I have read a couple of articles about moving to Canada and the views expressed have been a bit negative. I am a 53 (soon to be 54) year old lady who gave up a good job and dragged her 16 year old daughter to Saskatchewan. WHERE I hear you ask? Yes, a lot of Brits have probably not heard of Saskatchewan, leave alone visited here. Saskatchewan is flown over, bypassed by tourists and frankly, not even mentioned by most travel agencies or travel arrangers.

So, how did I end up here?

Well…. I met my husband, Dave, via a Christian website back in early 2004. We started out as email friends as both of us thought the distance between us was prohibitively far (4,500 miles from where I lived in Romford, Essex to MacDowall, SK where he lived). After a short time, we both discovered a similarity in our circumstances – he had three children, two of whom were teenage and our faiths were the same (both staunch Anglicans), but most startling was our mutual ability to read the other’s thoughts (yes, by instant messaging or email). We would often type the same words at the same time when chatting. Anyway, to cut a long story short, we got engaged on New Year’s Day 2005 and married 31 December 2005.

I made numerous trips to see Dave and at different times of the year over the course of three years, so had a fair idea of summer, fall, winter and spring. Dragging my unwilling daughter was another matter. She did not want to move – full stop. I was frantic as 2006 wore on and when I made the final decision to leave my job and book flights, it was with a lot of worry. I sold my house and started to pack. And pack and pack. I enlisted the help of a good friend to help me with boot sales and got rid of all sorts of detritus I had collected over the years when married to my ex. I threw out books, baby stuff, soft toys (they don’t sell well secondhand), ornaments, kitchen stuff and goodness knows what else. I think we did about 7 or 8 boot sales, but eventually, I was left with what wasn’t selling and I had run out of time, so donated the rest to my church, which holds a weekly coffee morning and table sale.

Entering Canada on visitor’s visas was easier than I thought it would be. I had completed and submitted all the documentation for permanent residency visas in July 2006. I had started to complete the paperwork in January 2006, as soon as Dave and I had married, but it took me that long to gather all the supporting evidence and information and to complete all the questions and write all the stuff needed to prove our relationship was genuine. It is not easy, but if you have all your ducks in a row, then it is much easier and something that you can do yourself, without the need to pay a third party to do it for you or advise you.

I feel I have gained a lot of knowledge in how to fill out all the forms and handle the whole process, but it was certainly not straightforward. My husband often lost his cool at the sort of things Immigration Canada wanted to know. He often pointed out that all Canadians held UK passports up until the 1960’s and we have the same Head of State, so why did I have to go all through this to gain residency status? My moan was why would anyone who lives in the UK wish to try and enter Canada and stay as an illegal? It is not as though UK citizens have lifestyles akin to a third world country and are looking to escape to a better life! BUT, you have to button your lip and keep your temper when dealing with officialdom and to be fair, most officials were polite and did not give me a very hard time each time I visited. It is just that Saskatoon Airport are not so used to dealing with my situation as those in Toronto, Montreal or even Calgary. Not too many people marry a Canadian citizen who lives in MacDowall, SK.

I had learned over the course of three years to be honest when questioned by immigration officers at the port of entry to Canada (and U.S. if entering via Minneapolis) but not to volunteer too much. If anyone can give advice on how to handle the questions, it is me – believe me, I have been sent to see the immigration officers ‘in the office’ on more than one occasion by a suspicious officer after a cursory conversation.

However, entering via Toronto was a wise choice for us in September 2006. We had to go and see the immigration officer yet again, but he was very kind and polite and once I explained that I was entering the country whilst awaiting permanent residency visas, he consulted his computer and told me we could have the usual 6 month’s visitor’s visas, which would be renewable, but he said we wouldn’t need to. He was right. After a bit more of a flurry with paperwork (we needed to obtain a copy of the marriage licence as held by Saskatchewan government as the marriage certificate we were issued by the minister at MacDowall was a Solemnization Certificate apparently. Proper marriage licences are not routinely issued and you have to have a genuine reason to obtain a copy and it will cost you to do so.

There may have been one or more hiccups, not least of which was that I had to send off our passports to London, U.K. and we wanted to holiday in Florida over Christmas 2006. We were given 60 days from receiving the notification to comply and I received the notification at the end of November 2006. Yikes!!! It was close as we did not return from Florida until January 8 2007, but we did it. Once the visas arrived on February 16 (in the nick of time, courtesy of DHL, as my daughter had her plane booked to go to the UK on the 17th), we had to leave the country and re-enter using the permanent residency documentation. Dave and I drove to Willeston in North Dakota for a long weekend. My daughter went to the UK and re-entered via Saskatoon. My re-entry was a lot smoother than hers, as we made sure we went via North Portal, which is the main immigration entry point for Saskatchewan. The immigration officer knew exactly what to do and processed me in about half an hour, shook my hand and welcomed me to Canada.

My daughter’s experience took longer and needed several calls to North Portal and consultation of the manual before she was cleared around 4am in the morning. Her plane should have landed around 11.30pm, but was delayed until around 1.30am and then it took another two and a half hours to process her.

How do I like Saskatchewan?

I like living on an acreage in a tiny hamlet with around 150 souls. I walk down to the post office each day I am home to collect our post and take the dogs with us. We can afford for me not to work, although I may get a part time job if someone will hire me.

My daughter loves her high school and having a step sister at the same school in the year below has definitely helped, but she made the Honour Roll after only one semester, so I was very pleased. She is now talking about going to university here, which she had rejected in the UK as being beyond her. Schools here are quieter and more disciplined than hers was back in Romford and she went to a Church of England secondary school with an excellent reputation. She remarked to a family member when asked about the school here that if the teacher leaves the room, the class stays quiet and keeps on working! Kids here are no different to any other teenagers so I cannot explain the difference.

People here are friendly and kind and very welcoming. I think the experience would be different in the East or in Vancouver. I have an advantage of course in that my husband has lived here for over 30 years, but nevertheless small town life suits me just fine.

©Janet Webster