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Canada Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, french culture, hockey...Ohhhh Canada...

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Old 11-29-2005, 04:55 AM   #1
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I am just about to finish my job and have decided to go on a working holiday well for a few years anyway. After meeting quite a few Canadians in my travel i am undecided to either go to Canada or the U.K both countries i am dying to see. I just have a few questions being that i am from the tropics where tempretures don't really drop below 35 degrees celcius.

How cold does Canada really get through the year?
Is it hard to find work?

Being that i can only speak English fluently will i have much trouble speaking with the French Canadians or do they generally speak English as well?

Thanks for the help in advance.
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Old 11-29-2005, 05:58 AM   #2
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How cold does Canada really get through the year?
depends on where you are, really. for example, in vancouver it hovers around 0C, in Alberta is can go to -30C, then in central Ontario the lowest around -12 then out east to newfoundland probably -10C

Is it hard to find work?
depends on what you're looking for. retail/restaurant work is always available.

Being that i can only speak English fluently will i have much trouble speaking with the French Canadians or do they generally speak English as well?
You'll have trouble if you want to work in quebec and only speak english...travelling through there you won't have much trouble since in my experience most quebecers are bilingual.
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Old 11-29-2005, 12:26 PM   #3
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I can't speak French well and I've never ever had a problem when going through Quebec..... what you must remember about Canada is it's HUGE!! we have like 6.5 timezones in our country and it takes 7hours (roughly) to fly across us. (lol like my use of US hehe) so when choosing which country you'd like to see keep this in mind... Canada will take a lot more time to see than the UK. Our country is spectacular though, nice people (generally) and very scenic.. so I highly recommend it, just make sure you have enough time to see the bits you'd like to see.
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Old 11-29-2005, 01:46 PM   #4
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As MG said, Canada is a huge country and a lot of people don't really realize that until they get here!

Something that I have always thought would be cool would be to hop on a train in one side of the country and travel it that way. Get on and off as I see fit and truly make it a "cross country tour"

That being said, VIA rail is rather expensive and probably will remain a dream.

But Canada is not to be missed. One of the most beautiful places I personally have been is Banff, Alberta. The mountains out there just took my breath away. As far as how cold does it get....It gets COLD! Someone who has not been in this kind of weather will take it as quite a shock. But all you do is get yourself a decent winter coat and hat and scarf and enjoy it. (if ya can!!) The weather is something to experience though for sure. Your friends and family back home won't believe it when you send them pictures of you making a snow angel!
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Old 11-29-2005, 07:04 PM   #5
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I'm pretty sure VIA does have a hop on hop off ticket for cross country.. I'll look it up or something
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Old 11-29-2005, 07:20 PM   #6
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Hmm, we should find out if there is a hop on hop off Via rail pass MG...I smell a rather exciting trip that could take place if there was!

What do ya say?? Us two crazy girls doing it up Canadian style??
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Old 11-29-2005, 07:37 PM   #7
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THat might be too crazy.,.... but AWESOME!! I'D BE 100% DOWN... I'm starting research right now
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Old 11-29-2005, 08:18 PM   #8
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Alrighty well I've already started some research, and I feel a little bad cause I'm kind of doing it for myself. But here goes

VIA Rail... as Benna said... Expensive.. and I couldn't find any hop on hop off package.

this looks like the cheapest train ticket to cross the country
http://www.moosenetwork.com/region.php?regionId=6


Some links
http://www.backpackers.ca/mod.php?mod=webl...d=4&start_num=0



Definetly thinking I need to do a cross country trip... perhaps a driving trip.. or biking, that'd be sick!
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Old 11-29-2005, 11:27 PM   #9
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Deffinately thinking about Canada now pretty good links thanks MG from my understanding of the weather doesn't roads freeze or get snowed over in winter there? If this happens does the trains still run?

Benna2 as for the snow angel i think a snow crocodile or kangaroo would be cool something like myself who has never seen those kind of conditions.

Anyway thank you all for the info hopefully it will make my decison easier.

Also one last thing when is the ice hockey season? It looks like one of the coolest sports around.
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Old 11-30-2005, 08:15 AM   #10
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Haha, when ISN'T the hockey season. Actually it generally runs from October till May (playoffs)...

Yes the roads do ice, and yes they do get snowed over, but we have snowplows (they have blue lights on the top of them) and salt machines to keep things from freezing, and generally no, it doesn't get a train cancelled... but it may be delayed due to switches freezing and other minor problems.
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Old 11-30-2005, 10:39 AM   #11
 
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All things considered, the Moose Travel site you gave isn't a bad idea MG. Even the North American pass on VIA Rail/Amtrak (http://www.viarail.ca/planner/en_cart_amno.html) is a pretty reasonable deal...with an ISIC card, it's C$846 (US$725). It allows you to travel unlimited on Amtrak and VIA Rail for 30 days. A comparable Eurail pass is $615 for a youth 2nd class, so it's only slightly higher. The Amtrak site doesn't have a price for the pass, but I would recommend anyone call them before purchasing one from VIA in case Amtrak's price is cheaper.

As for temperatures, it gets even colder than -30C in Saskatchewan...but then again, I'm gonna guess you won't visit Saskatchewan!
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Old 12-29-2005, 12:26 PM   #12
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well i was on tis site a while back asking questions about canada, and my advice is go to CANADA! im in canada right now 2 months into my working hoiday and yes it does get cold but when u see that snow fall you dont even feel it, its so worth it!
now what u have to decide is would you rather see pristine mountains that you can ski/snowboard down during winter or would u rather be in the uk where it rains all the time......i think canada is a wise choice.
if ur worries about the cold do what im doing stay on the west coast for winter and then go across the country in summer

canadians are AWESOME, they love to party, they love to drink they love to have a good time. they are so friendly and receptive, especially to us aussies that im even considering staying over my 1 year.
about the french, i cant speak a word of it and its no problem, if u do run into quebecois in any other province they are pretty much forced to speak english, saying that ive only met a handful that couldnt speak english very well. furthermore the fact that the country is technicaly billingual just adds to the experience which is canada.....oh canada

another advantage to canada is the current exchange rate, the cadian dollar fairs much better than the pound to the AUD, even though the canadian dollar is stronger, their cost of living is substantially lower than is australia ( i dunno bout cost of living in darwin but in sydney rent and everything else is VERY expensive) so if u do the math u still come out on top even though the exchange rate isnt exactly favourable

if u want bar/restaurant work its EVERYWHERE! so i wouldnt worry

anyways champ i hope this helps you make the right decision....i.e canada. right now im gunna enjoy my afternoon learning to snowboard in fresh powder!

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Old 12-29-2005, 02:08 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally posted by danny@Nov 30 2005, 02:27 AM
Also one last thing when is the ice hockey season? It looks like one of the coolest sports around.
[snapback]90430[/snapback]

Hockey is definitely the BEST sport around. Right up there with soccer. If you're coming up to Canada, you HAVE to play some outdoor hockey, or at least watch some people play, especially on a frozen pond. That's the Canadian way. For outdoor hockey (or any outdoor skating for that matter) the season runs roughly from December to March.

Cheers!
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Old 08-16-2006, 06:04 PM   #14
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Making contacts is a very good idea, If you goto www.visaprint.co.uk you can design a basic card for free, (they print their site on the back but it's non obtrusive), and get 250 printed, for the cost of the postage so for < 5 UKP its a good idea, take them with you and hand them out, essential information should be your nane, and e-mail address at least, perhaps include your msn id, too but as long as you have a working e-maill address you can access then people can contact you, and you. Could be very useful.

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