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Re: Calgary or Vancouver - That is the question?
Originally Posted by nbrinham
(Post 5231351)
1. Cost of living – Particularly buying houses 2. Location – Family life, outdoor living etc. 3. Job prospects for tradesmen/universities. 4. Climate. 5. Most importantly – Working environment for my wife Brin 1. High. In Vancouver itself you can't buy much of a detached home for less than $500,000 (there are 14 listed on the MLS in Vancouver Eastside), and you probably wouldn't want to live in it either. $500,000 can get you something decent in the suburbs if you don't mind the commute. 2. Brilliant in my mind. How much outdoors can you take? 3. Right now they are unlimited. If you can swing a hammer or turn a wrench (they don't have spanners out here) someone will give you a job. Skilled and experienced tradespeople can make very good money - puts a policeman's salary to shame. BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology) is the place to learn a trade. 4. 4 Seasons. It is gray and very wet from mid October to Christmas. We usually get some snow each winter but it rarely lasts more than a day or two. Spring is mixed and summers usually warm and lovely. The amount of rain and gray skies varies greatly depending on where you live so bear this in mind. 5. Vancouver has its own police department but many of the suburbs sub-contract policing to the RCMP. I don't know enough to make any more useful comment. |
Re: Calgary or Vancouver - That is the question?
Lived in both, Calgary's number 1 for me.
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Re: Calgary or Vancouver - That is the question?
The Vancouver Police Chief just came on the noon news asking
young people to apply for Police Officer jobs because they are having problems recruiting. He has to take a look at their unfriendly website not welcoming overseas recruits. They need 100 Police Officers by next year mainly to replace the retirees and increase in crime rate. I just left a brief message on the recruiting officer's voice mail about recruiting UK police officers.Will see whether he calls me back. In fact they did hire a few UK Police this year according to my friend whose OH is a VPD police and some rookie cops that I met at work. Good luck with your choice regarding Vancouver or Calgary. Yoong |
Re: Calgary or Vancouver - That is the question?
Hi - how soon do you want to be here? - that is your question.
Calgary Police are recruiting UK officers directly and are using the PNP programme. From recent experience of many others going this route - the timescale appears to be around 18 months from initial application, to moving over here. Vancouver police are NOT recruiting overseas people directly and are still currently requiring that an applicant must be a Permanent Resident or a Canadian Citizen. (As soon as any of the Canadian forces lift this requirement, a significant percentage of UK officers will apply - just look at how many have gone to OZ and New Zealand in recent years. Soon the UK will need it's own equivalent of the PNP!!!) To become a Permanent Resident will take you in the region of 4-5 years using the Skilled Worker application. If either one of you can secure a job (not the police) then you could come over here on a Work Permit - but you must find an employer who really wants you and can prove they cannot find a Canadian to do that job - not sure how long this is taking - others can advise - but for example this may take 3-9 months ... Please see the police section on this forum under the Working Abroad by Profession bit .... PS - Calgary !!!!! :p Good luck :thumbsup: |
Re: Calgary or Vancouver - That is the question?
You are probably going to be guided by where your wife can get a job, firstly.
And second by what and where you can study. I would start by checking out http://www.bcit.ca who state that they are "Canada's Premier Polytechnic Institution"! I'm afraid I don't know what there is in Calgary. Remember that to start with things such as jobs are stepping stones to getting into Canada, but once here with a PR card safely in hand, you'll have more options to relocate if you want. I personally would choose Vancouver (I live here after all). Once flew in and out of Calgary airport and just thought it was badly planned urban sprawl. There is a Canadian Docu-film out about urban sprawl that was filmed in Calgary called "Radiant City". www.radiantcitymovie.com There is the funniest part in there where the husband performs a musical with the local amateur dramatics society entitled: "Suburbia - The Musical". But having said that, if you want a biggish house in Vancouver, you'll probably be looking at the 'burbs' here too, with the way house prices are. |
Re: Calgary or Vancouver - That is the question?
Originally Posted by live to ski
(Post 5232391)
And second by what and where you can study. I would start by checking out http://www.bcit.ca who state that they are "Canada's Premier Polytechnic Institution"! I'm afraid I don't know what there is in Calgary.
Originally Posted by live to ski
(Post 5232391)
I personally would choose Vancouver (I live here after all). Once flew in and out of Calgary airport and just thought it was badly planned urban sprawl.
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Re: Calgary or Vancouver - That is the question?
I rarely venture into the suburbs of Vancouver - ignorance is bliss!!!
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Re: Calgary or Vancouver - That is the question?
Originally Posted by nbrinham
(Post 5231351)
1. Cost of living – Particularly buying houses 2. Location – Family life, outdoor living etc. 3. Job prospects for tradesmen/universities. 4. Climate. 5. Most importantly – Working environment for my wife 1. Houses are friggin expensive, but have you considered townhouses (they have the benefit of instant networking and being a small community. Some are say 4 or 5 houses, mine is a complex of over 100 houses with our own pool and playground. Also, you can buy those for under $1/2 mill. :thumbsup: 2. Location: we have everything (boast!) mountains, forests, beaches :thumbsup: 3. Job prospects are excellent for everyone at the moment. Canada is enjoying its lowest unemployment rate since the 70s. 4. Do you like rain? Vancouver is in a temperate Rain Forest Area. some parts are worse than others (eg North and West Vancouver, Burnaby Mountain) and some are positively dry (in comparison) White Rock etc. But seriously, it is not much different to England, and we hardly get any snow. 5. Dunno, but there was a yahoo group just for police men, I'll have a decko for the link. Here it is - gone a bit quiet though http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ukpolice2canada/ Also, there are yahoo groups for Vancouver and Calgary. Brits to Vancouver (and the Island) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Brits2Vancouver/ Brits to Calgary http://groups.yahoo.com/group/immigrationuktocalgary/ GOOD LUCK :) |
Re: Calgary or Vancouver - That is the question?
Originally Posted by nbrinham
(Post 5231351)
DILEMMA TIME - Me and the good lady have always had aspirations to live and work in Canada. We are both police officers in London and have a two year old daughter. To be honest I have always wanted to change my career path towards becoming a skilled tradesman. So…………My wife is going to apply for either Calgary or Vancouver police which offer pretty good rates of pay ($74,000 ish) and I intend on taking over the child care duties in the short term with a view to studying at a university once we’ve settled.
My question to you all is WHICH ONE? – We have obviously chosen to take this path to change our quality of life and taking into consideration some of the following points we would greatly appreciate your views on both destinations. We are obviously going to go over and look at both locations, but there is a limit to how much you can see over a period of two weeks! 1. Cost of living – Particularly buying houses 2. Location – Family life, outdoor living etc. 3. Job prospects for tradesmen/universities. 4. Climate. 5. Most importantly – Working environment for my wife And basically any other information that you think could assist us. Cheers for your help If you can’t be bothered going into details a CALGARY or VANCOUVER will suffice! Cheers Brin Ok ,I have just spoken to a recruiting officer from VPD. He said that the person who specialises in UK recruiting is Det/Cst. Mark Burgess tel#604-717-3291 or you can email him.See link below. http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/poli...ng/contact.htm They hired 20 UK police officers recently according to this officer. Good luck Yoong |
Re: Calgary or Vancouver - That is the question?
These forums actually work! It’s nice to see that there is the same intense rivalry wherever you go on the globe!
We work in Brixton which is allegedly the worst area for crime in the United Kingdom if not Europe. Believe it or not, but my colleague was stopped by a senior ranking officer from Calgary whilst walking along the Thames who asked that the recruitment details be put up around the police station. Calgary and Vancouver appear to be recruiting at the moment (cheers yoong), although for some reason Vancouver seem to making it as hard as humanly possible, whereas Calgary seem to make the process flow quite smoothly? My friend has just been accepted into Calgary. I’m not totally sure about the PNP programme. I do no that to join Calgary you HAVE to be a permanent resident and my friend has been told that it will take between 4-6 months to sort out? I appreciate that everywhere has it faults and that the grass isn’t always greener, but after speaking to him I can assure you that compared to England and in particular London, Canada appears to be nothing short of WONDERLAND! The polygraphs tests have risen more than a few eyebrows over here. All I can say is that I’m glad a married a good girl! Quite frankly if the Metropolitan police had the same stringent policies there would be nobody policing our crime ridden streets. Some of the “stories†I’ve heard about these tests do seem a little ridiculous to say the least. I live in a tiny three bed about 30 mins away from London valued at around $540000 – The housing situation in London has meant that young families have been priced out of the market. I have been lucky in that I bought a few years ago, enabling me to put down a fairly decent deposit if we ever get to Canada. I still thought it would be cheaper though! Keep fighting please – The jury is still out! Cheers Brin |
Re: Calgary or Vancouver - That is the question?
Your 3 bedroom home in London valued at 540,000pounds or $540,000?
The recruiting officer told me that the UK cops that they hired are pretty well off because they sold off their homes in UK and bought nice homes in West Vancouver. :rofl::rofl:now we know where the rich ex UK cops live in Vancouver. Sounds like they came under work permit and then apply for PR. Good luck. Yoong |
Re: Calgary or Vancouver - That is the question?
Originally Posted by Yoong
(Post 5232763)
Sounds like they came under work permit and then apply for PR.
That actually sounds far too sensible and well-researched for a police department :p |
Re: Calgary or Vancouver - That is the question?
Originally Posted by ann m
(Post 5232784)
That sounds like another good way of doing it ! I presume Vancouver are willing to complete all the 'employer' stuff for the Work Permits? See, they can get round it some way if they really want to ... enterprising methinks, and quicker than applying for and waiting to be granted permission to use the PNP. ;)
That actually sounds far too sensible and well-researched for a police department :p Ahh time will tell. The Oldies retiring,2010 coming soon and increase in crime rate.They have to get off their butts ,do the hiring to replenish the force.Or else the Raging Grannies will be at their headquarters harassing them:rofl::rofl: Yoong |
Re: Calgary or Vancouver - That is the question?
Did you catch this article today on the CBC site?
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-col...bc-police.html "Vancouver police need 100 officers just to break even But fewer applications being received The Vancouver Police Department said it needs 100 new officers next year just to break even but applications are decreasing because of the hot job market". |
Re: Calgary or Vancouver - That is the question?
Originally Posted by bazzz
(Post 5231413)
Vancouver has four seasons, Calgary has two (I think).
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