xan250313

Hi all like so many here in England i'm concerned what the future holds for not just my children but my childrens children. We are just starting the process of looking to see about emigration to Canada. My wife owns a small chain of childrens Nursery's which is doing well and my background has always been in logistics office based until 2011 when sick of my work I left to drive a taxi. I can tile and plaster to a good standard but don't have paperwork as in certificates etc I simply did a few courses and did jobs on the side over a period of time getting better as I went. We are hoping that we can get in off the back of my wifes business here in England and initial thoughts aren't to sell it but to place a manager running the business here in England and for my wife to try and set up a similar provision in Canada. That way we have an income until we get on our feet in Canada...We have earmarked BC and Ontario to look at first as neither of us is French speaking beyond what we can remember from high school.......We are planning to visit in March 16 initially but wish to gain as much knowledge and draw knowledge from others as to whether we are doing the right thing. Financially we both do well and could have a very good life here in England but it isn't about that for us and we are wanting to ensure that our Children and their children grow up in a country away from the current issues in this country which are becoming more and more intolerable by the day.

Aviator

Why do you think Canada will be any better? It may be different, but unlikely it will be better.

A business in another country won't help you get into Canada, unless perhaps you were a multi national investing millions of $$. Daycare in Canada has to be licensed. Google 'starting a daycare in Canada' you'll end up with more hits than you can shake a stick at.

http://www.howtorunahomedaycare.com/...e-regulations/

So why would you leave that behind to start over? What makes you think it will be better in Canada (or anywhere else)?

As said before, what makes you think Canada will be better? If you move, move for yourself because you want to, the kids will figure themselves out. They would grow up without UK issues, and swap those for North American issues.

Suggest you read the wiki on this site about immigration and finding work.

Shirtback

+1, especially the bolded bits.

More reading:
Determine your eligibility—Immigrate to Canada

A recce trip is an excellent idea.

xan250313

We would also be moving for ourselves and appreciate that every country has issues but the issues in England are worsening with no signs of a turn around. Canada may have issues but not on the scale we have here. The general nature of the Canadian people and their lifestyle is more suited to ourselves than that here from what we know thus far. Childcare is licensed in the UK too. The ins and outs of how childcare and childcare businesses operate in Canada is something we will be looking into over the coming months

Aviator

What issues concern you?

Shirtback

Dorothy

How do you know that? Have you lived in Canada before?

Siouxie

Hello and welcome to BE!

As others have mentioned, the first thing you need to do is to ascertain if you would qualify to emigrate to Canada and what you would need to do; it's not an easy process, unfortunately.

Please have a good old look through the Wiki (blue bar at the top of this page) and the various topics on Canada - there's lots of different ones with sub topics within!

Category:Canada : British Expat Wiki

Do look into what it would take to move very carefully, it's not a decision to rush into.

Best of luck.

tracys

My 5 cents worth;

I agree to an extent with the other posters on issues in Canada and why do you think they'll be different but as a recent immigrant from UK I can see where the OP is coming from. There are issues in every country but the UK is seriously struggling at the moment. We've recently returned from a visit, first one since arriving in Canada, and to be honest, couldn't wait to get back on the plane. Too busy, dirty, just my opinion of course. That said NS is too quiet for us hence the decision to look elsewhere in Canada.

I don't have an issue with immigrants, I am one, but UK and Europe are really struggling with a massive influx of people from various places and the infrastructure can't deal with it. The governments of the EU, (or maybe even the world), need to put their heads together and try to find a way to help these people, a lot of whom have been displaced because of various conflicts going on around the world. I don't pretend to know what the solution is but something needs to be done.

It obviously depends on where in Canada the OP is headed but he probably won't encounter the same thing here. Please correct me if I'm wrong and I'll avoid those areas too ;-) There's a perception that Canada's immigration is more controlled and there are not so many "freeloaders' coming here, whether this is correct I don't know but that is the impression I get. I'm sure every province has its issues but probably different to those in UK at the moment.

Canada is a big place and my advice to the OP is you can't do too much research, it'll never be enough, I did 6 years before our move and still got a few surprises!

Also the point about moving for the kids, I understand the OP but one thing to consider is Canada is enormous and the likelihood is your kids will end up living in a different province to you one day. Distances between places here are much bigger than in UK and flights aren't cheap. All good if you are wealthy but it's more expensive to live here than you think.

That said, I've no regrets on moving here, NS was the right place at the time, we've made some good friends and are much more 'chilled out' than we were, but time for a change. Wonder where we'll end up?

Oakvillian

The general nature of the Canadian people, as has been pointed out on here many many times before, is that they don't make friends easily and put blancmange in their salads. If that is suited to you, then fill your boots (assuming you've read the wiki and know how you'll qualify for a visa, of course).

Canada has its issues, you say. I'd be inclined to look into some of those a bit more. The economy is limping along; the general assumption is that the country is now officially in recession (although 2nd quarter numbers haven't yet been published). The dollar is at its lowest level against the US currency for years, which is supposed to be a boon for manufacturers and exporters, except that the heart of the manufacturing economy has been ripped out by several years of over-reliance on resource extraction and the consequently strong currency.

And don't for a moment suppose that what I assume you mean by "issues" in the UK - immigration, primarily - don't exist here. Different nuances, of course, but there has been a series of issues with temporary foreign workers and various abuses and exploits of the system; there is a perception in and around the Lower Mainland in BC that "immigrants" (mostly East Asian) are buying up property and pushing housing costs beyond the reach of good honest hard-working Canadians; there have been all sorts of nasty political manoeuvres in Quebec (now, thankfully, quietened by a catastrophically bad election performance by the PQ) that were thinly-disguised anti-Islamic and racist posturings dressed up as "Quebec cultural values."

You'll also discover as you research further that transferring qualifications and certificates to Canada from the UK, particularly vocational stuff like childcare licenses, is notoriously complex and long-winded. Especially in licensed occupations that require interactions with vulnerable groups (and childcare is certainly one of those) there are many hoops to jump through. Note, too, that by no means all childcare is licensed. In Ontario at least, a majority of kids in daycare are in unlicensed in-home facilities that have regulations more often honoured in the breach than the observance.

xan250313

Hi all,

all feedback is appreciated and as stated we are just at the start of the process and will take everything we can into consideration. obviously a lot of points to answer but in relation to the 'issues' we have here in the UK my main concern is the drink and drug culture (and yes before you start drugs are a problem everywhere)...In my view it is spiralling out of control here and this was hit home further to me when I started driving a taxi. There are no real community's anymore here and a lack of people who have respect for their communitys and want to contribute. The youth of today has zero respect for the area they live in, their parents, their own possessions even. The country has gone soft beyond a point where it can turn it round. We live in a quite affluent area and there is lack of investment in recreational facility's. More and more facilities are being taken away. We are simply mass producing houses to cope with a housing shortage but we do not have the infrastructure to go with that. Our road net work is not suitable for purpose, Yes added to this we have problems with migrants raping our benefit system but in our case they don't have to qualify to be here they just invade. In relation to what we know about Canada and Canadians I have a few acquaintances who have relatives over there, my Sister was a nurse in Vancouver for a year and wishes she had never returned to the UK and I have met a number of Canadians while on holiday myself and my judgement is and overview based on conversations with them. No we haven't lived there but intend to visit a few times starting in March. If we can get over there before the year is out we will do. Maybe the childcare provision isn't an option but there is only one way to find out. My wife as part of her business is qualifying as a teacher which will be complete in just over a year, maybe that will help. I'll look as all the information we can get our hands on.

Simon Legree

I would not count on having teaching qualification to be of any help. Teaching jobs are notoriously difficult to come by, even for Canadians. There are lots of threads on here about that. Just do a search and you will see.

Aviator

Unfortunately, teaching will be even harder to get into. A teaching qualification won't get you into Canada as PR or on a TWP. Canadian teachers have a hard time finding jobs. It's a closed shop.

If moving is what you want to do, don't give up, but it is not as easy as it used to be. The issues you mention, they are the same here in Canada plus others in some areas. Guns play a role in the drug culture here, which they don't so much in the UK.

Come to Canada for the sake of coming to Canada. Move to get away from what you don't like about your home country and you'll be disappointed, after a while you will see that each country has issues, some the same and some different, but none the less social and economic issues. Social care for disabled and elderly is much more limited in Canada than the UK (almost non existent), some medical relies on self pay, prescriptions are pay in full unless you are on benefits or low income.

Talking to a few Canadians and someone who spent a few months here can give some insight. With BE you get the benefit of comment from new immigrants and old timers. Having spent pretty much half my life in each country, there are things I like and dislike about the UK and Canada.

Most successful immigrants move for the sake of moving and new experiences, not getting away from 'issues', as they find there are still issues that get to them, they just have a different accent.

Howefamily

I absolutely hear what you are saying. And it's interesting because as someone who's always lived somewhere you see your surroundings changing negatively. You comment on the state of the roads for example. It's because it is changing and you can see its not all good. ( I was the same)

Then you get here and you see roads in way worse shape. They are in incredibly bad shape at times. Some don't have any markings on them where they are worn off and they stay like that for months and months to say nothing of the pot holes.
Everyone here needs education to get anywhere and then they end up with massive student debt or the parents take the hit. I am sure there are other options but those are the main two that I see.

There's a lot more drink driving here. Some jobs are nigh on impossible to get e.g teachers positions.

Food costs more here, suddenly food in the UK looks cheapy cheap. As do airfares, you can kiss goodbye to the Ryan airs and easy jets and say hello to $$$$$$ to go anywhere, same with car rental.

Your issues will become different ones. As long as you know this and you hear this and factor it in.

Howefamily

And ins some places and for some jobs you are looking at very different mind sets, for example - in the UK my husband trained as a police officer, he was paid 75% of his salary for the how ever many months it was that he was away. Then he started straight away on 100% starting salary. Oh we grumbled at the 75%

To be a police officer here he would need to join the rcmp and train again and be relocated so that's a no. The relocation would possibly be Nunavut or similar,
Or join regional police after he has paid $22k to do the training with no job at the end. He would then need to apply and hope.

It's the same for paramedic and maybe others, I am not sure.

Thankfully he got a job in law enforcement that he likes but I want to outline some of the differences that I am aware of to you.