kartikannamalai

Hi All, Much appreciate your valuable inputs within the BE forum. I am Kartik(33 years) based in the Rugby, Warwickshire. I have been interviewing for a senior position with an employer based in Vancouver, BC, Canada(also have UK office) for the last 4 months and received job offer last week(yet to sign dotted line) to join their Vancouver office permanently from Oct 2022. We are Family of 4, (2 adults and 2 children(2.5 & 5 year's)), the employer has agreed to proceed work permit(Global Talent visa) and support BC Tech Pilot program(where can i find the BC Tech Pilot program timelines for approval?) Request to clarify, can my wife work in Canada as my dependent or does she need another visa?Please suggest how to search for jobs outside of Canada for Data engineer or Business intelligence working remotely or close to Vancouver? I have a UK Masters degree(with merit), do I need to give IELTS exam and submit my UK degree certificate for ECA approval for the PR process application?(please suggest the best route to PR processing?Note: I head the new immigration law to scrap the CRS system in March 2023, does any one know I have been reading about schools and childcare, when is best time of the year to start registering for schools(5 year old) and what age does the child start reception(3 year old)?
Based on your guidance I can plan my move to Canada, as the employer is willing to provide me flexibility to work from the UK until a given time. Since my new employer is based in Vancouver(Burnaby), any suggestions for accommodations and school selection would be appreciated? With Regards, Kartik

Gary246

Hey

just come across your post. I’m looking at moving over to BC to and also I’m a data/fibre engineer.

how did you go about finding the job over there if you don’t mind me asking ?

im also same as you family wise me the missus and 2 kids.

kartikannamalai

Hi Gary,

I am Power Electronics Engineer, I applied via LinkedIn and the employer HR team got in touch with me directly.

With Regards,
Kartik

Gary246

hi kartik

ah right got you I’m a telecommunications engineer aka data , voice , fibre engineer it’s known by a lot of different titles.

I’ve also been looking on LinkedIn couldn’t really find much but we want to move a little further north in or around Kamloops if we can. It’s about 3 hours away from Vancouver I think

Lychee

First culture shock is that Vancouver is expensive. Two high-paying jobs are critical to being able to pay for rent or a mortgage while also being able to enjoy life in the city, to be able to enjoy all the perks of the mountains, the rainforests, the beaches, the nearby islands, the dozens of craft breweries, the excellent restaurants, etc.

Second culture shock is that school begins later and ends later than it does in the UK. In BC, children officially start school for the first time in September the year they turn 5 and they graduate from high school in grade 12 the year they turn 18. This gives off the perception that Canadian students are somehow behind when compared to UK students, but the reality is that it all works itself out in the end. Kindergarten is a half day of school in BC. The following September, the year your child turns 6 is the year they begin grade 1 and go to school for the full day from 9am until 3pm (give or take). Elementary school (kindergarden until grade 7 in BC) is less academic, and more about developing curious, engaged, well-rounded individuals. In high school (grades 8-12), it becomes increasingly more academic, with the final three years developed around prep for university. If they're inspired and they took the right courses and graduated from their classes with high enough grades, will be ready to enter university upon graduation. And they enter university with their UK peers and are on the same level.

Third culture shock is that schooling is typically less stressful and fiercely academically competitive than in the UK, although there are certainly friendly optional competitions - math club, track & field, basketball teams, volleyball team, chess club, spelling bees, etc.. Culturally, there isn't the obsession with school rankings or examinations in the same way. I find that in Vancouver, local families don't generally fuss over "the right school" or "the best school" the same way British families do. It's a cultural difference. But it's also that it's just not worth fussing about as the schools truly offer similar quality of education all over the city, there's no need to fuss because the local school will be the best school for your child. In Vancouver, most families send their children to the local neighbourhood school, end of story. If they're after prestige or Catholic schooling and they have the tens of thousands of dollars to spend to ensure their children make friends with the children of millionaires, they may send their child to the local private schools, but public schools are the cultural norm for the average middle class family in Vancouver. There are alternative schools and school programs, too, like Montessori and French Immersion (both available at regular public schools) and also the artsy alternative Waldorf School.. Those programs are often popular amongst the intellectual types in Vancouver. But all in all, schools are schools and offer fairly similar experiences and outcomes. Find a nice neighbourhood you like and can afford, and the local school will be the school your child will go to, and it will be good.

As to what you do before your child enters kindergarten, most Vancouver families pay out of pocket for day care services and pre-schools, which are expensive and in high demand. There are often long waiting lists. One co-worker of mine living in Victoria on Vancouver Island applied for her child to attend daycare while her baby was still in utero! It is a big issue in BC with too many working parents and not enough day care providers. One of my coworkers in Vancouver quit her job so she could take care of her two children as it was cheaper than paying thousands per month for day care. Fortunately her husband was making enough to pay for their Vancouver mortgage and expenses, but not everyone is as lucky. Generally you'll want to lock down daycare for your child or preschool as early as possible.

All in all, best of luck and if you do sign the job offer, trust the school system works - it's not better or worse, it's just different.

Edit: Obviously this is a mass generalization and there are always exceptions. This is based on my 42 years of living in/around Vancouver.

kartikannamalai

Thank you for the great summery of your experience at Canada.

I am curious to learn more with the information you have provided, our question as follows:
1. What is a good salary at Vancouver (100k to 150k?)
2. Please advise locations to find accommodation suburbs of Vancouver(1 hour commuting distance)
3. Our second child is 2.5 years, can she join pre school in March when she turns 3 years?
4. Does the Canadian government(for immigrants) provide child vouchers or tax exceptions

With Regards,
Kartik

christmasoompa

BC Tech PNP (it's no longer a pilot) approx 20 months in total going on current processing times.

Yes, your wife can work (and in Vancouver may well need to!), she will get a spousal open work permit for the same duration as yours.

Whether you need IELTS and ECA will depend on the visa route. You need to work out if you plan to do the BC PNP, or a work permit and then PR via EE, as each will have very different requirements.

Nobody knows yet about what type of applications will be given priority early next year (could be January onwards). I suspect it will be specific occupations, as it used to be previously (there was a list of old 29 occupations for PR under the FSW program). But that is just a guess, it may be based on language ability, or education, or something else entirely.

HTH.

christmasoompa

So if you use the rule of 1/3 of income for rentals, then a $100k salary would give you approx $2700pcm for rent. Nowhere near enough for a family of 4 in Vancouver IMO. So find where you could live, what a monthly rental would be approximately, and then if your salary would be enough to support that. I'd say you need way more than $100k personally, that would be fine for other places but not Vancouver.

And don't underestimate the cost of moving a family, I'd negotiate hard on relocation package too.

Good luck.

kartikannamalai

Thank you HTH,

I have been advsied the company will sponsor me via the Gobal Talent visa, based on this fact please advsie swift and secure path for Canadian PR?

Is it worth applying for BC Tech Pilot to accure 600 points to boost the CRS score, provided the new system will come into effect in January 2022?

kartikannamalai

Thank you for your swift response,

Salary is understood, can you please suggest suburban area's around Vancouver for accommodations within $2800/month

What would be a good relocation package be: 25k to 30k(CAD)
Includes the following:
1. One way tickets for the family to Vancouver
2. Relocation of valuable from UK
3. Accommodation for upto 3 months
​​​​​Any thing else I must consider?

With Regards,
Kartik

christmasoompa

You'll need to work out what you're eligible for, we can't do that for you I'm afraid. Check your eligibility on the official website, and take the CRS score test to see if you'd be scoring enough to get an invite to apply for PR. If not, then it may need to be PNP, but that is more onerous on the company and has certain restrictions i.e. you're tied to the province for some time etc. Not sure what you mean by 'swift' but any route is going to be at least 18 months based on current processing times due to the Covid backlog.

If you do PNP then you would get a work permit from that route, so don't need to do the Global Talent work permit route as well.

$2800 a month around Vancouver? What size property do you want? I'd imagine you're looking at a fairly small apartment for that, but you can search yourself on rental websites to give yourself an idea. That was based on the $100k figure you gave, which I personally think is far too low for a family of 4. It may be better to say what the salary on offer actually is, and then people in the know can tell you if it's good enough or not.

$25-30k will still leave you with a good chunk of money to find. This thread may give you an idea of the total costs - cost of moving to canada Bear in mind it's an older thread, so you'll need to add a good chunk on to account for cost increases since then (shipping costs alone have more than doubled in the past couple of years). Also, if you're going on a work permit you can't go on one way tickets, you need a return or risk being refused entry.

HTH ('Hope That Helps'!)

glendem4

$25K would be a minimum

Lychee

$2800 gets you a 2-bedroom apartment in Vancouver these days. I am also not a fan of long commutes so would want to avoid moving to Vancouver only to commute in traffic for an hour. Perhaps Port Moody might suit you. Perhaps Steveston. Lower Lonsdale is lovely. Commercial Drive and Mount Pleasant and Riley Park in the city are vibrant neighbourhoods. $100,000 is unfortunately not much in Vancouver. $150,000 is better, but ideally both you and your wife should be making $150,000 each and then you'll be more comfortable.

kartikannamalai

$25,000(CAD) is the provision my employer has offered as per my contract.

christmasoompa

Which is helpful, and more than some people get. It just won't cover everything so you'll need to pay for the rest yourself.