wot ya think O this?

[loppylugs 8,429]

Came across this online this afternoon.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/...o-emigrate.html

You might want to read the article.

I would never encourage anyone to emigrate as I would feel really bad if they made the move and hated it but I was curious as to everyone's feelings about moving on.

I have not lived in the U.K. since 1970 when I moved to Canada but I never regretted the move in spite of 30 below in some of those Alberta winters.

What do you think?

Dave

[Charlie 11]

Came across this online this afternoon.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/...o-emigrate.html

You might want to read the article.

I would never encourage anyone to emigrate as I would feel really bad if they made the move and hated it but I was curious as to everyone's feelings about moving on.

I have not lived in the U.K. since 1970 when I moved to Canada but I never regretted the move in spite of 30 below in some of those Alberta winters.

What do you think?

Dave

I read the article AND it's something I've been thinking about for a while - I think half the UK has been thinking about it for a while - I also think a lot of folks will get up and go. As they leave the tax burden on the ones that stay behind will grow.

[Beefsteak 305]

If I had a skill we would have been gone a long time ago!!

[mick2me 3,033]

If I had a skill we would have been gone a long time ago!!

Get one there?

[Beefsteak 305]

I would but you have to be allowed in first, and if you aint got a skill you can't get in

Although my mates husband did get into Canada claiming to be a "carpet Fitter" . He'd never done it before , just watched and guessed the rest (He's got away with it as they have been there about 7 years now!!)

[mick2me 3,033]

I don't know wether I fancy Canada, perhaps our members will tell us.

Very french in places, and they don't like english?

[Beefsteak 305]

My mate lives at a place called Cochrane it's not far from Calgary , she says it's great

(But then again she would wouldn't she)

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

I know a pit fitter who lives over here stateside and he hasn't done any pit fitting since he was made redundant after the big strike. He went to school to learn IT computing etc. He has a business at Virginia Beach now. I don't know whether he entered all his qualifications to enter the US or not, or how he got in, I could mail him to find out if you like.

[Bip 88]

I reckon I'll stay were I am...better the devil one knows than the devil one don't know.

Bip.

[Charlie 11]

Nah - let's the whole of Nottstalgia up and go!

[Limey 242]

Alberta is probably the most "Anglo-Centric" province after Ontario. However, don't be fooled - yes, the cost of living is lower than the UK, but taxes in Canada are high, and the healthcare system has been getting a LOT of bad publicity recently - though that does vary by province. Typically their salaries are comparable to the USA (now slightly less than the UK) but their cost of living is slightly higher. Home ownership in Canada is not as appealing as the USA because they do not get tax relief on mortgage interest - we do!

I do find that the percentage of my paycheck that goes to taxes, or the things that taxes provide, is pretty much the same here (USA) as it is in the U.K. Many complain about taxes over there, but we pay in the end one way or another. For example, your taxes typically pay for trash removal - here they don't - you either pay for it, or do it yourself. In Michigan, if you want to do-it-yourself, you have to pay a landfill access fee - they get it one way or another!

Houses are cheaper (mine is about 2,500sq ft., 1/2 acre and worth about $300,000) but they are built cheaper too! "Stick built" was what my dad used to say! However, heating (and cooling) a big house takes away some of the advantage of low price and it gets bloody cold in Calgary in the winter - and hot in the summer!

When all is said and done - I would say that Canada (and the USA) are great places to emigrate to - but you must realise it is NOT England and you cannot sustain the same lifestyle as you have there. However, if you accept, and embrace, the differences, you will love it. I will add that most of the folks from England I know who went back came here as a married couple - most of the single folks who came here stayed!

[loppylugs 8,429]

Some good responses.

As previously noted I would not deliberately encourage someone to emigrate because it is a major decision with some potentially major financial risks.

I found real culture shock even though English is the spoken language. Don't worry about French, Mick. It is the majority language in Quebec and you do need to be bi-lingual for any government job. The rest of the provinces are majority English speaking. You find French on the cornflakes boxes along with English but that is o-k. As an electrician I struggled at first. Had to do a proficiency test before getting a license I had only been there four days and did not know any of the codes, wire sizes colors etc. Faced with connecting a panel with black and white wires which would you think would be the neutral? Since black was neutral in the UK. I hooked the blacks up to the neutral bar. Aaaaargh! dead wrong! Neutral is always white. There are no ring mains here, and the supply is a three wire 120/240 to most houses. Went back to tech college for an intensive summer course. After that I was o-k never looked back but the course should have come first.

The emigration officials in the U.K did not really seem to know what the trade requirements were (typical government). A few hours with a book that would have told you these requirements would have saved a lot of grief.

Had four years in Toronto. At that time it was a very livable city. Lots to do and safe to ride the subway at night but even in the 70s the cost of housing was too much for us so we "emigrated" again 2500 miles West To Calgary. Calgary is a great place to live with the Rockies visible to the west. Housing was affordable in the mid 70s but has soared in price now. People are very friendly and I always found that if you meet them halfway they are easy to get along with. Best not to say, "We do it this way in England" that is a good way to be reminded planes go both ways.

BTW. Toronto may still be very livable but I have not been there since 1974 and as you all know things change. Much of my experience of Nottingham was growing up there in the fifties and sixties. Even though I have been back for short holidays I'm sure I would have a hard time re-integrating now.

Cochrane is on the West side of Calgary closer to the mountains and is indeed a great place to live.

The winters are COLD no doubt about that, but it is surprising how you get used to it. Get a good parka and some boots and out you go. Only thing I did not like was driving on such icy roads it can be FUN at times. Summers can be hot but it is usually fairly short and the blue skies have to be seen to be believed even in the depths of winter. A friend of mine described Edmonton as nine months of winter and three months of poor skiing, but that is a bit of an exageration.

Health care system is good in my experience. Not that I used it much I have generally be pretty healthy.

I am currently living in Georgia since I married again after my first wife died. The U.S. is o-k and some things are cheaper down here but I would go back to Canada in a minute and may do so at some point as I still have my Canadian citizenship. (You can become a citizen after living there for three years)

If you enjoy pubs, there is nothing that I know of in Canada or the U.S. that comes close to what I remember of British pubs. I do not drink now but when I did I found that North American bars were for the most part places where you go to get drunk rather than have a pleasant evening with friends. Apologies to any here who like the bar scene and I understand that there are some British type pubs in British Columbia, Canada but I have never been in one.

I was in Alberta to visit my kids at Christmas. It is booming so much that businesses cannot get good help. One McDonalds had to close so many hours each day for lack of help. Many tradespeople have gone up to the oilfields where the real money is and that leaves the Southern cities like Calgary and Edmonton short of workers.

One of the local Wal Marts could have used fifty additional workers right then but they are just not available.

I would say it is a good life if you are on the younger side, flexible about where you will work. I took a job appliance servicing while I studied to get my electrician's ticket. If you like the outdoors, hunting, fishing you would love it.

I have no regrets.

Dave

[loppylugs 8,429]

One additional thought.

Limey referred to married couples maybe having difficulties in emigration rather than single folks. That is very true both need to really want to move or there could be problems later. I was fortunate, my wife wanted to emigrate just as much as I did. She also worked there as a secretary for a time and really enjoyed that ppart of it too.

I did hear of folks who got homesick and went back to the U.K. After a while they remembered why they left in the first place and came back! That can get very expensive. I would advise anyone who comes to be prepared to give it a fair shake and not get discouraged and go home at the first setback.

Dave

[Limey 242]

Dave: Great post and I fully agree with everything you said. One point you brought up made me laugh - I lived in Southern Africa for two years before I came to the US and loved it! After that, I thought moving here would be easy - dead WRONG! It was a bigger cultural change moving here than living in Swaziland! I put most of it down to the fact that most of the folks I knew in Africa were ex-pats the same as me, not so in the USA. The first six months I was here I had a terrible time! Eventually I made friends with some locals and that made it a lot easier and I found Western states (and probably Provinces) were more friendly than the eastern ones - again, probably because a lot of the folks had moved there rather than lived there for many generations.

Toronto is still a great city - very safe by comparison to the US, but also expensive!