Granville4

hi Everyone

I would like some info and advice. I am thinking of moving to Canada, I am a 24 year old man with no commitments and 5 years experience as a plumber and 3 years experience as a gas engineer. I am tired of the UK for same reasons as most people, I am never going to be able to afford my own house no matter what size with out needing my parents to give me money, Working all the hours I can for the tax man to take most of it. It doesn't help that I work in London and have to sit in an hour and a half’s worth of traffic for a 20 min drive. I am activate person with soccer, snowboarding, gym, scuba diving and much more. As long as it has the best of all the seasons the weather does not bother me. so what I would like to know is,
[*]Would it suit my age range[*]where would be the best place to go[*]Would I ever be able to afford a place over there on plumbers wages[*]Is traffic any different [*]Is average working hours any different [*]The main thing that people miss from the UK

Any advice is welcome
thank you

littletwinkle46

Hi

im also 24 and can't wait to go!

you should look up the wiki, will give you lots of information on how to work in canada and where abouts to go.
have you ever visited Canada?
The fact you have a trade is a huge benefit, you could look into a pnp scheme. (these are particular to each province) again see wiki.

The other route you could try would be a bunac visa (www.bunac.org)
this would let you work in canada for year and if you dont like it come home or if you do work your bum off and get an employer to assist you in the various, work permit issues.

Go for it, we're young enough to go before you have any major committments over here

Karen

bazzz

If you object to paying taxes, Canada probably isn't the place for you.

Zap0ne

Hi,

It might be best to save some cash to come and visit. Maybe pick a couple of areas to go see and you are then the best judge. Canada is a vast country and fortunately everywhere is different (which is great). Because you are young and active you might want to be near one of the more major cities for a bit of nightlife etc.

Taxes here are terrible (even in comparison to the UK) with most people kissing goodbye to 30% of their money to the government. With that said, it always seemed to me that we have more disposable income then in the UK. Plenty of stuff to do regarding activities and sport and you won’t be disappointed on that front.

Judy in Calgary

Indubitably, my dear Watson, indubitably.

Given that you like snowboarding and scuba diving, I would say the British Columbia coast, where you can ski in the morning and kayak (or whatever) in the afternoon.

Yes.

I'm not from the UK, but the majority of the people who post here are British. Many of them say that Canadian driving is bad.

In my limited experience of Vancouver (visiting as a tourist rather than living there), the traffic from the outer suburbs to the downtown core (city centre) is bad during rush hour. But again, I'm not comparing with the UK. Still, if you are a plumber, there's no reason to suppose that you would regularly commute from the outer suburbs to the downtown core.

Sorry, I don't know. Again, because I'm not from the UK, I don't have a basis for comparison. From what I know of the BC coast, the people out there prize their leisure time, and they maintain a good work-life balance.

Oh God, mate, don't get us started on that one.

I guess family is the big one.

Then, depending on the individual, it could be anything from British television shows, British humour, good haircuts (I personally am very happy with my hair stylist, but the way some BE members go on about it you'd think Canadians were a primitive tribe of savages or something), certain kinds of food, and on and on. Read Solarfish's Email to a friend to get what I think is a good overall description of what you might expect.

As a person under the age of 30, you could get a 12-month working holiday visa through BUNAC. It would allow you to accept any job, for any employer, in any part of Canada.

However, since you're a plumber, you'd be able to get a work permit, and you'd be able to upgrade that to a permanent residence visa. This is a relatively quick way of getting into Canada.

Alternatively, you might be able to get in via British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program. This is a three-step process in which an employer sponsors you, the province accepts you and endorses your application, and finally the federal government issues you with a permanent residence visa. Notwithstanding the long description, it's actually quite a fast way of getting into Canada.

For more details, see the Beginner's Guide to Canadian Immigration, to which there is a link in my signature, below.

Ah, I see that others have responded while I've been typing, but what the heck?

Hope this helps.

Granville4

thanks for the info but it seems like the best thing to do is go on a one years work visa.

No one in the forum ever seems to talk about canadian summer every one only goings on about the rain and snow i dont mind that but i would like a summer so info on that would be good

bazzz

Depends where you're going. It's a big country, innit.

Granville4

what has made you move out there and where abouts are you going

Granville4

Bazz

what would be the best place for plumbing and the activities that i am intrested in. Then what would the weather be like there.

Atlantic Xpat

We have plumbing pretty much all over Canada. Ditto weather.

bazzz

Vancouver is probably a pretty good option for you. Lots of construction work going on, plenty of snowboarding, seems to be a fair bit of diving and enough immigrants that football is reasonably popular. Summers are generally warm and quite dry - think mid 20s C. The downside is that property is phenomenally expensive, so you'd probably need to live away from the centre of things. Renting is quite reasonable though, so you'd be fine for a 1 year stint.

Granville4

does that mean any where else i would need to take up hockey instead of football/soccer

Solarfish

Not at all, there is skiing, snowboarding, figure skating, speed skating, curling. Basically any sport that is practiced on a cold surface

I'm taking the P a little bit, in the cities you will find plenty of sports facilities. But not surprisingly soccer, cricket, rugby ar not that common and most outdoor non-snowsports will be played in summer rather than winter.

andrewrb143

I would recommend an extended holiday before you make any major decisions.

I've known two types of people who wish to emmigrate;

A) Those who hate the UK and have leave

B) And those who genuinley have a burning desire to live in the country they have chosen.

Invariably, the latter are usually more sucessful and stick it out, with the former tending to find a "same s%%t, shinier bucket". scenario.

TinaH

Not really constructive advice or anything but just wanted to say good for you for thinking about it - follow your dreams, at the moment you will not have a great deal to lose. As previously stated by other posters, even if you take a year to try it out, you may never look back, or it may just be one big learning curve with lots of experience. It's a big country and the decision as to where to go would be the toughest! Do your research, try to visit first. Go with your instincts.

I wish i could have done it at 24! better late.....

best wishes,

Tina