A few questions

[rOmp]

wow, am i glad ive found this forum!!

First of all, hi to all the users and thanks in advance for all future help and advice that they may give my partner and i.

My partner (22) and i (25) wish to emigrate to Canada (Ontario area, pref Ottawa) but are considering skilled worker/working visa option right now, i dont have any questions regards those areas you will be glad to know. When i graduate from university i will have a BSC in Web Design & Development, and my partner will have a degree in paediatric nursing and midwifery. my questions are as follows:

1. There doesnt seem to be many web design jobs in Canada compared to the UK, bad time of year? not alot of company's advertise online? whats the deal?

2. The average post graduate web designer can expect anything from about £28000 - £40000 p/a in the UK, yet salaries vary greatly in Canada from what i have seen, it seems on average company's are paying a maximum of $35000 but most offering less than $25000 p/a, plus health benefits, my question is what are these benefits worth? are they worth the salary difference?

3. All this said and done about the salary, say the benefits are worth the difference, whats the cost of living like? if its the same of more than it is in the UK, then its still not a very good deal?

4. How would we go about finding a place to live for when we arrive? (general advice is fine)

I have lots and lots of questions as you can imagine, but ill leave it at that for now as ive probably traumatised everyone lol, i look forward to some informed responses.

Rich.

 

[rOmp]

surely someone has an opinion of some sort?

 

[softncool]

Dear rOmp,
Very good questions! comparasion between UK and Canada.
My dear, I think most of us here donot have first hand experience of Canada, I don't know if anybody here will be able to answer your questions. I request our friends Finpro and Mikeramma to suggest appropriate forums or answer these.
Thanks
Cool

 

[rOmp]

ok thanks for that maybe someone can advise me on where to get the info then?

 

[Iriomoteyamaneko]

hi, rOmp,
I have lived in Canada. Yes, cost of living is much cheaper than other places, like the UK (visited there twice and my best friend was there for uni so I know things are very expensive) or Tokyo (my home city)...especially for the necessities of life--like food, rent, "Medicare," (if u r a canadian PR or citizen, you pay 0$ for all services...but then again it has its problems of course but still...), education (from what I observed at Mcgill, it looks like u CAN just send your kids to a public school, and they will still reach the best universtiies if they do well), lots of space and clean air. But then again I was in Montreal which is supposed to be the cheapest major Canadian city... I heard from friends from Toronto and Vancouver that the cost of living is much higher in their home cities.
I have no idea where you plan to go but DON'T GO TO OTTAWA--there is absolutely nothing there to be there for. They put the govt buildings there just because it's about midway between Montreal and Toronto.
What about working for awhile in the UK, save as much as you can, and then take it to Canada where it's worth a lot more? I'm doing the same. Do you have to be in the same location as your clients for your type of job? And of course, there's a shortage of nurses everywhere so your wife will find plenty of jobs I think.