jojo88

Hi all,

I am hoping to be guided in the right direction. My family and I are wanting to relocate to Canada for a better upbringing for our kids and to be able to travel to the Caribbean to see relatives more frequently as the journey time is shorter.

I am a public health nursing working for the NHS, I have a diploma in nursing and a degree in public health with lots of experience. My husband is a software developer and has a masters. We both earn a decent amount but we find that our quality of life could be better. It's such a struggle to be able to afford a house that meets all of our requirements despite our salaries.
We have a 5 year old child and another on the way.

We would really like to relocate to a province that is ideal for families and has lots of greenery, also with affordable cost of living. I should mention my husband has family residing in Toronto but however, I would not want to be to close to them.

I am unsure where to start as preferably I would like to continue working as a public health nurse as oppose to a general nurse. I have looked at various websites and it's all confusing. We were looking to make the move in the next 2 years.

christmasoompa

Hi, welcome to BE.

Have you visited Canada before? Definitely worth doing before you spend tens of thousands of pounds on moving your family over there, once the borders open up of course (). There are lots of threads about quality of life, and opportunities for kids, most of us would say that Canada won't offer anything that the UK can't, and a successful move is usually when people move for a love of Canada.

Also, have you looked in to visas at all to see what you may be eligible for? No point on worrying about a suitable province if you need a job offer from a sponsoring employer, as then you'd just have to go wherever the works is and not have much say in it, so check that first. Your mention of a province with lots of greenery made BC spring to mind…..but then the affordable costs of living made it spring back out again! What do you mean by 'affordable cost of living'? It's about the same in Canada as in the UK as rough guide, some things will cost more, some things less, so for most it evens out in the end. I believe that some provinces don't accept diploma trained nurses (and you may be glad to know that I seem to recall Ontario is one of them!), but a forum search will give you more info on that. Expect getting licensed to work as a nurse in Canada to take a long time, and cost a good chunk of money too, again a forum search will bring up relevant threads on the process.

If you want to move in 2 years, then definitely start now, as the nursing and visa process could take near that anyway.

Best of luck to you.

scilly

BC would not be a "short" flight to the Caribbean!!

I'm not certain, but I think that most times of the year, it would involve a flight from Vancouver to Toronto or Montreal, then a flight from there.

Just out of interest, it is a 4½-5 hour flight to Toronto from Vancouver.

MRCT

I am reminded of the UK mother who had 2 sons, one of whom emigrated to Vancouver. Some years later the other son was flying to Halifax and the mother called the Vancouver son and asked him to meet his brother at the airport. The Vancouver son said "you meet him, you're closer"............

jojo88

Thanks for your messages. I did read somewhere that Ontario has a system that is similar to the health visiting system in the UK. This province wouldn't have been my 1st choice but I don't have to live close to my in laws. I just need to find out how to convert my qualifications and I am happy to do additional studies to meet the requirements.

As for a short distance to the Caribbean there are some province that has a journey time of 4 hours to the Caribbean from what I heard. In the UK the journey time can be from 8-10 hours.

christmasoompa

There are provinces that don't accept diploma trained nurses, and I've got a vague recollection that Ontario is among them but a forum search will reveal info on that.

As above though, first step is to check and see if you'd be eligible for a visa without a job offer, as if not then you may not get to choose where you live anyway. Flight times from Toronto to the Caribbean will be about 4 or 5 hours, but then from other places will be longer, so if that's important to you you'll need to make sure you can live near to an airport with direct flights.

Silverdragon102

Getting registered as a nurse is a long and expensive process. Jobs in public health are hard to come by. I found these that may give you some ideas on role and requirements of a public health nurse and one of the links is for Ontario

Public Health Nursing | Careers in Nursing You will need to scroll down for requirements

https://explorehealthcareers.org/car...-health-nurse/

cxx

If you don't want to be in Ontario, and you want a short flight to the Carribean, then one of the Atlantic Provinces is your best bet. Probably Nova Scotia or New Brunswick. Nor sure if there would be flights from Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland? In normal times you could fly to Ontario if you did want to visit the relatives but be far enough away that they couldn't drop round for a cuppa.

sharkus

A direct flight from Toronto Pearson airport to / from Montego Bay is about 4 - 5 hours (based on flight times from April 2020).

HGerchikov

Other things to bear in mind, most jobs in Canada come with considerably less vacation time than jobs in the UK. So, although you may find a place with shorter flight times, your opportunities to visit will be reduced.
As you want a place with affordable housing and greenery, I would say that knocks the Toronto area off the list. Greenery within easy commute of the airport is crazy expensive - think $1.6 mi for a building lot. You have to go quite some distance to get affordable and then you need to add that travel time to your trip.
Atlantic provinces may, as has been suggested, offer both shorter flights and more affordable accommodations. I would strongly recommend visiting them before committing to a move. You might also want to check availability and cost of flights from the nearest airport to your destination in the Caribbean.