It's true -- when I came here 18 months ago, I made a sacrifice, one that is perhaps not uncommon for those who have chosen to move back here 'from away.'  It's all about salary expectations.  There, I said it.

The Chronicle Herald recently published a must-read piece called 'Landing a real job' by Kelly Toughill.  She articulated a very important thing:

The limited op­portunity of this place has left a residue of community values.  That commitment to community val­ues shows up in hard numbers put together by Statistics Canada, the federal agency that measures everything from pork belly production to religious affil­iations across Canada.  Its studies show that Nova Scotia has lower divorce rates than the national average, higher levels of charitable giving, tighter ties to local community and a very strong base of social support when times get tough.

Expecting a cold blast of air when I opened the door this morning, I was instead greeted by a breaktakingly warm breeze.  It's 16 C degrees here in Annapolis Digby.

...just one more reason to move to Annapolis Digby!

The idea of life in the Maritimes seems to stick with a person. I know this from experience. I was born here in Nova Scotia and spent much of my youth moving between this province and Ontario.  After graduation, I spent many years building a career in Toronto, much of the time dreaming how and when to make the move back, and then...

One summer day, I was driving back to Toronto after spending the weekend at a friend's cottage in the Muskokas. What should have been a two hour trip had become a three hour hassle, and -- ughhh -- sometimes a four hour nightmare! Worse, as we passed Barrie, I could see three distinct layers of yellowish gray smog on the horizon. It was time to get out of there.

We can help you become an urban refugee too! Check out our Test Drive the Community program to learn about relocating to Annapolis Digby. We also encourage you to visit Nova Scotia Come to Life -- we're a proud Charter Member of the program!