YYZlover

Which is why I'm thinking why go back? Just the freight of your dog alone is $2800 (as you stated) which is enough to keep you guys floating a month. If the work really is coming in in March then stick it out.

Also, you said you looked for work just after Christmas. That is THE worst time to look for work anywhere. No one is hiring. Now, would be a better time to look.

You seem to be hell bent on going back but add up the cost of shipping dog back, having the container returned to UK etc and if that isn't MORE than what you'd need to tough it out for a month then your monthly spendings must be astronomical.

laser558

[QUOTE= but things are crappy in the uk, one of the reasons we wanted to leave. [/QUOTE]

I am sorry you are experiencing difficulties but your own line suggests what you might be letting yourself into when you return.

Is there no way you could have cut down your monthly expenses. For example, was it necessary to have a mobile phone and fixed line? As for car insurance, wow! that is expensive but I guess it's for fully comprehensive cover. Could you not have just gone for collision? I would be interested in seeing what you get for groceries. Is there anything there you could cut down on, for example any snacks or treats or sodas etc., all of which are unnecessary. I'm sure you have already thought about all of these things but I am in agreement with a lot of other posters on this thread, you will incur more expenses and upheaval returning to the UK. I wonder what your course of action would have been had you not had the return tickets, perhaps you should look at that. Another option would be perhaps for you and the children to return to the UK temporarily whilst your husband sits it out but perhaps moves to cheaper accommodation. Anyway, as you have said yourself, let this be a warning to anyone wishing to come over here especially to expensive Vancouver, that it is vital to have money for any contingency and that includes no work. I hope things work out one way or another.

dbd33

I don't know if the OP's life will work out better for going home or if it would have gone well in Canada. However, I think it's a bit high and mighty for people to suggest, over and over, that immigrants should come with money. Immigrants don't typically come with money. If they had money, why ever would they be moving to Canada?

When we arrived we had nothing, if we had had the plane fare home we would certainly have gone but, in the absence of funds, we had to make a go of it. We did so in the time honoured manner of immigrants, by taking risks, we drove uninsured, we worked illegally, we cheated on the taxes. I set about becoming Tom Vu. The OP could do the same but has a better option.

It seems to me silly to suggest that immigrants come with enough money to be able to live for months without work, even if you like the cold and value being able to live in building big enough not to have to see each other, those are not such great advantages as to make it worth crossing an ocean if you were doing alright where you were. If Canada doesn't offer a better job from day one there's nothing lost in not going.

laser558

Do you really mean that? "It seems silly...to suggest that immigrants come with enough money"? I find your response interesting. Personally, I don't feel it's high and mighty to suggest such a thing and if you read a comment from the original poster, she suggested the same thing herself. Do get real. In this day and age of economic uncertainty, no one should enter into a new venture wearing rose-tinted spectacles. Maybe, when you moved over to Canada, it was a different climate and perhaps jobs were more plentiful. I feel for the original poster and was merely suggesting perhaps ways she might be able to make cut-backs in order to stay here. But don't come on here bragging how you did it by doing things illegally. Your ignorance amazes me.

dbd33

Yes. I wrote it, I mean it. Unless Canada offers a job, prearranged, that pays more than the one at home there's no reason to go there. Similarly, if you're in Canada, there's no good reason to move to, say, Scotland, unless a better job beckons.

Since most jobs in Canada don't pay especially well and there aren't that many of them compared with the rest of the world this implies that most people going to Canada will be in a fairly grim situation at home. They're not likely to have any money so it silly to ask that of them.

Sammypeeps

Just wanted to say that I am really sorry to hear of your situation.

My husband and I were also 'duped' by an employer. We came over under the Provincial Nominee Program and I had a contract with an individual to manage her equestrian business. The position came with accomodation and a vehicle, a very low basic salary with commision, however it was our intention that my husband would find work elsewhere once we arrived etc to increase our income.

She picked us up from the airport, we then went and picked up our work vehicle which turned out to be a 1980's chevrolet rust bucket of a pick up with hardly any breaks and a clutch that was going; we arrived at our apartment - it was revolting....previously inhabited by male students (need I say more) and noone thought to clean it after they moved out the week before but we were excited and were prepared to overlook the above as just superficial stuff really. We intended to sort out are own vehicle in time and were both more than prepared to clean and scrub the apartment.

But then we looked at the facility/barn I was to run. In short it was falling down, absolutely crazy crazy!! If she was intending on investing a good $150k in the next few months it could have been renovated but man it was just outrageous. So we meet with her, I stressed my issues with the property being the leaking sewerage, exposed electrical etc etc and she told me that I was an ungreatful so and so with no foresight blah blah blah. We were shocked, luckily we had a friend already (who I met in England) who lived nearby so we upped and left and went to stay with her - prior to her offering we had considered buying a tent and camping (it was April so a bit chilly but doable).

So within 2 days of arriving with 2 dogs and a pile of stuff we had no jobs, no home, no car etc. Shocking. We did however have some money aside and slowly slowly got established with somewhere permanent to live, jobs etc. Took about 6 weeks to find a house, my husband found temporary work within a month and secured permanent within about 3 months I think, and took me about 4-5months to get a permanent poisition.

Anyhow, 4 years later we still live in the same house, both have good permanent jobs and for many reasons, we both cant wait to get the hell back to the UK!

I am sorry I kind of took over your thread a little with my sorry story, I hope you succeed with your plans whatever you decide? I guess camping is out of the question this time of year? It really does suck and I wish there was a way of making other potential immigrants more aware of issues related to gaining employment prior to moving but I guess its just a risk everyone has to take.

Good luck and I hope everything does work out for you either in Canada or in the UK!

helcat12

But I would say, well if you have little money, do what we did - let the wage-earner come over first and check it out, then follow with family, dog and belongings later when things are established and you know what you are letting yourself in for.
Then all you have spent is a flight, a few weeks' rent on a small bachelor suite (no car as you choose it close to work) and the $150 work permit - you haven't spent thousands and thousands of pounds only to find it isn't what you thought.

There isn't any need to just pile over with everything on a promise and risk what little you do have.

It also isn't all about money. If you have a hard time in the UK where you have family support it can make life much easier - child care, accommodation etc can be had for free maybe and this can get you through hard times but in a foreign country with no-one to help you it is a different situation.

I think that there is a lack of patience in a lot of people - a need for instant gratification and they are not prepared to wait for what they want.
As soon as the LMO comes through they are rushing over with their entire worldly goods.

That is at the root of a lot of people's problems IMHO.

dbd33

Yes, that sounds like a sensible plan.

Auld Yin

To the OP:-

There was a segment on last night's Toronto local news concerning construction in Toronto. Apparently there is a massive shortage of construction workers in the city. Could your husband exploit this perhaps, say until the construction industry resurrects itself in March in Calgary.

helcat12

This is most certainly not being 'duped'.

I find it absolutely bizarre that you would accept a job like that without going to meet the employer in person and see the place you are supposed to be managing and the accommodation you are supposed to be living in

helcat12

I think the OP said that they are under BC PNP and so to transfer jobs would take a few weeks and that is not a quick enough fix for them.

Seems like they were at the end of the leash before they started this thread.

Sammypeeps

Actually we did meet the Employer in person, 18 months before and stayed for a week - very well off, husband owned a fancy car import dealership to the states dealing in high end cars like porches etc, they had two homes - one of which we stayed in while we visited.

We also saw the facility which was not in the best state of repair and she informed us of all the renovation work they were to be doing over the next 2 years - no reason not to believe her money appeared no object. She was then in touch with me regularly once we came back informing me of all the work being done - all lies.

The facility is to this day in a worse state of repair and I have come to learn that the 'employer' is reknown for being, how shall I say, a little mentally unfurnished. But how were we to know that? seemed nice enough when we met?

So yes well and truly 'duped'.

helcat12

I refer you to my previous post.
It is just a good thing you did have some money to fall back on, so well done for that.

There is every reason to exercise a healthy level of suspicion about someone you don't know in a foreign country making promises that look good.

If the job was so fab, why wasn't there a Canadian racing to do it?
That is the question I would have been asking myself.

They say there is one born every minute and there are even more people out there looking to find them and it is a fact of life that you just have to watch out for yourself.

Sammypeeps

As for the job, she was looking for a specific qualification not held by anyone in Nova Scotia - hence why no Canadian was running for it. & at no point was the job FAB, it was just a start for us, was crap pay but provided accomodation and a vehicle - which is the norm (at least in England) for a job of this type so I think most would agree, a good starting point - as we wanted to move here - didn't move here for the job as such.

Was just trying to put it across that the OP is not alone when it comes to sourcing jobs over here and similar issues occur alot and yes in hindsight the person with the Job coming over in advance would be advisable - but I don't believe this works in all scenarios, as in our case if I had come over without my husband and had to deal with the situation alone, I think it would have put me off entirely and I would not want to have stayed, however we got through it and moved on to succeed in our 'new life' in Canada. It was a charachter building experience, for sure.

If nobody 'trusted' potential employers how would anybody ever get jobs. You have to put your faith in people otherwise noone would ever get anywhere, its just a matter of always having a back up plan - which we did not have and neither, it would seem, did the OP.

So I believe the real moral of the story is 'be prepared, anything can happen and have a back up plan' as opposed to what seems to be Helcat's opinion that such things only happen to those stupid people that don't do any research and rock up on a promise.

laser558

I believe you did all you could and in my mind, had no reason to think anything was awry. You trusted someone and they let you down. I am sorry you are thinking of returning to the UK especially since you appear settled here. Helcat, remember, hindsight and experience are wonderful possessions.