# Australia or Canada?



## dalaney (Oct 7, 2008)

Hi

Looking for help and advice please. 
What are the good and bad things about living in Australia?

Are you happy you chose to live in Australia?


I am currently living in Cyprus after moving here from the UK last year. Finding work here is very hard so we are looking into immigrating to either Australia or Canada.
Hubby already been offered a good job in Calgary but I am worried about the cold weather.
He's a plumber, anyone know what the job situation is like in Australia for plumbers.

feeling very confused


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## kaz101 (Nov 29, 2007)

Hi dalaney, 

Welcome to the forum.

I haven't responded to your poll since I know nothing about Canada and that was never an option for us. 

If you search through the posts there are several threads on what people like and dislike and about Australia. We moved here from the UK in July 2007 and haven't had any regrets. We wanted warmer weather and were really impressed with how friendly the people were here and so decided to move. We wouldn't even have considered Canada since I think of that as colder than the UK and my husband has bad circulation.

There are links to job websites in the sticky posts at the top of the forum and they'll should be able to tell you what the demand is like. We had a plumber round to us to fit a new dual flush toilet (we're in SE South Australia) and his labour charge was A$53 a hour. 

Regards,
Karen


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## dalaney (Oct 7, 2008)

Thanks Karen

Thanks for you reply and info.

I have bad circulation aswell which is why I worry about the cold. the only thing is we moved to Cyprus last year and have had a real problem earning enough to live on, so money and jobs are a real issue this time. 

Hubby really wants to have a job offer before he will consider Australia but not sure if this is how it works. From what I can tell, you need to have skills assessed and visa accepted before you get offered work.

Did you have any problem with getting work?

Ive also read a few threads where expats have gone home because wasn't prepared for such a culture shock and complete different way of life from UK, People, culture etc. Have you experienced anything that made you want to go back to UK.

Sorry for all the questions just great to talk to someone whose made the move and is happy.


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## kaz101 (Nov 29, 2007)

Hi dalaney, 

There are several ways to get into Oz. You can come in on a skilled independent visa (if you have enough points) and you can live anywhere and do anything. You can go for sponsorship (which sounds like what you're after) which can take longer to get, you have to move to a particular and stay in that job but you do have the security of a job (I do find it weird writing that since I don't believe there is job security  ) but then you have to apply for PR (permanent residency) once you are here. 

Take a look at the skills in demand list (a link is in the "PLEASE READ....." post) to see whether your hubby's skills are in demand. If they are then you may be able to get sponsorship - by the way there is employer sponsorship and also state sponsorship. 

We came in through skilled independent visa since we had the points and we wanted flexibility. 

We both have our own businesses (I'm a network marketer for a global business and writer, and my husband has started another gardening business) and both of us consider ourselves unemployable (although my husband did get a job for a while), so jobs weren't an issue for us. We already had money coming in no matter where we moved to... Being in IT I'd seen so many mergers and people laid off (and that was in good times!) that I just didn't believe in job security,and even as an IT contractor there have been hard times. That's why we got into finding other forms of income. 

I'm not sure we had such a culture shock. We'd been here several times so I guess we knew what some of it would be like. I think the shock is more that you can get complacent and think you know how things work and then something comes along to remind you that this is a completely different country  Language is one of those things - most of the time there isn't a problem but I remember asking for sheets in a store and being told that "Manchester is over there". I wondered why she was telling me this since I'm from London and not Manchester but Manchester is their name for bedding! 

We chose somewhere that we knew had clubs and activities that we could get involved in. There's a vintage and veteran car club, Rotary, Toastmasters, Skilled migrant group and I keep meaning to try line dancing (but not sure I can cope with country music for that long  ). You have to make an effort to get out and about especially if like me you work from home. 

I would make sure that you have good communications with family and friends 'back home'. We use Skype and bought my parents a web cam and taught my Mum (she's a silver surfer at 71 years old!) how to use it before we left. We can talk for hours (well 2 hours is the limit so far!  ) for free from PC to PC and we can see each other too. I also created a blog (they can be free too) where I post updates and pictures and then send the link to my family and friends in an email so they can see what we are up to. You have to make the effort to keep in touch with people otherwise it's easy not to contact people when everyone is so busy. 

I've missed family and friends and even shed a tear for them, but I haven't once considered moving back to the UK. 

One other thing - make a commitment to stay out here for a certain period of a year, two years or whatever you want to make it. We made a commitment that we weren't going back to the UK no matter what so we have to make it work here. It's actually not to pressure ourselves but your attitude is different if you know you are staying. 

One guy at Rotary asked me the other day if I missed home? I said why I'm there every day  He meant the UK but we stopped calling that home as soon as we got here - even if we had to correct each other. We can call it the Mother country or something but it's not home. 

Wow - I didn't mean this post to be that long! 
Hope there's something useful in there for you! 

Regards,
Karen


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## dalaney (Oct 7, 2008)

Wow Karen, thanks so much thats great info.

Think it's just going to be down to me pursuading hubby and kids now.

Ive done an online skills assessment and it looks as though we have enough points so will try that route. Would prob be a better timescale for us to wait for 6 - 12 months so we can sort everything out here. The job in Canada wants him asap.
The only difficult thing is pursuading my hubby to turn down a decent job offer!

Don't think we will feel like returning to UK. We been in Cyprus for over a year now and even though things have been difficult with work etc, we have never felt like going back.

Take care Karen and thanks again for your help.


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## kaz101 (Nov 29, 2007)

dalaney said:


> Wow Karen, thanks so much thats great info.
> 
> Take care Karen and thanks again for your help.


You're welcome.
Good luck!

Regards,
Karen


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## kiwi downunda (Oct 8, 2008)

Delaney,

I've lived in both Canada and Oz. Canada wins my vote hands down!!!!! Unless of course you don't like the closeness to the crazies in the USA, in which case go to Oz. Personally, as your hubby has a job offer for Canada, I'd go there and spend 5 years getting yourselves all set up with citizenship as that will give your children more opportunities in the future. 

I'm sure whatever you choose will be right for you.

Vicky


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## dalaney (Oct 7, 2008)

Thanks Vicky.

Thats how my hubby feels aswell, he is very reluctant to turn down a job and it is a good job offer aswell.

I think we have agreed to go to Canada for a year and if I am really miserable then we will go to oz. At least we will have more money behind us from having a regular income for a year

Alot of moving about for the kids but hopefully I will be ok in Canada

The ideal stuation would be for us to visit both countries but unfortunately our finances won't let us do that.

Thankyou for your help and it's nice to hear that you prefer Canada

Denise


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## ozpro (Jul 28, 2011)

*Australia or Canada*



kiwi downunda said:


> Delaney,
> 
> I've lived in both Canada and Oz. Canada wins my vote hands down!!!!! Unless of course you don't like the closeness to the crazies in the USA, in which case go to Oz. Personally, as your hubby has a job offer for Canada, I'd go there and spend 5 years getting yourselves all set up with citizenship as that will give your children more opportunities in the future.
> 
> ...


Hi Vicky, All

Could you share some of your reasons for picking Canada over Oz please. I have been giving serious consideration to making the move to Canada from Oz, largely on the back of a high cost of living (food and housing are expensive and so are cars!), lack of consumer service and a detached (from the rest of the world) insular attitude that I believe will constrain my ability to achieve certain professional, business and social accomplishments and goals.

I also have family in the US and spread out across Europe, Asia and Africa all of which seem to be much easier to travel to from Canada as compared to traveling from Oz.

Thanks,

Richard


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## tarazena (Feb 1, 2011)

Ok, so I have responded to the Oz vs Canada question before. I am Canadian and I am moving to Australia in 2 months..(very excited!) I live in a very Southern part of Ontario (which is one of the warmest other then British Columbia) and we are moving solely because of the cold and winters. Sorry to say, Calgary is even worse. You will get about 4 months (maybe) of sunny weather and the other 8 months are miserable. I am not exagerrating that it goes to -30 or -40C. I went to Winnipeg (in Manitoba) once for X-mas..and I will never go there again. Calgary does have a high cost of living as well but you are for sure going to get employment. Canada is a great country... as long as you are ok with frigid cold, low Vitamin D and depression..so you have to take a Vitamin D daily during the winter. IT can also get pretty gloomy..but we have a beautiful country. A good thing about being near the U.S is the shopping and travelling. Shopping there is unbelievably cheap! I will miss that part dearly. So, buy lots of warm coats...you will need them, and mittens, and a toque and a scarf and you will still be cold. BTW- people have to plug their cars in for the winter or it is so cold they won't start. That's how cold it is...I am not exaggerating! That's my Canadian thought!


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## Muggu (Nov 10, 2010)

Hi everyone, 
I have been to Calgary twice on work permit sponsored by my Company. I must admit that every thing mentioned on weather in Calgary is true.


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