Hi there,

With some of the recent threads on finances, job offers etc, i wondered what people thought in general regarding the chances of making a successful life in Canada. Ideally we would all have job offers etc and a shedload of cash, but for many of us its not teh case.

Me and the wife will have the following respectively:

- Good honours degrees in Environmental Pollution and History respectively
- wife has over 4 years expereince
- i have over 8 in fairly senior mangement positions
- would be around 34 at the time of emigration assuming we were successful
- no kids
- hopefully healthy
- be looking to bring around £30,000 with us as a float and no debts left behind hopefully.
- ideally looking to Vancouver / BC

So whats your opinions guys, should we be feeling optimistic or the other one....!!

Stu and Kerry

Sounds optimistic for your route if that were skilled worker route for your Visa. But who can say the other factors.... lifestyle, etc etc will be to your liking. That is very much a personal thing which you will discover over the first 3 years of being in Canada.

Paul.

Totally agree Paul, our initial concern though would be finding economic stability. The cultural aspect and the process of settling in is a completely different ball game

As one poster has on their signature " A happily employed immigrant is ahappy immigrant, unhappily employed immigrant is an unhappy immigrant " or something like that.

Paul.

Hi

I think it's Iaink that suggests that it's a new immigrant with a quickly found job that become a happy immigrant (shoot me Iaink if I'm wrong). I strongly agree with that and think that a large factor in a successful relocation is being able to adjust and accommodate the new lifestyle/people/ideas.

My wife and I (ooh - touch of royalty there ) are in a similar situation to yours. We both have good degrees in Software and Business; no kids; years of experience in various teaching/engineering/suprevisory management roles; and are in our mid thirties. Our PPR will be sent away this weekend to CHC and we hope to arrive mid-year (right in the middle of my 7 weeks paid holiday - nice ).

However, qualifications and experience are 2-a-penny. It's all down to attitude, luck, a bloody good sense of humour, luck, the whims of the Peruvian Monkey God, luck, total lack of dignity in begging, luck and, oh............did I mention luck??

Always feel optimistic and my best wishes in whatever you do.

madmac

Cheers Madmac - where are you looking to move to???

Initially somewhere in the Toronto area but who knows what will happen after we touch ground?

I'll now have some smartypants reply and tell me that "Ontario and the GTA are a massive area...bigger than Scotland, France and the Great red spot of Jupiter combined....whooooo, dooooom and gloom."

I know that it's throwing caution to the wind but Anna and I will start looking in earnest at the details now (that'll get another bunch of pessimists/reality freaks on my back for being flippant).

Never lose your sense of humour here on the forum.

madmac

MadMac I like your attitiude!!!" Optimism is infectious and I believe a 'Can Do' approach can outweigh many things. Whats wrong with being excited & cheery about what may lie ahead. Theres far too many people out there ready with the 'but what if...'

Good luck with your plans - I'm sure that it will work out.

Many thanks Jacki.

I too like snow...but not the yellow stuff!

madmac

The reality check time.......

be optimistic it helps..

but don't forget to do as many "but what if's” as possible too....
these help save time and money and also help reduce the risk of becoming the unhappy immigrant!

Mike

Thanks for that timely skelp on the back of the head. I almost felt like everything was going to be okay.

"..but what if no one said 'What if...?' ?"

madmac

Assuming that you would ontend to come as a skilled worked, the first thing that you need to do is the points assessment, to see if you have the appropriate number of points. Before I managed to persuade my company to relocate me from the UK to Canada, I only just scraped the 67 points. That's with an honours degree in engineering, full language points as a native English speaker and maximum experience points in an approved profession (4 years in the last 10).

As long as you are under 49 (after which you loose points for age), then age should not be a barrier. I'm 47 and have been here 6 months. Loving it.

A significant reason for coming here was to give my son what I personally consider to be a better life. Kids here will grow up with more confidence and respect for others as well as having so much more to do by way of leisure activities. That aside, not having kds will give you many many more options, especially if you have the entrepreneurial spirit since you will only have youselves to think about. My view is that Canada is great place for those willing to "go for it".

With £30,000 it may be tight. When I first arrived the money just evaporated with setup costs such as family cars, etc. But people on this forum have made it with far less, and they get my respect for that. Vancouver is by all accounts not a cheap option. Calgary is cheaper, put real estate prices are fast catching up.

If you can get a job in advance then great, otherwise you will need to be very flexible and take what you can when you arrive. Based upon the current job market, Alberta/Calgary may be a better option. Unemployement here is less than 4% which basically means that there is no real excuse to be unemployed.

Just few comments

Being optimistic doesnt go hand in hand with expecting life to be a bed of roses! But I think that optimism increases your chance of success. Good luck tends to follow positive people around and the reverse happens with negative people. I also think that a positive attitude helps you over the difficult stuff which is bound to happen - but it just depends how you deal with it. Its all very well getting depressed when things dont go according to plan but what would that achieve. A flexible attitude, the ability to find the funny side in disasters & a little planning go a long way to having a happy life - wherever you choose to live it.

Some folks seem to think that being an optimist means you dont do the 'serious' background stuff - but just because I wax lyrical about what I hope my life in Canada will be like it doesn't mean I think moving thousands of miles will make me happy - I'm a happy person already.

Anyway - thats my 2pence worth!!

I still say 'go for it' - when it boils down to it what really is the worst that can happen - you hate where you move to, spend all your money, want to go back 'home' and eventually do. Thats the bottom line. But whats worse - taking the risk or in 20 years time looking back and thinking ' I wonder...?' I know what i''d prefer.

Enjoy life, take some risks, and surround yourself with likeminded people...Oh and dont forget the odd or 2

Madmac - your right, the yellow stuff tastes BAAAAD!

In the short term, A 'so-be-it' attitude is just as important as a 'can-do' attitude. Things may not always go your way straight away or as smoothly as they currently do for you. Don't expect to walk into a top job, blah blah blah,.... it's all been said before.. Certain things will aggravate you from time-to-time and make you pine for the way it was done 'back home'. I think everyone goes through that though.

What's important is making friends, making compromises, and yes a good job is a good start, i would never argue that point. In the long term, 'making it work' takes on a whole new meaning. You might have achieve all the things you wish for in a life in Canada, but no-one can replace the relatives, friends and culture you leave behind, this might be the most difficult aspect.

Can you say how u expect to be there mid year as you are only just submitting your application ?