canada

Jimbo,

I guess that would be entirely up to you, wouldn't it? I mean for some people, they don't think things out, they don't analyze all the pros and cons, the advantages, disadvantages and consequences.... so for them it would probably not be even a slight blip on the radar screen. Others might want to do their homework, find out all about the country they're going to, the way the bureaucracy works, what day-to-day life is like, the employment situation, taxes, and on, and on, and on... for them perhaps the decision to just up and go would be something more seriously taken.

One thing that I can tell you from personal experience of having seen it happen all too often. The vast majority of people who don't take the matter seriously are generally the same ones who find that they weren't aware of some very important fact, or that there are certain aspects of life in the new country they can't accept and are the very same people how complain the longest and loudest. You can't expect to come to a new country and keep on crying about "it's not like that back home", because you aren't back home.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

Hi William.

I would like to move to Canada in the near future.  I'm 49 & my husband is 54 yrs old.  We have a son of 11 yrs and we want to come for his studies there.  Is it really that school are free for resident and will it be possible for us to find jobs.

Thanks for advising me as much as you can.

Regards,
SALMA

Hello Salma,

From kindergarten to the end of highschool, grade 12 or 13 if going on to university the public school system is free. Beyond highschool students pay for their tuition.

Finding jobs really depends on your level of skills, if they are marketable and in demand.

You can imagine that in a country that shares a common border of 5000 miles with the USA and has about 80 percent of its population living within 300km of the border the economic situation in the USA has had a drastic effect on the Canadian economy too, so jobs aren't as easy to find as they once were.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

Dear William,

Thanks a lot for your helpful advice.

Regards,
SALMA