Halifax - Post Report Question and Answers
What do you wish you had known about this particular city/country before moving there?
Halifax has a long history of shared family ties with Boston. However, just because the US has been close allies with Canada, do not assume that we are similar. If you say "we have lots in common" or "it's nearly the same" they could feel highly offended. They take great pride in being different from the USA and do not want to be seen as the same. We share a language and a border, but viewpoints and habits tend to be quite different. Who you are is not your title. It will take a while to get employment if you are waiting to get it after you arrive. Plan time for your hobbies. It's a fantastic place to do them. - Sep 2020
Halifax is smaller than people typically perceive, perhaps because it features prominently on most world maps (but mostly because there is nothing else sizeable anywhere near it!). It's only about 450,000 for the entire metro area. It's also much more isolated than people realize. The next nearest Canadian city of any size is Quebec City, about ten hours drive away. It would take about 11 hours just to drive to Boston. It is further east than Bermuda, and only has limited (and expensive) flight connections to the US (Boston and New York, with seasonal flights to Florida), although it does have US preclearance at the airport, so you go through US immigration and customs formalities before you get on the plane, then arrive in the US as if off of a domestic flight. - May 2018
