Diary of our move to Canada
 

This week is another momentous step for us on our move to Canada.
After several weeks, we have finally received an offer on the house in Bournemouth, England.

Summary of Path Traveled so far.

1. Original plan was to move to Portugal in 2016 and help set up a rescue centre for abandoned dogs. Brexit put a stop to those plans in June 2016.

2. After much thought we decided in Autumn 2016 to move to Canada. Start gathering the paperwork in November 2016 only to find out the IRCC were changing the rules and making the process simpler. Timescales for the new spouse sponsor process would be 12 months max instead of up to 18 months.

3. We submitted the Spousal sponsorship on 14th February 2017. IRCC requested more information on 1st April and everything was resubmitted by 21st April 2017. I had arranged my Police checks back in 2016, which saved sometime.

4. Medical was requested in May and completed by mid June and we received COPR in July.

5. Landed on 14th September 2017 and spent 2 weeks in Southern Ontario looking at different locations.

6. PR Card finally arrived after 130 days waiting in January 2018. AirBnB booked for 2 months from 1st May 2018 in Toronto.

7. House sold subject to contract in February 2018.

Next Steps.

We are currently going through our house, donating anything of use to the charity shops and disposing the rest at our local recycle centre.

We have decided on renting in Barrie for a year while we figure our where we want to buy long term. Speaking to a few agents already as rentals come available 2 months ahead of time. To get a rental for 1st July, we need to arrive on 1st May and be quick to get to make viewings, as property goes very quick in Ontario.

The other main issue on our minds is how to get our dogs over and whether they should travel in the cabin or hold. We will fly with Air Canada as they are one of the few airlines that allow pets in the cabin. We are reluctant to let our 13 year old Bichon/Yorkie cross travel in the hold. The other dogs are younger and should be less of an issue. We are thinking of organising the pet transport ourselves, as the costs to transport 3 dogs is nearly £2k. We will be looking to order the suitable pet carriers in the next few weeks and get our vet to arrange the paper work from DEFRA and book in the health check 5 days before we fly.......

So much to consider.........We will keep you posted.

Only 75 days to go......:eek:

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

My original plan was to take an early retirement and move to Spain but Canada happened instead. :lol:

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

Sounds like it’s all moving along nicely.

I don’t know about Barrie but everything has slowed down on the property front in Hamilton. Yes places are selling/renting but not at the crazy pace they were last year.

There’s a nice little house on our street that has had a for sale and for rent sign in the front yard for a few weeks now. I’ve seen others like that too.

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

My original plan was to semi-move to France from Bournemouth & maybe husband to do a sort of work commute to and from.

Somehow took a wrong turn and ended up in New Zealand. :blink:

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

Preparation for the apocalypse?

https://www.theguardian.com/news/201...in-new-zealand

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

It's a tough one.

Hamilton has wine country on it's door step.

Barrie has snowboard country.

I'd probably lean towards Hamilton because of airport proximity to both Pearson and Buffalo.

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

You should come to the Okanagan instead - wine region and snowboarding country all rolled into one! :thumbsup:

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

I'm interested in knowing your options with the dogs and carriers. I'm hoping to move to Ottawa this year and have one dog, he's young enough and healthy enough that I don't feel too bad about him going into the hold. He's too big for cabin travel. What companies have you looked at so far, if any?

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

While it's great that you shared your diary, it might be a bit more noteworthy for us if something interesting actually happened. Were there any dwarves involved?

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

We contacted Removal companies today to get an idea WHEN we needed to book an appointment. To ship last week in April, we SHOULD have everything booked an arranged by 15th March.....less than 4 weeks away.

So will be spending the next few weeks deciding what we need/want to take. Pickfords quoted 8/12 weeks to ship items to Toronto. Seems along time...as my Dad managed to ship goods all the way to Australia in 12 weeks. Quote to share a container for 4/5 large suitcases and 10 standard removal boxes was £800.

We contacted PetUK (Dorset) and FetchaPet (Essex) to get quotes for our 3 dogs. PetUK quoted £1500-1800 and FetchaPet were £300 more expensive.

https://www.bringfido.com/travel/air...es/air_canada/ provides a lot of information on transporting your pet with Air Canada.

https://www.aircanada.com/uk/en/aco/...ance/pets.html Air Canada site quotes $100 for flying in cabin International and $270 in the hold. At the current exchange rate of £1=$1.76, 3 dogs in the hold = £460. 3 good quality carriers cost £75 each. So total cost = £885. Add on fees for Vet to provide a certificate for fit to fly and the DEFRA letter quoted the animals are coming from a rabies free country, then the total cost should be less than £1000, a lot less than the fees quoted by PetUK and FetchaPet.

So much to do and the clock is ticking....

74 days to go.....

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

Yup. 4 months sounds long but the lead times really shorten things a lot.

Planning a move in August and so must get skates on myself!

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

Also very easy to get in and out of Toronto on public transit. Barrie has like 3 trains down in the morning and 3 in the evening. That’s it.

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

If your digs travel on the same flight don't they go in the baggage section and not the hold? If you take your dog in the cabin it has to spend the entire flight in a carrier under the seat with various noises, movement etc. As baggage he could have a roomy pet carrier and be able to move around, stretch. It's noisy but there are feet and trolleys moving around.

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

...and the 400 is certainly a highway to avoid if you miss the early trains..

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

Probably much cheaper to go with the airline in the hold. Check AirCanada cargo as well. https://www.aircanada.com/cargo/en/s...tions/ac-live/

I've no idea the charges but £1800 is shocking!