Life

ExpatLife in Canada

Alex Handyside and his wife Janet live in Canada with their two daughters, Georgina (19) & Ellen (15) who were both born in Canada. Alex is originally from Newcastle-on-Tyne and Janet is from Somerset. The Handyside’s eventually settled in Canada in 1992 in Nova Scotia, which is about 30 minutes outside of the capital, Halifax. 

What is the standard of living like and how does it differ from your lifestyle back in the UK?

The cost of living is comparable with the UK, but the standard of living is higher in Canada, so overall life is better. We can afford a better house and a better car here. We chose to live on a large lake, which is also 5 minutes from a fantastic surfing beach. We don’t miss the traffic!  We love the pace & the space here. Sure it’s not perfect, but the pluses are many and the negatives few.

How easy or difficult has it been carving out a career?

I arrived in Canada to join the Canadian military on a 9 year contract. When I ‘retired’ in 2002 I went to work in the non-profit sector before deciding to open my own homecare agency in 2004. The first year was tough, but now it’s a fun full-time job. I employ about 20 carers. I also own a little IT company that I started in 1997 as a hobby-job. It was just me until 4 years ago, and now I employ 4 staff. Canada really encourages entrepreneurs – for the right businesses it can be fairly easy to start up (but often difficult to survive). My idea of retirement is a three-day work week: that’s not so far away.

What has been the hardest part of moving?

We don’t really feel like immigrants – there are so many Brits here! Immigrants are generally welcomed. Phone calls to the UK are cheap & we can be in London in 4.5 hours. The biggest difficulty coming here was getting Immigration Canada to say yes – even though I had been offered a job by one federal department (Defence), another department (Immigration Canada) turned me down twice – fortunately my employer-to-be fought & won. Canadian bureaucracy can be infuriating and incredibly wasteful – there are three levels of government which often face-off against each other, and bilingualism is very costly. 

What about health cover? 

Canada has a so-so health service. Health is a provincial responsibility in Canada, which means it’s different from province to province. They claim to be one-tier, but going private is becoming more popular. And the public system is only getting worse – almost 50% of our taxes go towards health, & the cost is ballooning. Emergency healthcare is excellent, but the wait-time for routine surgeries is appalling.

Have you made any pension arrangements?  

My Royal Navy pension is paid into an offshore account where I use it to pay my existing UK insurance premiums & regular stock purchases. What’s left over I bring to Canada once a year to invest here. We have made arrangements here to use Canadian investment vehicles that will allow us to move, that won’t tie us to Canada. We don’t know where we’re going to retire – it may be Canada for part of the year, it may be the UK for another part of the year (my wife still has family property in Somerset), and/or it may be southern Spain or Malta! We want to remain flexible.

What about other financial arrangements such as banking? 

We took financial advice before leaving the UK – via our UK bank & via an independent offshore tax expert in the UK. We also opened an offshore account before we left the UK. My pension is paid into and insurance premiums are paid from an offshore Lloyds TSB account. It has worked very well for us. 

What are your top tips for people thinking of moving to the Canada?

• Visit first and, if you can, visit during different seasons – a Canadian winter can be quite a deterrent to immigrating!
• Rent first, - and if you have kids, preferably in the area you want to buy so you can get them into the right schools (in the end we decided to send our kids to private schools and we are so pleased we did).
• Be wary of the exchange rate: we moved here when the pound was worth C$2.08; now it is C$1.56. Most of that is Canada’s fault – their currency is quite strong at the moment. 
• Start up a home-based business – any home-based business: it is very tax-advantageous!

And finally...

The grass may be greener, but it’s not perfect. Some things, such as milk and cheese, are very expensive here. For some inexplicable reason, diesel cars just have not caught on here – we complain about the cost of gas/petrol, but it’s still too cheap to persuade people to switch to diesel (we’re diesel converts). Canadians take winter in their stride, but it can be expensive. We really like Halifax – it’s a city the size of Exeter with seven degree-granting universities, so it’s very young and vibrant. I get to see the ocean every day!

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