Canada Looks Good

[Torben]

So how does that point system work? Is it skill level, education, stuff like that?

I don't know if it's the same now, but 10 years ago when my ex-wife was immigrating, there was a whole process involved with calculating her level of education and profession. Canada Customs had a list of professions which were considered desirable, meaning that we needed more of those workers. She was an elementary school teacher, which was not at all high on the list.

There was however apparently a severe shortage of accordion repairmen in Canada at the time, though--they were very high on the list.


Torben

 

[Torben]

If you are going to call people wrong you should be specific.

Agreed. With all due respect, Bob, I don't see much in your post which contradicts previous posts.


Torben

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Yup are biting just when the fish are biting. It's the bears I might be a little worried about. I've already done the close encounter of the bear type. Momma sow about 350 pounds I kept clacking two rocks together while standing in the middle of a small creek about 15 feet wide saying......

I met a badger close up once

No dangerous wild animals in the UK - one very rare mildly poisonous snake, and that's it.

 

[Pommie]

Anyone thats interested in anything to do with emigration should find this forum interesting. Although it was originally setup to help British Expats it is now pretty international. Having gone through the emigration process 5 years ago I know how stressing it can be and found many answers and lots of advice on that site.

Mike.

 

[killivolt]

Badgers.

I met a badger close up once

No dangerous wild animals in the UK - one very rare mildly poisonous snake, and that's it.

Depending on how close those things are to you. Straight up Dangerous angry little Creatures. You may have been in more danger than me. I've heard some nasty story's about them before.


We used to collect rattle snakes in the desert for the poison. My friends Dad worked at a local College that process the poison.

You do it when they first come out in the spring there slow and you use a noose and a fishing pole. You get them while sunning them selfs on the rocks.

Rattle Snake fishing.

kv

 

[futz]

We used to collect rattle snakes in the desert for the poison. My friends Dad worked at a local College that process the poison.

You do it when they first come out in the spring there slow and you use a noose and a fishing pole. You get them while sunning them selfs on the rocks.

Oh ya! In the dry interior, especially around **broken link removed** (I was born there) along the Thompson River, there are lots of rattlesnakes. It's a bit spooky to climb down to the edge of the river over rocks and find a sandy beach covered with S shapes from snakes there (probably not all rattlers - there are quite a few other species around). Makes you very much NOT want to go back up those rocks! That said, I've never seen a live rattler in the wild (knock wood). I've seen large bull snakes (nasty bite - no venom) and tons of harmless garter snakes. I've seen bears (no grizzlies - only blacks), a couple cougars, some moose (the cows can be quite aggressive if they have calves).

 

[RadioRon]

Hi Arrie
I live in the Vancouver BC area. Vancouver is a big city with the usual outlying suburbs and smaller towns. Vancouver is completely surrounded by geographic features that limit the amount of room for growth. There are mountains to the north and east, the ocean to the west and the Canada-US border to the south. Sure, there is farm country for about 50 miles eastward before you hit the mountain wall, but all of that is accounted for and full. So when someone wants to build a new house here, they have to compete for a plot from a very limited availability. This competition drives up the cost. The competition seems to be strong now and has been since the city was established in the late 1880's but has become more intense since 1988. There are several drivers for this competition. First of all, we are in Canada which is a very peaceful place. We could argue about the government and politics and the public systems, but things seem to go ok most of the time here. Then there is the weather. Vancouver and nearby cities have much better weather than anywhere else in Canada. That is, if you consider temperatures the main thing. If you consider sunshine the main thing, then well, maybe we are not in first place. But the fact is that in winter it might snow for a week or less here, it might go below 0 (Celcius of course, not F) 5 or 10 days out of the year, and it is not uncommon to suffer grey days and light rain for many many days in a row during November to April. In the summer, people are complaining about the heat if it goes above 27 deg C which it doesn't do more than a few days. Anyway, my point is the weather is very good, for being in Canada.

As for the cost of living, well, housing is the big thing. If you don't mind living in a close suburb of Vancouver, then count on a house costing about $400K at the bottom end for something simple on a standard city lot (about 7000 sq ft lot) and a reasonably nice new house might go for about $550K and up.
http://www.mls.ca/map.aspx?AreaID=1048
In the city proper, count on $500K as the cheaper old-timer needing a lot of repairs, while the range goes a long ways upward from there depending on the neighborhood.
Here are some examples of food cost from my shopping this week:
4 litres milk $3.39
1.2 Kg roasted coffee beans $10.99
2.6 litre grape juice $6.99
1 litre applie juice $1.69
breakfast for two at local family restaurant $27.00
regular gasoline for car $1.47/litre
shop rate for local auto repair shop $84/hour
fancy sourdough bread, loaf $2.39
grapes kg $5.05
english cucumber, fresh$.99
whole white onions $2.18/kg
whole tomato $3.29/kg
carton of 6x0.33 litre Stella Artois beer $12.35
typical 0.75 litre wine $16
montly telephone bill about $40 (phone only)
regular whole wheat bread $1.39/loaf
roasting chicken $16.00
box of cheerios breakfast cereal $5.98/370gr
men's haircut $15.00

Our income taxes, usually taken off a paycheque by the employer are summarized well here:
https://www.electro-tech-online.com/custompdfs/2008/09/bc_personal_tax_rate.pdf
If you own a typical house, expect to pay about $2500/ yr provincial property tax. Usually water charges and garbage pickup charges are separate at a couple of hundred a year.
Car insurance is about $1200/year but varies a lot depending on car and person and coverage.
Heating and electricity costs are usually about $300 per month, very roughly estimated.
Hospital and doctor visits are paid by the gov't so nothing out of pocket for an emergency visit or doctor visit or surgery. Many employers also provide extended coverage insurance to buy the extras like private rooms, home equipment, all sorts of things that gov't won't cover (more unusual stuff).

One thing I want to say about BC. The mountains dictate where people can live, so it feels like a few roads and a few small cities and lots and lots of wilderness. The road network through the province is actually fairly small because it costs a fortune to knock a road through these mountains. On the other hand, living in Vancouver, we are well connected to points south like Seattle and Portland and many travel this way.

 

[arrie]

I met a badger close up once

No dangerous wild animals in the UK - one very rare mildly poisonous snake, and that's it.

Most mildly poisonous snakes over here will just have you feel out of sorts for a couple days (up to five or so), so they don't really count.
Some snake handlers handle them by hand. I have severe allergies, so I do not take chances, I only use a snake hook.
I've been very close to some serious snakes, snouted cobra, boomslang and spitting cobra, but have not really had my hand on one of them.
We also have a lot of completely harmless snakes, ones that must catch their food and eat it alive - not constrictors, but these are scarce in many areas.
Nice to handle, but keeping a snake as pet is really hard work.

My wife will love the UK - she is petrified of snakes.
I once wanted to show her a rhombic egg eater - she freaked, almost climbed through the burglar bars to get out the house.
She was so freaked that even I started to get scared.

 

[arrie]

Depending on how close those things are to you. Straight up Dangerous angry little Creatures. You may have been in more danger than me. I've heard some nasty story's about them before.


We used to collect rattle snakes in the desert for the poison. My friends Dad worked at a local College that process the poison.

You do it when they first come out in the spring there slow and you use a noose and a fishing pole. You get them while sunning them selfs on the rocks.

Rattle Snake fishing.

kv

Over here the seasoned guys just neck them.
I have never necked a highly venomous snake, unfortunately.
So I cannot relay the rush. Maybe someday I'll have my turn.

 

[arrie]

Thanks RadioRon.

That is very informative.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Most mildly poisonous snakes over here will just have you feel out of sorts for a couple days (up to five or so), so they don't really count.

I seem to recall it said on the TV the other day that the last Adder bite fatality in the UK was a young girl in 1977 or so?.

 

[Bob Scott]

And when you get sick of looking at pasty face Canadians, you can move to sunny San Diego... j/k

It was generalized comments like this one from an American that irked me. Most Canadians are not pasty faced.

I actually did see an American car with snowshoes on the roof rack in Willowdale in July of 1966.

I really did hear and American woman sweating in the 100F heat in the parking lot at Niagara Falls in August 1987 telling her husband "I thought you told me it was cold in Canada!"

San Diego is "Northern Tijuana", and it's true that residents are anything but pastyfaced, but the tan is natural.

 

[Mikebits]

j/k means just kidding. Geez, lighten up.

 

[3v0]

Arrie, you are getting a lot of misinformation, especially from the Americans. I have lived in southern Ontario, northern and southern Manitoba, and Vancouver.

What I read was "Americans are idiots listen to me"

It was generalized comments like this one from an American that irked me. "Most Canadians are pasty faced..J/K"

It would have made more sense to respond to what irked you!

3v0

 

[Mikebits]

To all my photonically deprived neighbors up north. I apologize for my comment concerning the pigmentation (or lack there of) of your epidermal covering. I only meant to make light of your otherwise solar deficient day. Again, I am just kidding

I was just kidding eh?, no offense intended...

 

[3v0]

Summer days grow longer as you travel north.

 

[jpanhalt]

I don't know how immigration from RSA to the USA is. If it is a consideration, as a general rule, anything near or between Interstate 70 and I-80 is pretty temperate (in my opinion). I-90 is too cold; I-10 is too hot. I grew up on the west coast, but frankly prefer anything east of California, except for a couple of notable cities east of the Appalachian mountains (NYC and Boston).

John

 

[killivolt]

What up with being tan anyhow !

I don't know why so many whites want to be tan anyhow. I'm white Caucasian no so blond anymore but so what. Maybe not so pasty faced having worked in the sun a bit to much. Still I wouldn't take offense to having a pasty face ?

It's not this that bothers me it's just so many people are so hung up over it.

If you get my point.

kv

 

[audioguru]

Talking about skin colour, not all Africans and Americans are black.
I used to live in Hongcouver when it was mostly white and was still called Vancouver.
It rained all the time. Now most people ("hongs") have yellow skin and eat rice.

 

[Mikebits]

Those were the days...

**broken link removed**