Considering moving to Canada...

[Fabio_kun]

It´s just been a long time since I last posted something here.

Lately I've been considering the possibility of moving to Canada. Do you think I'd regret it?

Since I got into Rush, Our Lady Peace and Matthew Good back in the days I was around 15 yrs old I started developing this passion for Canada. Now it's down to a point where I'm 23 trying my best to graduate from college and working in of Brazil's biggest e-Learning companies.

I know Canada has some very immigrant-friendly laws... and since I've always wanted to go through the experience of living abroad, specially somewhere I can speak it's native language.

I also plan on going to Canada by the end of the year. Just to spend some time down there and see how much I like it. I'm thinking about going to Toronto. How crazy do you people think it is to consider the possibility of moving to Canada? It would be pretty much like this: I'd save enough money to cover my expenses for the first six months while I look for a job.

I've already researched all the legal visa stuff and It's possibile to go to Canada with a Residence Permit type of thing where I'd be going there classified as a qualified worker since I speak pretty decent english, I've been working for less than a year as a webmaster on nice company down here and I've got a college degree.

Am I completely out of my mind?

Keep in mind that I've always wanted to live abroad and spend some time in another country. And I really consider the possibility of starting a family somewhere else than Brazil.

[Johnny]

Move to vancouver.

[xjsb125]

I would think Toronto or Vancouver would be good choices, since both appear to be fairly culturally diverse. I'd be very sure of finding work before I moved. Now may not be the best time to relocate, and you may want to consider waiting until the world economy is in a gain, rather than a decline. Nothing wrong with wanting to move there. If I had to live in another country, it's where I'd want to be.

[Dr. Hobo]

i agree with matt about the work thing.. i'd be very careful about that aspect

[Fabio_kun]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Yeah yeah, I'm not going to do that anytime soon. I plan on going to Canada later on this year... and If I really do plan on maybe trying to move there that will only happen around 2010/2011.

[Lando]

good timeline. Not too early! I'm Canadian, it's a good country, you'll probably enjoy it when you visit!

[crustine]

In terms of climate the coasts are much kinder west kinder than the east. Toronto gets cold but is in the bubble of smog so it is warmer than surrounding areas. of course all of this you probably know

[Fabio_kun]

I got in touch with some brazilians who live in Winnipeg and they were complaining about the -20 degrees winter. That must be tough indeed but since I'm more of a winter guy I think that'll be something that hopefully I'll get used to.

Plus I'm already saving money for my Toronto trip later on this year. How long should I stay there? around 10 days or more?

[Random Name]

Central Canada, like the prairies gets it bad in the winter, in my opinion because they get the worst cold temperatures. The places next to the ocean, like BC (I'm assuming, haha) and Atlantic Canada get more muted temperatures but more precipitation. But you seem very set on Toronto. I'm just trying to give you an idea of the varying places.

[Kicker774]

Make sure when you go that you do try and experience as much as possible.

I was up for a week in December but with everyday (Including the weekends) being a full 10 hour stress filled day I didn't feel like exploring anything more than my Hotel room.

However I did checkout a meetup party and met a lot of cool people that welcomed me to the group immeadiatley which made the trip a success.

Check out the public transit system and make sure your comfortable with it. Driving from spot to spot in Toronto will get expensive and time consuming real fast.

[laurel]

anyone that willingly moves to saskatchewan is freaking crazy.

we've been in a cold snap for the past...month? i think it is now?

yay -20 with -30 windchill. i really love it when it feels like like -50 out for a month straight.

then it warms up to -6, dumps 2389593286528793 feet of snow on us, and then gets savagely cold again.

woo.

however, you can't beat all the other seasons here. spring, summer, and fall are wonderful.

winter.is.hell.

so don't move to saskatchewan. although you haven't mentioned considering it. i just wanted to warn you in case you got that idea in your head.

[beautiful liar]

my parents are moving to winnipeg in february because my dad got promoted. they are not looking forward to the weather.

remember different parts of Canada have different climates, but also different costs of living. so make sure you check out not only the job markets of potential areas, but also things like rent prices, heating costs, living expenses (I was shocked at how much cheaper groceries are in Toronto than Calgary), cost of public transportation, etc.

if you've been dreaming of moving, go for it. but try and do as much research as possible beforehand.

[Johnny]

I'm considering moving to Regina for school. :O

[Kicker774]

Looking at a few sites breifly it actually looks like the cost of living is higher in Brazil in such places as Rio and Sao Paulo than in Toronto.

So who knows it may be a bit more affordable to live there than in Brazil.

[Joe Cooler]

I'm considering moving to Regina for school. :O

Saskatoon man, Saskatoon. It's a much better option. Unless you plan on becoming an RCMP officer, the U of S is a better choice. At least in my highly biased opinion.

[laurel]

UofR!

and from what I remember from awhile ago, Johnny was interested in criminology - so the RCMP thing is good! we have a strong human justice faculty at the UofR. In fact, I have a human justice night class tonight.

and in my highly biased opinion, the UofR is a better choice.

take that, you saskatonian!

[Johnny]

Well, the U of R is where I'd go and as Laurel said, they have an excellent program for policing there.

[saman]

it's true. i don't think the u of s even has a police program. but in every other respect, the u of s is better

[Shanae]

anyone that willingly moves to saskatchewan is freaking crazy.

we've been in a cold snap for the past...month? i think it is now?

yay -20 with -30 windchill. i really love it when it feels like like -50 out for a month straight.

then it warms up to -6, dumps 2389593286528793 feet of snow on us, and then gets savagely cold again.

woo.

however, you can't beat all the other seasons here. spring, summer, and fall are wonderful.

winter.is.hell.

so don't move to saskatchewan. although you haven't mentioned considering it. i just wanted to warn you in case you got that idea in your head.

I like Saskatchewan because it's wide open and very pretty. Then again, I'm sure the same thing goes if you live on a farm anywhere.

[laurel]

i've always lived in regina...

i think saskatchewan is absolutely gorgeous. especially a bit more up north...there's some crazy beautiful lakes up there that no one seems to know about.

i love the open space and skyline. the 'land of living skies' logo we have is oh-so applicable. i enjoy being able to see sunsets, sunrises, and everything in between...whenever i go to the mountains, i start to feel horribly closed in.

i do love saskatchewan. i just hate the weather more than anything. well...i only hate the winter, cause i hate being cold. and luckily we have a very dry climate...i'd hate to have a wet winter like the east coast gets.