Can’t Afford to Expatriate? You Can if You Escape to Canada!

If you thought you couldn’t now afford to move abroad, you may find the value of your pound goes far further if you expatriate to Canada

With the British pound having been bashed into submission by the US dollar and the euro thanks to the dire state of the British economy and the lack of international confidence in the UK, some Britons who have wanted to leave Great Britain have been scuppered in their planning because of lack of affordability.

However, if you thought you couldn’t afford to expatriate, you need to know that you probably can if you consider escaping to Canada.  According to currency experts, the value of the Canadian dollar in relation to the pound has not increased dramatically, therefore Canada still remains an affordable possibility for expatriating Britons.

What’s more, the cost of property in Canada has fallen in real terms, and instead of this loss of value being written off for Brits because of the loss in value in terms of the pound’s buying power, in Canada we Brits can still bag a property bargain.

A recent article in the Telegraph has highlighted exactly how much more expensive it is for Britons to escape the UK nowadays.  Those who wanted to head for traditional expat hotspots such as Cyprus and Spain have been affected by a strong euro, whilst those who had perhaps favoured Florida or California have found the value of the pound falls far short when it comes to getting a decent property and even affording day to day living costs.

Expats living in Canada and remunerated thanks to pension or property income in the UK for example, have on the other hand discovered that they have not been so badly affected, as the pound’s value in relation to the Canadian dollar has ‘only’ dwindled to the point at which the cost of living in Canada has risen by 3% over the last six months.

This is the smallest recorded increase for all expat hotspots according to Foreign Currency Direct, and because this relates to an increase of ‘just’ GBP 5,500 on the average home, the fact that property prices have fallen in Canada by about 10% in the year to date means that Britons can still potentially profit if they sell up in the UK and emigrate to Canada.

The economy in Canada has not been immune to the global reach of the financial crisis, and it has been heavily impacted by falling sales to America for example, but overall, compared to the UK, Canada is faring far more healthily.  There are still jobs available, there are still skills gaps that the Canadian immigration authority need filling with well qualified expatriates, and what’s more, because Canada is not a nation that has traditionally seen Brits come in and abuse the property market or ‘steal’ jobs during the boom years, it is not a nation that’s entirely jaded with the British incomers.  Canadians are on the whole welcoming, and expatriating Britons find Canada’s an easy country to adjust to.

Therefore, if you thought that you couldn’t afford to escape the UK as the recession begins to bite, know that you can potentially afford to move to Canada and not be negatively impacted in terms of your finances.  If you’re determined to move, look ahead and enquire seriously about employment prospects before you even complete your visa application form – that way you will know how likely you are to find a well paying job, and you never know, if you have the marketable and in-demand skills being sought by a particular company or even a particular province, you could find your path to getting a visa is very smooth indeed.