.

DH and I have talked about emigrating to NZ or Canada for a very long time but haven't done it because of my mums health. DH's aunt is getting on age wise (nearly 90) and we'd only have enough points to go to Nova Scotia while she's alive..

So should we take the plunge and go? What would I love? Although DH has been a number of times.. I've only been to USA not Canada. What would I miss?

We want to give our dc's the best prospects we can in life. Education, Lifestyle, Work etc.. would they be better?

If we went we'd only need half the mortgage we have atm at the most and be able to clear it in 15yrs.

So what do you think? Opinions good/bad would be much appreciated. Thanks x

thanks everyone for all your posts it is really helpful to be able to talk about this. we're not telling people we know in RL yet.. but i'm just bursting to!

if everyone doesn't mind.. can I put some more questions to you all?

I will be a stay at home mum until both dc's are in primary school.. but ds is about to start pre school again next monday.. he started last term before he was 3 so we had to pay. Now he's 3 it's free because of government funding. Do you have to pay for kindergarten? ds is funded for 15hrs a week.. how many hours do you have?

Also at the other end of education.. university.. will it be really expensive for us to send the dc's? or are there funding/grants available?

I am a designer to trade and have done bridal design/dressmaking from home in the past. I'm too busy with our latest addition to the family atm but if I wanted to start again in NS would I be able to do this from home or is it not allowed? would i need premises?

Now I'm about to confess.. I'm still broody! I know.. you'd think having a 3month old and a 3yr old would stop that lol!!!

we're not planning any more dc's.. but if a happy accident did happen.. what are maternity services like? do we have to pay for doctors/dentists etc?

due to property prices in our area.. currently we live in a 3bed 1reception apartment with shared garden. we'd love a house but those prices are out of reach for us atm. what would an average NS family home cost & what style of home is the norm?

Also.. what have I not asked that you think I should know?!

Thanks everyone
xoxox

My friend who moved to NS paid about 350k for an enormous house with 9 acres of land, boathouse and various barns about a year ago. They are in an area that gets a lot of boaty tourists in the summer so were told that it had very good rental possibilities if they decided to come back and couldn't sell or wanted t come back for a long visit in the season.

Oh, and if you CAT me I can put you in touch with her, if you'd like to chat to someone who's made the move recently.

hi FiByTheSea

I hope you're not offended by this question as you probably know lots about it already, but do you know that government policies in Canada vary massively by province? Due to the so-called 'federal' system, provincial governments have a lot of power because they have responsibility for many areas including primary/secondary education, health, etc. So what is true on one province won't necessarily apply to Nova Scotia.

If you want to know hard facts about medical facilities and schools, you will probably need to contact the Nova Scotia government relevant ministries. (ie Nova Scotia will have an education ministry, finance ministry or department, health minister, agriculture minister, etc etc) I imagine they are online. The federal (central) government is responsible for other areas such as foreign policy. And some areas are shared jointly between the central and provincial governments such as immigration. This is quite important in understanding what services will be like.

In general, Canada has a UK-style health system but there are definitely big variations between provinces. This is particularly true as each province is responsible for deciding how much of their budget to allocate to health, schools, etc. As in the NHS, there is pressure on the system.

right, will stop waffling now!

Forgot to mention that Nova Scotians LOVE their Celtic heritage. Many are very proud of their Scottish or Irish background. There is a big emphasis on Scottish and Irish traditional customs such as dancing, singing, etc. (much more so than in modern day Scotland and Ireland I think!). There is also an interest in the Gaelic language but as far as I know there are no native speakers or Gaelic speaking communities, ie it's not a living language as Welsh is in parts of Wales.

Shubiedoo thanks for answering my questions. I have had a look at a library whilst I was researching a city that I like the look of (Fredericton in New Brunswick) and was really impressed with all the groups they ran.

Fibythesea it looks like we have exactly the same questions in mind. There is so much to find out about how everything works from schools to healthcare etc. I keep telling myself that it is all too much work and life is fine here but then I start thinking about it all again and think it could be amazing.

I would love to know more about property/salaries etc as its really hard to think how would life compare financially. I am also really interested to find out how people make the move without it costing an absolute fortune during the transition phase ie. can you set up jobs from the UK or do you really need to be there before you start looking. So much to think about!

midnight I'd love to speak to your friend. I can't CAT but my email is creative.textiles at btinternet.com if you could forward it on to her. x

stepaway not offended at all! I am still in the early stages of fact finding and I wasn't sure exactly what each province organised iyswim.. good to hear about their love of their celtic heritage too. my family are scottish.. dh's scottish and irish. we'd love ds & dd to be proud of their heritage too.

jumpy the cost of actually emigrating was another of my questions too. I knew about costs for the flights, medicals, police checks.. but it's the rest like shipping/moving etc.

FBTS, I've emailed you her number.