Canada And Australia. Countries Rich In Natural Resources.

[Alberta Tatlock]

I know Adelaide (and Perth) and the hottest temperature record there is about 46 degrees (in the shade of course). The reason why I prefer heat to cold is that at night in hot countries it always cools down, so you can go swimming and sit outside and relax, whereas in the cold countries is just gets worse at night and even more heating is required.

Also, you might get a heatwave of 40+ in these cities lasting maybe five days, and then it drops to a pleasant 25 - 35 again, but eight months of sub zero and white-outs is too much if you ask me, but each oto their own! FWIW I love Canada and have spent quite a bit of time there in various provinces and have family there, and I would recommend it to any British person looking for a better life, though I would make sure they knowe about the 10 days annual leave and the cold first!

I've been here for 5 winters now and have no intention of leaving. Sure it gets cold but the deep cold rarely lasts for long, also the 'eight months of sub-zero and whiteouts' is not true, I keep weather records and there's no way that happens. I enjoy winter sports so given that and the abundant sunshine I prefer 'bright and cold' to 'warm and damp'.

Oh, and I get 5 weeks annual leave as do most people I know. And I get every other Friday off work!

[ImA20SomethingGetMeOutOfHere]

I have my Canadian PR visa, and four interviews next week in Toronto and Montreal. Outside of Vancouver, property is petty cheap compared to the UK. I'll buy and I won't care if there's a crash because my mortgage will be tiny, even with a 4-5% hike!

Some of the above analysis is correct, Canada has quite big debts, but it has shed loads of natural resources to pay them off with. They will be bady affected by the coming mega crash and subsequent US/European depression, but they will be out of the gloom before those locations because China and India will want buy things from them once they learn to live without exporting to the US. I think canada is in a better position than Oz because of the variety of resources it has, almost 75% of electricity generated from hydro they have Oil, fish bears, water, culture ?!?! Anyway, I would say that, I'm hopefully going to be living there soon.

By the way, has anyone here anything to say about Halifax, one of the jobs is there.

When I was in Canada I thought it was amazing that you could be 30 minutes out of a major city and be surrounded in trees and bears. It's a huge place in a way that you can't really comprehend living in the UK. You get nice summers there, albeit a bit short, and there are some fantastic places to go camping if that's your thing.

WRT to the OP, all I can say is f***ing brilliant. I'm planning to move to Aus in about 2 years and the missus and I hope to rent (it's far cheaper than here) and save up to pay cash for a house in a few years. High interest rates? Bring 'em on!

Edited May 27, 2010 by ImA20SomethingGetMeOutOfHere

[South Lorne]

with higher IR's comes a stronger currency.

I don't think either of these two countries have much to worry about.

their purchasing power of goods and services from elsewhere around the world will be quite substantial.

....you might even see the aussie $ approach parity with GBP.

not so long ago it was 2:1 or more.

...stronger currency trashes exports ...and both countries rely on this like their blood flows ...their basic reason for being ...are exports...

[HovelinHove]

I've been here for 5 winters now and have no intention of leaving. Sure it gets cold but the deep cold rarely lasts for long, also the 'eight months of sub-zero and whiteouts' is not true, I keep weather records and there's no way that happens. I enjoy winter sports so given that and the abundant sunshine I prefer 'bright and cold' to 'warm and damp'.

Oh, and I get 5 weeks annual leave as do most people I know. And I get every other Friday off work!

Really? I was kind of resigned to only 4 max... I'll bare that in mind in the negotiations if I get an offer.

Your other comment is really re-assuring too, as that is exactly what I feel. I've known a few Canadians, from toronto, who have come here and said they feel colder because of the damp, and they miss the crystal clear skies.

Thanks for the other words of reassurance from others too...glad to here the traffic is no worse than here, and probably better. I am getting very excited, and every time I get miffed with something in this country, I tell myself to shut up andmake the most of the time I have left here, and try not to get miffed with stuff in Canada because I'm sure there'll be things that will annoy me there, but in balance, less than annoys me here. If you are an expat and want a reminder of just how pathetic this country can be read on:

I came up with a yardstick the other day for what might make me think about moving on to New Zealand if Canada claims the award...I call it the International measure of extreme numptiness...IMEN,and this was the event:

I was coming back from Cardiff going to Brighton (this time I managed to avoid the broken down train in some crack ridden hellhole in South wales which I'd suffered the week before). I arrive at Victoria to catch the Gatwick express, only to find that the Gatwick express service has been suspended due to “a person under train” at East Croydon…why the mechanic couldn’t do his work in the shed I don’t know! Anyway, I get on a Southern train advertised to stop at Gatwick on the board.

Half way to gatwick the driver announces that only the first half of the train is going to Gatwick, and I was in the rear coach, so I got off at East Croydon and ran up the platform. I would either have needed to invent a shrinking device on the spot to get myself on the train or ended up looking like I was in one of those awful pictures from the Hillsborough disaster, with my face squashed against the glass for 30 minutes. So I waited at the platform. Then, much to my relief, a train with Gatwick express written on the side appeared like a speedboat on the beaches of Dunkirk. I hopped on, sure that my journey was now coming to its conclusion.

That assumption didn’t take into account the extreme numptiness of Southern rail though. As the train eased away from the station and I glanced smugly at the other commuters standing in the aisle while I wallowed in first class comfort, I noticed the LED sign giving the next stations. It read…”welcome aboard the Gatwick Express service stopping at Three bridges, Haywards Heath etc”…three bridges is the station after Gatwick. Surely this had to be some mistake and the person inputing the data had assumed that the Gatwick express bit was self explanatory. Still, I felt a little uneasy that my **** was going to be in that first class seat for ten minutes longer than it should be. When a guard eventually turned up I asked him if the train was stopping at Gatwick. This was how the conversation went:

“This train isn’t stopping at Gatwick, it’s the South Coast train to Eastbourne and Littlehampton”

“But it says Gatwick express”

“We’re using their trains because the Gatwick express service is suspended.”

“I know it’s suspended, that’s why I’m on this train.”

“But it doesn’t stop at Gatwick.”

“So you’re using a Gatwick express train, but not stopping at Gatwick even though we go right through it, and there are no other services to Gatwick.”

“That is correct, don't blame me, I don't make the decisions.”

Even I was embarrassed by the language I used. Then I consoled myself with the thought that I will be emigrating from this island filled with f*ckwit jobsworths, but if I ever come across something so stupid in Canada, I will keep moving until I find a country not dominated by nobends!

Public transport in this country is a nightare. I have taken 10 long distance train journeys in the past two months, and only 4 went as planned, the rest resulted in hours of delay, or cancellation. I know Canada has non-existant public transport, but at least they don't pretend it's there then leave you stranded miles frrom anywhere with some idiot telling you it's nothing to do with him.

[Rare Bear]

Really? I was kind of resigned to only 4 max... I'll bare that in mind in the negotiations if I get an offer.

Your other comment is really re-assuring too, as that is exactly what I feel. I've known a few Canadians, from toronto, who have come here and said they feel colder because of the damp, and they miss the crystal clear skies.

Thanks for the other words of reassurance from others too...glad to here the traffic is no worse than here, and probably better. I am getting very excited, and every time I get miffed with something in this country, I tell myself to shut up andmake the most of the time I have left here, and try not to get miffed with stuff in Canada because I'm sure there'll be things that will annoy me there, but in balance, less than annoys me here. If you are an expat and want a reminder of just how pathetic this country can be read on:

I came up with a yardstick the other day for what might make me think about moving on to New Zealand if Canada claims the award...I call it the International measure of extreme numptiness...IMEN,and this was the event:

I was coming back from Cardiff going to Brighton (this time I managed to avoid the broken down train in some crack ridden hellhole in South wales which I'd suffered the week before). I arrive at Victoria to catch the Gatwick express, only to find that the Gatwick express service has been suspended due to "a person under train" at East Croydon…why the mechanic couldn't do his work in the shed I don't know! Anyway, I get on a Southern train advertised to stop at Gatwick on the board.

Half way to gatwick the driver announces that only the first half of the train is going to Gatwick, and I was in the rear coach, so I got off at East Croydon and ran up the platform. I would either have needed to invent a shrinking device on the spot to get myself on the train or ended up looking like I was in one of those awful pictures from the Hillsborough disaster, with my face squashed against the glass for 30 minutes. So I waited at the platform. Then, much to my relief, a train with Gatwick express written on the side appeared like a speedboat on the beaches of Dunkirk. I hopped on, sure that my journey was now coming to its conclusion.

That assumption didn't take into account the extreme numptiness of Southern rail though. As the train eased away from the station and I glanced smugly at the other commuters standing in the aisle while I wallowed in first class comfort, I noticed the LED sign giving the next stations. It read…"welcome aboard the Gatwick Express service stopping at Three bridges, Haywards Heath etc"…three bridges is the station after Gatwick. Surely this had to be some mistake and the person inputing the data had assumed that the Gatwick express bit was self explanatory. Still, I felt a little uneasy that my **** was going to be in that first class seat for ten minutes longer than it should be. When a guard eventually turned up I asked him if the train was stopping at Gatwick. This was how the conversation went:

"This train isn't stopping at Gatwick, it's the South Coast train to Eastbourne and Littlehampton"

"But it says Gatwick express"

"We're using their trains because the Gatwick express service is suspended."

"I know it's suspended, that's why I'm on this train."

"But it doesn't stop at Gatwick."

"So you're using a Gatwick express train, but not stopping at Gatwick even though we go right through it, and there are no other services to Gatwick."

"That is correct, don't blame me, I don't make the decisions."

Even I was embarrassed by the language I used. Then I consoled myself with the thought that I will be emigrating from this island filled with f*ckwit jobsworths, but if I ever come across something so stupid in Canada, I will keep moving until I find a country not dominated by nobends!

Public transport in this country is a nightare. I have taken 10 long distance train journeys in the past two months, and only 4 went as planned, the rest resulted in hours of delay, or cancellation. I know Canada has non-existant public transport, but at least they don't pretend it's there then leave you stranded miles frrom anywhere with some idiot telling you it's nothing to do with him.

I was in Canada last autumn, Toronto and Ottawa, and found that the traffic did seem to move smoothly and that public transport did work well and was cheap. The worst part of the whole travel experience was comeing back from Gatwick.

Found the people in Canada friendly and helpfull. Wasn't looking at house prices but day to day things seemed bloody cheap compare to here in the UK and an absolute steal compared to Ireland.