christmasoompa

Just to clarify, any visitor has always been able to look for work, it's not breaking any rules to do so and job hunting on an ETA is permitted. People just can't start a job without work authorisation.

I suspect it wasn't so much the lack of the Canadian experience that scuppered your friends, more the fact that they needed visa sponsorship. Most employer just don't want to pay out, submit tons of paperwork, and wait months for somebody to start work when they can hire a Canadian much more easily.

JonboyE

I think the "no Canadian experience" trope is often an excuse used by job seekers who have not make sufficient effort to show an employer they are the best candidate for the job. You say your friends had degrees in HR. How did they try to persuade the employers that a UK degree in HR would enable them to manage a Canadian workforce better that a candidate with a Canadian degree?

It can be done. After all, the vast majority who post in this forum have secured Canadian jobs. Just assuming a person in more employable than a local because they have British experience and British qualifications will not help.

dbd33

I work in middle management for a medium sized financial institution in small town Canada. I routinely interview people who haven't yet been to Canada and, indeed, there's an HR protocol to ensure that anyone hired is, in fact, the person interviewed. If we do that, you can be sure that more aggressive businesses do so too. Maybe local experience is important if you're looking to work in a highly regulated field or one where contacts are more important than skills, otherwise not.

MatiasHarding

Housing is often the biggest expense you'll face, with cities like Vancouver and Toronto having particularly high costs for both buying and renting homes. On the flip side, places like Montreal and Ottawa, as well as smaller towns and rural areas across Canada, offer more affordable living options. As for groceries, they can be pricey, but a handy tip is to buy in bulk to save money. Plus, many Canadian homes have a storage area near the kitchen, a feature not commonly found in British houses, making it easier to stock up on supplies. That's what I've heard from friends who moved there recently.

CanadaJimmy

That's more of a symptom of car-oriented suburban planning, you're expected to drive to Costco and have to stock up 1-2 weeks of groceries. Sure maybe you save a little buying in bulk but you end up having a huge pantry full of 10 packs of spaghetti etc., an extra freezer, an extra fridge which costs money to keep running - what's worse is a lot of the perishable items end up getting thrown away which is wasteful. These things undo some of the savings.

What me and my family have started doing some nights is deciding on a dinner, going to the save-on-foods near our house and buying what we need to make it in the evening, yes you pay a premium at Save-on but there's something about it that's a nicer experience than being locked into having the same meal every week because you bought in bulk.

BristolUK

10 packs of pasta - the dry kind - won't go off though.
There's bulk buying at Costco - which is not cheaper in my experience for actual stuff from grocery stores (including household things) - and there's bulk buying of deals from the other supermarkets.

Rib roasts, lamb legs, chickens, steaks, whole tenderloins, various cuts of pork...they're all half price or less every few weeks at one of the supermarkets. Similar applies for things like burgers where an 8 pack costs less than a third of 24 comparable Kirkland ones.

We just maintain a rolling stock - if our freezers have 5 rib roasts and 6 chickens but only two legs of lamb, you can bet that the lamb will soon be reduced and we can top it back up to 4 or 5.

We don't have Save-on here but I was under the impression it was a cheaper store.
But I don't understand why bulk buying - of whichever kind - locks you into repeat meals close together.

Just for laughs we once ate chicken in some form every night for a week. Totally different style of meal each night.

Pollyana

I used to have a similar conversation with people (including my ex) when I lived in Australia. I've always believed in buying in bulk if it makes things cheaper - if its stuff you will use anyway then it works for non-food items too. Doesn't mean you have to eat in bulk just cos you buy in bulk, you can keep non-perishables and use them gradually, perishables are often freezeable and can be eaten gradually. As you say above, absolutely no need to be locked in to eating the same thing every night for a week just cos you bought in bulk. And I'm speaking as a one-person household, I dread to think what the premiums would be if I just bought everything for single person meals!!

BristolUK

Like dreaded single person supplements when trying to book a holiday. I well remember those.

Pollyana

Oh yes, horrific!!

MatiasHarding

Well, here, I also stock up on groceries like rice and pasta, which we cook all the time for dinner. The issue is that you can't stock up on fresh foods, really. And you are right. With a small family, you will end up buying an extra fridge and freezer. My brother has a huge family, and he told me that it costs him a fortune to run 6 fridges in the house. But he has 5 kids.

BristolUK

I don't see much wrong with that, to be honest.
Walmart sells a 7cu.ft freezer for $250. The next size up -10cf - costs $750 and the 14cf size is $900.
In terms of purchasing costs two of the smaller size is considerably cheaper than a bigger one and provides more storage.

The running costs of 2 x7 instead of a bigger one would need to be very high to cancel out the savings on appliance price and the half price content.

Providing you can afford the up front cost and have space, of course.

6 fridges does seem a tad extreme though.
We're four now but we have been five and six people. 2 medium sized chest freezers and 2 medium fridge/freezers have been adequate.

MatiasHarding

As I said, my brother has 6 fridges. But he has 5 kids, and the last is not even one yet. So, they need to keep a lot of fresh food. When they stock up at Costco, they use all 6 fridges. Then they slowly turn off one of the fridges when it's empty. So they don't run all the time. Also, the lifehack he shared with me is that they freeze the fresh milk and not go to the store every time for some milk, which with 5 kids you use all the time, and then his wife unfreezes on low heat one of the milk and it looks like fresh. Of course, what he has is not the best option you can offer. But with 5 kids, it's one of the ways to save money without sacrificing anyone's health.

Jerseygirl

I always have frozen milk and bread in the freezer. Some of the milk I pour into small containers, that way it defrosts quickly when needed. Very handy when you come back of holiday to have milk and bread without having to go to the shop.

MatiasHarding

I've never tried to freeze the bread. But I'd love to try it with the French baguette. At least we can find some frozen mini baguettes in our stores. But we tried to do it with milk. Well, my wife is lactose-intolerant. I dunno if this term can actually be applied to her because she can't drink milk, but she is okay with other dairy products. But there was a guy who lived close by, and his parents kept cows. He gave us a lot of milk for free. So, I had to freeze it.

BristolUK

Success varies depending on the bread

Unsliced, crusty loaves work very well if you wrap them tightly in sliced bread bags that you wisely keep for purposes such as this and other things like opened blocks of cheese and then wrap inside the paper bag they come in.

When you want to thaw them, remove them from the plastic, brush off any ice (there won't be much) and put them back in the paper bag which should then keep it crusty as if you just got home with it.

Sliced bread in the freezer can work but a bit of ice often builds up in the original plastic bag and thawed without removing it from the plastic it can get wet. Brush ice off and bung it in a different bag. Fiddly but stops soggy bread.