p.s.
if you are interested in working in Canada, you are best to
contact the Canadian Embassy ....

Breathtakingly beautiful. (At least when I was there)

In the UK a midwives are in hospitals and community midwives are available if a woman wants to give birth at home. Do midwives not work in hospitals in Canada?
Yeah everytime I've looked at it it's constantly being rated as good for living.
Thank you all for your help! And thankyou jsmith I will look at the link now:)

Katie, this website will help with your questions about climate:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/hi/country_guides/

Many women with normal births (not high risk or twins or incorrect presentation, c sections, etc) prefer to use nurse midwives. Just as many patients prefer to use nurse practitioners rather than GPs as their primary caregiver.

Nurse midwives work in hospitals - don't know if they are hospital employees in Canada or have separate practices or are employed by OBG practices.

And the Canadian government provides healthcare to all citizens (european - not US model).

French is the primary language in Quebec and you can;t function in a job without being completely fluent. Other Canadians are all supposed to study it in school - the country is officially bilingual - but some obviously don't do much. In other provinces only English is required - although French is appreciated.

It's true that the western coast has a milder climate than the central or major eastern provinces, which have harsher winters (not the maritimes -don;t know about that but suspect the winters are hell).

Now that we know the reason for your questions, perhaps this might help:

Canada has a publicly funded universal and comprehensive system health care system, but it differs from the British NHS in that the government acts as the insurer rather than the provider of health services in most cases. The administration of health services is governed by the provincial and territorial governments so varies somewhat from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but all must follow the same basic principles. The following from the federal department of Health gives a good overview:

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hcs-sss/index-eng.php

Midwives are recognized as health professionals in most of Canada, but the regulations differ from province to province. You can easily find the appropriate information on the internet.

Regarding language, it is not correct as nytraveler suggests, that all school children must learn French in Canada. The majority do, but fluency in French is not a requirement for health workers in most of Canada outside the Province of Quebec. Certainly in areas such as Eastern Ontario and in New Brunswick it is a significant advantage, but in few other parts of the country.

Regarding climate, you must realize that Canada is a vast country, covering 6 time zones, and the weather varies considerably. Although these are huge generalizations,the west coast (British Columbia) tends to be the most temperate, the Atlantic provinces seem to have the heaviest snowfalls, and those in between the greatest variance in temperatures between summer and winter (30C to-30C). You can look at weather history for specific areas to get a better idea. BTW I agree with danon that aside from the West Coast, winters in Toronto are not particularly harsh compared to those in the rest of the country.

As to where you might want to spend your work term, you should think about whether you want to be in a large city such as Vancouver or Toronto, a smaller city, or a large town. Unless you are fluent in French, you would likely not be able to work in Montreal.

I hope this gives you some ideas for further inquiry.

NY traveler, thank you, now I understand what I've been missing: I thought of midwives as a substitute for medical personnel, didn't realize they are nurse midwives.

This is unfamiliar for me as I didn't give birth in the US.

In BC doulas and midwives are coming to the fore along with
ob/gyn clinics staffed by female doctors. Of course, doctor
assisted pregancies and deliveries are still the most used
esp. in difficult situations.

Thank you for the link about climate. I'm not bothered about it being too cold as I quite like this, I just wasn't sure how the snow would effect day to day life as I'm not used to it. Thanks:)
I speak basic french, so if I am lucky enough to get a visa I will do a course to make sure I know it more.
I'm still a bit confused about the canadian midwives. Are they like american ones where they have trained as nurses and then have gone on to train to be midwives? And how much of a role do they play in the delivery?
In the UK you can do a 3 year midwifery degree (without going through the nursing route) and you are then qualified to deliver babies and care for the woman. Doctors aren't involved in the process unless its a C section or intervention such as forceps are needed.

Katie, I have a friend whose daughter is in the final stages of completing her midwifery degree in the US (I think for her practicum she needed to deliver 100 or so babies). She didn't mention anything about going the nursing route first, just the degree in midwifery. Next time I talk to her I can ask.

<i>I speak basic french, so if I am lucky enough to get a visa I will do a course to make sure I know it more. </i>

Unless you are in Quebec, I don't know when you would use it. Bear in mind that, outside of Quebec, French is the mother tongue of only something like 5% of Canadians. In a place like Vancouver, Cantonese would be far more useful.

I used a midwife for both of my kids. Had them in a hospital though. Covered by insurance.

Hi, Katie.
Laverendrye (who is Canadian) gave you an excellent summary of our country, especially with regard to climate variations.

As to the effects of winter, of course climate always affects culture. In Canada sports like skiing, skating, and hockey are very popular; everyone has essentially 2 wardrobes--summer clothes & winter clothes, as what the British consider a winter coat would be a fall jacket in most of Canada; driving in snow is a skill that must be acquired CAREFULLY; and finally, even the majority of Canadians who live in cities, tend to think of "The Great White North" and the "wide open spaces" as the hallmarks of our country.

The confusion over language stems from the regional nature of Canada. Quebec is a province--an administrative division-- but in Canada the 10 provinces are not merely administrative divisions. Quebec is French-speaking, New Brunswick is bilingual, English is spoken in the remaining provinces and a significant proportion of the people in the three territories (the Northern part of the country) speak a Native (i.e. Indian or Inuit) language. Each province is responsible for its own health care and education system, although, as explained above, all Canadians have health insurance.

Canada tends to have American-influenced popular culture, but our political system is basically British-- representative government and a Prime Minister as the chief executive.

I just read over what I wrote and feel obliged to say, in case this is read by the terminally clueless, that the Great White North refers to SNOW!

Katie -

Those salaries are not a lot. In the US the average nurse practitioner makes $90 to $100 K per year. When you consider that they are taking the place of most of a physician - who would be making at least twice as much - based on specialty - they are a bargain.

Thankyou 'seetheworld' that would be really helpful:)
Thanks for the reply 'nfldbeothuk'. I definitely prefer cold weather to hot weather, I'm one of those people who don't really feel the cold! I've read online that Toronto can get quite humind in the summer, do you know if this is true? Do you also know anything about quarantine for dogs? I have a 2 year old cross breed dog who was born in the UK. I looked online and it looked like as long as he is proven to not have rabbies then he wouldn't need to go into quarantine, but I'm not sure if I've read this right?
Nytraveler- yes I guess compared to the US it isn't as much, but most midwives in the UK start on about £24000 and end up at around £36000 which is a lot less than canada :)

I can't speak to whether or not your dog would need to be quarantined, but I can tell you that Toronto was hotter than Hades this summer. Hot AND humid. Toronto summers are generally like that, although this was an exceptional year for such extreme temps.

This past winter was quite mild in comparison to other years: I did not need my snow tires and didn't wear a heavy coat at all. Our "normal" winters will have runs of a week-10 days or so from time to time that are bitterly cold but sunny. February can be snowy and dreary.

Toronto is a live-and-let-live large, cosmopolitan city. There are several areas with designations such as Little Italy, Little India, Greektown; areas which are wonderful to visit and in which to eat. There is culture galore: art galleries, museums, opera, classical and modern ballet, symphony orchestras, 3 universities and many colleges, sporting venues, parks, international film festival, etc.

Just about every religion is represented here. There are two areas in the city that I would avoid, but that's about it. You will not need to know French.

Of course there is crime but the rates are extremely low for a big city. Our transportation issues are legendary, though =) Hope this helps.

Yes - when visiting the UK I have noticed that salaries for a lot of jobs are shockingly low.

to give you some perspective, in the US the average mailman (letter carrier) earns about $50,000 per year. (Keep in mind the $ is much less than the pound.)

And salaries differ by region. NYC is expensive - and here an admin (not a personal assistant, but an admin for a group of people) starts at about $35K.

A typical starting salary for a career-path job - meaning a BA or BS - is about $45K (but much higher for in-demand fields like engineering and finance).

A pharmacist straight out of school (but we only have 7 year PharmD degrees - not RPh any longer) gets about $110K for a retail job - somewhat less for hospital. But the latter can specialize in clinical areas or go into administration - for a salary double that at a large medical center.

What a great thread! Loved the answers!

Katie: if you want culture and other offerings, then muskoka has given you a very good idea of what is available. Toronto is probably the hub of all kinds of offerings. I have a friend who lives there and she just sent me the opera schedule for the coming year.

This is not to say that the other big cities in Canada, like Montreal and Vancouver, don't have offerings, but they tend to less and not so world-famous. Vancouver is my favorite Canadian city - or maybe it's a tossup with Quebec City.

I think you need to decide between a huge sophisticated metropolitan city like Toronto or something a bit smaller.Are you a city person or a country person? If you are a city person, then look no further than Toronto.

Thanks muskoka. I know there is snow, but does toronto get any other extreme weather e.g hurricanes etc. I looked online but didn't see anything, but obviously someone who lives there would know :) it sounds amazing, think I'm definitely going to have to take a holiday there in summer! What is the cost of houses in toronto like? Thanks :)

Yeah I think UK salaries are a lot lower. Generally a job you get after gaining a degree hre for example in the NHS will start around £21000 and as you progress through your career it increases.

Is vancouver a french province?
I'm not sure if I'm a city or country person. I spent my childhood in the english countryside, and teen years in a large town in the midlands. I think I'd like a country place but with lots of resources and things to do/places to go with good transport, as well as lots of people. Do this discribe Toronto or any of Candian city? Thank you:)

<i>Is vancouver a french province?</i>

No. Quebec (Montreal and Quebec City being the major cities) is the only majority French-speaking province. New Brunswick has a large French-speaking minority. The others are largely English-speaking.