emma meckiff

Hi
I am new to this....so please excuse me!

We live in the UK and would like to relocate to Canada. I am a Radiographer and my husband is a police officer. We have two children aged 8 and 5. We currently live in Devon, in the UK.

I need advice on which area of canada to look at please. We love the idea of having proper cold, snowy winters, as we all love skiing but would like to be somewhere with a decent summer too!!!! I may be asking the impossible here? I have looked at loads of different sites but they all seem to contradict each other?
Can someone help me please?
Thanks in advance!!

dbd33

If you mean downhill skiing then Alberta and British Columbia are the only options.

Mikeypm

Where you want to live and where others may want to live is all personal preference. People can offer you suggestions based on their own experience. But your best book off some holiday time and checking out a few areas. As dbd said if skiing is a must then consider Alberta or BC, but book a trip out here and not just rely on the internet.

Atlantic Xpat

Just as pertinently: Check (via the internet) what is required to become a Radiographer in AB or BC. Ditto a police officer although I suspect that's more difficult. Don't assume your UK qualifications will simply transfer over as they likely won't. There have been threads here in the past on both Radiographers and Police so do a search. Finally read the wiki on immigration and cic.gc.ca to work out which immigration route you might be eligible for. Otherwise it's all pipedreams.

Mikeypm

Also bear in mind that as of January 2015 that Canada is overhauling the immigration system to expression of interest process. If you google CIC expression of interest it should give you an idea of how the system will operate.

Stinkypup

I would certainly agree with the above. I would strongly recommend looking at the Okanagan Valley which has good skiing resorts including Big White and our local , Silverstar, great if you have a family but also Kamloops just to the north with Sun Peaks as a great ski resort. For seasoned experts then Revelstoke and Kicking Horse are fairly near. The Okanagan, one of the big wine growing areas has Winters that are cold but not ass numbingly so, enough to produce easily enough snow base up the mountains but make it bearable in the valley. Winter isn't prolonged as it is further East, the snow beautiful fine dry powdery stuff, great for skiing.
Summers are great, hot and dry but you can cool off in the beautiful lakes and rivers in the region. It is certainly great for outdoors living if that is your thing.
Kelowna airport is growing, has flights to Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, LA, Vegas and even the Northern Oil and gas fields.. just my thoughts..

Howefamily

I believe that some provinces will transfer Police officers from the UK but most wont.
There are the Provincial Police, the RCMP and then additional services such as the sheriffs dept. My husband was a police officer in the UK and couldn't transfer to the provincial police in NS as theres no arrangement in place. He cant be in the RCMP until we are Canadian citizens and then theres the likelihood of being moved around the country, he would also have to go through their recruitment process, not sure if its in the entirety but its certainly not a transfer.

He did join the sheriffs dept but that took two years.

I did hear that Ontario Provincial Police will be recruiting like crazy as they are losing 1000 police officers by 2016. I would take a look at their website and see if that's of any help. I would check out all the Police websites of major cities in AB and BC.

Good luck

JamesM

Define "proper cold"

iaink

and Skiing.... I ski, and my kids are occasionally on ski race teams in Ontario, but its certainly not like skiing out west... Still fun though.

If you are coming primarily to ski, then BC / Alberta it is.

My usual advice to people in the original posters situation is first figure out if you are even eligible to emigrate to Canada, and then figure out how big a transition its going to be in terms of qualifications / experience / local requirements. Then finally head to wherever you are most likely to find a decent job. I cant imagine the frustration of living in Whistler, but having no money for a ski pass after paying the bills!

PS, What the hell is wrong with Devon, the OP is the second person this week looking to abandon what to many of us seems like one of the better bits of the UK!

Howefamily

they just want to try another place on the planet?

JamesM

What's amazing is it is the second person who doesn't appear to have been to Canada either.

CIC must be pushing the immigration advertising in Devon or something.

Siouxie

Radiographer may be on the List of professions for Federal Skilled Worker applications (no job offer needed).

It would be worth your while to check.

Medical radiation technologists (3215)
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigra.../apply-how.asp

christmasoompa

How do you know they haven't been before? Surely people don't really spend £20k or more on moving to a country they've never even visited. Do they?!?

colchar

Becoming a cop might be easier as some area police forces have been actively recruiting British cops. I am not sure if those programs are still in place though.

Tigger1

I had a friend move out here as a radiographer and I believe the hospital did the LMO stuff but she did have to do exams to get Canadian equivalency though this was a good few years ago so not sure if that would still apply (she moved to Vancouver and worked at Vancouver General Hospital)