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I am a Canadian citizen, moved to California 12 years ago to take a nursing position. The plan was finish a 2 year contract, and return home. Well, life happened, and 12 years later I'm living in Arizona, married an American and have 2 young children. My husband doesn't have any family, and I miss mine terribly. I want my kids to know their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. So, we have been tossing around the idea of relocating to Ontario to be near family. I would continue working as an RN. My husband currently works in Internet sales. The thought of moving always seems impossible and like a poor decision. I have doubts my husband will find a job. Housing seems incredibly expensive compared to where we are now. Nursing seems different. I feel like we'd be close to family, but nothing else. Any advice??
I grew up in California. Lived here, Montreal, for decades now. If things are alright over there I would stay there.
Life is not that great in Canada. The economy is tanking. Health care is uneven. Good to terrible. The Winters are long and the Summers are hot and humid. Not much decent weather really. The cost of groceries is getting really high due to Canadian low dollar. If your Husband can't find a job that won't be good.
Plus you might end up all looking back to life in the Southwest again. My parents did it many times in 60s and they moved back n forth to LA and Montreal. One particularly bad snowy Winter put an end to that and Mom stayed in California. But if you miss your family. Of course your life is with your Husband and children. It's a tough decision.
Many a Winter I wish I was living somewhere warm and where I can grow some produce year round. The Winter seems endless over here.
First, I'm assuming you will have no issues with immigration. Obviously none for you, none for your kids (make sure to file for their citizenship if you haven't already, I'm assuming they're born in the US), and likely none for your husband but you will have to go through some paperwork. If you haven't already looked into this, check out:
Second, you mention Ontario, but where? If Toronto, I'm pretty sure he can find a position, especially one which may have to deal with the US which will give him a leg up. Costs will be high for sure, especially compared to AZ. If it's elsewhere outside the Toronto area then it might be more challenging to find something right away but housing will be lower. Consider if you can live on one income. Do you have something lined up? When you say "nursing seems different" is that different bad or just different?
Kids are pretty adaptable, especially when young, so that'll be the least of your worries. The school system should be no big change for them. The weather will be, but hey, they'll adapt. After a year they'll even stop noticing the "funny" accents.
Two things to consider from the other perspective...
1) If you aren't going to live very close to your family (i.e. hours away due to cost or job constraints) think seriously about how often you really will see them. If it's only a few times a year it might be simpler to just spend your vacations visiting, or fly your parents down 1-2x a year.
2) What's your status in the US? Citizen? No problem coming back. Permanent Resident? May be a problem if you're seen to give it up moving all your ties back to Canada. What if in 10- 20- 30- years you wanted to move to the US permanently? Could be a problem. If you don't have dual citizenship already my strong suggestion would be to get it FIRST before moving back to Canada. Also, as your husband (and possibly you too) is a citizen, he will be subject to US taxation on his Canadian income. Note that this won't be a big issue as you can credit back your Canadian taxes but you will have to file a 1040 every year.
Whichever decision you make, factor in everything and then make the decision. If it's not one of those irreversible ones then take the leap and don't look back
I grew up in California. Lived here, Montreal, for decades now. If things are alright over there I would stay there.
Life is not that great in Canada. The economy is tanking. Health care is uneven. Good to terrible. The Winters are long and the Summers are hot and humid. Not much decent weather really. The cost of groceries is getting really high due to Canadian low dollar. If your Husband can't find a job that won't be good.
Plus you might end up all looking back to life in the Southwest again. My parents did it many times in 60s and they moved back n forth to LA and Montreal. One particularly bad snowy Winter put an end to that and Mom stayed in California. But if you miss your family. Of course your life is with your Husband and children. It's a tough decision.
Many a Winter I wish I was living somewhere warm and where I can grow some produce year round. The Winter seems endless over here.
The economy isn't exactly 'tanking' cazelais.. An industry is having a tough time but the biggest impact is out west (Alberta, Sask) and Atlantic Canada which is feeling the impact due to many who moved out west for jobs having to relocate and find work back home. That said Ontario isn't feeling the impact nearly as much. As a matter of fact some industries are actually starting to have a brighter outlook because a lower CAD dollar means more exports as its cheaper to buy CAD goods.
To give you another example, I work in the aviation industry and that is one that is benefitting as Carriers such as WestJet are moving some of their western operation to the east and cities like Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa are benefitting from that.
You mention higher cost of groceries.. While some goods and I emphasize some not all are more expensive these days those increases are offset by the lower cost of gas for most people.. Now obviously AZ would be cheaper than say Toronto, but this OP as an RN should be able to absorb the COL rather swimmingly on a RN's salary assuming they could get a job as an RN. Not to mention their Spouses salary. If the OP rents than on an RN salary (without her husbands salary) only 20-25 percent of his/her income would be for rent.. Healthcare in a populated centre such as Toronto is not representative of Healthcare in remote places and has the highest concentration of medical professionals in the country..
As for weather, i'm sure as a Canadian, the OP is more than aware of winter and would be able to adapt to it.
My point is you can't 'blanket' generalize living in Canada.. Its a YUGE country. Not to mention the OP is mentioning family and friends back home so who is to say that the other benefits of a move far outweigh a higher COL.. Higher COL can be absorbed by individuals who get paid well and a RN certainly is a better paying job than your average salary. A RN and internet sales profesh will have no difficulties. Not to mention if OP is talking about Toronto it is a far more exciting, cosmo and urban destination than anything in AZ with AZ trumping Ontario in beauty however but Sedona and the Grand Canyon can only go so far in the excitement department.
Of course my post isn't going to touch immigration (Markjames touched briefly on some challenges in his very thoughtful and practical post).. Anyway, that is a whole other ball of wax and is just assuming family is able to live in Canada and are able to get comparable employment.
This is a tough one, but I can relate to being far away from family. It's tough. Especially when (grand)parents get up in years.
The economy isn't in dire straights by any means... Alberta's having it rough, but that's not dragging down Ontario at all. The dollar is low, but that's not the end of the world either... it's actually helpful for some industries in Canada as it helps some exports.
Your advantages living in AZ are probably mainly about the lower cost of living. Less expensive housing, and no need to spend on "winter survival" needs (heating the house, winter tires for the car, winter clothes). In Ontario, housing would be more affordable outside of Toronto (Ottawa, for example, is not in a property bubble). It's hard to put a price on the ability to be near your extended family. Think of how it would benefit your kids to be around them growing up. Schools may be better than where you are in AZ, and post-secondary education's a lot less expensive in Canada. You don't have to carry expensive private health insurance either.
So that's a lot to weigh, and to factor into the decision. My advice: put out job opportunity feelers first. Do a little networking, send out some resumes and see what responses you get. If you can, maybe arrange for either you or your husband to fly up and do some interviews or "cold call" some employers/employment agencies to get a sense of what's happening in your fields.
Your advantages living in AZ are probably mainly about the lower cost of living. Less expensive housing, and no need to spend on "winter survival" needs (heating the house, winter tires for the car, winter clothes). In Ontario, housing would be more affordable outside of Toronto (Ottawa, for example, is not in a property bubble). It's hard to put a price on the ability to be near your extended family. Think of how it would benefit your kids to be around them growing up. Schools may be better than where you are in AZ, and post-secondary education's a lot less expensive in Canada. You don't have to carry expensive private health insurance either.
When people think of housing they always just assume owning a house. Maybe that is desirable for a lot of families for sure but Toronto has a healthy stock of highrise places to rent. Its certainly not that unaffordable.. You can rent a decent 3 bdrm apartment in Toronto for 1500 bucks.. On the OP and husbands salary that is entirely doable quite easily. If they do buy in Toronto, yes it is very expensive but at the same time Toronto is a large and global city, you will pay a premium to own your place but in return you get a lot for that including a resale value on your home that will probably make you money when you sell it.
Much is said of a collapsing bubble but there Is no guarantee that the value of housing will just collapse in Toronto.. There are no guarantees it won't but that can be said anywhere so you have to think long term. There was a time not long ago AZ was in a horrible housing situation so one needs to think longterm. Toronto as a large metropolis that is an international immigration magnet city and Canada's largest city economy by far isn't just going to 'collapse'
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ottawa2011
So that's a lot to weigh, and to factor into the decision. My advice: put out job opportunity feelers first. Do a little networking, send out some resumes and see what responses you get. If you can, maybe arrange for either you or your husband to fly up and do some interviews or "cold call" some employers/employment agencies to get a sense of what's happening in your fields
Great advice regardless of the economic situation anywhere.
Interesting. I met a woman last year in Ontario (near Ottawa) who was a nurse, originally from Phoenix, and had married a Canadian and been living there for several years. Maybe she's your Doppelganger! To make a long and interesting conversation we had short, she advised me to get back to the South as quickly as possible; she really missed the sunshine and the heat. Of course, your tastes may be different, but if you do decide to move, just know that it's really not that hard to do. Just make a list of what needs to occur, turn it into a work-back schedule, and start making steps towards it.
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