finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

hi guys
new on here and wondering on any tips you guys can give me in to renting and bank accounts got a job offer with jaguar land rover dealer and now waiting for my ielts test to start express entry would you guys recommend coming over again before visa comes through to sort out renting somewhere car etc or do it all online. also how do people deal with bank accounts in the uk when you go and do I need to tell hmrc. many thanks

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

also do I need to transfer my driving license straight away or do I leave it as a uk license

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

If you are going to take the IELTS test maybe you should brush up on your written english. A little punctuation here and there would help ! ;)

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

Is the job offer accompanied by an LMIA, or through BCPNP?

Studying (take practice tests) for IELTS is always a good idea - it's harder than one might expect for a native speaker.

You say come over "again", so I'm assuming you've already visited BC, and aren't going in blind. Personally, I'd research accommodation and car purchasing AND INSURANCE like mad here & elsewhere on the interwebby while awaiting EE ITA & eventually (hopefully) COPR, but I wouldn't commit to anything in advance.

I kept a UK bank account when I left, & yes you need to tell HMRC. Look into paying voluntary NI contributions.

Once you land as a PR, and become resident, you'll need to exchange your UK DL for a BC one; there's a "grace" period (maybe 3/6 months, I could google, but so can you; easy enough to find out exactly). Keep a photocopy of the UK one in case you every want to go back.

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

Thanks guys. (full stop) ;-) always have terrible Grammer when using my phone when typing have been looking at practice tests and my wife is a teacher so going to get some homework. Will let hmrc know.
Employer is doing a lmia if I remember they have got a immigration expert to do the paperwork for me. I visited for two weeks in July for a scout around and had two interviews one in Kelowna and one in Vancouver but Vancouver won easily for me is car insurance expensive over there.

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

One of the other techs at the dealer is from uk, lives in Maple Ridge and loves it so looking to rent in that area. commute as will be the same distance that I do over here anyway so no big difference there.

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

I wouldn't commit to anything until you have the visa confirmed. Yes car insurance is expensive. So are housing costs in Vancouver.

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

So is pretty much everything...

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

I hope you visiting Maple Ridge before making that decision. I also hope you tested the commute in rush hour before making that decision.

I'm assuming the dealership is the downtown one?

My advice is to rent as close to downtown as possible so you can enjoy the city, beaches, mountains, slopes, etc before deciding where to live. Maple ridge is like a slightly hilly version of Hull, and with more trucks, fat people, drugs, and homelessness. You can get some nice mountain views if you can afford it though.

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

I did drive to maple ridge from Robson Street where we were staying and had a quick look before heading back and seemed long but no more so than my witney to Oxford commute but with fewer cars as for expensive Oxfordshire is not a cheap place to live. I pay 800 pound for a tiny 1bed apartment which is the norm around here.What out of town neighbourhoods would you guys recommended I don't like living in cities and like to have some green around me hence why maple ridge looked good.

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

If you don't like cities and like green around you then Maple Ridge is perfect for you. There are so many Brits live here for that very same reason - easy access to Vancouver but living next door to the lakes, mountains, trails and provincial parks, rather than a postage stamp of green which counts as a park nearer to Vancouver (Stanley Park being an exception of course!). The rush hour commute is about an hour, slightly quicker if you don't use Highway 1, or there is the Westcoast Express which makes for a very pleasant journey.

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

Disagree. I think you get better value for money when eating out in the city compared to the UK. Gas is much cheaper here as well but then I agree insurance is not.

With the IELTS test, I have mine in two weeks and have done a few practice tests. You don't really need to spend more then a few days before on it if you have a good grasp of spelling and grammar. The listening is the one you need to watch out for as you only here the extracts once.

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

Really? That surprises me, my experience is the opposite. As a family of four we can have a 2/3 course meal with wine for £40/50 in the UK (or less/free with discount codes etc), no chance of that in Canada anywhere I've found.

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

Dinner for four people in the UK for 40 at least in Oxfordshire is impossible me and my wife just main each and a drink Is easily £35 unless it's weathspoons I found bc alot more value for money.will look into car insuarance. What banks do people recommend from experience

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

I just find that the quality is better out here, it probably works outs slightly more expensive with tax, liquor tax and 15-18% tip. I don't really go to classy restaurants though and rarely have drink out.

Groupons definitely help though and I agree that you don't get as many discount codes here

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

Maple Ridge is definitely a place of 2 halves. First one being ok within cutter cookie sub divisions. They tend to be the "nicer" neighborhoods. The other is really shit. Dirty, dodgy, and pretty ugly. If you're moving from a fairly low end area of the UK, Maple Ridge will be just fine.

I did the commute from there this morning funnily enough and from MR to Downtown it was about 1hr 15mins.

Personally if i were just moving over and didn't want the city (Vancouver isn't really a city, it's a large town) i'd go live in the leafy streets of the West End near the beach and Stanley Park. Alternatively i'd look at the waterfront area of New Westminster or the eastern side of North Vancouver. Failing those, try Port Moody. Just my opinion of course.

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

Genuinely curious, which route to downtown is quicker that H1 from Maple Ridge in rush hour?

westcoast express is fine if you work very rigid hours that're inline with its limited schedule. Shame they don't open that up more.

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

Barnet Highway and straight down Hastings is usually quicker than Highway 1

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

From Maple Ridge? I've only done that once or twice before and it was longer but that was a number of years ago.

If i have to do it again i'll give that route a try.

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

Pretty much the same distance, highway one takes about 20 mins less than Barnett and Hastings. #1 or Barnett, I would go down McGill and Powell to downtown rather than Hastings.

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

Glad to see most people not too bothered with commute I am used to British traffic which is never nice I found driving in Canada much less aggressive prob wider roads help.

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

Most people put up with the commute. I don't know anybody who isn't bothered by it though. It's not a pleasant one every day.

As for nicer? Vancouver drivers are arsehats. You'll notice a difference after a short while commuting.

I drove from downtown to Maple Ridge tonight and it took a little over 2hrs+ because of roadworks and a ****ing idiot driving into the central barrier.

i see the tent village in Maple Ridge is coming along nicely. About 5 police cars at one of the trailer parks I drove by too. Looks like the residents were having fun.

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

Sounds dreamy! I saw a heron.

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

That's the route I take in from Coquitlam. Much more reliable

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

I saw an osprey and her young'un

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

I have never found anywhere in the UK for a family of four - £40!! Unless you are dining in Pizza Hut! Even then that's a push perhaps one course and a drink!
If we go to somewhere such as nandos, Frankie and bennies for four 3 courses £70!

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

Never been to Pizza Hut so I've no idea on their prices.

Nandos we quite like, usually £30/35 bill for the 4 of us (kids meals £5 there iirc, and they love it with the free unlimited frozen yoghurt for pudding). Particularly with the regular discount codes that pop up, we tend to check those before going out to eat as places like Prezzo/Zizzi etc often have a 25% off all food deals etc. I'd never pay full price to eat in a bog standard chain restaurant.

We tend to only have 2 courses and a coffee (not the kids obviously - they get their 3 courses and 'babycino' or whatever it is for the £6), as we're not really pudding people, but £70 would be a really good pub meal for us. With all the discounts around I can't imagine spending that much at somewhere like Frankie & Bennys.

Still an awful lot cheaper than eating out in Canada IME though, we couldn't do it as often there.

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

My husband eats a lot I suppose lol! I found a site where you can compare costs of living between UK towns and and Ca provinces and it seems on there that meals out are cheaper but groceries are more expensive. It's good to know actual facts on eating out there as this something we enjoy doing as a family and here in the UK we don't go out to dinner as often as we would like

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

Where about do you live then if you dislike maple ridge so much. I've not heard alot of positive comments from you so far I'd like to hear some positives aswell as negatives

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

Its not Abbotsford.

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

We live pretty much downtown in a quiet neighbourhood.

I've spent a huge amount of time in and around Maple Ridge over the past 10 to 15 yrs as that's where my wife's family were born and inbred.

Maple Ridge positives:

• It's not abbortsford
• It's not Mission
• It's not Coquitlam
• With minimal effort you can hike along some nice trails (beware the bears)
• With minimal effort you can head to a number of Lakes to swin
• Houses are relatively cheaper to buy and rent when compared to other areas
• The schools are "ok"
• If you want to live rural, you can do so relatively cheaply when compared to other areas in and around Vancouver
• Bruce's Market

Maple Ridge Negatives:

• It's a tedious commute if you work downtown regularly
• It has a large element of homelessness
• It has a large element of drugs and drug users
• It's very rednecky in areas
• Choices of restaurants are very poor
• It rains a LOT when compared to other areas due to the proximity to mountains
• Other than the mountains, it's a really ugly place
• Far too many strip malls

Personally, i wouldn't choose to live there. That said, if i were moving from an area such as the Brandsholme Estate in Hull, Lewisham, or Slough, it would be appealing.

Re: finally moving to vancouver after years of wanting to
 

Which website? There's a particularly useless one called something like 'Numbeo' - if it's that one then take the figures on it with a very large pinch of salt!

Folks on BE in the area you're helping to move to will always help you out with cost of living if you can't find recent threads.

HTH.