immigrating to vancouver from UK

[the_antagonist]

thoughts?

my wife is training to be a nurse however I have no qualifications and minimal education. I cant even beatmatch now that ableton exsists.

My record label can be run from anywhere in the world but its chumpchange compaired to having a job job.



the more I look at the pictures the more I want to do it.

[simonlb]

My uncle's moved to Vancouver (married a Canadian woman) and opened a liquor store type thing and he's getting on fine and loving life out there as far as I know... so if you've got a bit of business sense there might be some money to be made.

That's all the advice I can offer I'm afraid, not much experience with this sort of thing...

[leedsquietman]

I moved to the Greater Toronto area from the UK 10 years ago. I love it here, but the economy is in rough shape here as it is everywhere right now. Vancouver is about the most expensive place on Earth (I think Tokyo, Moscow and Paris are the only more expensive cities to live in), it even makes Toronto look cheap. And although it's picturesque, it has it's problems, the downtown eastside especially is a haven for homeless and junkies, gangs from El Salvador and Honduras and Triads. Some of the suburban towns which surround Vancouver are also not very nice, i.e. Surrey (nothing like the British version). It also rains even more than in Britain.

Still, Canadians are great people, very little racism here, very multicultural and I don't regret it, even though I lost my job in the fall (autumn) and still haven't been re-employed. Ontario was hit hardest. In Ontario you cannot own a liquor store, The Liquor Store (all alcohol) and The Beer Store (beer, lager) are government owned only in Ontario, no supermarket booze or corner store off licenses.

[the_antagonist]

my curent work has offices in toronto so that is an option we are considering.

i want great lifestyle
sking
beaches
techno music
hot summer

[v0ins315]

my curent work has offices in toronto so that is an option we are considering.

i want great lifestyle
sking
beaches
techno music
hot summer

I live in upstate NY, but I often travel up to toronto for parties. They have a way better scene than in the states IMO (excluding WMC ). Toronto has a hot summer, I'm sure there are places to ski lol, great techno music, and beaches. Toronto r0x. Be sure to visit "The Guvernment" club if you ever get over there. That place is killer. Went and saw Hawtin & Dubfire up there for my last visit.

[leedsquietman]

Skiing - you want Whistler for that mate, where much of the Olympics was held, about an hour - 90 mins north of Vancouver.

We have blue mountain and a couple of other stuff about 80-90 minutes from Toronto, but it's not like skiing in Whistler, which is comparable with the Alps in Europe etc.

Beaches - Toronto has lake front beaches on Lake Ontario although you have to check that they are not off limits due to pollution. Most beaches are open most of the time and have sandy beach (they have really cleaned up their act in the 10 yrs I've been here and the safety limits are higher than in the UK, so when it's safe, it is safe, Woodbine Beach and Cherry Beach are usually open, Marie Curtis Park and Rouge are often not)but Wasaga Beach (sand/shingle) about 80 minutes on Georgian Bay or Sauble Beach (sand) on Lake Huron (about 2 hrs 15 drive) are the best.

Vancouver has some beaches on the North end of the City, plus Trout Lake. One of the biggest problems in Vancouver is that it never really gets hot or cold there, and it's damp and rainy a lot, even in summer. In Ontario, we bake and go through energy blackouts occasionally in summer because of all the air-conditioning cranked up and it can get very hot and humid.

Vancouver has a burgeoning club scene, but fair to say it pales in comparison to Toronto.

The typical house price in Vancouver is about CDN$675,000 opposed to CDN$430,000 in Toronto (and where I live in the 905 suburbs in the Greater Toronto Area, $350,000). Living in Vancouver is nice but finding a good house under CDN$500,000 is nigh on impossible, which is one reason why homelessness is getting to be more of a problem there.

You can expect a good lifestyle in either city, or Calgary but avoid Winnipeg (Winterpeg) unless you like freezing cold harsh winters (often around -40o C) and a crap city riddled with social problems, drugs and crime.

[gjm]

Having lived in Van for 8 years... Auckland New Zealand just tips it on the scales.

[arctic ranger]

my curent work has offices in toronto so that is an option we are considering.

i want great lifestyle
sking
beaches
techno music
hot summer

vancouver summers are freaking beautiful!!!!
i kinda like the "rainy city" reputation vancouver has...scares everybody away
last summer was incredible!!

as far as techno music goes, not sure about the scene here but you could always start one

and of course loads of skiing and you dont have to go to whistler to get it. plenty of local mountains and you also have mt. baker down south.

vancouver is nice but expensive

[Pitch Black]

Having lived in Van for 8 years... Auckland New Zealand just tips it on the scales.

Shut up! SHUT UP!!!11!

[Android Bishop]

I live in upstate NY, but I often travel up to toronto for parties. They have a way better scene than in the states IMO (excluding WMC ). Toronto has a hot summer, I'm sure there are places to ski lol, great techno music, and beaches. Toronto r0x. Be sure to visit "The Guvernment" club if you ever get over there. That place is killer. Went and saw Hawtin & Dubfire up there for my last visit.

i wouldnt be so quick to lump the rest of the US into your upstate NY perspective of the party scene here

[v0ins315]

I live in upstate NY, but I often travel up to toronto for parties. They have a way better scene than in the states IMO (excluding WMC ). Toronto has a hot summer, I'm sure there are places to ski lol, great techno music, and beaches. Toronto r0x. Be sure to visit "The Guvernment" club if you ever get over there. That place is killer. Went and saw Hawtin & Dubfire up there for my last visit.

i wouldnt be so quick to lump the rest of the US into your upstate NY perspective of the party scene here

My bad. You're right about that. I have only really been to east coast parties, so I shouldn't be judging the whole u.s on my sheltered party experience.

[Hidden Driveways]

One of my old friends (who was the bassist in one of my bands) moved to Vancouver. He met a woman online and they ended up getting married, and she was from Vancouver. Even though he was engaged to a Canadian woman, he still needed to clear all of these hurdles and cut through a lot of red tape. I think one of the requirements is that you need $10,000 in savings to even be considered (this was back in 2004).

My girlfriend's aunt and her husband are planning to move there. Her aunt's husband has dual citizenship. They are moving to Vancouver to retire, even though they have spent their entire lives in New Jersey. Why are they moving so far away from their family for their golden years? That's right! Health care! They are both very hard working people who likely have a considerable amount of money saved for retirement. But, when they looked at their options for the future, moving to Canada makes the most sense because even if the slightest thing goes wrong with your health in the United States, it doesn't matter how much money you saved for your entire life. You are going to flat broke and blighted in poverty. It's a 100% guarantee.

Go USA!

[Mehalic]

Skiing - you want Whistler for that mate, where much of the Olympics was held, about an hour - 90 mins north of Vancouver.

We have blue mountain and a couple of other stuff about 80-90 minutes from Toronto, but it's not like skiing in Whistler, which is comparable with the Alps in Europe etc.

Beaches - Toronto has lake front beaches on Lake Ontario although you have to check that they are not off limits due to pollution. Most beaches are open most of the time and have sandy beach (they have really cleaned up their act in the 10 yrs I've been here and the safety limits are higher than in the UK, so when it's safe, it is safe, Woodbine Beach and Cherry Beach are usually open, Marie Curtis Park and Rouge are often not)but Wasaga Beach (sand/shingle) about 80 minutes on Georgian Bay or Sauble Beach (sand) on Lake Huron (about 2 hrs 15 drive) are the best.

Vancouver has some beaches on the North end of the City, plus Trout Lake. One of the biggest problems in Vancouver is that it never really gets hot or cold there, and it's damp and rainy a lot, even in summer. In Ontario, we bake and go through energy blackouts occasionally in summer because of all the air-conditioning cranked up and it can get very hot and humid.

Vancouver has a burgeoning club scene, but fair to say it pales in comparison to Toronto.

The typical house price in Vancouver is about CDN$675,000 opposed to CDN$430,000 in Toronto (and where I live in the 905 suburbs in the Greater Toronto Area, $350,000). Living in Vancouver is nice but finding a good house under CDN$500,000 is nigh on impossible, which is one reason why homelessness is getting to be more of a problem there.

You can expect a good lifestyle in either city, or Calgary but avoid Winnipeg (Winterpeg) unless you like freezing cold harsh winters (often around -40o C) and a crap city riddled with social problems, drugs and crime.

Don't forget about Quebec. Amazing skiing up there with Mnt. St Anne, Mnt. Bromont, etc. Great place for skiiing/snoboarding in winter and downhill mountain biking in the summer. Hard to top Whistler, but Quebec has it spots and probably about 5-7hr drive from Toronto (not to mention the Snow Festival they have up there in the winter - outdoor parties in the snow... wild).

I love the west coast but it's WAY too expensive. Great for a vacation though, and the greens are top notch