Ex-patter: Canada Highs
One family explain why they left Britain behind to set up home in Vancouver
Peter Townsend, 49, and family - Susan, 36, China-May, 10, and Louis, 5 – left London for a new life in Canada in 2002
Where do you live? In West Vancouver, just across the Lion’s Gate Bridge from the city centre. It’s 15 minutes by car to the beach or mountains, where we can ski.
What did you get for your money? A detached five-bedroom house with a swimming pool on half an acre, overlooking the Burrard Sound. We paid C$1. 3m for it in December 2005 – about £620,000 at the time.
What’s your background? I was born and raised in London, and had been living in Paris for 14 years, where I was working in marketing, when I met Susan, a Danish-born model. Within a year, we had moved back to London, got married, bought a flat in Fulham and started a new business. That was in 1995.
Why Canada? We were fed up with the UK, and we wanted more time, more space and better value. We considered France and Australia, but settled on Canada, then Vancouver.
Was it easy? No. Househunting from halfway across the world (brief holidays aside), selling our business and our home, then shipping all of our possessions at the same time as the extended and complicated immigration process, was a mammoth task. Thankfully, one of Susan’s talents is the ability to manage a project with military skill.
What about the paperwork? The visa-application system for Canada can be long and drawn-out. We employed an immigration lawyer, which saved us a year’s wait and helped to keep us calm.
What are the schools like? China-May was in private school back in Britain, but settled almost immediately into her new state school here. She and her brother now have Canadian accents and sound just like all their friends.
So what’s it like, really? People seem more energetic and optimistic here, with a slightly naive but refreshing can-do attitude. With two kids in school, we have built up a large circle of friends very quickly.
Have you changed? Moving here has peeled away the ageing layers of European cynicism – I have even retrained as an estate agent.
What do you miss? The ease of visiting other countries with different cultures. We also miss the old buildings and architecture you walk past every day in Europe – anything more than 60 years old here is considered historical or pulled down. And, of course, friends and family. We certainly don’t miss the M25 or the London congestion charge. It rains as much as in the UK, if not a little more, but somehow we don’t notice it. We are all looking forward to the ski season.
Where? Vancouver, a 9½hour flight from London
What? City-centre flats start at £230,000. You can pick up a family house in a good suburb for £350,000; a sea view will cost nearer £700,000
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