Help! Moving to Nova Scotia

[John03]

Hello to all,

My name is John, I am a 29 year old male currently living and working in Wales (UK). I recently applied for a job with IMP Aerospace in Halifax N.S and have subsequently received a job working in N.S as of October 2008. I will be moving out on my own and could do with some help 'settling in'.

I have never been to Nova Scotia but have been researching on the internet about lifestyle and living there.

I was hoping that a few people could help me with information about N.S and the immediate vicinity around the Airport, places to live , hire cars, rent, socialising networks and any other relevent information.

Many thanks
John

[macmel]

Hi just saw your post on one of my many research projects on the net. My husband has also been offered a job with IMP to start in October and we are moving out as a family of 4. We have been registered with UK2Novascotia for 18 months or so now and they are really helpful so if you haven't already registered with them I would recommend them as they have lots of services you can make use of.

Can I ask what you think of the wages/cost of living ratio. It seems a scarily low income and I am not sure if a family of 4 could survive on such a low wage initially. I would get a job but for the first couple of months I would like to be home to settle my children into the area. Have you been given any advice on how people manage on the income?

Sorry I am not of any help on the landing issues but I am sure you will get some replies as the Canadians seem a very helpful lot!

[John03]

Hi there thanks for the reply, I was going to register with that site uk2novascotia soon. I am going out there in June to view the area and have a look at some properties etc!

I think the wage is good for someone like me, ie single, but not sure you could keep a family of 4 going! Depends if you will be working yourself? What will your partner/husband be doing at IMP?

[cbelanger82]

Macmel,
Can I ask what kind of income you'll be getting. I'm a Canadian living in the UK and I can tell you that the cost of living is a lot lower in Canada. I find that a lot of items can be found in Canada with the same tag price but it's in Canadian dollars instead of pounds. That means that the item is half the price!!!

[Alicat]

Hi I moved to Nova Scotia from Ontario Canada in Feb 2007. Moving from a higher payer province was a shock to the system. Nova Scotia is a very low paying province. If you can get a good job here you should do fine. The prices for houses are very cheap inland, waterfront property is outrageous. Food, building supplies are high here. I am not sure what you expect, I realize you are comming from the UK which is a very high cost country, I am originally from scotland so you will see the price difference in housing for sure. Food and such you will see a difference as well. Its a good idea to come first and check it out, jobs are very scarce here, at least the high paying ones. They consider high pay around 50,000.00 here. Good luck in your move. Nova Scotia is a beautiful province and the people here are very laid back, they are in no hurry to do anything, they are also about 10years behind the rest of the world. Example we have very limited natural gas here for homes and such. We are either on propane or oil which is about 1.10ltr for propane, most people heat with wood here which is about 180cord delivered. Gas for your vehicle is 1.42ltr right now. Property taxes are cheap here. If you would like more info email me @ alibob@ns.sympatico.ca...............Later

[Jansterb]

Hello Macmel

I am new to this forum and have just been viewing you post. i lived in nova Scotia for 5 years from 1991-1996, working as a supply school teacher, i was then married to a Canadain from Dartmouth NS. i now live back in the UK I'm re married to a british engineer and have 2 kids. i have recently managed to persuade my hubby to live in Canada, He has applied to IMP as he presently works in the aerospace industry over here. We sent our CV s to mike and Orla at UK2 nova Scotia. mike forwarded my husbands CV to IMP 6 weeks ago, but IMP have not responded as yet. Could you let me know how long ther process took for your husband to get a response and how IMP wnt about things, ie, did they invite your husband over for interview etc?
Also your comment about the wage really worries me. i work full time here but was hoping to have a couple of months off when we move to settle my children and then try and find a part time post.
I thought IMP salaries would be equivalent to here or at least not far off!! I realise house prices are much cheaper as I worked as a realtor also in NS so I have a good idea of the areas and prices. would you mind letting me know what job your husband has got and an idea of salary? Iof anyone else reading this can help I would really appreicate it thanks in anticipation. Janet

[macmel]

Hi Janet

I have just seen your post and will try and give you as much info as possible. I went to meet with IMP in Bristol and they were incredibly helpful and gave me all the information I needed. My husband was offered a job at IMP to start in October but unfortunately our current situation meant that, after much discussion and decision making, we had to turn the position down for the moment. We are currently living abroad and have our house rented out in the UK and because of the length of the tenancy agreement it meant that we were unable to release capital to make the move.

The salary is obviously dependent on what your husband would be doing but they have a union that sets salaries annually. We found that we would not be able to have just one income as the wage was about half of the hourly rate he currently earns. It is a fair wage when taking into account the cost of living and if our circumstances were different we would have jumped at the chance of making the move and we do hope to be able to pursue the option of employment with IMP again in the near future.

I hope that answers a few of your queries and you have an easier time making your decision than we did! I would suggest contacting Mike and Orla because they were really supportive and helpful when I called them to discuss things like capital required etc.

Good luck

Originally Posted by Jansterb

Hello Macmel

I am new to this forum and have just been viewing you post. i lived in nova Scotia for 5 years from 1991-1996, working as a supply school teacher, i was then married to a Canadain from Dartmouth NS. i now live back in the UK I'm re married to a british engineer and have 2 kids. i have recently managed to persuade my hubby to live in Canada, He has applied to IMP as he presently works in the aerospace industry over here. We sent our CV s to mike and Orla at UK2 nova Scotia. mike forwarded my husbands CV to IMP 6 weeks ago, but IMP have not responded as yet. Could you let me know how long ther process took for your husband to get a response and how IMP wnt about things, ie, did they invite your husband over for interview etc?
Also your comment about the wage really worries me. i work full time here but was hoping to have a couple of months off when we move to settle my children and then try and find a part time post.
I thought IMP salaries would be equivalent to here or at least not far off!! I realise house prices are much cheaper as I worked as a realtor also in NS so I have a good idea of the areas and prices. would you mind letting me know what job your husband has got and an idea of salary? Iof anyone else reading this can help I would really appreicate it thanks in anticipation. Janet

[Jansterb]

Thanks Macmel for the information we appreciate it.

We are really not sure now on the move at all. We've also heard that there are only 2 weeks holiday per year as well, we get 6 in the UK.
We are going to wait to hear from IMP and see what they have to offer before making any decisions, but staying in the UK is looking more and more like the best option.
We are in regular contact with mike and Orla who are, as you say, so very helpful. we are due to meet up with Willis Brazalot later this month so we will know more then.
thanks again
Janet

[macmel]

Hi

You are right about the 2 weeks. I think this is pretty much the same over much of Canada. They are very upfront about the lack of holidays and realise that for us Brits it is a big shock to be reduced to so little time off. However, for us it is not so much of an issue as my husband is a contractor at the moment and he gets no holiday pay so over the year we take long weekends and go skiing etc instead of having a 2 week break twice a year.

I did a lot of research into moving and we are still very up for it as we don't really want to live in the UK again for any length of time. Where we are now is very relaxed and the pace of life is positively horizontal and we have such a great family life that we don't want to go back to the work work work attitude of Britain.

I hope all becomes clear for you. It is always a big step moving with children but over the past 8 months here our boys (11 & 14) have settled in really well and with a foreign language to learn (14 year old fluent 11 year old not too far off) they have done brilliantly. Now we have taken the plunge to live outside the UK they are up for anything and relish any new challenges.

Let me know how you get on.

[Jansterb]

Thanks Macmel.
perhaps we can chat direct? My e mail is:janetbrennand@btinternet.com if you are on facebook you can look me up on there as Janet Brennand. My kids are 14 and 9, my 14 year old does not want to move at all, she's not up for the challenge at all. our son is a little more open to it though. Maybe I'm just going through a mid life crisis!!! Canada was an obvious choice as I already have citizenship and have lived there before. since learning about the lack of holidays and lower salaries my enthusiam has decreased somewhat. still going to persue it for now though and see what happens. hopefully speak to you soon Janet