Family
Canada offers a wealth of bright educational prospects for your children. Schooling up to grade 12 is completely free and traditional yellow school buses ferry the children to and from school every day.
University is not free however govt. incentives match every dollar you put into a tertiary education policy for your children. Many study loans are also available. Canada is home to many top universities and colleges. Where we live in Halifax, we have Dalhousie University, St Mary’s University, Acadia University, NSCAD and University of King’s College.
Work and Business
Employees are well looked-after and well-paid with great benefits. Office working environments are pleasant and production environments are safety-rated to very high standards. Some of the world’s biggest businesses have offices in Canada such as Walmart, Ubisoft, Bombardier, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Irving Shipbuilding and many more.
Canada has a massive oil and gas industry with many jobs being advertised in a diverse range of activities. If you are looking to do business, then basing your company in Canada gives you access to the North American market.
Salaries
- Starting salary for a fireman is around $54,000 per annum (about R605,000) and can range to a career high of around $103,000 (R 1.15 mil)
- Average salary for a mechanical engineer is approx. $63,000 per year (about R706,000) to $103,000 at the high end of the payscale (R 1.15 mil)
- A nurse makes about $68,000 to $84,000 per year (R761,000 – R940,000)
- A family physician earns about $271,000 per year (R3 mil) and a specialist around $331,000 (R 3.7 mil)
- Salary taxes are far lower than what South Africans are taxed so there is more disposable income
Technology
The internet is blazingly fast in Canada. The North American market offers a huge amount of choice and many premium devices at lower prices, many which cannot be obtained in South Africa. Products such as laptops are often put on clearance before the new range comes in and retailers drop their prices right down.
Vehicles
Canadian dealerships offer a wide range of vehicles from every manufacturer and some really big bakkies such as the Dodge Ram, Ford F250 and Chevrolet Silverado. We drive a Dodge Journey which is type of station-wagon/SUV crossover, perfect for families and long-distance travel.
Vehicles are very affordable and often come with 0% financing options. Used vehicles are even less expensive. Thanks to the province’s strict motor vehicle inspection regulations, all vehicles on the road are well-maintained.
The Great Outdoors and Sports
Canada has many great forests, lakes, trails, mountains and beaches. Ranging from unspoilt wildernesses to well-maintained parks and gardens, there is something for everyone. A career as a park ranger would be idyllic.
Many if not most activities are free, such as the large outdoor ice-rink in the centre of Halifax. Pick up your free skates and enjoy some outdoor ice-skating with the kids. In summer the rink becomes a track for free roller-blading, skating and bicycling (pick up the gear free from the office).
Children’s play-parks are impeccably maintained and come with range of play equipment. There are many skate parks, public tennis courts and basketball courts all free to use. Near to where we live there is a full-size olympic running track open for public use.
Old railway lines have been progressively removed and replaced by public-use trails (‘rails-to-trails’ initiative). This has created a vast network of trails throughout Nova Scotia on which you can hike, bike, walk, amble or even ski. The trails go mostly through forested areas, around or through the middle of lakes, over bridges and alongside rivers. There are picnic spots at locations along the way and the trails are fully accessible.
Affordability
Canada extracts its own oil and gas. It is cheaper to fill your tank in Canada than in South Africa (at time of writing a R3.00 per litre difference). The fuel price here is fairly stable despite the turmoil in the oil markets. ** UPDATE: After the recent fuel spike in SA and price drop in Nova Scotia, the difference after conversion to Rands is now R6.02 per litre as at 27 Nov 2018.
Food looks more expensive when you read the price tag and convert to Rands, however the constant discounts, coupons and cashback incentives make it cheaper to shop for groceries here. Our monthly household budget for a family of 4 in South Africa was R12,000 and this has dropped to R8000 in Canada. Our credit card paid us back $300 in cash-back just for using the card.
There are no bank charges on depositing, drawing, swiping or transferring cash. You can deposit money over-the-counter and there is no charge. If you ask what the cost is to deposit money you’ll get the same response I got: “But sir, that is your money and you are entrusting it to us, we do not charge you for that.”
Credit is very easy to get here and one has to be careful. Every outlet has their own credit card that they want you to use eg. a Walmart Mastercard or a Canadian Tire credit card. Every card has its own perks, money-back options and discounts when shopping at the retailer.
Housing
Rentals in Halifax are similar in price to what you would pay in some average suburbs in Cape Town or Johannesburg and can range (after conversion) from about R5500 p.m. for a small apartment to over R20,000 p.m. for a house in a family suburb. If you go a bit farther out from the city centre the rentals drop in price significantly and the property size increases.
Buying a house in Canada is a good way to reduce your monthly expenses since interest rates are very low, usually around 3% and there is an incentive to first-time homebuyers (if you are coming from another country you are classed as a first-time homebuyer).
The banks here have great incentives for immigrants and they try to make it a bit easier for you to buy a home since you have no credit history in the country. There are also great provincial incentives which differ from province to province.
In Nova Scotia there are many small farms which in SA we would call smallholdings. They produce a range of things from apples, pumpkins, sunflowers and peaches to milk, dairy, pork, beef and turkey. We’ve been toying with the idea of purchasing a small farm to try some organic and sustainable farming. Farmland here in Nova Scotia is not expensive. Nova Scotia is a small province and the locals consider 20 km to 30 km from town to be far out. We think this kind of distance is just perfect. With very well maintained roads and highways connecting everything you can be wherever you need to be really quickly.
Weather
Just like South Africa, Canada has 4 defined seasons. It is a very big country which means summers can be warm at the coast to hot in the interior. Summers are longer and warmer in the southern parts of Canada. In Halifax, Nova Scotia we wore short sleeves from May to Sept.
Spring and Autumn months in Atlantic Canada are pleasantly cool with sunny days and crisp evenings. We get a fair amount of gentle rainfall. Autumn nights are cool and towards the end of October nighttime temperatures can fall below 6 degrees. Autumn days vary between about 10 degrees and 16 degrees, which is long-sleeve weather but no heavy jackets required. The coldest months in the Maritime Provinces range from November to March with snow in Dec, Jan and Feb.
Snow
Snow is amazing in Nova Scotia. The snow does not accumulate on the ground as much as the interior of Canada which leaves roads and trails wide open almost all year round. We hiked, biked and explored the woods throughout the coldest and snowiest month of the year (February).
It’s important to have the right clothing . . . we had fun shopping for winter jackets and boots at local retailers where bargains were sometimes as much as 70% off.
Average winter days are calm with gentle snowfalls. We only experienced one blizzard in Halifax and the next day we were out in the prevailing calm conditions. It is cold, but the conditions do not prevent one from being outdoors.
In the Western Cape we were limited in winter by the blustering wind and driving rain. Here in Maritime Canada we were surprised to find that we could get out and do more in the snow than in the rain . . . it’s far more comfortable to wear a warm snow jacket compared to a wet raincoat. Perhaps if you are coming from the interior or Durban it might be more of an adjustment to the cold, or you may find that you love the weather here. We see the weather as an adventure and the kids absolutely love the changing seasons.
Staying in Touch with Family Back Home
The Atlantic provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Labrador/Newfoundland are only 5-6 hours behind South Africa. The small time difference means that you can comfortably stay in touch with family or continue to do business with contacts in South Africa during regular working hours.
Travel
Atlantic Canada is a 7 hour flight to Europe or the Caribbean islands. Flights are relatively cheap and there are many all-inclusive family holiday specials all year round. Many Canadians skip to tropical islands or Mexico during winter. Halifax is a primary cruise-boat port with many major cruise lines travelling down to Florida or across the Atlantic. Canada itself is a massive country with excellent roads and infrastructure. Take a 6000 km drive from Halifax on the East coast to Vancouver on the West coast with lots of history and attractions in-between. This trip can also be done largely by rail.
Safety and old-fashioned neighbourliness!
Here in Nova Scotia the police don’t have much to do. During our first 10 days in the centre of Halifax we were amused by the comings and goings at the police dept. opposite our hotel. We saw an occasional university student being brought to the ‘drunk tank’ to sleep it off or for their parents to fetch them. Not much else going on.
I ordered a laptop online and it arrived in the regular mail via Canada Post. For real. When you order items online the retailers ask if you’d like them to leave your parcel on your doorstep, in case you’re not home.
We took a drive through the country and went past some beautiful smallholdings and boutique farms. There are unmanned veggie carts at the entrance to the farms and you can help yourself to veggies and drop the money in the box.
I thought it would take us a lot longer to stop looking over our shoulders but we soon started enjoying new freedoms. Night running through the town, night walks and park visits. My wife takes our girls to the forest while I am working, they are often the only people there. On warm nights we sleep with the windows open. During the day we open the front door wide to get the breeze. Increasingly I forget to lock the car.
If you drop something the trend is for the next person to pick it up (eg. keys, wallet, hat, card, glove, child’s toy) and place it on the nearest raised surface or hang it in a tree. Later when the person retraces their steps they’ll find the item right near where it was dropped.
There are ‘kerbside’ days when you can put out your old furniture and anyone who wants it can pick it up. We see perfect furniture being put out on the street, solid wood dining tables, chairs, sofas, coffee tables and more. We needed a chest of drawers and incredibly someone across the street put out two of them. Both have been put to good use in our home, not a cent spent.
The public transport is safe, cheap and regular which makes it a great alternative even if you have a vehicle. People here love to chat and you can find yourself striking up a conversation with a stranger on the bus while enjoying the view of the city going by. When the city is covered in snow it is particularly beautiful and one can really enjoy it from the bus.
