Hi, I'm Robin, (female), and together with the rest of the gadget family, we hope to end up living on Vancouver Island where I have both a brother who lives there, and a brother who visits every year from the Caribbean. We are British so have to apply for Permanent Residence, but have yet to decide on the most appropriate way to apply.

I have been a police officer for 20 years so still have about 10 years until I retire with a decent pension. HOWEVER.....I would be happy to quit, for the chance of a better quality of work/family life balance.

Andy is Corgi registered for domestic central heating systems, and currently works for a building maintenance company that has a contract with a rail company in the South-East for track-side maintenance. He can put his hand to many trades (but is not certificated for immigration purposes). We think that he will be our best prospect for work there initially, though I hope to find a suitable job too. We have a small house in Surrey, the sale of which from, we hope to have enough profit to buy a house with an acre or two of land.

Our children are Max aged nearly 14, and Kelda, she is 8. Both are aware that we are investigating the possibility of emigrating and are excited at the thought.

'The Gadgets' name was given to us because Andy has tools and gadgets for just about anything. he has a V8 trike, which he hopes to ship out there....

I spent almost a year there on Vancouver Island in 1980 and we have visited as a family for several long camping and sailing holidays since we met and had kids, but only very recently has Andy agreed to move out there if we can.

We are still at the research stage, and thank goodness for the internet, where I have been spending far too much time recently.

It's been so interesting to read of others experiences, and exciting too, but until I know that we can definitely go, we are in the 'wanna be' category.

hope u realise the dream x

What educational qualifications do you/hubby hold ? I assume that both of your jobs will be listed on the NOC list but, as you say your hubby is not apprenticed, whether or not you will have enough points to qualify under the skilled worker category will depend upon whether either of you have enough points under the "education" element, ie, degree, apprenticeship, diploma etc.

If you draw a blank under skilled worker, you may wish to consider PNP (especially using your profession) as some provinces are crying out for police officers.

Alternatively, you will be looking at a temporary work permit. Although, as the name suggests, this is only a temporary solution.

Good luck with your application

Hi welcome to BE!

I hope your emmigration plans run smoothly. With your hubby being corgi registered - would that not mean he has the right quals? Or would he be able to take a trade equivelency exam here anyhow? I know with my hubby, Alberta Trade people were not really interested in his quals as they are not recognised here, they wanted the years experience. Saying that his quals must havce counted for something but you never know!

Good luck anyhow - best wishes!

My OH has a certificate of completion of secondary school education in addition to several trade certificates, but I was raised on a cruising yacht abroad, and cannot prove any of my education, though I did attend secondary schools in the Caribbean for part of my secondary school education, and colleges in Canada and the UK for other part-time courses. I just don't know where we stand for the self-assessment education category as you say. I can always add a seperate sheet explaining my unusual upbringing and see if that works. It worked for the Police service but I did have to take competency tests in Maths and English.
I don't think that I could join a police service again, I am 43 and cannot imagine passing stringent medical and fitness tests. Anyway, our priority would be to live near my brother on Vancouver Island, not to join a Police service elsewhere in the country that is actively looking for English 'Bobbies' like Calgary is.
Thank you for your ideas and input.

He certainly has years of experience that should count for something, and is prepared for the need to re-qualify as needed. Ideally he would like to be a self-employed maintenance Handy man eventually.

Thanks for the welcome!

Have you seen our "Donut eating/coffee drinking" cops?

Seriously, there are some older people coming over and getting jobs in the force here. You could always use it as a way to get here, then move on to Vancouver later, maybe? I know that's a simplistic view, and there may be some kind of commitment to the job, I don't know. However, even if you did have to spend a couple of years or so in Alberta as a way in - that would still be less than the current wait time of 4-5 years as a skilled worker. Worth thinking about?

Anyway, our priority would be to live near my brother on Vancouver Island, not to join a Police service elsewhere in the country that is actively looking for English 'Bobbies' like Calgary is.


Hi,

My best mate has friends who live on Vancouver Island, they were on the phone last week telling him that "They are crying out for UK police".

My mate is currently a policeman in the north of scotland and his wife is a nurse but their not sure/keen on the idea of a permanent move (family commitments).

Why not make some more enquiries re police service in Vancouver ??

Good Luck

Adbru


(of to Alberta next week on hols + fact finding )

I second what Calgal says.

If the Calgary police department or any other police department is willing to hire you why on earth not use them as a means of entering the country.
Once here you can work out your committment with them if there is one and then move to the "Island".

It'll be quicker than going the regular route.

Cheers
Steve

Thank you to all who have offered words of encouragement on my first thread, an idea shared certainly results in lots of other ideas and advice. I am grateful. it makes it all seem more feasible.
Apparently the Calgary police service has a stand at the 'Emigrate' show that we will be going to on 7th/8th October, so I will look into this further, perhaps also contact other police services on the Island, you never know, they might still want experience over age!

I wish you luck and hope it works out for you.

In addition to what has been said earlier, consider that Calgary is about a twelve hour drive to Vancouver and an hour an forty minute ferry ride to the island.

That's whole buch closer than the UK.

Apparently the Calgary police service has a stand at the 'Emigrate' show that we will be going to on 7th/8th October, so I will look into this further, perhaps also contact other police services on the Island, you never know, they might still want experience over age!

Can I ask that you keep us informed as to the position with the police ??

I can then pass the info to my mate......

many thanks and good luck


Adbru

Just wanted to add - with a name like "Gadget", and you being in the Police force, you could have called yourself "Inspector Gadget"

Yes, well...I could laugh, then you could say that I was one of the laughing policeman, (except that I'm a .....woman).

That reminds me of a saying my mum used .... "If we had any bacon we could have bacon and eggs, ... if we had any eggs!"