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He traded the winter of Toronto for a city in the European Valley that many Brazilians don’t even know, where his son rides a bike alone and the picanha costs the price of a common meal. But after five years, his assessment escapes the cliché of paradise, and the family is already preparing the next move.
A Canadian who has lived in Sri Lanka, India, and Portugal chose the small town of Timbó, in the interior of Santa Catarina, to raise his three children. Attracted mainly by the safety and the climate, he gives an honest account of the advantages and also the limits of life as a foreigner in the south of Brazil, avoiding the idealized image that often circulates on social media, in a testimony that mixes enchantment and realism.
The story is about Saravan, who lived almost 30 years in Canada before moving with his Brazilian wife and children to Brazil, arriving in Timbó in January 2021, right after the pandemic. The account was recorded in a video interview. It is important to clarify from the start that the impressions and values mentioned throughout the text are from his personal experience, not official data, and that each family experiences the move to another country differently. Nevertheless, his view after five years in the municipality offers an honest portrait, with positives and caveats, as we will see below.
Why a Canadian traded Toronto for Timbó
According to Saravan, the main reason was the climate, as he did not like the harsh winter of Canada, especially with three energetic children stuck indoors, in addition to the attraction of the beach, the feeling of safety, and a cost of living considered lower, combined with the fact that his wife is Brazilian and speaks Portuguese.
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He explains that, as he works remotely and had no professional ties binding him to Canada, the options for moving were limited to places where English or Portuguese, his wife’s language, was spoken. Thus, the choice was between Portugal and Brazil.
Timbó, in the European Valley of Santa Catarina, became a destination on the recommendation of friends during the pandemic, who described it as a small, organized city very family-oriented, with everything necessary for daily life.
The small city that few foreigners know
Timbó is not an obvious destination for those coming from outside the country.
Known as the Pearl of the Valley, the city of about 45,000 inhabitants is located in the Itajaí Valley, in Santa Catarina, and has been voted the best small city in Brazil to live in, in the category of municipalities with up to 50,000 inhabitants, in a survey by IstoÉ magazine with the Austin Rating agency, standing out for safety, education, and public management.
For Saravan, it is precisely this scale that makes life pleasant.
He describes Timbó as a very organized city, with the center in the middle and the neighborhoods around it, so taking and picking up the children takes only a few minutes by car, sometimes you can even walk.
The region includes other cities known for their quality of life, such as Blumenau, Pomerode, and Jaraguá do Sul, as well as Joinville, often mentioned in national rankings of the best places to live.
Safety: the most important factor in the choice
This was, according to him, one of the decisive points.
Saravan, who lived both in the Northeast and the South of Brazil, makes a point of differentiating the regions, stating that Santa Catarina is similar to cities like Toronto in terms of safety, very different from the image of violence associated with large centers like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, which tend to dominate the headlines seen abroad.
He illustrates the tranquility by saying that his 12-year-old son rides his bike alone around the city, something that gives him security as a father.
On the other hand, he does not romanticize the entire country: he reports being aware of cases of violence against tourists in busy areas of large cities and emphasizes that Brazil is huge, the size of all of Western Europe, with very different realities from one region to another.
For him, generalizing the country based on the news from the big centers is a common mistake.
Cost of living and the caveat that many people forget
Here the account takes on an especially honest and important tone.
Saravan claims that living in Santa Catarina is about 50% cheaper than in Toronto, but makes a crucial caveat: this is only true for those earning in a strong currency, like dollars or through remote work, because for those relying on a local salary, having a comfortable life would be much more difficult, and even worse in some aspects.
Among the examples he cites, with values from his personal experience, are the rent he paid, around 2,000 to 2,500 reais per month, the children’s school, about 1,300 reais monthly, and meals in buffet restaurants ranging from 35 to 50 reais.
He says he is impressed with the price of meat, noting that cuts like picanha can cost much less than in Canada, and jokes that eating healthily in Brazil is even cheaper than a fast-food meal, which he considers a great advantage for the family.
The surprise with public healthcare
One of the aspects that surprised him the most was the healthcare service.
According to Saravan, in Timbó the public hospital works very well, to the point that his wife had a cesarean section in the public network, with all the hospital’s structure and staff, paying only the surgeon privately, and he himself was attended to in about ten minutes after suffering a burn in a barbecue accident, without the long wait he would face in Canada.
He compares the service to that of Canada, saying that the quality was similar, but without the several hours of waiting typical of a Canadian emergency room.
Once again, however, he avoids generalizing: he remembers that when he lived in Natal, in the Northeast, the experience was different, and he considered it necessary to have private health insurance there.
The lesson he takes is that the quality of public services varies greatly depending on the region of Brazil, and that his positive experience is specific to that city.
The limits of life in Brazil, according to him
It is in the final balance that the account proves most valuable and balanced.
Even while praising Timbó a lot, Saravan points out concrete limits, such as the limited offer of international cuisine outside of what is cooked at home and the difficulty of renting houses to the standard he was accustomed to in the West, since, according to him, it is easier to buy than rent better quality properties in the region.
More than that, he reveals that the family is already planning the next move, eyeing destinations like Malaysia, in the city of Penang, or Spain, in Valencia.
The reason is not dissatisfaction with the city, but the search for complete international schools and professional sports training for the children, as the daughter wants to pursue tennis and the son football.
Despite this, he states that he intends to keep the land he bought in Timbó, not ruling out returning in the future.
The advice of someone who has changed countries several times
Perhaps the most useful part of the testimony is the warning he gives.
Saravan states that about one-third of foreigners who move, whether retirees or families, end up returning to their country of origin within a year, and the main reason is wrong expectations, fueled by influencers who only show the positive side of life abroad, because social media algorithms reward this type of content.
His advice is to move for the right reasons, not to escape problems, remembering that the initial enchantment phase, similar to that of a tourist, usually lasts only a few months, and unresolved issues tend to reappear in the new place.
He also recommends having a stable source of income, such as retirement or remote work, instead of relying on a local salary.
It’s a mature perspective from someone who, having left Sri Lanka at a young age due to war, learned the difference between migrating for survival and migrating by choice.
The account of the Canadian who chose Timbó to raise his children is valuable precisely because it doesn’t fall into the tropical paradise cliché.
He acknowledges the many qualities of southern Brazil, such as safety, climate, affordable cost for those with income in a strong currency, and a public health system that surprised him, but also exposes real limits and the precautions anyone should take before moving to another country.
More than an advertisement or a critique, it is the honest testimony of someone who has lived in various parts of the world and found, at least for a time, a peaceful home in the interior of Santa Catarina.
And you, what do you think of this Canadian’s choice of a small town in the interior of Santa Catarina? Do you know foreigners who have moved to southern Brazil? Leave your comment, share your opinion on the quality of life in the countryside, and help spread the article to those interested in these stories of people crossing the world in search of a good place to live.
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