Canada is a great country it is true, and there are lots of reasons why this is the case. But for people considering going there "for a better life" - and that's why we all do it, right? - please believe me when I say, the job market is very competitive and your qualifications and experience from the UK will most likely count for much less than you anticipate so you might end up working for peanuts at first. If given the choice of a Canadian or a Brit to do any given job who would you, the Canadian employer, choose? The Canadian who knows the system, has local or at least Canadian experience, and was probably recommended by a friend or other employee - or a Brit from an unknown background?

I emigrated in 1990. I was a teacher with an excellent degree and experience in the UK, Europe and the Middle East, able to teach Science, Languages and English as a Foreign Language. I had to go back to university in Calgary and retrain as a teacher from scratch, and even then I couldn't get a job - not within the Calgary Board of Education or the Catholic Board - too much competition from better qualified local applicants. I ended up working at Office Depot for $8 an hour. After that became too much I went to TELUS Mobility as a call centre slave, and was on $10 an hour (1997). Then I got sick (cancer) and had the best medical care anyone could wish for, had a year off on unemployment to recover. Then the unemployment money stopped and I managed to get on to the books of a temporary agency as an office worker. I had a few dreadful jobs and one good one and then basically burnt out. The weather in the winter in Calgary gave me asthma and the stress was literally killing me. Our finances failed - our capital from the UK had run out and we had built up tremendous debt - and we were forced into bankruptcy. I went back to the UK to try to get a job there again but six months later I went back to Canada. But I didn't get another job again, having been ill I was terrified of the stress. We lived in Canmore at that time and by then - 7 years after emigrating - my husband had finally landed a job that gave him enough money to break even on. He's a mechanical engineer with a BSc and at that time had 20 years experience in his field.

This doesn't happen to everyone of course. But it happens to many. You need to be aware of the worst case scenario and believe it, in order to avoid it.

Plus, trust me, there is gang warfare in Canada too. Just yesterday I heard a youth had been stabbed to death in Marlborough, Calgary NE, which is adjacent to one area I lived in (Pineridge). There are plenty of gangs there - and there were in 1990 too, but now they openly use their weapons.

Don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but let's be realistic.
Have a great day!
Deeana