subject: 4 Reasons That Prove The Grass Really Is Greener In Canada [print this page] If you've lived in the UK for several years, you'll be aware that life at the minute isn't great.
The recession damaged the economy to such an extent that although it officially finished at the end of 2009, as the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose for the third consecutive quarter, most haven't noticed any significant differences from when the recession was at it's peak.
Admittedly, life is slowly starting to improve and costs are decreasing slowly, such as for fuel. The AA Fuel Report for August 2010 shows that petrol prices have decreased by 1 penny a litre to 116.5 pence per litre of unleaded petrol. It's still higher than most would prefer to pay, but it's slowly decreasing from the recent peak of 121.5 pence per litre in May 2010.
But unfortunately, it still seems like the grass is a lot greener elsewhere in the world, with one of those places being Canada.
Whilst there will no doubt be a certain degree of those wearing rose tinted glasses when looking at a Canada visa for a possible move, there are 4 main facts that prove just how great of a country Canada is to live in.
1. There's more space - Canada is one of the largest countries in the world, second only to Russia. However, although it covers just over 3.8 million square miles of land, as the population is only estimated to be 34,218,000, it means that the population density is just 8.3 people for every square mile, making Canada one of the least densely populated places on earth.
2. The country's cities are fantastic - in most countries around the world, it's their cities that stand out from the crowd. They're heavily invested in, massively cosmopolitan and enjoyable for most.
Canada's, however, have been recognised as being some of the best in the world, with Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary all ranking in the top 10 of The Economist's World's Most Liveable Cities list for 2010.
3. There are over 3 dozen National Parks - in England, there are just 9 National Parks and although they are some of the most beautiful parts of the world, for some people they simply aren't enough.
Get yourself a Canada visa and head across the Atlantic, however and you'll be able to take in over 3 dozen Canadian National Parks and National Park Reserves. Ranging from the oldest, Banff in Alberta to the huge Wood Buffalo that stretches from Alberta to the Northwest Territories, covering 17,300 square miles (to put this in comparison, the UK's largest National Park is the Lake District, which covers 885 square miles), you really will be spoilt for choice in terms of outstanding natural beauty.
4. The climate is comparable to the UK's - whilst many people often think of Canada as being a country that has extensive amounts of snow fall during the year, it can actually be a relatively warm country to live in and very similar to the UK.
For example, the average maximum temperature in the UK in August is 20.6 degrees centigrade. Head across the Atlantic to Ottawa in Ontario and you could expect it to be almost 6 degrees warmer.
Winter's are generally colder (sometimes substantially so), but if you do your research, you could be living in a part of Canada with a very respectable year round climate.
