Hi everyone,
Family of 4 here looking into moving to Canada. (Me, my wife and 2 girls (both under 4)).
I hope that after reading through the site and asking a few questions all will become clear on how to go about applying for a work permit, getting work, renting a house and schooling for our daughters.

Ive worked in I.T for 10 years. My partner is a conveyancer for a solicitors (10 years also).
Neither of my daughters are at school yet, and both my wife and i have decided that if we are wanting to move away, now would be the best time to do it.

We are both in our late 20's, have a fair bit of equity in our house, dont have a close family and want a better life for our girls.

We dont want to get to pensionable age and think 'wish we would have tried living in Canada'. You only live once, and i think we'd regret it if we never tried it.

If it didnt work out at least we could say we'd done it!

Hello - welcome to the site...

What line of IT are you in? Depending on what you do will affect the likelihood of securing employment/work permit up front and thus vastly cutting down your waiting time....

Check for the thread I started recently on IT, some good pointers in there by Judy....

I look after Ibm Mainframe (As400/iseries), network/servers/Pc's/Printers, cisco routers (novell, Windows), Email system (novell), Phone system (lucent), Helpdesk and i can do a bit of cl programming.

I basically look after/support all the IT equiptment/users we have over over 3 uk sites.

Also do flash website creation in my spare time.

Ive only ever worked for 2 companys, which were both the largest/well known in their sector.
(Greeting card manufacturer & Carpet Manufacturer)


I'd class myself as Network/server Support, Ibm As400/iseries Computer operator/tech/analyst, 1st 2nd 3rd line support.....the list goes on

Have a read of this thread - http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=477428

In the meantime, I'd spend some time thinking about whether you're happy to wait the 5+ years for a visa without prior work arranged - if so, get the form sent off and your place in the queue whilst you look for a faster option (i.e. finding work).

Hello and welcome to BE - hopefully you will find us a very useful lot, if not slightly unhinged

alison

Looking at the Regional Lists of Occupations under Pressure, My job title 2281 is under pressure both in Alberta and British columbia.

Yep, thought it would be - still need to find an employer willing to jump through the (slightly less) number of hoops....

so would my best bet be to apply for a working holiday visa and then search for a vacancy ? or are holiday visa's for people like gap year students who take low paid jobs?

Would i struggle to get proper work without a permanent visa?.....

Im pretty confused as to which would be the best way to actually get over there and get working within the next year to 18months

I dont want to apply for citizenship just yet.... just move out there for a few years, rent a house, get a job in my field of work and see if i like it.

James, repost this in the Immmigration forum as you will get the answers and help there.
This section is only as a meet and greet and not discussion and the mods will close it after a while.
Try the Immigration forum and you will get sorted out

cheers

will do

Hi James and welcome to the BE forum.

Spend some time reading the Wikki sections and searching past threads/posts, it will be time well spent and answer many of the questions you may have and also give you a better understanding of the options open to you in making your Canada dream a reality.


Best of luck.
Rob.

Oh my lord, I have just met our clones. Your ideas are so much like ours. We have 2 daughters aged 7 and 5yrs and having visited Ontario in June just made our mind up for sure. We did a 2 week research trip staying with family without the girls (how lucky are we) and made the decision to submit our forms (SW) We fell in love with the place and as you say you ahve one life, it's not a dress rehersal so you have to make the most of it. I was ill earlier this year and it has made me more determined to make a go of it. All we have to do now is try and get our parents to come around to the idea, it's the only Grandchildren on both sides they have, so you can imagine what it was like telling them we where wanting to emmigrate, but it's right for us as a family and you have to follow your heart!
Anyway Good Luck with your plans, keep in touch

Michelle