Hi there.

Went to Calgary 3 times last year and totally fell in love with the place. Hubby is in British Navy and wondered about the chance of transferring either Navy's or to AirForce (he works on harriers). Does anybody know anything about this?

Thanks

Hi Kat (Again)

Dont know but would like to officially welcome you to our site.

Ask away with the questions and chat soon

Gaynor
x

The first time I came to Canada I was in the British Army and called immigration and asked the same thing only to be told, no you have to be a Canadian citizen. Now having lived here for some years, I know what a lazy good for nothing bunch the civil servants are, ( sound familiar ) She most likely had no idea what the answer was and just wanted to get rid of me. I know for a fact that Canadians have joined the British forces, it has been reported in the papers here, so I dont see why it cant happen the other way around, after all Hargreaves is a Canadian lad and he plays for England.If I were you I would try to find the relevant department and write them a letter, that way they have to deal with your inquiry. Good Luck.

www.forces.gc.ca

Look in the Recruiting section. In the eligibity bit there is hyperlink (hard to see) about "citizen of another country". In essence, you need to be a Canadian. The only exceptions are people with special skills that are in short supply.

I think the rules have been tightened up in the fairly near past. My missus was attached to a reserve regiment in Toronto from 2000 to 2004. Lots of those guys were only permanent residents.

My husband finishes his last day in the RAF today we're waiting to be called for our medicals very soon. We looked into this with Australia Air Force and Canadian Air Force - we ditched the idea very quickly when you see their pay!!! Compared to RAF they are woefully underpaid. We simply could not afford to live in either of these countries and improve or maintain our lifestyle. You cannot transfer from one countries armed forces to another because they are not connected. But you can apply to serve in their armed forces and people are doing this all the time. You don't need to be a citizen of their country you just need to go through the same recruiting process as the rest. However, they will only be interested in you if you have been working on something or have expertise they are low on. For eg: satellites and communications, pilots etc. Our armed forces are still seen as highly trained, professional people and have a good reputation. However another thing to consider is they usually lower your rank one below when you first join up which can be irritating given the hard work in getting there.

What my husband did was to get extra qualifications, improve his diversity and expertise and in the end a Canadian company who were dealing with him offered him a job. We are still wanting to be PR so we are not forever tied to that company and will be residents in our right and therefore more flexible. But if you really want it you'll get there, just don't give up. Get more qualifications to put the points up, learn french, anything. But the best piece of advice would be to try start having something to do with the euro-fighter as Harriers are going to be obsolete and diversifying into something new could be better for you.

I hope that helps you someway and may be inspires you to go further.

Following on from my earlier post, I brought this question up with my missus last night. She's a chief clerk at HQ and works with the top brass, so she knows what the score is. While what the website says applies to most people, applicants from the British forces are basically a shoe-in. Applicants from the combat arms and medics are particularly welcome. There are, of course, exceptions. Some roles, such as clerks, need top secret clearance. Non-Canadians simply can't have that. I imagine the same is true of communications.

you've got it spot on. The brits have a good reputation and depending on what you do your "Top Secret" clearance could be used for 1 year only (this is worth about £35,000 to a civilian company alone). In some circumstances you have to be a Citizen of that country but even then you can get round certain aspects by just leaving the room during certain meetings.

One really important thing though to bear in mind is that the idea of joining up to another country's military service will not have the same opportunities as it does to being a civilian. The Military may give you the job however you (as usual) will have absolutely no say over your postings (good even get posted back to the UK - that has happened believe me!) but if you like Calgary (even if they do have a base there) doesn't mean to say you'll get it, you could be posted way up north or anywere therefore not experiencing anything like the Canada you experienced in Calgary. It is something that needs very, very careful considering and planning as you could very much regret the decision.

Is it purely the reputation? To my way of thinking, and from what I have seen, it may have more to do with the fact that the Brits are pretty much "house-trained", certainly when it comes to the army. I've been to mess do's in the UK and Canada. They seemed remarkably similar.

I'm not sure I agree with the posting bit. OK, if you're in the purple trades like my missus, being moved around is a fact of life (she'd gladly take another posting to the UK). I don't think that happens so much if you're part of a regiment. My brother-in-law, also a soldier, has been on the same base in NB for about 20 years (apart from a short, unexpectedly short, holiday in the sun last year).

Joining the reserves is always an option and you get to meet people with jobs in civvy street. Networking.....

Wow, thanks so much. It gives me alot more hope. I don't think he particularly wants to stay in the forces, just saw it as a quick way of getting in. He actually works on the GR9's and has been trained on the Eurofighter, although he has worked on weapons and electrical for the past 4 years, so lots of experience. We went to the Harry Hayes building last April when we first visited and were told that he had to be a Canadian citizen so that put us off! Will keep trying, applied to a company in Calgary who have replied asking for full details so hopefully can get some help there. Have to say this website really gives me hope. I think it's a fantastic idea, just wish I had found it earlier.
Thanks again!

The OZ Army are looking to recruit between 400 - 500 from the UK forces this year. You need to do 3 yrs I believe then you may leave with your citizenship (or what ever they get there)

However one of our lads is now there in the Logistics side...well he was!!! until he completed his training & transfer.....He is now in Afghanistan for 9 months...so there are pitfalls of this like anything else eh

There's never a free meal in this world

We did take the P**S out of him (by email) in good squaddie fashon