Anyone been to Canada ?

[Ex-Staffs Gull]

Sully...

I qualify to get Skilled Worker status without work, but it's a hell of a gamble without work. The IT job market isn't great (my current field) and I don't know how easy it is to get into teaching.... (my other occupation in a past life)

Any advice would be greatfully accepted...

 

[chip]

More recollections of Canada then. Torronto didn't do much for me, but Ottawa I liked (obviously I have arrived at a more sedate age). The Rockies in Alberta are trully fantastic. You drive for a couple of hours from Edmonton/Clagary accross flat plains with the odd oil rig and they just appear towering out of nowhere. Glacial lakes of the most incredible blue water all around. Icefield Parkway is bar far the best drive I have ever done (unless you're behind a coach full of Japanese tourists).

I took a friend and his familly to who had recently emigrated to Niagra only to find he had been three times before and crashed the hire car. About 100 miles north of Torronto is an area full of lakes with an incredible boat lift. Like a lock, but the boats are lifted out the water and accross the road.

Yellowknife is tiny and avoid mosquitos in summer. At this time of year you can watch the aurora boureallis which is just like tripping. Resolute bay is flat but you can meet Innuit, see musk ox and see the midnight sun. Just like the midday sun but slightly out of position.

Had planned on a sabatical to UBC last year, but changed jobs and no one wanted to pay my salary. For me, BC is the most interesting overall and Whitehorse in the Yukon the most pretty. BC bud is very good, but don't take it to the US.

 

[Happy Seagull]

I say jump on the plane Easy! Been to Canada a couple of times, flew into Calgary and then drove to Jasper for 2 weeks skiing. Is in my top 5 holidays i've taken. Also been to Montreal which i found to be another excellent place. Rather cheap i found and so easy to get around too. Will definately be looking to go back sometime in the future.

 

[bhaexpress]

I can concur with the mention of Canada being such a highly rated place to live. I was seriously thinking of moving there earlier this year as I have far more relatives there than in England now. However, I think it's time to slow down on the American knocking. Not all Americans are loud and vulgar. Where I am moving to I get treated very well by all (apart from the wife's ex husband who I am in the process of bankrupting).

Yes Canada is a great place but it's unfair to compare it with the US. You get good and bad in both countries I might add.

 

[Sullycanuck]

Staffsgull - I too am currently in IT and I must say that it was a long wait before I found a decent paying job. I have heard that the job market for IT people is going to be booming soon but then again I've heard that before. That aside, there is a great demand for Call Center people. Not the best paying job but it would do for starters. I did that for a year befor my current job. I also was a teacher for a number of the years I was in the navy here. You'll need a University degree to have any chance of getting a job in one of the schools here, although you might have a chance teaching in one of the Techinical colleges if you have the credentials. MCSE etc. Good luck and hope to meet you some day. I live in London Ontario but work in Sarnia which is about an hours commute.
Chip - Hi Chip! My home town is not far from that place you mentioned about an hours drive north of Toronto. The area is called the District of Muskoka and is one of the major tourist and summer cottage areas in Canada. I come from a town called Gravenhurst whose nickname is "The Gateway to Muskaoka" as it is the first town you come to when you arrive from the south.

 

[Ex-Staffs Gull]

Sully, I have a teaching degree and a Masters in Computer Science. But Java is too easily farmed out to the Indian sub continent :-(

Still I am applying at the moment and will hopefully get the go ahead in 6 months. Then we shall see....

Cheers

 

[Sullycanuck]

StaffsGull - If you can't get a job here with those credentials then there is something wrong with the world. Come on over mate.

 

[fleet]

Canada - nice to visit but still too American to live there.

 

[Sullycanuck]

I must admit, there's a lot of things in Britain I find interesting. I like to think of Canada as having all the amenities of America but still proud to have it's own identity. I attribute this to not having separated itself from Britain as the Americans did. The mentality of both nations has evolved from that point.