Traffic can be absolutely awful in NZ. Largely because there are a lot of natural choke points which don’t allow for wide roadways, and the investment in large road infrastructure has not kept up with the need. Auckland traffic is abysmal, as it is essentially one large north-south column with a few trunks.

Christchurch isn’t bad, but the highways through the city have a lot of lights and with the traffic load it can take a long time to get places. It’s a lot like Winnipeg, it doesn’t have freeways to get you around quick without stopping constantly.

Thank you for your honest response, and it is good to hear you have found your feet. I too have struggled to find employment that pays me what I am worth (I have a M.A. is social sciences, but also am a trained teacher). We moved overseas to support my wife’s family during a difficult time and decided to try and settle there. It turns out its hard to buy a $850k 2-bedroom bungalow when you are making 70k a year. Returning to Canada, we assumed our previous experience teaching would mean we would find jobs easily. In reality, it had priced us out of the market, and in our province a school division can keep you on terms for two years and then has to give you a permanent position or let you go. I have spent the last 5+ years bouncing from term to term, often very difficult positions where other term teachers have cut and run. I’ve saved the ass of the few school divisions in my area so many times, but all I have got in repayment is to be bounced around and when a permanent comes up they give it to a recent grad, who frankly does not have the experience or diverse range of talents I do. This year, I decided to pivot into the heritage industry. I am currently working a job I like quite a lot that requires virtually no communte and can help build my local community. Problem is, I make less than 40k a year. We can make it work because our mortgage is incredibly cheap (we lucked out and got a fixer upper for way below market value), but employers in this area also vastly undervalue labor. I’ve realized I will either have to create a secondary income stream, or use my growing contacts in private industry to leverage myself into a position that pays even close to what my work output is worth. All that being said, I still find that Canada provides good support for its citizens and generally has decent opportunity. Ultimately, we stay for the people. Returning to my wife’s home country we struggled to make any real connections and while people are friendly, it was so hard to make friends. In Canada, we have a large and varied friend group. We have potlucks almost weekly with several families, and I have opportunities to be deeply involved in community arts programs that provide opportunity for self expression and better my community. We have never been able to find that anywhere else, and I think that is why we stay.

As a Canadian, I’m curious to know which issues burdened you so heavily that you felt leaving Canada was the only option? It is a vast country with plenty of differences regionally, so the option to internally migrate was always there. What area of the world did you move to that you seem to have found what you were looking for?

I’m asking because I am genuinely curious, as someone who grew up in Canada, lived overseas (in a country on most people’s bucket lists, but has its own set of issues) and has returned to Canada. I can personally attest to the fact that the addage “the grass is always greener over the fence” rings true initially, but every place has its similar issues.

I’m always hesitant about these reports about teacher shortages. I was a teacher in Manitoba and spent years bouncing from term to term as school divisions are under severe budget constraints and have no permanent roles to give out. They say we have a teaching shortage as well, but what they mean is no one will become a substitute teacher to make $30,000 a year. Or that no one will take the plethora of “part-time” positions where they are offering a 0.2 or 0.3 position which pays $25,000 a year (but of course expects a host of admin and extracurricular work so you don’t really have the luxury of finding another job). I left teaching for a 50% pay cut in the heritage sector. The reduction in income hurts, but not being jerkd around by the system is a nice change. I’m not really in a place in life where I can relocate, but I would happily move to Quebec if the supposed guarantee to permanent teaching roles was really as good a the media makes it out to be.

Sorry for the off topic rant. Affirming a student’s chosen pronouns makes a world of difference, and being able to make sure you school’s data system can accurately report those chosen pronouns and whether or not parents should be informed of those pronouns can be a literal lifesaver! I’ve taught students who committed suicide because their parents emotionally and physically abused them for being gender fluid, and having teachers who (for their own bullshit reasons) refused to change a single word in how they referred to that student. If all it takes is changing a field in our data system, and admin reminding teachers just how important that identity can be to a teen, that is a simple change that can literally save lives. Stop using teens lives as a pawn in you pearl-clutching vote grab Conservatives!