SA Footy

Just wondering if anyone on here has lived and worked in Canada before?
Best towns to live in? How they went about getting work living expenses etc etc.
Any info would be great

I lived in Canada for a while, and I would highly recommend it.

I lived about 3 hours west of Toronto, and I found that it was close enough from the big smoke, but far enough away from the busy pace of it.

I'd personally recommend living/working anywhere around the Golden Horseshoe, or maybe even a smaller city like Kingston, Ontario.

If you're looking out west, the snowfields in Alberta have plenty of Aussie ex-pats too.

I lived in Fernie BC for a ski season.... Would also recommend it!



But dont bother working, you'll be lucky to earn $10 per hour. Just save a little longer here.



Oh and the best thing, if your under 30, just put $200 in the mail for a 2 year work visa.

You don't need a job or accommodation sorted before you get there.

Banker wrote:I lived in Fernie BC for a ski season.... Would also recommend it!

Fernie, the birthplace of Alex Lifeson!

I wish I could've spent more time in Ottawa though... it's a beautiful city.

Thanks for the info This is on the agenda if my career change doesn't work out and I have to wait another year to re-apply. The trade I've completed has business throughout Canada so I'm going to look into that!

mighty hounds wrote:Thanks for the info This is on the agenda if my career change doesn't work out and I have to wait another year to re-apply. The trade I've completed has business throughout Canada so I'm going to look into that!

No worries mate.

Trust me, you won't regret it. I loved my time over there, and now I'm addicted to coffee...

Failed Creation wrote:

mighty hounds wrote:Thanks for the info This is on the agenda if my career change doesn't work out and I have to wait another year to re-apply. The trade I've completed has business throughout Canada so I'm going to look into that!

No worries mate.

Trust me, you won't regret it. I loved my time over there, and now I'm addicted to coffee...

Oh how did you find getting a place to stay in over there? easy/hard?

mighty hounds wrote:

Failed Creation wrote:

mighty hounds wrote:Thanks for the info This is on the agenda if my career change doesn't work out and I have to wait another year to re-apply. The trade I've completed has business throughout Canada so I'm going to look into that!

No worries mate.

Trust me, you won't regret it. I loved my time over there, and now I'm addicted to coffee...

Oh how did you find getting a place to stay in over there? easy/hard?

Pretty easy, to be honest. Most cities have their newspapers online, so I looked at the classifieds from there. Do you have any particular region of Canada in mind?

I lived and worked at Big White Ski Resort in 2010/2011 season. (Just outside of Kelowna, BC) which is 6 hours inland from Vancouver on the Greyhound!

Magnificent place, very easy to navigate around, easy to find work and the visa process wasnt a pain, although I have heard its a bit tougher now so if you intend on getting it done, get your approval letter early so you're guaranteed to get it.

https://www.whpcanada.org.au/

Head to this website for all of the information you'll need to get your work approval visa.

Good luck, if you want to know any more about my experience just let me know!

Paging @zipzap ...

Just returned from Vancouver myself. Nice place, though I couldn't give any advice on staying there long term.

Thanks Pseudo - hope Vancouver treated you well

Yep, have just come back from living in kingston for a year. I can add my 2 cents later if you like

zipzap wrote:Thanks Pseudo - hope Vancouver treated you well

The weather was unseasonably crap and I have returned to Oz with a cold. Jetlag and snot do not mix well.

But yes, I enjoyed Vancouver all the same.

Failed Creation wrote:

mighty hounds wrote:Thanks for the info This is on the agenda if my career change doesn't work out and I have to wait another year to re-apply. The trade I've completed has business throughout Canada so I'm going to look into that!

No worries mate.

Trust me, you won't regret it. I loved my time over there, and now I'm addicted to coffee...

Ugh! Addicted to SHIT coffee quite possibly - never had such bad coffee in my life! But the Canucks are certainly addicted to the drip filtered toilet water from Tim Hortons - must be drugged

Did a work exchange and we had a good time - was great being between Toronto and Ottawa, pretty close to the NY border. There was always something to do on the weekends.

I think the hardest thing - which no doubt is the same for starting up in any new environment - was the first month or so, getting paperwork sorted, getting a car on the road, sorting out insurance (car insurance is astronomical!), opening bank accounts and generally navigating a set of bureaucracies that seemed to be existing in the dark ages. Of course, in retrospect they weren't, they were just different to what we were used to, but at the time, at the height of winter, when we had a car in the garage for weeks that we couldn't drive due to petty paperwork issues, we were pretty pissed off with the place.

After that it was pretty smooth sailing and not much different to life in Oz. We made the mistake of thinking Canada was incredibly conservative, mainly because Kingston and other small towns/cities, and the education sector we worked in, really are. But getting out and about, especially to the West Coast, showed us a completely different side. Vancouver for instance is everything you want in a creative, festive, grungy, grimy, funky city.

But even though we travelled far and wide, we really only scratched the surface of Canada...there are much more places we didn't go than places we did. Massive place...perhaps next time.

If you have any questions feel free to fire away either here or PM.

zipzap wrote:

Failed Creation wrote:

mighty hounds wrote:Thanks for the info This is on the agenda if my career change doesn't work out and I have to wait another year to re-apply. The trade I've completed has business throughout Canada so I'm going to look into that!

No worries mate.

Trust me, you won't regret it. I loved my time over there, and now I'm addicted to coffee...

Ugh! Addicted to SHIT coffee quite possibly - never had such bad coffee in my life! But the Canucks are certainly addicted to the drip filtered toilet water from Tim Hortons - must be drugged

Did a work exchange and we had a good time - was great being between Toronto and Ottawa, pretty close to the NY border. There was always something to do on the weekends.

I think the hardest thing - which no doubt is the same for starting up in any new environment - was the first month or so, getting paperwork sorted, getting a car on the road, sorting out insurance (car insurance is astronomical!), opening bank accounts and generally navigating a set of bureaucracies that seemed to be existing in the dark ages. Of course, in retrospect they weren't, they were just different to what we were used to, but at the time, at the height of winter, when we had a car in the garage for weeks that we couldn't drive due to petty paperwork issues, we were pretty pissed off with the place.

After that it was pretty smooth sailing and not much different to life in Oz. We made the mistake of thinking Canada was incredibly conservative, mainly because Kingston and other small towns/cities, and the education sector we worked in, really are. But getting out and about, especially to the West Coast, showed us a completely different side. Vancouver for instance is everything you want in a creative, festive, grungy, grimy, funky city.

But even though we travelled far and wide, we really only scratched the surface of Canada...there are much more places we didn't go than places we did. Massive place...perhaps next time.

If you have any questions feel free to fire away either here or PM.

Tim Hortons certainly is a way of life over there, isn't it?

Did you get to see any Frontenacs or Voyageurs games?

Yep the obsession with Timmies was a funny as it was frustrating. It's about the standard of what you might get at a BP On the Run but it's dirt cheap. They know nothing else (espresso is almost impossible to find) and they kind of blink funny when you patiently explain that yes, Australians do love their coffee and no, we don't have Timmies. When you go to an Aussie-centric place like Whistler, the signs outside the cafes say things like 'Voted number 1 coffee by Australians' or 'Aussies, get your coffee fix here'. Probably the best coffee we had was at a fantastic modern cafe in Toronto - run by a couple of Kiwis!

Saw the Frontenacs and the OHL often. Never got to the big leagues sadly - the strike didn't help things there. Enjoyed plenty of baseball / basketball in both Canada and the States

zipzap wrote:Yep the obsession with Timmies was a funny as it was frustrating. It's about the standard of what you might get at a BP On the Run but it's dirt cheap. They know nothing else (espresso is almost impossible to find) and they kind of blink funny when you patiently explain that yes, Australians do love their coffee and no, we don't have Timmies. When you go to an Aussie-centric place like Whistler, the signs outside the cafes say things like 'Voted number 1 coffee by Australians' or 'Aussies, get your coffee fix here'. Probably the best coffee we had was at a fantastic modern cafe in Toronto - run by a couple of Kiwis!

Saw the Frontenacs and the OHL often. Never got to the big leagues sadly - the strike didn't help things there. Enjoyed plenty of baseball / basketball in both Canada and the States

I was lucky enough to see both the Frontenacs and Voyageurs while I was up there. I did go to an NHL game about 7 years back too.

Thanks for the info guys! I've decided against it but have chosen a contiki that runs through Canada. Going through Montreal, Quebec and Toronto. Would of liked to gone to the banff area but already spent enough on my trip!

mighty hounds wrote:Thanks for the info guys! I've decided against it but have chosen a contiki that runs through Canada. Going through Montreal, Quebec and Toronto. Would of liked to gone to the banff area but already spent enough on my trip!

Have a great time!

Don't forget your Timmies

A mate of mine has decided to move to Vancouver and has already got a job there and bought a house. Since he has invited us to come and stay for a while we are looking to fit that in next year - going via Hawaii I think would be good.