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I'm a bit troubled about where to settle. I am from Sweden, but I really don’t like the place. Boring, homogenous, too politically correct, lack of culture and bad weather (wet all year). I’ve also lived in Perth Australia but that was too far from Europe, too expensive and too car dependent (huge distances everywhere). As someone who recently finished university and soon is about to start a family I’m looking for a family friendly place to live. I’m also very down to earth and appreciate “boring things” like history, historical architecture, culture, traditions, food and sports. And from environmental and health-conscious reasons I really do prefer a walkable place. Among the worst aspects with Australia is the urban sprawl, sub urbanism and constant car dependence. It is neither practical for me or the environment.
I was initially looking towards Britain as it’s close to family and Europe, has tons of history and culture, good food, walkability and it’s easy to move there (as for now at least) thanks to EU.
But as Britain like Sweden has really bad weather, a halting economy and the whole Brexit problem I’m getting a bit unsure at the moment if now is the time to move there. That made me look towards Canada. I’ve been to Canada twice and spent in total 10 weeks in Calgary, where my cousins live. To even think about Canada is a bit strange for me as Canada at first sight looks to lack most of what I want and to have a lot of what I do not want.
Canada, like Sweden and Australia, is huge but sparsely populated which means large distances to get anywhere. Is it suburban and lacks the history and culture that makes Europe interesting. It also seems very politically correct, drug-positive and very cold in the winter. Finally, I have no interest in ice hockey. So why am I considering it?
Well because:
* The economy seems strong and job opportunities seems fine
*It is very easy for my girlfriend to work as a physiotherapist there (her profession) – not the case in Australia
* It has free healthcare (?) and good school system
* It is safe
* It has FOUR SEASONS (very important) and get the variation in climate
* It is fairly easy to immigrate to and has good opportunities for a first house for young couples (from what I’ve heard)
* It is not too expensive to do things (cinema, pub, eat out)
Why Ottawa?
If we’re moving to Canada then we’re moving east coast. This is simply because it is closer to Europe, closer to interesting cities in Canada and US to visit and because it has better winters. I don’t know that much about the cities, but Toronto is to large and Montreal is French speaking. So that leaves Ottawa.
* Is it very expensive to live there or can you get an apartment/house fairly central location?
* Does it have any history/culture or is it all just blocks and sub urbanism?
* Is it close to nature?
*Does it have white Christmases? Good skiing opportunities?
* Does it get warm in the summer?
* Any smaller cities (around 50 000 – 250 000) that are worth considering?
* I’ve heard that it is boring, is it and in what way?
* How much does the political correctnes and such affect one in every-day life? (in Sweden you CANNOT escape it)
I'm a bit troubled about where to settle. I am from Sweden, but I really don’t like the place. Boring,homogenous, too politically correct, lack of culture and bad weather (wet all year).
You still think Sweden is homogenous? Like Stockholm, Goteborg and Malmo?
But sure, Ottawa is not particularly homogenous, and neither are the biggest Canadian cities nearby, Montreal and Toronto.
* Is it very expensive to live there or can you get an apartment/house fairly central location?
* Does it have any history/culture or is it all just blocks and sub urbanism?
* Is it close to nature?
*Does it have white Christmases? Good skiing opportunities?
* Does it get warm in the summer?
* Any smaller cities (around 50 000 – 250 000) that are worth considering?
* I’ve heard that it is boring, is it and in what way?
* How much does the political correctnes and such affect one in every-day life? (in Sweden you CANNOT escape it)
Is Ottawa a good place to live?
Ottawa is a very good place to live, by most standards.
Housing costs are so-so, but will likely seem cheap compared to Sweden.
There is a decent amount of history and local culture for a North American city. Certainly more than a place like Calgary, but less than places to the east like Montreal, Quebec City and Atlantic Canada.
Nature is very easily accessible here. Do a Google search for Gatineau Park. That's about a 10-minute drive from central Ottawa. This is a great region for outdoor activities in all four seasons.
There is about an 80% chance of a White Christmas.
Skiing is not as good as in the Alps but probably not too bad by Swedish standards. You can go downhill skiing on so-so hills after dinner on a weeknight. It's that close. Better hills are 2 hours away at Mont-Tremblant and the Laurentians (north of Montreal). There is also good skiing a few hours further in northern NY state and Vermont.
Summers are real here. Average maximum is about 28C and it's quite humid so most days feel like 30C or more. It's usually sunny but sometimes with a 15-minute thunderstorm at the end of the day. It's easily warm enough to swim in lakes that are frozen over in the winter, and many people have backyard pools.
Canada (especially Anglo-Canada) is extremely politically correct. Perhaps the world champion!
In addition to Ottawa, the OP might want to consider Halifax in the east. It is relatively close to Europe and the Maritimes have an interesting culture.
* I’ve heard that it is boring, is it and in what way?
* How much does the political correctnes and such affect one in every-day life? (in Sweden you CANNOT escape it)
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Can you please provide your own viewpoints and definitions of what is "boring" and "political correctness and such" ? And in what way do you feel it affects you in your every-day life in Sweden, and is it to your detriment or impediment? I feel that it's important to know your viewpoints because what you personally consider to be boring and politically correct might very well be quite different from what many people in various other countries, including Canada, might consider them to be.
You still think Sweden is homogenous? Like Stockholm, Goteborg and Malmo?
Yeah the topic maker made a kinda contradictory topic; on the one hand he describes Sweden's boringness as something he doesn't like and on the other hand he desribes himself as "liking boring things". Also he writes Sweden is homogenous (although it is no more) and then he dislikes political correctness, which actually only someone who realizes Sweden's large and fast-growing Arabic community would write (and therefore would consider it to be heterogenous).
Ottawa is a boring city, it is a bureaucratic-political city, while the fun is in Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver, while the beauty is in Québec City. There's Club Pigale in Gatineau, which is fun, Acajack is a loyal customer there.
Although Ottawa has 900,000 inhabitants, I'd like to remind you that it only has 900,000 inhabitants because it has gigantic, huge city limits - 2700km² (8x as large as Montréal, 2x as large as NYC, 3x as large as Berlin) - larger than the entire country of Luxembourg. It's real city population on former city limits is 340,000. So I suggest you to expect a city 340 000 and not soon-1 million.
Mass migration is changing both Sweden and Canada beyond recognition. And if he dislikes Sweden's weather, he won't be happy with Canada either.... Topic maker, what about making your post clearer
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
Canada (especially Anglo-Canada) is extremely politically correct. Perhaps the world champion!
Canada is very, very politically correct. There's no really freedom of speech, non-approved opinions are not being broadcoast, only approved opinions can be said. We can observe it with Donald Trump, where only negative things were said.... and the media solely praised Crooked Hillary.
Canada ranks very high, however, I think that Sweden and Germany are the world champions of PC.
Canada is very, very politically correct. There's no really freedom of speech, non-approved opinions are not being broadcoast, only approved opinions can be said. We can observe it with Donald Trump, where only negative things were said.... and the media solely praised Crooked Hillary.
Canada ranks very high, however, I think that Sweden and Germany are the world champions of PC.
I am not sure how familiar you are with Anglo-Canada?
. And if he dislikes Sweden's weather, he won't be happy with Canada either.... Topic maker, what about making your post clearer
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The climates are fairly similar, but Ottawa and also southern Quebec and southern Ontario are noticeably warmer and more humid in the summer. In addition to being sunnier for much of the year - especially in the winter due to less cloudiness and also more daylight hours given they are quite a bit further south in terms of latitude.
The sun in this part of the world in terms of strength and daylight hours is the same as in southern France and northern Italy.
You still think Sweden is homogenous? Like Stockholm, Goteborg and Malmo?
But sure, Ottawa is not particularly homogenous, and neither are the biggest Canadian cities nearby, Montreal and Toronto.
“Homogenous” is not just about ethnicity. It is also about society. Yes, the major cities in Sweden do have large percentage of immigrants, 20-30 %, but these live in their own societies (“ghettos”) away from mainstream Swedish society. They rarely integrate. Furthermore, Swedish society and state is very keen on shaping the lives of Swedes and the results are that it really does not matter where you live, life is the same wherever you settle in Sweden. People are very much alike (in their ways, views etc.), all political parties are the same, all cities look alike due to similar (socialistic) urban planning and architecture and the weather is even almost the same everywhere (even though this one you cannot change). For these reasons I think that Sweden is homogenous. Maybe not statistically, but in reality.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
Ottawa is a very good place to live, by most standards.
Housing costs are so-so, but will likely seem cheap compared to Sweden.
There is a decent amount of history and local culture for a North American city. Certainly more than a place like Calgary, but less than places to the east like Montreal, Quebec City and Atlantic Canada.
Nature is very easily accessible here. Do a Google search for Gatineau Park. That's about a 10-minute drive from central Ottawa. This is a great region for outdoor activities in all four seasons.
There is about an 80% chance of a White Christmas.
Skiing is not as good as in the Alps but probably not too bad by Swedish standards. You can go downhill skiing on so-so hills after dinner on a weeknight. It's that close. Better hills are 2 hours away at Mont-Tremblant and the Laurentians (north of Montreal). There is also good skiing a few hours further in northern NY state and Vermont.
Summers are real here. Average maximum is about 28C and it's quite humid so most days feel like 30C or more. It's usually sunny but sometimes with a 15-minute thunderstorm at the end of the day. It's easily warm enough to swim in lakes that are frozen over in the winter, and many people have backyard pools.
Canada (especially Anglo-Canada) is extremely politically correct. Perhaps the world champion!
Thank you for a very informant answer. I’ve heard and read that housing is very affordable in Canada, partly due to some government/provincial programs that you guys have. What are those?
Yes snow and nature seems to be around the corner, which is great, but how about indoor activities like cinema, pubs and such, is it affordable? I have experienced summer I Calgary, New York City and Washington DC so I do know that summer are good in North America. But what I worry about is the bugs, do you have problems with a lot of mosquitoes and other bugs during summer (considering humidity, closeness to lakes and forest)?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoisite
Can you please provide your own viewpoints and definitions of what is "boring" and "political correctness and such" ? And in what way do you feel it affects you in your every-day life in Sweden, and is it to your detriment or impediment? I feel that it's important to know your viewpoints because what you personally consider to be boring and politically correct might very well be quite different from what many people in various other countries, including Canada, might consider them to be.
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Political correctness is people who fight the “good war” as they call it here. It basically means having a naive and ignorant view of the world and of society. It means pushing their agendas and understanding of respect and tolerance at the masses. This “war” is mostly fought through marking words and trying to change the language. It could be making actual political debates around phrases such as “manspreading”, “mansplaining” and the whole concept of men standing up while peeing.
But it could also be a teacher telling a crying 5 year old in pre-school that he is not allowed to cry because he is of the dominant group in society (white male) or neglecting boys to play with cars and action toys and forcing them to play with dolls to break gender barriers and stereotypes in Swedish kinder gardens. It could be not prosecuting or even talking about rapes committed by minorities in fear of being called racist or not criticising women in any way in fear of being called sexist.
It is basically the left’s version of the gun loving and climate denying alt right, but with different motives. I know you have the whole “peoplekind” thing so I’m aware that this exists in Canada as well, but is it possible to avoid or does it swallow you as it does here?
Quote:
Originally Posted by QuebecOpec
Yeah the topic maker made a kinda contradictory topic; on the one hand he describes Sweden's boringness as something he doesn't like and on the other hand he desribes himself as "liking boring things". Also he writes Sweden is homogenous (although it is no more) and then he dislikes political correctness, which actually only someone who realizes Sweden's large and fast-growing Arabic community would write (and therefore would consider it to be heterogenous).
Ottawa is a boring city, it is a bureaucratic-political city, while the fun is in Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver, while the beauty is in Québec City. There's Club Pigale in Gatineau, which is fun, Acajack is a loyal customer there.
Although Ottawa has 900,000 inhabitants, I'd like to remind you that it only has 900,000 inhabitants because it has gigantic, huge city limits - 2700km² (8x as large as Montréal, 2x as large as NYC, 3x as large as Berlin) - larger than the entire country of Luxembourg. It's real city population on former city limits is 340,000. So I suggest you to expect a city 340 000 and not soon-1 million.
Mass migration is changing both Sweden and Canada beyond recognition. And if he dislikes Sweden's weather, he won't be happy with Canada either.... Topic maker, what about making your post clearer
Sweden is boring because everyone I know is the same (broadly speaking). Same interests, views, manners etc. All cities look the same. Same people on radio or tv all the time. Not much to do because it rains all the time and is roughly same temperature all year (8 C in winter, 18 C in summer).
I’m “boring” because I don’t like clubbing and partying. But I do like outdoor activities, live music, dining, both watching and enjoying sports etc. I have stated above my opinions about political correctness and my views on immigrants in Sweden.
Yes the vastness of Canada and it’s cities, urban sprawl, sub urbanism and such is an issue for me. But weather is not the same. We have not had a white Christmas for ages.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
The climates are fairly similar, but Ottawa and also southern Quebec and southern Ontario are noticeably warmer and more humid in the summer. In addition to being sunnier for much of the year - especially in the winter due to less cloudiness and also more daylight hours given they are quite a bit further south in terms of latitude.
The sun in this part of the world in terms of strength and daylight hours is the same as in southern France and northern Italy.
Yes, so you guys get a lot more sun, much more snow, less rainy days and warmer summers. Basically, four season continental climate. We have oceanic, one season, climate where it rains almost every day and the seasonal variations are very limited most years.
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Also he writes Sweden is homogenous (although it is no more) and then he dislikes political correctness, which actually only someone who realizes Sweden's large and fast-growing Arabic community would write (and therefore would consider it to be heterogenous). 
