Living Abroad in Canada

Your guide to Canadian travel, relocation, life, and culture

Relocating to Canada is easy, right?

That’s what I thought — at least until my family and I began planning our move here. We naively assumed that relocating from the United States to Canada wouldn’t be much more difficult than moving from one end of the U.S. to the other.

But it wasn’t just having to figure out how to arrange for work permits or apply for health insurance or find schools for the kids. We were surprised at how little we knew about Canadian life and culture.

What it means to be a bilingual country. How Canada embraces multiculturalism. The active Canadian arts scene.

Why is Canadian Thanksgiving in October?

Why is the Queen of England’s birthday a holiday in Canada?

What are Nanaimo bars? And do they have anything to do with legal same-sex marriage?

Even goofy things like why does ketchup taste different in Canada?

I Wrote the Book on Relocating to Canada

After I realized how much my family had to learn, I figured that other new Canadians would have these same questions — and many others, too. So I wrote a book, Living Abroad in Canada. Then I created this website, livingabroadincanada.com, which has been online since 2009.

Living Abroad in Canada is designed for anyone thinking of relocating to Canada or for newcomers trying to learn how to get settled. It was written specifically for expats and potential expats from the United States, but it’s full of details that will help new Canadians from the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, and many other countries as well.

And even if you’ve been in Canada a while, you may find some interesting tidbits of information that you didn’t know.

Who am I, anyway?

I’m Carolyn B. Heller, author of the book, Living Abroad in Canada, and creator of the Living Abroad in Canada website.

I’m a travel, food, and feature writer who relocated from Boston to British Columbia in 2003.

Read on to learn more about me, how my family and I ended up in Canada, and some of my favorite things about Canada.

And if you’re ready to buy the book…

Explore this website to learn more about relocating to Canada and about Canadian travel, life, and culture.

And if you want to learn more, click here to buy the book, Living Abroad in Canada.

Thank you!

Photo ©Alan Albert