Living in Canada
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It's a two-language country. Immigration certainly requires a certain proficiency in French.
Asynes yw brassa ages kwilkynyow.
Steve_Harris wrote:
It's a two-language country. Immigration certainly requires a certain proficiency in French.
No, actually. Capability in one official language is sufficient.
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The only French I've heard spoken in Canada is on the stupid planes.
Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++ Metal Musings - Rex and my new metal blog
Christian Graus wrote:
The only French I've heard spoken in Canada is on the stupid planes.
Go to Sudbury. Actually, don't go to Sudbury...nevermind that. Lots of French in Quebec and on the east coast. In the Greater Toronto Area where I grew up, none.
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Afghanistan is 2:nd from the bottom of my moving abroad list :-D
/Håkan Nilsson ------------------------------------------------ - Old fashion C programmer since 1988 - Bachelor in systems analysis 1991 - Systems developer at work with C#, SQL Server... - DBA, database design, SQL, admin ------------------------------------------------
Håkan Nilsson wrote:
Afghanistan is 2:nd from the bottom of my moving abroad list
:-D
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. Also visit the Ultimate Toolbox blog (New) -
liona wrote:
LOL I didn't realize that it did
Nice, now that youve fixed it :-)
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. Also visit the Ultimate Toolbox blog (New) -
Nishant Sivakumar wrote:
But everyone says it's the most beautiful city in Canada.
Naw, that would be Montreal.
thealj wrote:
Naw, that would be Montreal.
Never heard anyone say that before. Between Montreal and Quebec city, which'd be a better place to visit?
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. Also visit the Ultimate Toolbox blog (New) -
What's going on in Calgary? Except hockey of course!
/Håkan Nilsson ------------------------------------------------ - Old fashion C programmer since 1988 - Bachelor in systems analysis 1991 - Systems developer at work with C#, SQL Server... - DBA, database design, SQL, admin ------------------------------------------------
> What's going on in Calgary? oil. No provincial sales tax in Calgary, they even mail checks back because they have surpluses. but expect to spend a lot of $ on housing. for IT in Canada, the city where there is more demand are Toronto, Montreal and Calgary. In my opinion, Quebec City is the most beautiful city, for it's old europe style, but it does not impress european as much as north american for obvious reason. does not meet your first criteria either (french first). And not as hot as rest of Canada. > Except hockey of course! oh -- you really had to bring this up haven't you ?. congrat for the gold medal anyway. -- modified at 9:00 Tuesday 22nd August, 2006
Denevers
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thealj wrote:
Naw, that would be Montreal.
Never heard anyone say that before. Between Montreal and Quebec city, which'd be a better place to visit?
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. Also visit the Ultimate Toolbox blog (New)Montreal hands down. I was thrown out of a place in Quebec city for speaking English some years ago! Ah, the good ole days... I prefer Montreal because it is more cosmopolitan, the restaruants are much, much better and there are more things to see and do (*exception, see below). The probability of receiving hostile treatment for being and English speaker (even though I speak French) is much lower as well. I just preferred Montreal - more jazz clubs, better food, nice places to walk...beautiful city. Almost moved there but ended up in Switzerland instead. Long story... HOWEVER, if you prefer historic things, then Quebec is the place to go. The "old city" is quite nice to explore and there are many more historical sites.
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> What's going on in Calgary? oil. No provincial sales tax in Calgary, they even mail checks back because they have surpluses. but expect to spend a lot of $ on housing. for IT in Canada, the city where there is more demand are Toronto, Montreal and Calgary. In my opinion, Quebec City is the most beautiful city, for it's old europe style, but it does not impress european as much as north american for obvious reason. does not meet your first criteria either (french first). And not as hot as rest of Canada. > Except hockey of course! oh -- you really had to bring this up haven't you ?. congrat for the gold medal anyway. -- modified at 9:00 Tuesday 22nd August, 2006
Denevers
Denevers wrote:
In my opinion, Quebec City is the most beautiful city, for it's old europe style
Curious, I always thought Montreal was more European (and beautiful) than Quebec city. Although I did have some bad experiences in Quebec city that colour my opinion of it.
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Montreal hands down. I was thrown out of a place in Quebec city for speaking English some years ago! Ah, the good ole days... I prefer Montreal because it is more cosmopolitan, the restaruants are much, much better and there are more things to see and do (*exception, see below). The probability of receiving hostile treatment for being and English speaker (even though I speak French) is much lower as well. I just preferred Montreal - more jazz clubs, better food, nice places to walk...beautiful city. Almost moved there but ended up in Switzerland instead. Long story... HOWEVER, if you prefer historic things, then Quebec is the place to go. The "old city" is quite nice to explore and there are many more historical sites.
thealj wrote:
The probability of receiving hostile treatment for being and English speaker (even though I speak French) is much lower as well.
I was told that French people are more tolerant towards non-white folks who can't speak French. Surely they wouldn't expect 2 Indians from the south of India to know French!
thealj wrote:
HOWEVER, if you prefer historic things, then Quebec is the place to go. The "old city" is quite nice to explore and there are many more historical sites.
Ah, then it looks like I'd prefer Quebec. It'd be interesting to see if both cities can be forced into a 3 day weekend (considering I am located in Toronto).
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. Also visit the Ultimate Toolbox blog (New) -
thealj wrote:
The probability of receiving hostile treatment for being and English speaker (even though I speak French) is much lower as well.
I was told that French people are more tolerant towards non-white folks who can't speak French. Surely they wouldn't expect 2 Indians from the south of India to know French!
thealj wrote:
HOWEVER, if you prefer historic things, then Quebec is the place to go. The "old city" is quite nice to explore and there are many more historical sites.
Ah, then it looks like I'd prefer Quebec. It'd be interesting to see if both cities can be forced into a 3 day weekend (considering I am located in Toronto).
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. Also visit the Ultimate Toolbox blog (New)Nishant Sivakumar wrote:
I was told that French people are more tolerant towards non-white folks who can't speak French. Surely they wouldn't expect 2 Indians from the south of India to know French!
You could be right! Can't really say because I'm an English speaking white guy! :-D
Nishant Sivakumar wrote:
Ah, then it looks like I'd prefer Quebec. It'd be interesting to see if both cities can be forced into a 3 day weekend (considering I am located in Toronto).
This could be difficult. I think you would spend the first and last day travelling, in which case you would really have one day to see both cities. In my opinion, you would need at least 2 days to see Montreal and 2 days to sufficiently see Quebec. However, you could probably do 1 city in a day depending on your itinerary. If you like history, etc.. then I suggest Quebec city to you.
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thealj wrote:
Naw, that would be Montreal.
Never heard anyone say that before. Between Montreal and Quebec city, which'd be a better place to visit?
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. Also visit the Ultimate Toolbox blog (New)Depends. For old buildings (by north american standards), historical sites, a European feel, go for Quebec city. It's the oldest fortified city in north america. For the city experience, activities, cultural events, go to Montreal. It is an awesome city.
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Montreal hands down. I was thrown out of a place in Quebec city for speaking English some years ago! Ah, the good ole days... I prefer Montreal because it is more cosmopolitan, the restaruants are much, much better and there are more things to see and do (*exception, see below). The probability of receiving hostile treatment for being and English speaker (even though I speak French) is much lower as well. I just preferred Montreal - more jazz clubs, better food, nice places to walk...beautiful city. Almost moved there but ended up in Switzerland instead. Long story... HOWEVER, if you prefer historic things, then Quebec is the place to go. The "old city" is quite nice to explore and there are many more historical sites.
Things might have changed a lot since, they made efforts to increase tourism. I'm french speaking and visited Quebec city last summer. We were first greeted in English in most restaurants and English was heard everywhere.
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Håkan Nilsson wrote:
English as 1:st language,
I think you'll also need a certain level of French to get into Canada for an extended period.
Asynes yw brassa ages kwilkynyow.
OK, OK, I stand corrected! :-O
Asynes yw brassa ages kwilkynyow.
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Canadians out there and the rest of you who knews a lot of Canada, help me! I'm thinking about taking two or three years abroad with my family - wife and three children. Main reasons are: the children will learn proper english and we want to see something more than sweden for a longer time. We have just been traveling in Europe on our vacations, we have never been in the States or Canada, but I think Canada could be just fine. We live in Örebro, Sweden and if you look on the map and follow the latitude you will find yourself in southern Alaska, but we got about 20-30 degrees summertime and minus 5-25 wintertime. Now to the questions: 1) Which town should we head for? Criterias: English as 1:st language, there are soccer teams for my sons to play in (8, 13 years old). Some of us like hot temperatures at summertime and cold sunny > -10 degrees wintertime. We like skiing both downhill and cross country (ok, I like both, rest if the family just downhill :)) There must be good natural bathing with warm water > 18 degrees). We want to travel mostly by bike to school or work. Oh, what a list of demands! :-D 2) Working? How is the market for DBA:s / SQL Server programmers? My wife is occupational therapist, but maybee she could do something different just for fun halftime or so. 3) Get paid? What about the wages for senior developers/DBA:s 4) Administration, papers, permissions, formalia and... and so on. What do we need Anyone? All comments are welcome!
/Håkan Nilsson ------------------------------------------------ - Old fashion C programmer since 1988 - Bachelor in systems analysis 1991 - Systems developer at work with C#, SQL Server... - DBA, database design, SQL, admin ------------------------------------------------
Ottawa would meet all your criteria except maybe skiing. It is really fantastic for cross-country skiing, but for downhill, even though there are stations, I'm sure they'd be considered sub-par by Europeans standards. For bigger mountains, you'd have to drive a few hours.
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Denevers wrote:
In my opinion, Quebec City is the most beautiful city, for it's old europe style
Curious, I always thought Montreal was more European (and beautiful) than Quebec city. Although I did have some bad experiences in Quebec city that colour my opinion of it.
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Ottawa would meet all your criteria except maybe skiing. It is really fantastic for cross-country skiing, but for downhill, even though there are stations, I'm sure they'd be considered sub-par by Europeans standards. For bigger mountains, you'd have to drive a few hours.
OK, I add Ottawa to the wish list as well. I have a lot of things to check up before we go to Canada next summer. Thanks!
/Håkan Nilsson ------------------------------------------------ - Old fashion C programmer since 1988 - Bachelor in systems analysis 1991 - Systems developer at work with C#, SQL Server... - DBA, database design, SQL, admin ------------------------------------------------
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Håkan Nilsson wrote:
English as 1:st language,
I think you'll also need a certain level of French to get into Canada for an extended period.
Asynes yw brassa ages kwilkynyow.
It's not necessary, but it can help your immigration score if you're borderline. [Unless you plan on moving to Quebec] -- modified at 9:39 Tuesday 22nd August, 2006
cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
FIX: A MFC program created in Visual Studio .NET 2003 unexpectedly quits when you try to close it[^]
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Canadians out there and the rest of you who knews a lot of Canada, help me! I'm thinking about taking two or three years abroad with my family - wife and three children. Main reasons are: the children will learn proper english and we want to see something more than sweden for a longer time. We have just been traveling in Europe on our vacations, we have never been in the States or Canada, but I think Canada could be just fine. We live in Örebro, Sweden and if you look on the map and follow the latitude you will find yourself in southern Alaska, but we got about 20-30 degrees summertime and minus 5-25 wintertime. Now to the questions: 1) Which town should we head for? Criterias: English as 1:st language, there are soccer teams for my sons to play in (8, 13 years old). Some of us like hot temperatures at summertime and cold sunny > -10 degrees wintertime. We like skiing both downhill and cross country (ok, I like both, rest if the family just downhill :)) There must be good natural bathing with warm water > 18 degrees). We want to travel mostly by bike to school or work. Oh, what a list of demands! :-D 2) Working? How is the market for DBA:s / SQL Server programmers? My wife is occupational therapist, but maybee she could do something different just for fun halftime or so. 3) Get paid? What about the wages for senior developers/DBA:s 4) Administration, papers, permissions, formalia and... and so on. What do we need Anyone? All comments are welcome!
/Håkan Nilsson ------------------------------------------------ - Old fashion C programmer since 1988 - Bachelor in systems analysis 1991 - Systems developer at work with C#, SQL Server... - DBA, database design, SQL, admin ------------------------------------------------
Håkan Nilsson wrote:
cold sunny > -10 degrees wintertime.
That limits your choices dramatically. Everything from the Rocky Mountains in the west all the way to the east coast will get well below -10C in Winter. Even Toronto can have long stretches without it getting above -10. Also, if you want sunny winters then ask around because some places (I'm looking at you, Toronto) can be grey and gloomy in Winter. Further North (such as North Bay) get those stunning crystal clear winters but they are crazy cold. In BC the weather is far milder but Vancouver is very rainy for many months. >There must be good natural bathing with warm water > 18 degrees Just move to Australia :-D
cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
FIX: A MFC program created in Visual Studio .NET 2003 unexpectedly quits when you try to close it[^]
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Stay away from Calgary. They have massive swings in weather. Can go from -20C one day to +12 the next. I don't recommend it. If you like the seasonal weather, etc... then I would suggest Toronto or just outside of Toronto in one of the suburbs so you avoid the hassle of life in the big city but can benefit from being close to it. Furthermore, there is decent skiing north of Toronto as well as abundant nature and lakes, outdoor activities, mountain biking, etc... no more than 2 hours away. You also have the benefit of multiculturalism. I've been living outside of Canada for about 3 years now, so I don't know if there are any new immigration rules, but at one time they were placing immigrants in cities that needed them the most, so I am not sure if you are entirely free to pick and choose where you want to live...I may be wrong, so it is best to check with customs and immigration Canada.
OK, I now got Vancouver, Toronta and Ottawa in my "look for list". The thing that could be a problem is that myfamily life right now is so easy. 10 mins bike to work, living in a villa in a city center (Örebro, Sweden) a lot of activities for my family. The easist thing is to stay at home, but that's right it's too easy! I knew that Canada is not another Sovjet state so I'm sure I can somehow select my own living! I'm just surprised that I will be called immigrant in Canada. We don't call folks from north-america immigrants in Sweden. Immigrants in Sweden are people from Afghanistan or Bosnia, north-americans are settlers. It's a "north-south-east-west-cultural-thing" in sweden.
/Håkan Nilsson ------------------------------------------------ - Old fashion C programmer since 1988 - Bachelor in systems analysis 1991 - Systems developer at work with C#, SQL Server... - DBA, database design, SQL, admin ------------------------------------------------
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Don't worry about it. The main requirement to be bi-lingual is if you want to work in the government, especially the federal government, where you need both languages to progress past a certain level. My experience (as a Brit who worked in Canada for a while) is that you'll do just fine, so long as you don't try to work in Quebec (somebody else also mentioned New Brunswick but I have no knowledge of that state). I worked in Ottawa, the Capital, which has a high proportion of French speakers, but still got along without problems. My experience is that the further West you go, the less French is used. Soccer is huge in Canadian schools, go practically anywhere and your sons will find teams to play in. Winters a very cold (to us Brits) and summers hot. The coasts are more moderate (i.e. lower summer temperatures and higher winter temperatures). Anywhere in land you'll get snow in the Winter. Cross country skiing is popular almost everywhere in Canada, downhill is very popular in Rockies (Calgary was mentioned and that is in easy reach of the Rockies). I know that there is also some slopes in Quebec that the skiers from Ottawa go to a lot. Don't know about the rest of the country. Natural bathing could be awkward. For most Canadians, bathing means lakes (there are a lot of them in Canada), occasionally rivers. These are cold in the mornings or if they are deep. I assume that you mean in summer, because in winter they will be very cold, if not frozen. The Rideau canel in Ottawa becomes a skating rink in the winter. Hope this helps
Graham My signature is not black, just a very, very dark blue