When can Irie expect a sibling?

What exact neighbourhoods or areas would you avoid? (Bad air quality, water quality, petty crime, etc.)

One thing that concerns me while trying to decide if I should move from Ontario to New Brunswick is the health care system. It is supposedly not quite as good as in Ontario. What is your experience? Did you have problems finding a family doctor? How about hospitals (emergency care), and dentists? I guess since you are quite young, this is not so much on your radar, but I am asking anyway... Thanks!

@@cloudchaser966 Yes, to be honest you were correct in the last part. We haven't even tried to seek a family doctor. Last year around this time I had to visit the ER when I separated my shoulder. I waited a few hours before seeing a doctor which aligned with what I expected. An injury of that nature is not an emergency even though it felt that way from my perspective. In reality it is not and people who needed to see the doctor immediately were moved ahead of me in the queue. I believe the health care system here resembles the Ontario system unless you are living in Toronto were specialized care is more abundant. Overall I would say self advocacy may plan a role here in getting immediate care as well as resourcefulness. Being proactive in maintaining our own health is also largely overlooked.

Thank you for your videos. You mentioned that you left Toronto because of house prices. Knowing what you know today would you still make the move if having a house in GTA wasn’t the issue? Our family is thinking about moving there to reduce our mortgage but mainly to be in a less stressful and safe environment. Can you focus in quality of education and healthcare?? We have a 7 year old daughter. Thanks!!!

Oh wow that's awesome! Sounds like you guys are making out great. You guys should check out ART BATTLE. It's an event where local artists paint on canvas live and kind of compete to go onto the next round. The event comes back in a couple months. I'm sure you can find more info through Google!

@A Tribe Called Owens thanks! Will have a look for that!

For sure. Year by year she grows in diversity!

I like that. Very true!

Oh that would be nice!

Our pleasure

Good luck on your journey friend!

Lolol

Thank you and good luck!

Ya family is the deal breaker for many people. As for higher day to day. $10-20 extra on a grocery bill beats an extra $400K on a mortgage!

Yes, food, taxes, and utilities is high here, but as long as you have a good income, you'll be fine, but not so much if you are on a fixed income.

Ah yes, New Brunswick has some hilly/mountainous areas. Nothing like BC/Alberta but large enough to feel something from them! I wouldn't hold your breath on a housing bubble pop. They have been saying that for decades and it is not possible to time it. The cheapest time to buy in those places that you desire is right now, in the years to come the current prices will seem like massive discounts. Atlantic Canada has much to offer for the middle and lower classes...at the current moment.

Make sure you have a good income, as taxes, groceries, and utilities here are higher than in BC. Unfortunately you do not have a home in BC let alone one paid for. If you did have a home paid for in BC, you will have more disposable income than in NB owning a home. But if you are going to have a mortgage, it will be smaller in NB for sure, but keep in mind no home owners grant here, just a different tax rate if you live in your home. Also if you have medical needs, this is not the place to be, as access to primary healthcare is not as good as BC.

Thanks for sharing this! Good info

Hi Aurora, can you detail more on what things you find good or bad in the schools there? We are considering moving to NB and our daughter is 7. Thanks!

LOL good point.

Yes I can related. Came out here to start from scratch as well. Having a skill that you can offer immediately would be very handy. It will allow you to find work quicker, or even before you arrive. I would suggest keeping things as simple as possible with a move across the world like what you would be doing. Unless you have great building skills, find a home that doesn't require much maintenance or renovations. If you are open to putting yourself out there you can make friends quickly and easily. As I mentioned in the video, joining a team or a club is a great way to make connections. But ultimately it will be a great adventure. If you and your family are connected and on the same page any obstacles you encounter will feel trivial. Of course we hope for a smooth and easy transition but it's often never the case. Embrace the challenges because it is never really a true adventure until something goes wrong :)

Thanks for coming back :)

@@atribecalledowens Ofcourse

Some good ideas, thank you!

Good questions. You need to know the wages well before coming. Plus know the overall proportion of renter household income spent on rent and utilities in NB, which can be higher in Fredericton, Saint John, and Moncton than some equivalent size places in BC and Ontario where there are better jobs with better pay and benefits. I was surprised to learn from some electricians on a construction site made about the same I did in the early 90s as a part-time dry-waller in BC. As for quality of life, it depends on what you want and need.

Ah good one, will try to answer this in the future!

Yes, there are bad neighbourhoods, but mostly petty crime or just bad air pollution, i.e., being in the path of moving air from the pulp mill or oil refinery.

Jobs are plentiful in my experience. Especially if you have a defined skillset!

Absolutely!

Make sure you research the province thoroughly. You need a very good income as a senior here even if your home is paid for as taxes, groceries, and utilities are very high in cost. Also not much benefits or tax breaks for seniors like we see elsewhere in other provinces.

Canada is a difficult place to be if you don’t drive. Our cities are designed for cars and public transit is not great outside of the major cities. Also difficult to use a bike if that’s your thing. People are not used to cyclists and are hostile towards them sadly. The downtowns or major cities are an exception here. There are many small towns that have beaches but not having a car would be challenging!

Hi Faizan! I can answer a few of your questions: - I believe house prices on average are somewhere around $284 000 in Saint John now, which is much high than when we moved (during pandemic). - I don't believe you could find a house like ours at the price we paid. I think a house like ours is $150 000 - $200 000 now! There are still affordable homes but you may have to look in smaller cities that are close by. - There are many job opportunities. I do tell people though that the more skills you have to offer, the more opportunities there are. If you are motivated, enthusiastic, work hard, and have a positive attitude, there will be many opportunities in many different areas. - I'm not sure about the Muslim community but if I had to guess I would say yes there is one. Maybe small, but in Canada there are people of all faiths in all places. I would suggest researching groups on Facebook? Bigger cities like Toronto/Montreal/Vancouver/ or even Halifax would have larger communities no question. New Brunswick is not as diverse as other provinces. It's changing especially with people like yourself moving here :) - I'm also not sure about Halal products. You could always go veggie :P

Oh wow. Why stopped!?

@@atribecalledowens single mom with 4 kids. Bid on a few houses that I did not get. I couldn't visit during the pandemic. I had to move because my lease was up here in Toronto, but found a nice place. Finally visited summer '22, but by then we were already settled and half the kids didn't like it. Sometimes I still think about it...

We came to NB primarily to help out family and to be somewhere with less people during covid for safety reasons. Now that one of us is a senior, it is much cheaper for us to live back in BC even as renters or owning a condo. Combining the tax savings, utility savings, grocery savings, and our BC senior supplement that goes on top of our GIS; will put an extra 1200 dollars a month in our pockets; that adds up. We have already secured a family doctor for each of us, and nice apt until we decide to buy. We have been in NB for over two years and the access to primary health care has been not good and we still don't have a family doctor. We so look forward to leaving NB this year. BTW, I was born and raised in NB, and never liked it or what it had to offer.

Is there any food bank in New Brunswick please?

@@tosinolofindare Yes, there are.

Remote desk job! Full-time KZfaq one day :D

@@atribecalledowens Cool!! Good luck on your youtube journey!

I suppose that would depend on a persons experience and skill set. There are a few industrial industry main offices here in SJ. Fredericton would be more white collar than here though. But if youre interested in that type of work I’d suggest hunting for remote jobs. Tech industry would be good for this as they are more progressive and remote working is completely normalized as compared to legacy institutions likes banks, gov, etc

Just 1 - a baby too. A clip of it in our video "_____ Purpose". I forget the actual title lol Says Purpose in it for sure though!

I stand by this.

Absolutely!