Is life better in Canada or UK (An Honest Review)

hi everyone it's me for those of you who don't know me my name is Elena and I'm a Canadian but I have been living here in the UK for a long time I get asked constantly when British people find out that I am a Canadian Living here and they're like oh which one do you prefer Canada or the UK and it's actually a really difficult question to answer so I wanted to reflect on my 22 years living in Canada versus my nearly 8 years living in the UK Pros cons which do I resonate with more and obviously this whole discussion is just my own experiences okay this is just what I've learned things from my everyday life where do we even begin so without further Ado let's go let's talk about the pace between these two places now one of my favorite things to do here in the UK is to go to a nice cafe go to a nice Pub maybe one I've never been to before have a drink have a sit and relax or perhaps try a new restaurant that I've not been to and just enjoy you relax you enjoy you exist and there is nobody pushing you out the door which isn't always how I feel in Canada I just find the overall Pace in the UK is quite chill it's quite relaxed it's quite easygoing slow I like it obviously this is not the case for every place in Canada there are places that know what chill means but I do find like you go to dinner in Ontario you sit down you order you eat you pay and you get out and you're really not meant to hang around it's just something that I have noticed over the years as someone who loves to eat and loves to try new cafes you know you can just sit and you can stay you can chill I don't feel in Canada I feel a real sense of like you need to get moving which I don't really feel here between these two places I want to talk about the balance I believe that Canada struggles with the work life balance humble opinion this whole video is my humble opinion I hope it is improved in the future because it is something that actually could be changed you know they could improve it and I really do hope they do um because for me it is something that is so painfully noticeable did you know that you are eligible for 2 weeks of paid vacation in Canada when you work for an employer for 1 year 2 weeks to cover 365 days now this can go up to 3 weeks paid vacation when you complete 5 years with one single employer and you could get 4 weeks paid vacation when you stay with an employer guess how long long 10 years I think this is disgusting here in the UK most workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday typically referred to as annual leave 5.6 weeks incredible in Canada it could take you 10 years to work up to 4 weeks again disgusting so one of the things that I really struggle with in in the idea of moving back to Canada in the idea of going back home getting a new job like starting over again in my home Ontario Canada that really bothers me because I do think having adequate vacation time holiday time annual leave even if you don't go anywhere like maybe you're trying to save money you're going to have a station but you have that time for you away from work America is even worse for this kind of stuff and I know there are other factors that go towards you know a work life balance and having like an appropriate balance in life but I do think largely it starts with holiday time and holiday time entitlement and the fact that candle's legal entitlement is so low insane next up I would like to talk about the attitude and this one is a little bit spicy stereotyping entire Nations is obviously a mistake but let me share my experience both Brits and Canadians can be very funny can be really funny and kind and welcoming and interesting and to be fair both places are built upon immigrants but Canada is much more recent so I had a lot of friends growing up that were first generation Canadian even like my family I was born in Canada my parents and my grandparents were born in Canada but great grandparents and onwards were all over the place the UK of course if you go back far enough was built on immigration but it's just like it can be maybe a little bit too far removed too distant now attitudes towards immigrants here we are I have had British people tell me go back where I came from I've had them tell me they want me here um I've had grown men email me and tell me how disgusting and horrible I am and that I should leave and that nobody wants me here um the other day I actually had teenagers shout at meing Yanks but the Canadian me I couldn't bring myself to correct them that I'm actually Canadian of course anti-immigrant attitudes exist in Canada but I feel like we are so re like there's so there's such a connection to immigrants because a lot of us still are in Canada but I will just say there is a very loud minority one would hope of British people who hate immigrants and will happily tell you so it can be tough when I have gone through so much to live here and I have fought to be here and I love it here this is my second home you know I've been here for a long time and I would like to stay here for a long time and it is kind of like not heartbreaking but it's upsetting when British people turn to you and say well we don't even want you here so why don't you go back to where you came from next up let's talk about the cost so this is obviously very difficult to compare but it is wildly important the cost of living in both England and Canada kind of sucks not everywhere um but it is difficult buying a home here in Kent Kent is where I have lived in England um this is my home base this is my this is my second home buying a house here sucks but to be fair buying a house in Southern Ontario where I'm from also sucks in both countries the advice is basically to go someplace else so when people hear that I'm in Kent they're like oh my God you need to move up to the north of England things are cheaper homes are cheaper it's like okay I don't know anybody up there I don't have anything up there but I could relocate again I guess same thing with Ontario Southern Ontario the advice is basically go more and more rural so you're going more and more out into the countryside where it is cheaper and there is nothing so for comparison I was trying to find like two cities that could sort of we could look at so I'm from Southern Ontario Ontario is a province Kent is kind of like its own Province but within both areas the prices can really change so I thought it was interesting to compare Burlington versus Canterbury so Burlington is a really nice city um the population as of 2017 was over 200,000 so like pretty decent size on numo I can never say that word properly on this website comparing Canterbury to Burlington was quite interesting so prices in Burlington tend to be lower than Canterbury however if you look at rent rent prices in Burlington are 45.4% higher than in Canterbury insane renting prices and cost of homes in Southern Ontario is exploding so even though it is still difficult here um back home really not any better one thing that really stands out in terms of cost in the day-to-day life you know the stuff that actually impacts me um is food I am always so shocked at how expensive food has gotten back home in Ontario compared to here I can go to Tesco and I can buy some really lovely ingredients and make a really lovely meal and not have to stress out about whether I have enough money to cover rent do you know what I mean next up let's talk about the distance now this is something that affects me literally every day so it's very much like the Forefront of my mind if I were to go back to Canada if I decided you know what Canada outweighs the UK there's more Pros to living in Canada the distance is something that I would really struggle with I can walk to places here I can walk to the train station I can take a train all over the country all over the UK I could walk to a grocery store or a cafe or a post office or multiple bus stops those buses could take me all over the place none of that I can do back home you cannot live in 99% of Canada without a car to not have a car to not have the money to have a car or put in the time to get a license to not have a car is so unbelievable ably isolating because other than living in a giant City like Toronto you must have a car so it is something that I am very grateful for here I sold my car back in 2020 and I have gotten around with public transport no I can't get everywhere and yes sometimes buying expensive train tickets kind of breaks my heart and it's always when the barriers are open and nobody checks my ticket but it is something that in my day-to-day life is very important to me um it's the Forefront of my mind cuz I'm constantly walking places so if I were to go back to Canada because I feel like it's better I it would be really difficult to get back to driving everywhere cuz I also find not having the ability to walk places is isolating to have to be in a car by yourself to drive somewhere I don't know there's just there's something about being able to walk and be part of like a community of of a village I don't know does that make sense I would like to talk about the connection and this is probably the most important and the most difficult whenever someone asks me my dentist finds out I'm from Canada someone at Tesco finds out I'm from Canada literally anybody and they say wow what do you miss most about Canada and really it comes down to my friends and family that is the first thing that comes to mind and that is the thing that I cannot replic okay here of course that's not the UK's fault um it's just the thing that stands out the most to me so much of the things available in Canada a lot of people ask like food or like Hobbies or that kind of stuff most of that like 90% of it I can replicate here I can find food that is so similar if not the same hobbies that are the same similar like so much can be replicated in the UK but friends family they just can't and this is something that even nearly eight years in um it still sucks I can make friends here certainly and I have some lovely lovely friends but I also miss the friends that I've had since I was a kid do you know it's just family childhood friends um it's very difficult and to be fair a lot of the expats that I have known over the years have ultimately left the UK because of this because quite simply it is just it's not easy now is life better in Canada or the UK well I don't know there are a lot of things that I love about here I love the culture I love the balance I love the pace I love the distance but there's also a lot of things here that I don't like and my family's not here and I struggle with that you know every year so is one place better than the other I wish I knew in any case I feel very privileged to have two homes I have a home here in England and I have a home back in Ontario some people might find that very um disorienting and very like you don't feel grounded cuz you're kind of like stuck in between two places but I'm trying over the years I have realized it's better to look at it as a privilege because it is I am able to experience life in both places for Better or For Worse for pros and cons in each place and my life is improved because of it even though it's not easy it's still a privilege now I love learning about British culture and one of the ways to do that that is very fun is through TV so if you want to watch more content definitely check out this one where I try to figure out what blue Peter is but as always thank you guys so much for watching and until next time bye

Channel: Adventures and Naps

Views: 198,474

Keywords: uk vs canada, life in canada, canada vs uk, adventures and naps, alanna naps, adventures and naps canada, england vs canada, english vs canada, living in england, living in canada, canadian living in england, why i love the uk, uk vs usa, uk vs us, uk vs usa cost of living, uk vs usa which is better, uk vs canada which is better, living in the uk, moving to england, england vs canada which is better, england, living in canada vs uk, canada vs uk living, cost of living uk

Id: h8Dp5IhgnkE

Length: 14min 31sec (871 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 10 2023