Andrew Brown

Calling all English families out there who have moved to Canada from England.

My family and I have been looking into emmigrating to Canada recently with a view to securing a better lifestyle for ourselves and hopefully better prospects for our children, ages 14 and 15.
My wife and I both have decent jobs, however the cost of living seems to be ever increasing, which leaves us very concerned for the future of our children. I am currently employed as a fireman and my wife is a medical secretary, and as already mentioned, our salaries are reasonable, however having contacted an agency in Edmonton, Canada, to help us pursue our venture, in order to immigrate and obtain permanent residency, I would have to find alternative employment outside the Fire Service, ie, opted for truck driving, as a stepping stone until PR can be obtained, then I would be free to pursue returning to the fire service in Canada if necessary.

Having constantly read the postings on this site from a lot of people who have moved to Canada and the problems they they can be faced with, having opted ourselves to consult an agency who takes care of the whole immigration process on our behalf and also obtains a job offer as part of the package, which obviously doesn't come cheap, we would just like to hear from any English families who have any help or advice they can give us in order to assess whether it would be worthwhile giving up our lifestyle over here, for what we would hope would be a better one in Canada.

Is the grass greener on the other side!!

Andy

flashman

I would start with making a list of what you consider important to your personal quality of life. For instance is it materialism, environment, crime, scenery, weather etc. and evaluate from there. The reason is that some people are just interested in the bucks and could'nt care less about polution crime etc.

Andrew Brown

Thanks for the reply Flashman, no its certainly not for financial reasons, not for myself and my wife anyway.
We would certainly hope that the children would have a better chance of financial stability in canada after they finish their education, as it is becoming virtually impossible to get a foot on the housing ladder for first time buyers in England due to the crazy increases in house prices.

For us the reasons would go along the lines you have mentioned, less crime, the outdoor pursuits, more relaxed way of life, more space etc.
The only worry financially would be whether truck driving would be a job where I would be able to adequately support my family.

SteveHarris

Hi,

It's good advice to make a list of what's important to you. We moved out in 2001 and have been living in Victoria for just under two years. Do not underestimate the home sickness you'll feel if you have a strong family and friend network in the UK. Having said that Canada certainly has some amazing wide open spaces - and you'll certainly be spoilt as far as outdoor pusuits are concerned. Our two kids are 5 (boy and girl twins) and the way we are thinking at the moment is that this is the best place to bring them up - the kids here seem to have a much greater degree of openness and self-confidence that we want for our kids. We're going back to the UK for a month starting next week to help us make up our mind - as well as seeing family and friends.

I'm not sure that I'd get a company to do the work for you - especially if they are charging a whack of cash for doing it. The forms are not that bad to fill out - just be methodical and take your time.

Any more questions just ask away.

Cheers - Steve

flashman

You might want to check http://www.jobsetc.ca/toolbox/job_se...arch.do?lang=e

wizzard

I'd be *very* cautious about any firm that seems to guarantee any kind of job offer with it's immigraiton services.

As far as filling for immigration it's self all a consultant/lawyer can do is fill in the forms for you, make sur ethey are 100% correct and double check your application has everything. Thats handy i guess but you will still have to get all the information and documents for them anyway and just be aware thats all they can do. they cant make it go any fasterm they cant influence the process in anyway so all they can do is make sure you put in your best application and there are no mistakes. Although thats no guarantee because ive read of many cases of consultants making a mess of things so its good to shop around and make sur eyou get one with lots of good indipendant recomendations. Do a web search for the comany and see if it shows up in any formums anywhere with good or bad experneices.

as far as a job offer goes i guess they can help you search for work and act like a job agency but they can't guarantee they can find an employer and any job has to be checked out by HRDC in Canada to make sure it's genuine so noone can create jobs jsut for immigration.

Make sure the firm has a "no visa no fee" policy, any genuine consultancy will waive all fees if you do not get your visa.

april

Andrew stay away from 4 Corners in Manchester my niece had the worst time with them THE WORST............

When you fill out the forms do EVERTHING Well.... alphabetical order, write to schools\realestate \ banks\ they want to know you have done your homework. I know this as a friend sent in a wonderfull application wrote a cover letter telling them why Canada is the place for her and her kids.

There is lots of smaller towns to live in, B.c is the only place I would live, i'ts got it all mountains, lakes, milder weather than the rest of Canada, on the other hand you might like the snow and all that goes with it, we live close to a ski resort.

I also have a friend who hate the place, she longs for Englands small villages and that type of life. she hate the size of things here "lakes to big, mountains to big, everthing is too far I like to drive so it dont bother me.

My best friend's hubby makes a good living driving truck. but he is on the road a lot.

flashman

Very interesting. I've been in Canada for over 30 years and on my last trip back to the UK in 99 I found things so small, cramped and crowded that I felt claustrophobic.

Andrew Brown

Hi

Thanks for all your replies!!

Can I ask what your reasons were for moving out to Canada, and would you say your expectations for moving to Canada, given the time you've been there, have been fulfilled.

How would you say your lifestyle has changed in relation to that of the UK, did you find it very difficult at first or did you adapt very quickly.

Cheers - Andy

Interested

Reason for coming to canada: to be with my common law husband.

I didn't really have any expectations of what it would be like here (Toronto)...I mean I'd been here many times before on trips.

My lifestyle is much different as I used to be a student , now I'm living in a nice area of Toronto and actually have money !
Society over here is very Americanised, even though they do their best to try and keep things 'Canadian', maybe thats just Toronto though.

Everything is bigger here, wide open spaces, huge refrigerators ! I dunno, I guess it makes me feel more 'free' as well !

When I first got here it was a bit hard, you have to get into the Canadian way of thinking ! Also no-one understood my accent and that was bloody frustrating !

I'd love to move out of Toronto and move to the Rocky mountains !! Though i don't think I'd find a decent job.

Good Luck, Interested.

AndrewR

Hmmm..I have to admit I read this post a couple of days, and was wondering whether to reply or not. Anyway...I would not want to discourage anybody from coming here...you should come over (if possible) and make up your own minds....everybody has different reasons for staying/going etc, things that are important to them, and its a fine country in alot of ways. But then I also think the UK is a great country, for lots of different reasons, some of which I only really appreciated when I was living overseas. Which is why, in a couple of years time (hopefully sooner, but we'll see) me and my (canadian) wife will be moving back to the UK, where hopefully I'll pick up the life I had over there.
Good luck...

ljeds

As someone else had mentioned be very careful on the immigration service. Ask them for other clients they have had so you can call them for information. The service fills out the exact same forms and they cannot speed up the process, so unless you have a very complicated case, or you are not good at filling out papers then I would just do it yourself. Also -- if they are offering you a job, get them to tell you what it is, where it is , what the pay is, etc. etc. Again, ask them for others that have done this. I am not an expert but I don't know how they could guarantee you a job as employers have a process to go through as well to get someone on a work permit. Be careful.

As far as moving to Canada -- remember it is a very large, diverse country so there is no way to generalize. Once you get the job you are looking for you would be better off financially -- very, very rare not to be -- in terms of what your money can do for you. If you are planning to ever return to the UK, remember that you are earning Canadian $$ and your "nest egg" will be a lot smaller once you move back, pay x% more for a place to live and convert your Canadian $ back to British Sterling.

I could line up at least 10 families who have made the move and loved it over here ( we have a bit of a social group). Of course we all miss things about home, but who wouldn't? On the other hand I could point you to someone who moved over here, had a good job but just missed his "local" so much he moved back to the UK -- he shares a flat / can't afford a car yet, but can get cheap pints with his friends at his local so he is happy. It all depends on what you want out of life and what makes you happy. You will hear good and you will hear bad and use the information to help you make YOUR decisions.

flashman

Toronto has the reputation of being the most Americanized location in Canada. Although on my last trip to the UK in 99 and after watching the BBC Satellite channel, I find that the U.K. is becoming quite Americanized too. Especially with the emphasis on the superficial like image, consumerism, cult of personality etc.

BCBOY

Three quick points (I really should be doing my work )

one....as other people have said I'd be very cautious about any company that gurantees a job offer etc.
two...overall I reckon my standard of living here is pretty similar to the UK
three...I find canada extremely 'americanised'
sorry ...got to go now...can't talk

BCBOY

One last quick thing while I think about it....because of the current strength/weakness of the canadian dollar I've found it quite hard to have the money to travel overseas. All those cheap flights I took to Europe from the UK a few years ago seem a long way away...