YES, the land of the silver birch, home of the beaver, could also be home to, well, you – if employment minister Hector Goudreau has his way.
In one of the biggest recruitment raids since the Ten-Pound Poms were poached by Australia 40 years ago, Canada is targeting skilled British workers to relocate to the other side of the Atlantic.
At first glance, it's a no-brainer. The country b
oasts beautiful scenery, great health and education systems, and you can buy a five-bedroom detached house and garden in Alberta for the price of a small cupboard in Portobello. And how can you not love the nation that gave the world Trivial Pursuit, the BlackBerry and the custard-pie gag?
But let's not be too hasty. Before getting your hopes up, remember that it's the usual suspects – doctors, teachers, engineers – that they're after. Hoodies, junkies and 50-something middle managers presumably need not apply.
But even if you do tick all the boxes, don't rush to sign on the dotted line just yet. Canada may have an awful lot of fresh air, but its cultural contribution to the world is pretty much limited to Pamela Anderson, Jim Carrey and Shania Twain. And ice hockey.
And talking of ice – if you think the east wind can blow a little chilly on the shores of Fife, you would do well to consider that temperatures of –63¼C were once recorded in the Yukon.
It's also 11th on the list of the most obese nation in the world (okay, Britain is at number three, but why swap one lot of fat neighbours for another?). And with macaroni cheese as its favourite dish, matters aren't going to change any time soon.
So it's chilly, its inhabitants are overweight – oh, and it has an abysmal World Cup football record. Sound familiar? Might as well just stay at home.
The full article contains 318 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
