Hi All, I'm new to posting but am constantly reading so hopefully this will all make sense....Â

Well it was 6 months to the day from application to request for passports so while we're thrilled and very excited we are also a little blown away at the speed and the fact that we will have to land before 2 Dec THIS year...Â

We are aiming to land and stay and not land for a holiday so we have a huge task ahead of us to get sorted while working full time.Â

We want to aim for Vancouver as it seems to have the lifestyle and access to everything we want. We spent a recent holiday primarily downtown but for living we are thinking this will be too busy and expensive.Â
Any tips for good areas? Target needs are good transport links for working once we're sorted, nice/safe neighbourhood, good schools (our son will be 5 on landing), access to recreation activities and maybe a community we can get involved in.Â

We are planning to spend a couple of months getting settled, esp our son, networking (?) and maybe doing some voluntary work to get to know areas/people. Any tips for what to consider or organisations to contact?

Our work backgrounds are both in the investment/financial services industry; me as a Corporate Company Secretary (regulatory side of running a company/board of directors) and my husband as a Marketing Manager for investment products. Â But we're not set on remaining in those roles. I'm desperate to be a proper mum but will probably need to do some work for pennies, I'd be more than happy doing any sort of office of organisational work (complete neat and control freak!) and hub would turn his hand to anything, electrical engineering background but seemingly able to fulfil any challenge (annoyingly well sometimes!).Â

I know this is a garbled generic and waffley post but I think my head is all over the place and there is a desperate need to focus. This side of things seems long but manageable with a mile long tick list but once there I think
comfort zones are going to be shattered.Â

Helpppppp....... (and thank you to all the hundreds of posts we've been reading).Â

Hi, welcome...

My suggestion would be to set a date. It's difficult (for me anyway) to focus unless you have a deadline.

Are you selling a house over there? That of course will take time. If you're currently renting then I would start going through my belongings to work out what I'm not taking as there is bound to be stuff to go to ebay, freecycle or a charity shop.
You'll need to find a shipping company for your belongings and if you're taking pets you'll need to arrange that.
I believe but I haven't checked that there is a list on the Wiki which might come in handy too...
Good luck, you'll be surprised at how fast time is about to fly!

Thanks DandN, we def do need to set a date - as soon as work bonuses are out of risk we will be able to be open with people and make some proper plans. We have a child free wknd at end Feb to do a big clear of junk into a skip and sort out for selling/giving away 'stuff' as we want to bring only the essentials and things that it would be ridiculous replacing.

I'm particularly interested in replies with school experience - son will be 5, we understand he won't join formal education until 6 but I think he'll go potty with just us as he's used to going to school so any tips on pre-school locations or arrangements would be great.

Not sure we're going to be able go bring our 2 cats as they are in their later years (13), overweight, and really don't cope well with change (one was severely depressed when in a cattery for 2 weeks) and as we probably wont settle in one place immediately we will, as painful as it will be, need to look at rehoming. 

My youngest is 6 so not very different. His teacher was telling me that last year she had 4 year olds in the class so it might be a provincial thing but otherwise you should be ok?

regarding the cats, I was going to rehome my 10 year old dog. She is very stressy and I didn't think it would be fair. Then I realised that rehoming her or moving to Canada would be the same amount of stress really and she would still have us so having weighed it up she came with us and is loving her new life. It's knocked years off her!

I assume you mean transportation to the central business district downtown? How long a commute are you prepared to tolerate? How do you plan to commute? Bike, train, bus, car, any or all?

There are very few neighborhoods that are not safe, however nice is rather subjective. Schools tend to reflect their catchment area. If you find somewhere you like to live there is every chance that the local school will be just fine. They all teach the same curriculum.

What do you do for recreation?

Hi - yes, our guess is that we'd end up with something in central business district - we're hoping for a shortish commute and to 'feel' like we're in Vancouver - basically we currently live in Dunstable, 40 miles out of central London and commute an hour each way for work but don't feel like we actually 'live' London with easy access to all the city could offer us. I think ideally we would cut that commute considerably, but for the right combination of factors, we can probably put up with up to an hour max (with the preference at the lower end!). Also want reasonable access to recreation - parks etc good for our little one, but also access to skiing, biking trails, hiking & beach and sea etc, would all be great in some combination as we want to make the most of the environment - Mum loves the sea, Dad loves the mountains and son's yet to decide!

Are you looking to live in a McMansion, apartment, sub division townhouse? Do you need land, garden, or are you happy with a balcony?

For a "vancouver" feel i would suggest looking at Kitsilano, South False Creek area, North Vancouver, and possibly Burnaby if needed.

All of those will give you quick access to Cypress, Seymour, and Grouse skiing, and Whistler not too far further. You 'll also have trails for hiking and MTB'ing. The beach is minutes from Kits and South False Creek, and the views are always pretty impressive. The seawall is littered with parks and rec area's.

North Vancouver looks to tick your boxes more than most.

In our school disctict children start kindergarten, which is now full day, in the calendar year that they turn 5. So children starting school in September 2012 will be those born in 2007. We are in BC - North Vancouver. We love living here - it is safe, great access to recreation, my kids love their school and it is easy to get downtown.

Maybe you could start by looking at North Vancouver. You can commute by Seabus - it is about 15 minutes to Downtown and connects with the Skytrain there. Free views as well. The total commute will depend upon how long it takes you to get to the Seabus terminal in North Van from your home.

You will certainly have ready access to parks, beaches and the wilderness right on your doorstep. It is also very convenient for the local ski resorts (two of the three local ski hills are in North Van) and some fabulous mountain biking trails.

I like North Van and could happily live there. The downsides are that it is not the cheapest place to buy a home and it gets more rain than the southern suburbs.

There is more information about the Vancouver area in the wiki here ... http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Vancouver

Great minds etc. etc. etc.

This is great info - thanks. We're pretty open on type of property - start small till we know what work/earning profile will be and then go from there. We have a house at the moment, but figure that if we have access to the 'great' outdoors/parks etc then appt is going to be fine to start with. North Vancouver sounds great - drove through when we visited in July but didn't stop there. Stayed in Burnaby in RV for a night and then downtown hotel, so we haven't got to grips with residential areas properly. Time to do some online research based on these recommendations!