The now wife is an only, I'm the oldest of six. Both our parents are getting to the age they're needing someone about to help out. So it made sense for me to move here instead of her there. Moved to London first, Nov 2020🥳, clearly the best time to move. Funny thing though, even living in London was cheaper than living in Vancouver...
'22 we lost the place we were renting as our landlord wasn't able to keep renting where he was. (He and his ex partner had bought together then split but neither could afford to pay the other out.) So we moved up to Edinburgh.
As for how long I'll be here.... probably the duration.
I'm a stone mason, and everything here is built of stone. Cost of living isn't too high, though it's definitely going up. If you're a tradesperson, be sure you have as many qualifications handy as possible, and expect to probably get a lower wage than someone who has a local SVQ(Scottish Vocational Qualification) or NVQ.(National VQ, England and Wales) Get your local papers ASAP.
A work visa isn't too hard to get,(perks of being commonwealth) but finding a company willing to take you on, and pay the visa fee and health surcharge, can be tricky sometimes.
I would recommend saving up a load of money, exchange is almost always between $1.60-2/£1, and coming out for the 6 month visitor visa, another commonwealth perk is being able to just show up and automatically get your 6mnths visitor's. Spend that time figuring out where you want to stay, and either finding a firm to take you on, or finding someone you want to shack up with and get hitched 😏. The other alternative is to work a Canadian job remotely, and get really really really good travel insurance. And bear in mind, you'll be probably restricted to renting very expensive Airbnb places without a visa that grants you the right to rent and work/study.