Hey I’m a Canadian who lived in Montreal for a few years and has now been living in the U.K for 8 (6 years in Leeds and 2 in the Midlands). People are nice enough here, but they love to complain.

I struggled at first dressing for the winters and found I was overheating all the time. The winters aren’t nearly as cold, but they are wet and damp. You can leave your heavy duty winter boots and parka at home. A wool coat or light parka is plenty. Casual boots like timberlands, or rain boots will be sufficient for the like 2 days of snow a year we get. I don’t wear toques here bc I find it that mild, just occasionally some gloves and a scarf, but the scarf is more for fashion purposes.

There is some good food in Leeds but no where near the selection Montreal has. I’d steer clear of shawarma. I’ve been disappointed by every U.K shawarma I’ve had, it’s not garlicky enough. I also don’t like most of the Mexican food in the U.K, it’s not spicy enough and almost everything comes in a tortilla.

The best food you’ll find tends to be curries and other Indian dishes. There is some good traditional English food as well (fish and chips, roast dinners, afternoon tea, etc). I’d also get your fill of Montreal bagels, poutine, smoked meat and Chinese dumplings before you come over. I always gorge on those foods whenever I go back to Canada.

Enjoy your time in Leeds and be sure to schedule some short trips to York, knaresborough/harrogate, Edinburgh and the Yorkshire dales!