Ottawa - Post Report Question and Answers
Knowing what you know now, would you still move to this city?
I wouldn’t move here for a job with the embassy again, but maybe with the private sector. I would get paid more, have greater freedom in where I live, and I could actually drive to work without having to pay $240/month for a parking spot - Sep 2023
Yes, I've enjoyed Ottawa. - Aug 2015
No. - May 2014
Yes, it is a great place for the kids and the work can be interesting. - Jul 2013
Absolutely. I love it here. It's so nice to have a normal life here, to be able to make friends and not second guess their motives or feel wildly out of place socioeconomically, and to be relatively close to friends and family in the United States. - Jan 2013
No we would not. With 2 young children and a high schooler, poor schools and poor health care have made us miserable at times. Also, the LQA and little-to-no help from the embassy made arrival harder than it should have been. - Dec 2010
Yes. We were very unhappy when we first arrived, since the embassy gives you almost no support because everyone believes that a posting to Ottawa is just like being assigned to DC -- but with a housing allowance. This isn't the case, but that is the belief. Now that we have sorted out the suboptimal experience of LQA and finding medical care, we are glad we came. It's been a really good experience personally and professionally. - Aug 2010
Yes. I think the city is vastly underrated and gets a disturbingly bad rap from some people (esp. some of the posters on here!). - Nov 2009
