Living in Canada
-
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 ------------------------------------------------
As a Canadian immigrant since 1964 (moved due N 6 hrs from Minnesota) and as someone who has mostly made their living as a Programmer here since 1981 and as someone who has visited almost every province - enough to judge the weather and job climate, and as someone who has visited Sweden - I feel somewhat qualified to to respond with advice (something I have experience with also LOL). English as 1st language requirement does rule out anywhere in Quebec. Sorry, but if it IS important, that's still the way it is. I studied French at Laval and did find Quebecers friendly and tolerant once they got to know you - which actually is true of pretty much all Canadians (except perhaps Toronto...and maybe Calgary)- and Montreal and especially Old Quebec City are beautiful. Vancouver (in Beautiful B.C.) is probably where I would choose to live if family considerations hadn't intervened, but fails your weather test ("Vancouverites don't tan - they rust"). The closest places to fit your criteria are probably Winnipeg (where I live) and Saskatoon. But as much as I enjoy living here, it is one of the last places I'd recommend for working as a Programmer - and not just because of the low salaries (I have in fact sworn to NEVER ever again work as a full-time Programmer in Manitoba), and as for Saskatchewan, everybody that I have ever known who went there to work in IT, drops out of contact, which is just too eerie for words (I am totally serious about that). (...and it's really too bad, because the Mid-Western States just South of the border - Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin - are crammed with people of Nordic heritage (in fact, I am part Norwegian and at our lake place in Minnesota we are surrounded by Andersons, Christiansons, Larsons, etc. Uf-Da!) Thunder Bay in NW Ontario has a thriving Finnish community, but it's not a big city. The only place I know of in Canada that has natural hot-springs (I assume that's what you're referring to) is Banff (National Park SW of Calgary), but I find Calgarians to be oppressively distant emotionally. Edmonton might be good, but I'm not current on the job situation right now, though I think it's good. Should be good for your wife as well. The kids should fit in fine anywhere and easily find their activities - even the prairies have ski hills. I have personally cycled (or known those who have) in evry locale and that's definitely no problem either, though DRIVERS tend to be the main thing you have to worry about in Winnipeg and Quebec. As far as paperwork and permissions, if you get a job li
-
It's true, I live in Paris, I'm Scottish, and know how to order a coffee. That's about it, although Im slowly getting to understand a little better. C'est la vie.
In Pezenas, south france, I've even met a english guy married with a madame, but of course he was often very near to get burned from the fire and he was very humble/week.
Håkan Nilsson -- Swedish developer, DBA, C#, SQL Server, soccer trainer, C64 player
-
In Pezenas, south france, I've even met a english guy married with a madame, but of course he was often very near to get burned from the fire and he was very humble/week.
Håkan Nilsson -- Swedish developer, DBA, C#, SQL Server, soccer trainer, C64 player
-
As a Canadian immigrant since 1964 (moved due N 6 hrs from Minnesota) and as someone who has mostly made their living as a Programmer here since 1981 and as someone who has visited almost every province - enough to judge the weather and job climate, and as someone who has visited Sweden - I feel somewhat qualified to to respond with advice (something I have experience with also LOL). English as 1st language requirement does rule out anywhere in Quebec. Sorry, but if it IS important, that's still the way it is. I studied French at Laval and did find Quebecers friendly and tolerant once they got to know you - which actually is true of pretty much all Canadians (except perhaps Toronto...and maybe Calgary)- and Montreal and especially Old Quebec City are beautiful. Vancouver (in Beautiful B.C.) is probably where I would choose to live if family considerations hadn't intervened, but fails your weather test ("Vancouverites don't tan - they rust"). The closest places to fit your criteria are probably Winnipeg (where I live) and Saskatoon. But as much as I enjoy living here, it is one of the last places I'd recommend for working as a Programmer - and not just because of the low salaries (I have in fact sworn to NEVER ever again work as a full-time Programmer in Manitoba), and as for Saskatchewan, everybody that I have ever known who went there to work in IT, drops out of contact, which is just too eerie for words (I am totally serious about that). (...and it's really too bad, because the Mid-Western States just South of the border - Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin - are crammed with people of Nordic heritage (in fact, I am part Norwegian and at our lake place in Minnesota we are surrounded by Andersons, Christiansons, Larsons, etc. Uf-Da!) Thunder Bay in NW Ontario has a thriving Finnish community, but it's not a big city. The only place I know of in Canada that has natural hot-springs (I assume that's what you're referring to) is Banff (National Park SW of Calgary), but I find Calgarians to be oppressively distant emotionally. Edmonton might be good, but I'm not current on the job situation right now, though I think it's good. Should be good for your wife as well. The kids should fit in fine anywhere and easily find their activities - even the prairies have ski hills. I have personally cycled (or known those who have) in evry locale and that's definitely no problem either, though DRIVERS tend to be the main thing you have to worry about in Winnipeg and Quebec. As far as paperwork and permissions, if you get a job li
Very good answers from you :) You are probably one of the best guy to ask for advice around here and I maybee do so later on if it becomes more serious. I also think the job part will be the hardest thing to figure out. Finding a stable, growing company with good staffing with normal wages... I knew this will probably take some time and as usual, it's after my two first months or so in office I will notice what kind of company hired me! Since mu last name is Nilsson, I mostly keep out of way from all Anderssons and rest of them, but I think the ones who spell their names with just one "s" are born canadians and the ones with two s are immigrants from sweden and other nordic places? Right or wrong?
Håkan Nilsson -- Swedish developer, DBA, C#, SQL Server, soccer trainer, C64 player
-
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 ------------------------------------------------
I would suggest looking at Ottawa as an option. It's the nations capital and located in Ontario but on the border with Quebec. The city on the Quebec side is Hull and there is a mountain range very close. Both French and English is spoken extensively in the Ottawa/Hull area. Maybe a bit colder than you like in the winter but summer is really nice. Close by is the town of Kanata which is a bit of a hub for IT and technology companies.
Mark Buchanan Giffels Associates Ltd.
-
I've believe that you may be right about swedes and canadians. Ummm, ice hockey is fun to play, I'm the youngest son in a hockey family, but now i'm coaching teams in soccer and bandy. My two favourite sports. I don't knon the english word for bandy if the exist one. It mainly exists in Sweden, Finland, Russia. 22 players with skates, short sticks and a small red ball. I just saw the icebreakers here in Sweden, that's Forsberg's team of swedes playing in NHL. They were just playing for fun so it's hard to say how good the are. Do they still remember Börje Salming in Toronto?
Håkan Nilsson -- Swedish developer, DBA, C#, SQL Server, soccer trainer, C64 player
Borje Salming is still more highly regarded in Toronto than our Prime Minister! He gets a huge ovation from the crowd whenever he is at one of the games. From talking about Bandy with one of my Swedish colleagues, it is very similar to a game called Broom Ball that we play except that we do not use skates, but rather normal shoes. Good Luck with your move if/when you make it... and welcome to Canada
-
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 ------------------------------------------------
There're lots of cities in canada that could fullfill all youre requests. I've read the comments about Vancouver and I've been there myself and I would doubt that it is a good place to stay for a long time because it rains all the time. When I went there, it was the 22nd straight rainy day! Also, the house prices and rental are very high and it's hard to find a place to stay. The trip I did there cost me (for four people) 16 000$ for a 7 days vacation. Ok, I went to a ranch that cost a lot but, it's still pricy. Now Montreal, I live in montreal and english is mandatory in certain parts of the city. Most people can answer a question in english and english people are generally welcome in any store/attraction/school. If you live on the island, rental is acceptable but houses are kinda high. I rent a 4½ for 650$/month heated in a good neighborhood near a park and subway. I go to work by bike easily and it's the hottest city in the province of quebec in term of temperature. In resumé, Montreal can be a good choice. Quebec city is more french than montreal but is not bad too. This city is less populated than montreal (400 000 instead of 1 500 000 for the island of montreal). If you want a place to work, both cities are good but there's more computer oriented companies in montreal than in quebec. For a senior developper, I guess the wages could approach 80 000$/year. Another option could be a city in ontario where people speaks english and the climate is a bit hotter than in quebec and montreal. I heard the rental is very high in big cities but there're lots of smaller cities with good employment possibilities in which the rent prices can be lower. For the middle canada provinces (alberta, saskachewan, manitoba) I know people that went there and they say it was boring and there's no mountains so forget skiing. There're are great skiing mountains in quebec (near montreal as well as near quebec city) and there are lots of outdoor activities to do in the quebec province. Immigration is common in Canada and if you're not a criminal, it would be easy to come to Canada! hope that helps If you have other questions, email me!
Jean-Michel Aubin Software Engineer Imaging division Matrox Electronics Ltee.
-
You should look at the Okanagan valley in B.C. (Kelowna) Would meet most of your specs. Downside is the cost of living - housing in particular. Also might want to plan on a year or two working through immigration prior to coming to Canada. (unless Canada has a shortage of Swedish C programmers that I don't know about :) ) Tim
Thanks, I will end up with a long list of places to visit! Living costs and costs are living. I won't take a job as C/C# programmer, I'm too old for that. SQL programming makes more fun and working as DBA is easiest for me.
Håkan Nilsson -- Swedish developer, DBA, C#, SQL Server, soccer trainer, C64 player
-
I would suggest either Vancouver or Toronto then. Toronto is nice because it is central, but Vancouver has warmer weather, although it can get rainy. I think the choice ultimately comes down to personal opinion. :)
Håkan Nilsson wrote:
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.
Immigrant in this case is not an insulting term, it is just the only term used. If you are planning on moving to Canada to obtain citizenship, then you are considered an immigrant. If you are moving there to just work and live I guess you would be called an expatriate or temporary worker or something... It's just a term the government uses.. Also, you are probably okay to choose where you live. I looked into it and it is mostly teachers and doctors that they relocate due to oversupply and underdemand in some regions. Don't think it will be a problem for you.
Of course the swedish government consideres all people coming to sweden as immigrants, but there's a big different made between work and refugee immigration. No new citizenship, just a relaxed stay for some years should be enough. But the only thing I knew is that it's hard to know anyything about the future :)
Håkan Nilsson -- Swedish developer, DBA, C#, SQL Server, soccer trainer, C64 player
-
Squamish just up north a bit from Vancouver, BC is known world-wide as capital for outdoors activities - rock climbing, hiking, mountain biking, rafting, kite boarding, you name it... It's beautiful part of country for sure! I'm a bit envious that you have the means/adventurous spirit to up and move to a whole different country. Right now, if I was in your position, I'd definately put Vancouver at the very top of my list. I regularly drive up from Oregon to ride at Whistler just up the road from Squamish (that's also a world class skiing destination I hear but that's not my bag...) I like downhill mountain biking and Whistler, BC is the mecca!
sounds nice up there! There's nothing wrong with my spirit but I'm far from there yet! I've got a very careful wife to convince and it won't be easy :-D It will take a lot's off efforts from my side with house keeping and other things I'm not used to do at home. A problem families may have in sweden is that both mum and dad has to work 100% full time (because of the low wages) and then there's of course less time to catch up children's activities, house-keeping own activities friends... and so on. This may be a great advantage and argument for moving to Canada. Now the clock is 17 here and I end my working day. It's 14 dgrs rainy and I will take 5-10 kms running in the forrest 7-10 mins with bike from my house. It's quite easy living in my town Örebro, just too short summer and poor good natural bathing capabilities nearby.
Håkan Nilsson -- Swedish developer, DBA, C#, SQL Server, soccer trainer, C64 player
-
Hi Håkan I'm a South African living in Canberra, Australia. Have you perhaps considered Australia. OK the English is not that great! But it's a beautiful country. Ask Chris, he lived here for a while - though he claims Melbourne is his hometown! :) Canberra offers many cycle tracks to work, ski fields an hour away, really good pay as it's goverment base and there is so much demand here - a really good clean place to bring up kids, loads of soccer and no traffic jams. Takes me 15-20 min to get to work and I live north Canberra. The only things I don't think we have is the hot springs. Check out: http://www.liveincanberra.com.au/[^] Let me know if you need any other info, like contacts for finding work. Thanks, Trace
As I told Chris I've talked about Austalia with my wife and she's quite concerned about sharks and other scaring animals in Australia, or maybee she was afraid of aboriginals or something. So Australia was the first small attempt and the second place I could imagine my family should enjoy was Canada. We got a long winter in front of us to think about living somewhere else. I don't know why they are hesitating, I like the swedish winter, they don't! They should persuade me that we should move to Austalia :) Otherwise I think Canada is the english speaking country most like sweden. But who says we must have it exatly like in sweden, then we better stay at home! I think I start with my son aged 13, he's easy to handle, he knows that Australia plays soccer much better than Canada! And the english dialect are more fun in Aus. A question, who is the wizard from Oz?
Håkan Nilsson -- Swedish developer, DBA, C#, SQL Server, soccer trainer, C64 player
-
There're lots of cities in canada that could fullfill all youre requests. I've read the comments about Vancouver and I've been there myself and I would doubt that it is a good place to stay for a long time because it rains all the time. When I went there, it was the 22nd straight rainy day! Also, the house prices and rental are very high and it's hard to find a place to stay. The trip I did there cost me (for four people) 16 000$ for a 7 days vacation. Ok, I went to a ranch that cost a lot but, it's still pricy. Now Montreal, I live in montreal and english is mandatory in certain parts of the city. Most people can answer a question in english and english people are generally welcome in any store/attraction/school. If you live on the island, rental is acceptable but houses are kinda high. I rent a 4½ for 650$/month heated in a good neighborhood near a park and subway. I go to work by bike easily and it's the hottest city in the province of quebec in term of temperature. In resumé, Montreal can be a good choice. Quebec city is more french than montreal but is not bad too. This city is less populated than montreal (400 000 instead of 1 500 000 for the island of montreal). If you want a place to work, both cities are good but there's more computer oriented companies in montreal than in quebec. For a senior developper, I guess the wages could approach 80 000$/year. Another option could be a city in ontario where people speaks english and the climate is a bit hotter than in quebec and montreal. I heard the rental is very high in big cities but there're lots of smaller cities with good employment possibilities in which the rent prices can be lower. For the middle canada provinces (alberta, saskachewan, manitoba) I know people that went there and they say it was boring and there's no mountains so forget skiing. There're are great skiing mountains in quebec (near montreal as well as near quebec city) and there are lots of outdoor activities to do in the quebec province. Immigration is common in Canada and if you're not a criminal, it would be easy to come to Canada! hope that helps If you have other questions, email me!
Jean-Michel Aubin Software Engineer Imaging division Matrox Electronics Ltee.
Thank you very much for your nice answer! Soon I can write a complete tourist guide for non-canadians intersted in canada. Montreal sounds very french to me but I trust you they are english speaking most of them. I will tell my family we have to go for a hliday to Canada next summer!
Håkan Nilsson -- Swedish developer, DBA, C#, SQL Server, soccer trainer, C64 player
-
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 ------------------------------------------------
In my personal opinion.... Europe is 5* and Canada is 3* when it comes to people, family, social life and raising children. but Canada it's a little bit better when it comes about jobs, and USA it's even better and you can make double the money you make in Canada. So at this point you decide what's best for your you. But if you really want to move to Canada I suggest Calgary because that is a city that is starting to go better and better, more and more jobs and good pay. That's where the BOOM is happening. A lot of programmers moved to Clagary lately because they got really good jobs. Besides that.. there are mountains and nice things to see (comparing to where I live - flat like my hand) so your children could enjoy that. Again... this is my personal opinion.
-
As I told Chris I've talked about Austalia with my wife and she's quite concerned about sharks and other scaring animals in Australia, or maybee she was afraid of aboriginals or something. So Australia was the first small attempt and the second place I could imagine my family should enjoy was Canada. We got a long winter in front of us to think about living somewhere else. I don't know why they are hesitating, I like the swedish winter, they don't! They should persuade me that we should move to Austalia :) Otherwise I think Canada is the english speaking country most like sweden. But who says we must have it exatly like in sweden, then we better stay at home! I think I start with my son aged 13, he's easy to handle, he knows that Australia plays soccer much better than Canada! And the english dialect are more fun in Aus. A question, who is the wizard from Oz?
Håkan Nilsson -- Swedish developer, DBA, C#, SQL Server, soccer trainer, C64 player
-
As I told Chris I've talked about Austalia with my wife and she's quite concerned about sharks and other scaring animals in Australia, or maybee she was afraid of aboriginals or something. So Australia was the first small attempt and the second place I could imagine my family should enjoy was Canada. We got a long winter in front of us to think about living somewhere else. I don't know why they are hesitating, I like the swedish winter, they don't! They should persuade me that we should move to Austalia :) Otherwise I think Canada is the english speaking country most like sweden. But who says we must have it exatly like in sweden, then we better stay at home! I think I start with my son aged 13, he's easy to handle, he knows that Australia plays soccer much better than Canada! And the english dialect are more fun in Aus. A question, who is the wizard from Oz?
Håkan Nilsson -- Swedish developer, DBA, C#, SQL Server, soccer trainer, C64 player
Yeah fortunately Canberra is inland, so there are not too many sharks around! :) There are loads of feroceous kangaroo's around. There is a major IT skills crisis here in Canberra - a department is moving to Adelaide as enough IT skills cannot be found here. Also we have a lovely cold winter of only about -7 degrees. If you love 4 seasons, this is the place, gorgeous autumns. Also, if your son is serious about soccar the sports institute is here. New Zealand is also a very nice place to live. I lived in Wellington for just over a year. New Zealand has many hot spas. All the best in your quest! It's a tough choice - I know.
-
In my personal opinion.... Europe is 5* and Canada is 3* when it comes to people, family, social life and raising children. but Canada it's a little bit better when it comes about jobs, and USA it's even better and you can make double the money you make in Canada. So at this point you decide what's best for your you. But if you really want to move to Canada I suggest Calgary because that is a city that is starting to go better and better, more and more jobs and good pay. That's where the BOOM is happening. A lot of programmers moved to Clagary lately because they got really good jobs. Besides that.. there are mountains and nice things to see (comparing to where I live - flat like my hand) so your children could enjoy that. Again... this is my personal opinion.
Everybody here got their personal opinion and I'm fascinated by the huge bunch of answers I've got! Yes, better wages in US but maybee less good family life. We like to travel by bike when in our small town Örebro (just 120 000 citizens). But then I maybee must go to work by car for 30 kms or so if we should live in a small town like that. Now I have some pros and cons for Calgary, a lot of opinons!
Håkan Nilsson -- Swedish developer, DBA, C#, SQL Server, soccer trainer, C64 player
-
Thank you very much for your nice answer! Soon I can write a complete tourist guide for non-canadians intersted in canada. Montreal sounds very french to me but I trust you they are english speaking most of them. I will tell my family we have to go for a hliday to Canada next summer!
Håkan Nilsson -- Swedish developer, DBA, C#, SQL Server, soccer trainer, C64 player
Håkan Nilsson wrote:
Montreal sounds very french to me
Montreal is sure "frenchier" than other parts of canada but for your information, I work on the west side of the island and a lot of my coworkers are not even speaking a bit of french, neither does their children. So, it is not true that you must understand french to live in montreal. Many restaurants, store and facilities if not all of them requires bilingual worker. Espescially on the west side of the island. Well, I am a french canadian (by that I mean that I learned english in the regular scholarship classes) and I think my english is not too bad. I'm also only 24 years old so I've time to improve my english skills.
Jean-Michel Aubin Software Engineer Imaging division Matrox Electronics Ltee.
-
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 ------------------------------------------------
Getting back to the original question - Where should you go for a year - the only sensible answer (if you want to work) is ALBERTA (Calgary or Edmonton). Temperatures are in your range - + 20 to +30c in Summer, -10 to -40C in Winter. The best skiing in the world in the Rockies (Choose Calgary for easiest access to Banff, or Edmonton for family skiing in Jasper) Plenty of work (Remember the word OIL) Bathing - (You want 18c water when it's -30c out side?) I assume you mean public swimming pools - Lots of them, or (for outdoors in winter) there are the hot springs in the Rockies (Banff or Jasper) Other things - The easiest way to get a work permit (this is NOT the EEC - you're a foreigner and need a permit) is to emigrate. You don't have to stay - but if you want to, you can. Mostly, it's the easiest way to get permission to work here is to say you're thinking of moving to Canada permanently. Good Luck DavidGB
-
Getting back to the original question - Where should you go for a year - the only sensible answer (if you want to work) is ALBERTA (Calgary or Edmonton). Temperatures are in your range - + 20 to +30c in Summer, -10 to -40C in Winter. The best skiing in the world in the Rockies (Choose Calgary for easiest access to Banff, or Edmonton for family skiing in Jasper) Plenty of work (Remember the word OIL) Bathing - (You want 18c water when it's -30c out side?) I assume you mean public swimming pools - Lots of them, or (for outdoors in winter) there are the hot springs in the Rockies (Banff or Jasper) Other things - The easiest way to get a work permit (this is NOT the EEC - you're a foreigner and need a permit) is to emigrate. You don't have to stay - but if you want to, you can. Mostly, it's the easiest way to get permission to work here is to say you're thinking of moving to Canada permanently. Good Luck DavidGB
We go bathing in the summer and avoids swimming pools. Sometimes wintertime I do like the finnish guys use to: first som training, then sauna and a bath outside maybe +7 in water and then sauna again. This is a national tradition among our neighbours the finnish people. On Thursday I go to Island for six days and three days leisure, they got a lot of hot springs, I've nevere tested this before. Hmmm, oil for most swedish people means Dallas and JR Ewing :laugh: I've got a lot diskussions with my family before anything is decided. Thanks for your answers!
Håkan Nilsson -- Swedish developer, DBA, C#, SQL Server, soccer trainer, C64 player
-
Håkan Nilsson wrote:
Montreal sounds very french to me
Montreal is sure "frenchier" than other parts of canada but for your information, I work on the west side of the island and a lot of my coworkers are not even speaking a bit of french, neither does their children. So, it is not true that you must understand french to live in montreal. Many restaurants, store and facilities if not all of them requires bilingual worker. Espescially on the west side of the island. Well, I am a french canadian (by that I mean that I learned english in the regular scholarship classes) and I think my english is not too bad. I'm also only 24 years old so I've time to improve my english skills.
Jean-Michel Aubin Software Engineer Imaging division Matrox Electronics Ltee.
I'm 39 (soon) and I'm not that entusiastic to learn french, but I know it's hard to avoid this if we move. That will be some kind of bonus :) The main language for my children to learn is still english.
Håkan Nilsson -- Swedish developer, DBA, C#, SQL Server, soccer trainer, C64 player