crofty82

Now that we've paid for our shipping and insurance, thought I'd share our costs for emigrating to Canada in case they're useful to anyone about to go through the process.

This is for a family of two, moving the (significantly slimmed down) contents of a 3-bedroom house and two dogs, emigrating via the Express Entry Federal Skilled Worker route. This obviously doesn't include the almost £10k needed for proof of funds.

dbd33

<gulp>

And that's before having to set up a household and possibly acquire a car.

i_Seeker

Great help, thanks!

We are in the process of picking out our shipping company. Can I ask how long it took from collection in the UK to your door in Canada (door to door)?

The things we want to take to Canada rake up around half a crate (20ft), but we were told that shipping times would be 5 to 9 weeks. If we use an entire 20ft crate, it would take 4 to 6 weeks. But, the cost of a full crate is very expensive compared to the very reasonable price you paid for.

Without attempting to be too nosey, may I ask what you shipped in your goods?

Many thanks

i_Seeker.

Frazzle

We have just had to return to Nuffield Health Plymouth because one of my sons required an extra ENT appointment. (His lymph nodes were up because of a cold). This extra appointment has cost £160 and another blood test for my wife who has high bp.
In total for a family if 4 the medical has set us back close to £1500.

I would also like to mention that on top of biometric fees the only places to have fingerprints taken for Canada immigration is London.... The trip from Cornwall was another couple if hundred, not to mention loss of earnings from time off work.

I'm sure it will all work out in the end and I'm super happy to have gotten this far.

Nice post on costs, a great guide, thank you.

R I C H

There are many less immediately obvious costs associated with emigrating too:

• Selling a home to emigrate - estate agent fees, legal fees, potentially mortgage closure fees
• Buying a new home - property purchase taxes, legal fees, furnishing costs, replacement white goods/appliances etc
• A mortgage will potentially cost you additional interest as a new immigrate with no credit history
• Car insurance - potential loss of NCB/increased premiums
• Career - are you able to move immediately into employment, or a job with an equivalent salary/purchasing power? How long will it take to recover 'lost' earnings while you re-establish yourself in a new country?

Having been through the process to Canada, and back to the UK 14 years later, I'd estimate the true financial cost of moving takes several years to become completely apparent. It took us around 18mths to be in a similar financial position to that which we left in Canada in 2018, and taking into account the points above, plus the obvious shipping/flight overheads mentioned in post #1, the real cost has been closer to £100k (family of 2, and 1 dog).

Hurlabrick

I am guessing the OP will add in 'post emigration' cists when tgey make the move. In addition to those already mentionec, add in 3 month medical ibsurance to cover the gap before provincial heathcare starts (depends on province).

crofty82

Absolutely.

crofty82

Our stuff hasn't been collected yet, it will be on 9th March. Because we're sharing a container it will add to the overall transit time. We went with White & Co's groupage option meaning they only ship when they have a full container. Ideally of course we'd like the stuff to arrive at the same time as we move out of our Airbnb into a rental (which we haven't secured yet) but if it's too early they can store it at the other end, and if it's late we'll have to buy what Peter Kay would call "emergency chairs" to sit on until it gets there.

We're shipping a 3 seater sofa, 3 armchairs, dressing table, bedside table, double bed (minus mattress) and about 20-25 medium-sized boxes. Entire contents fits into a 50 sq. ft. storage unit with a bit of room to spare.

crofty82

Very true. Lots of other costs not directly associated with the application but more a byproduct of it, such as those you mention above. Plus, as you say, setup costs at the other end and the consequences of a step-back career-wise, assuming one has to do that.

crofty82

Yes I have confined the spreadsheet to the costs directly associated with the application, but as you say there are many post-move expenditures to consider as well. We're moving to Ontario so there was a 3-figure sum to pay out for gap medical cover also.

crofty82

You're welcome. We were lucky that we snuck in just before biometrics came in, and the medical was straightforward so no follow-up costs.

cheeky_monkey

mine was a lot less..but that was over 10 years ago.

i didn't ship anything so no money spent there
did not have to take the IELTS exam
medical was only 70GBP each for family of 5
PR fees were a lot less from memory

i think minus the flights it was less than a grand

crofty82

No need to rub it in

MRCT

Thanks goodness all these costs and paperwork were not around when I emigrated in 1967. If there had been, even allowing for inflation, there would be a lot fewer Canadians today! I came with 2 male friends and 3 female friends (all nurses) arrived later. I think we had one trip to Canada House for the interview and chest x-ray and that was it. The Canadian Government even paid the $200- airfare on BOAC (it had to be paid back later) and we all got jobs within a couple of weeks…………

Stumpylegs

Thats great for info and I'm not sure I actually want to add up my costs to get to ITA stage are, as I think it is somewhat astronomical.

Can I just ask whats the whole notarisation for proof of funds about? I just submitted bank statements(Stamped), a letter from my banks (signed and stamped) and that was it? did they ask for more info and you had to provide it? or was it how you did it from the start? or did you do it due to concerns on your GCMS notes?

I'm circa 14 weeks into my application, and itching for movement on it. (plan to request GCMS notes at the end of April which will be like 21/22 weeks in) but proof of funds was one of my concerns, as my banks couldn't give average balances, and 1 of them missed off opening dates on my accounts, but given the time it took to get them sorted I had no option but to submit with a letter of explanation and hope it was enough (I had minimal funds with that bank and had in excess of my proof of funds in with the bank that did it right).