Aqua_matt

Hi all,

I've been hanging around the forum for some time having a read up on the posts, So thought it about time I posted and said hello.

Myself and my better half are intending to move to Vancouver in the next year and a half to 2 years, We have been discussing the move over the last 4 or 5 years and after a trip to Vancouver this time last year nothing else has been on my mind.
We've put it off for a few years since starting to talk about it due to work,promotions, buying a house etc as we thought it made sense finiacally to get ourselves stable and to move over with a bit of money to back us up.

Now the easy bit of this move is Samantha....She's Canadian, she can come and go as she pleases and I'm hoping our commonlaw status of 6 or 7 years will do us a big favour and make it easier when we finally move..

We will be living with a family member when we come over just until we get ourselves on our feet, so thats one thing off our minds.

I'm sure there's going to be lots of questions regarding, searching for jobs, real estate etc.. what are the best websites? as searching from the UK doesn't seem to come up with anything great, so if there's any you could recommend that would be excellent.

Personally I'd like to do it when I'm out there, walk around,meet and talk to people..But getting a head start would be good to.

We're both kinda new to this, myself never moved abroad and Sam never thought she'd be taking extra baggage back with her!

So be gentle..

Cheers,

Matt

christmasoompa

Hi, and welcome to BE.

You're right, you do have a quick and easy route to a Canadian visa, so that's great. Figure about 8 months after applying, if all goes to plan.

The Wiki has tons of info (including loads of job search websites), but until you've got PR you may struggle to get considered for any jobs. If you want to go in 18-24 months then it's probably worth applying for PR soon, and then once you've got that you'll have time to get everything together and job hunt before the actual move.

Best of luck with it all.

dbd33

The property website is Home

Shard

Good first post, Matt...and welcome. What sort of property budget do you have and what type of work do you intend to do?

Aqua_matt

Thank you,

Approx $300,000 and will preferably looking for a property without the strata fees in the Coquitlam area, so far on the searches I've done the chances look slim :/, But that's soemething we will look deeper into when we're there.

Workwise, I'm pretty verstile and to be honest I will do anything for work to get us going, I don't intend on going over expecting to land the dream job straight away.
I'm currently self employed working within the music industry literally doing anything thats thrown at me.
I've been in contact with a few similar companies to what I work for over here,all expressed an interest but nothing set in stone, again I think thats a job for me when I get there, meet and greet and put my name about.

The misses will most likely be looking for a role with the Bc Spca, Having come to the UK for higher education and then moving up through the ranks within the animal sector here, It's seems the most logical move.

Aqua_matt

Oh yeah,
<- I'll explain the name, I'm a fish keeper, not a scuba diver or anything..
Means I'll be selling up the tanks and the fish house when I move

Zoe Bell

we had to get rid of our three tanks. I still miss our clown loaches

Shard

Probably best to plan to rent for the first year and see how your employment works out. Vancouver is an expensive place to live and income will determine everything.

Aqua_matt

luckily we will be living with her uncle and family in a self contained basement for.....as long as we need to really.
I'm really the only obstacle in the equation really in terms of job/salary etc.

Aqua_matt

one of the tanks ill be giving up Zoe I'm sure it will be worth it though...I can always start again.

Shard

It doesn't sound like you're an obstacle at all. If you're ok with that accommodation for a year and your Canadian partner can get employment, you just need to see what work/business you can find for yourself once you arrive.

dbd33

We have a tank, we moved it to the country from Guelph. I put the water in five gallon buckets so, when we got the truck stuck in the snow in the driveway, I had to carry it a couple of hundred yards. Four and half gallons of water is a heavy load through knee deep snow.

Zoe Bell

I can imagine. we moved house in the UK with 3 tanks.

it was a masterpiece of logistics in moving tanks, filters fish and water. It kind of reminded me of the puzzle about moving various animals across a river in a boat.

rivingtonpike

I know the solution to that one; really annoyed my wife!

Zoe Bell

i think mine involved a shot gun and BBQ