helcat12

Me, too.
My OH had a job already lined up; I arrived some time later and I haven't started looking yet (due to SOWP being delayed by his TWP renewal being delayed)

I would be very wary of coming without a job now I have seen how much it costs to start up a home here, even if I had savings.
We didn't have children to consider, either.

For every person who posts on here who has made it without a pre-arranged job there is at least one other who has come here, failed to find a job and gone home.
I don't think you will find them posting on here, so bear in mind that the responses you get will be swayed heavily towards successes and will not be a true reflection of the whole community who have followed this risky route.

Couldn't your husband do what mine did and come over alone for a while until he has found a job and then you can all follow later?
It really is worth considering to reduce the financial strain and the worry.

Atlantic Xpat

Another one for the naive but fortunate crowd....

I planned to come over without a job & live in my in-laws basement until I, or the Mrs. found one. In hindsight, this wouldn't have worked for many reasons. I was fortunate in securing a good job, remotely while waiting for PR to come through. It was the best paid job I've had in the almost 8 years since I've been here but unfortunately only lasted a year. Finding the subsequent job was incredibly stressful even though it only took 6 weeks and I didn't have a family to support.

Nowadays with one kid and another on the way? No chance. We'd still be in UK. And not in a shithole or seeking utopia.

Novocastrian

There's absolutely no f***ing way I'd have moved here or to any of the other countries I've lived and worked in without a confirmed job (and one which offered an improvement on what I was doing before).

dbd33

I found a job and it happened to be in Canada. At the time I thought I had no dependents and could risk "abroad". I would not move countries with a family and without a job.

rivingtonpike

We came over here to set up a new venture manufacturing ice cream. Bit of a risk I suppose but a great challenge and hugely good fun.

Danny B

Yes, but it was back in 2007 when the economy was booming.

helcat12

From what I have seen of Canada so far, ice cream is always booming - biggest tubs I've ever seen

Alan2005

I hope this is true. Where do you sell it?

Novocastrian

You have to be joking. Do you sell it to the Inuit?

rivingtonpike

We will be selling it initially on Vancouver Island. We actually take the lease on the factory starting tomorrow - 1st November. It is called "Snomoose" and will be a 100% natural ingredients with no artificial anything!
www.snomoose.com is the holding page

familyof4

Unfortunatly not Helcat as i am the canadian and i am sponsoring him, he wont be able to go without me will he?? He is hoping to apply to the police as thats what he does out here we have contacted a few and have an idea on who is recruiting regular and who isnt. his friend just got into the police in Canada from the UK too so he is giving him a helping hand.

I suppose most of you think we are stupid for doing what we are doing then moving our family to Canada without jobs and stuff. But we either try and make a sucess or try and fail and go back, either way we are trying. We dont live in a sh!t hole or in a bad place, ive just never felt at home in the UK and all my life ive wanted to go back to Canada.

I'm sure you will all hear about how it all goes and i take it as a warning from you all!!

Londonuck

We've done it twice.

1st time we were both very lucky. 2nd, we weren't and it was an absolute nightmare and cost us quite a bit of our savings.

At the mo I wouldn't do it.

helcat12

I didn't mean to be sexist, but it is usually the man who works and the wife who stays with the kids so I assumed that this would also be the case with you. Sorry!

However, I still think one adult should go over and get a job first.
If that has to be you, then your OH would need to look after the home and children in your absence.

You are not stupid at all, but when you have got the emigration goggles on it sounds fine - 'if we fail then we go back to the UK' - but it isn't that simple.

Jobs in the UK are hard to find now, the economy isn't improving and if you come back you may not have a job here for quite a while either.
If you have blown all your savings on the Canada experiment and find no work here, then what greater success do you think you would have after 6 months or more on returning to the UK?

Surely a few months apart would be so much less of a strain than going through all that?
If you are lucky, you might have a job within a few weeks and then you will not need to worry about money so much.

nativenewyorker

Another option may be a career break. I have a 5 year one, so if we really don't like it I can go back and walk straight back into work. If we do like it I just hand my notice in. I don't know whether the police do it but it might be worth speaking to HR, I know in the NHS it wasn't advertised, I had to dig around a bit!

helcat12

What a great idea!
That was well worth digging around for