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Re: Beginning to consider...
Originally Posted by dbd33
(Post 12610435)
Toronto and Montreal are both well suited to walking. Vancouver is as well. Note that, in any of these, you have to live in the city; in the GTA, beyond the TTC, there are no pavements, no pedestrians, and nothing to inspire anyone to leave their bed. Imagine Basildon and then another Basildon, Basildons to the limit of your imagination.
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Re: Beginning to consider...
Originally Posted by claphamer
(Post 12610415)
Re walking, this is a general question but is it just Toronto that's walkable? Where I live in London I walk to work because why pay for the tube when a 40 minute walk will do it, and try to walk to evening plans if at all possible and I love it. I barely miss driving. Do you know whether other Canadian cities are also walkable within reason? I know it's cold and lack of public transport etc etc but just after some personal anecdotes.
Sorry to hijack your thread OP! Hamilton and surrounding suburbs are mainly walkable - or you can use cycle paths (and there's great public transit - bus network within the City and trains and coaches out to Toronto). :) |
Re: Beginning to consider...
Originally Posted by Albi1979
(Post 12606071)
Hello, My first post here. I’m a 39 year old Mum of 3 (7, 5 and 5 - yes, twins) who works full time as a pharma marketing director, I have a BSc and an MBA degrees. I’ve recently been asked if I would be interested in a role in the same company in Canada (Markham, Ontario to be precise). Company would be responsible for all relocations costs, and it would be for a 2-3 year period. My husband is 41 and is a logistics manager working in food retail at the moment. He has a masters in international logistics. His company’s only north American operation is in Seattle so a transfer is highly unlikely. Im looking for general advice/info, but do have a few specific questions I haven’t found answers to on google or the sticky post here. 1) Assuming my company manage some kind of inter company working visa for me, would my husband be able to obtain a working visa so he could also work? 2) How easy is it for British kids to go into the Canadian school system. I have one in year 3, and two in year 1. Also, is wrap around care at school easy to find? I’ve managed to avoid needing a nanny up to now, and would prefer they were with other kids for childcare before and after school? 3) We currently live in Oxfordshire - half way between Oxford and Wycombe. My office would be in Markham (north east of Toronto) but I already know I don’t want to live there - any suggestions for places we’d find a 5 bed house with a bit of space around for a not ridiculous amount of money? Ideally with public transport into the city and no more than 40 mins commute from Markham. 4) Has anyone relocated with pets? We have a 10 year old Beagle and a 14 year old cat - we do have options if we were to leave them, but knowing what the possibilities are would be great 5) Has anyone else been relocated with benefits including flights back home? How did you negotiate those? My parents are 75 and 76, and although they are fairly healthy, there is an inevitability to their age which is bearing heavy on my mind. Especially the thought of taking the kids away from them. Thanks in advance Anna For what it's worth, my experience with your questions was: 1) Typically, for an intra-company transferee in the senior management or specialist knowledge category, an accompanying spouse will qualify for an open TWP so can work for any employer in any location that is not otherwise restricted (from memory, healthcare and education would have required additional screening). 2) My eldest (now a stroppy teen) was just starting out in the school system, but all other advice and second-hand experience seem to boil down to this: if you know you're only here for the two- or three-year rotation, then try to persuade the Powers That Be to put your kids in the equivalent to the year group they'd be in in the UK. If you plan on staying long-term, then it's almost certainly more sensible to have them join the appropriate cohort for their year of birth (the Ontario school year runs Sept to June, but the age cohort is based on calendar year of birth, not age on September 1 as it is in the UK). Most elementary schools have some sort of arrangement with third-party providers (often the YMCA or similar) for before- and after-school supervision. 3) I worked for several years on the borders of Markham and Richmond Hill. There are halfway decent areas in both, particularly in the old centres of RH and Unionville, but an awful lot of vast acreages of tract housing (dbd's characterization of "Basildons to the limit of your imagination" is not altogether hyperbolic) in between. There are semi-rural communities east and north of Markham, but bear in mind that the idea of a small market town isn't quite the same here as it is in the UK, and you'd likely need to head by car to a major centre for anything but the basic essentials. You'll likely also struggle to find good transit links to downtown Toronto away from the Lakeshore GO train line or one or two other dormitory corridors served by GO, but that puts you right back in suburbia again. 4) can't help you there. Our dog is from here, via a rescue agency :) 5) As I mentioned, I didn't negotiate flights separately, but I had a few work trips to Europe that I was able to tack time onto the end of. I suspect a bigger consideration will be whether you have the time for multiple trips back to the UK. While you may be able to negotiate decent vacation allowance as part of your transfer, your OH will likely start with fewer vacation days than you've been used to in the UK; you may not wish to squander these on long-haul trips. I'd work more on persuading your parents to come out to visit you: their time is more flexible than yours! HTH |
Re: Beginning to consider...
Originally Posted by Oakvillian
(Post 12610494)
It was a dozen or so years ago now, but I moved over on an intra-company transfer with a Temporary Work Permit (TWP); the company paid reasonable relocation costs, and although they didn't specifically sort me out with flights back to the UK, they were reasonably accommodating of flexible travel plans that included breaking journeys in the UK for a few days every now and then.
For what it's worth, my experience with your questions was: 1) Typically, for an intra-company transferee in the senior management or specialist knowledge category, an accompanying spouse will qualify for an open TWP so can work for any employer in any location that is not otherwise restricted (from memory, healthcare and education would have required additional screening). 2) My eldest (now a stroppy teen) was just starting out in the school system, but all other advice and second-hand experience seem to boil down to this: if you know you're only here for the two- or three-year rotation, then try to persuade the Powers That Be to put your kids in the equivalent to the year group they'd be in in the UK. If you plan on staying long-term, then it's almost certainly more sensible to have them join the appropriate cohort for their year of birth (the Ontario school year runs Sept to June, but the age cohort is based on calendar year of birth, not age on September 1 as it is in the UK). Most elementary schools have some sort of arrangement with third-party providers (often the YMCA or similar) for before- and after-school supervision. 3) I worked for several years on the borders of Markham and Richmond Hill. There are halfway decent areas in both, particularly in the old centres of RH and Unionville, but an awful lot of vast acreages of tract housing (dbd's characterization of "Basildons to the limit of your imagination" is not altogether hyperbolic) in between. There are semi-rural communities east and north of Markham, but bear in mind that the idea of a small market town isn't quite the same here as it is in the UK, and you'd likely need to head by car to a major centre for anything but the basic essentials. You'll likely also struggle to find good transit links to downtown Toronto away from the Lakeshore GO train line or one or two other dormitory corridors served by GO, but that puts you right back in suburbia again. 4) can't help you there. Our dog is from here, via a rescue agency :) 5) As I mentioned, I didn't negotiate flights separately, but I had a few work trips to Europe that I was able to tack time onto the end of. I suspect a bigger consideration will be whether you have the time for multiple trips back to the UK. While you may be able to negotiate decent vacation allowance as part of your transfer, your OH will likely start with fewer vacation days than you've been used to in the UK; you may not wish to squander these on long-haul trips. I'd work more on persuading your parents to come out to visit you: their time is more flexible than yours! HTH |
Re: Beginning to consider...
Originally Posted by Albi1979
(Post 12606071)
5) Has anyone else been relocated with benefits including flights back home? How did you negotiate those? My parents are 75 and 76, and although they are fairly healthy, there is an inevitability to their age which is bearing heavy on my mind. Especially the thought of taking the kids away from them. As time went by our parents ability to travel (and afford travel/health insurance once they were in their 80's) diminished, to the point that they were no longer able to physically make the journey. We ultimately had to make the decision to move back to the UK to be closer to them and help with their care. The cost of relocation is substantial. Aside from shipping and flights, when you factor in exchange rates, realtors fees, stamp duty, replacing cars and many expenses you wouldn't have had if staying put, it all gets a bit eye-watering. Finding work again after a considerable time out of the country has also proved difficult. Go into the move with your eyes open, and realize the potential upheaval and cost should circumstances change. |
Re: Beginning to consider...
Originally Posted by Albi1979
(Post 12606071)
3) We currently live in Oxfordshire - half way between Oxford and Wycombe. |
Re: Beginning to consider...
Originally Posted by Siouxie
(Post 12610484)
Hamilton and surrounding suburbs are mainly walkable - or you can use cycle paths (and there's great public transit - bus network within the City and trains and coaches out to Toronto). :)
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Re: Beginning to consider...
Originally Posted by R I C H
(Post 12610795)
Just something to think about Anna - my wife and I spent 14 years in Canada, and returned to the UK earlier this year. Our parents made frequent trips out to see us in BC over that time, our own holiday allowance and the nature of being self employed meant only 1 trip back for me to the UK.
As time went by our parents ability to travel (and afford travel/health insurance once they were in their 80's) diminished, to the point that they were no longer able to physically make the journey. We ultimately had to make the decision to move back to the UK to be closer to them and help with their care. The cost of relocation is substantial. Aside from shipping and flights, when you factor in exchange rates, realtors fees, stamp duty, replacing cars and many expenses you wouldn't have had if staying put, it all gets a bit eye-watering. Finding work again after a considerable time out of the country has also proved difficult. Go into the move with your eyes open, and realize the potential upheaval and cost should circumstances change. |
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