Thinking of moving to HK with 2 boys 4&9

Hi All,


My husband and I are considering a move to HK in the near future and just had a few questions. When we move the kids will be 9 and almost 4. We are coming from Nova Scotia. I guess I'm wondering what sort of activities we would be able to sign the boys up for, and approximate costs. Our oldest is currently in basketball, hockey, soccer, swimming and takes part in an annual musical production at his school. The youngest is only in swimming right now.


We are both teachers and are hoping to procure jobs with an international school. Anyone on the site with a similar experience? (that is moving to HK with kids to teach ??)


I know I have lots more questions, just can't think of them right now. Thanks so much.

Agree with the above point. You will need jobs/work permit before you get here. Also, housing is expensive so check this out before you move.


As for activities: HK is one of the best and most well connected cities in the world. You will easily find everything that you want (and more!)

I know that schools such as Delia recruit heavily from your part of the world. Yes, be sure to verify salary in relation to housing costs (which are currently very high) and availability/suitability of schools for your children. There is a Canadian International School, whose site you can find at cdnis.edu.hk Fees there would be very high unless you were teaching there. Typically jobs come out starting in late December or January. Some schools (such as Cdnis)go to job fairs at places like Queen's. You can always check any international school websites (there is a link on this site) for job availability. Quite often "foreign hire contracts" are far superior to "local hire contracts", and may include relocation allowance, housing subsidy, and even higher salaries (at such places as HKIS). There are many reasons to procure jobs before coming...


My wife and I are both teachers at an International school, and enjoy it immensely but certainly pollution, cost of living, the prospect of paying for our children's education, and the exchange rate (cdn. $ has risen 50% in last 5 years or so) has impacted our thoughts on staying in the coming years.


Great experience for you and your children definitely, but certainly you are on the right track gathering more info.

Thanks all for the replies, we will procure jobs before coming for sure. We have a name of a recruiter that we plan to contact in September.


hmm, what sort of activities do your children take part in?


Isnt that funny that it would be good for canadian teachers in hk for the Can. dollar to go down? A different way of looking at things. LOL


The reason for moving would be to experience a different culture and do some great travelling from that part of the world.

Our children are still young, but my son does soccer tots and swimming. There are endless opportunities for sport/recreation in Hong Kong - there is a ywca which offers course for all ages, there is a new ice rink at the megabox (with children's ice hockey), etc. Certainly the staff of whatever school you'd get a job at would be of help with specifics. If you search past threads there are heaps of ones on activities for children and on teaching in HK... Take your point on the Cdn dollar but can't see it as "funny" unfortunately... a 50% pay cut is hard to take even with income taxes under 20%. We are happy though and have made many great friends here (Cdn and otherwise).

hmm, didnt mean to sound flippant. Its just that for us here, the strong dollar is good as far as US exchange. I took my ed degree in the states and because of the weak dollar, I ended up paying double tuition. So I just meant that I hadnt thought of a strong canadian dollar as a bad thing. kwim? Anyhow, thanks again for the responses.

A strong Cdn dollar is a bad thing because you will be earning USD (ie HKD is pegged to USD) which means less buying power when you return to Canada.


My kids take part in ice hockey (yes, there is even an Olympic size rink here), soccer, tennis, swimming and now getting into basketball. School plays and musicals (2 last year) and even things like Chinese art and other interesting things like street dancing, piano, etc.


HK has it all but you will have to pay.


International Schools generally pay more than local schools and have better hours (or so I am told as I am not a teacher). If you are Montissori trained there are a couple of those schools here.


Good luck.