I reckon I've blown through $40-45k in the process of getting here and setting up here and that's with having a job starting 3 weeks after I arrived....

I've very little left now in terms of savings - in hindsight I wished I'd been a bit more frugal and stuck to the lists we'd made for costs rather than spending like a drunken sailor.... but c'est la vie.

Please, get over it. Its not sarchasm, its advice. How its phrased is just semantics.

I came to a job, so it didnt cost me anything...not usefull information in your position. If it costs $1000 or $100000 to my mind its still obvious that you should save as much as possible to cover all eventualities and to give yourself the best possible chance of success in this new venture.

Now we know a bit more about you its safe to say that not having kids and pets in tow means its likely to cost you less than otherwise, and you can sail a bit closer to financial hardship than maybe a family man would want to. If you want to ship a container of house contents then that will about 5 grand to find...

From an immigration standpoint alone you will also need ~$13k proof of funds ($13198 at present) minimum when you land, but realistically if you want to buy a reliable car, some furniture, pay rent deposits etc and generally have some emergency funds, then $20k would be a realistic minimum target, on top of whatever it costs to actually do the paperwork (~$1100 fees to apply, more for legal help if you go that way, which many dont) If you come on a TWP that wont apply, but the number is set as an indication of what a safe minimal level of "safety net" funding should be. Many people consider it insufficient, me among them.

$20k in minimalist rental accomodation should give you 4-6 months or so to find a job and start bringing money in, rather than going out. There are a lot of outgoings at first, that much I do remember.

If you intend to buy when you land, which I guess you do otherwise you will need to pay storage on the stuff you are shipping over then you are going to have to find at least $10k more I would guess to cover the up front deposits, legal and closing fees. These are all guestimates though. Bare in mind too that credit is going to be hard to come accross working on a TWP, you UK credit rating means nothing here.

What he said.

Learn, and move on.

If you're this sensitive, you might want to consider carefully whether you are migration material or not. In "real life" the process of migration will be much more abusive to you than any poster on this forum can be.
x

With a couple of exceptions...who shall remain nameless.

** Now the Bazzzz has gone.

To the OP. Apologies for the Sarcasm. Realistically it depends upon how long you need to sustain your family before you have an income. If you have a job to come to or will start one within a month or so then its really cash for start up stuff like cars, deposits on rentals or deposits on utlilities, car insurance (very expensive) etc. Figure $20k easily. If you need to sustain the two of you without a job then work out what you expected income would be. I would guess a minimum of $2k a month.

Of course others will have done it on less and some people will have spent much more. Thats why I refer you to my opening graphic.

G77

We also spent $40K+ in 1997 setting up in Calgary in the first few months. It took 3 months to get a job. We we family 4, 2 adults and 2 young boys(2 + 4 yrs olds).

Costs were 2 cars $22k, Car insurance $4K(first yr premiums), 3 months living costs $7.5K, winter clothing $1K, Beds/furniture/electrical goods the remainder. Also factor what you have to spend finding work i.e travelling costs, as I had interviews in Calgary, Redeer and Edmonton and had to cover hotel/travel costs myself.

hudd

I agree with the $40k estimate. We moved over in 2003 and it cost about that, moved back to UK in 2005, and back to Canada again in 2007 and it cost about half ($20k) the second time.

This was having a job within 1 month of arriving. Doesn't include, buying a house, exhange rate corrections, increases in insurances and down payments because of no credit history.

Still worth it though!!

As Judy says emigration is tough, but you will meet some amazingly helpful people along the way, and others not so much...
Be grateful for the help and support and let what you don't like pass by, its only a different opinion after all.

Like another poster has said "how long is a piece of string"

Depends on alot of factors, we moved with kids and boxes, didnt bother with the container, just brought our what we really wanted.
Was waiting for the house to sell and not much in our pockets

Yes we have done it on a budget, but i wouldnt have it any other way, i love where we are, OH came to a job and they helped him out with some of the costs, bought 2 second hand cars, we pay $1k insurance on both of them.

So yeah even though some come with a pocket full of cash, it can be done on a budget, we are happy here and i think that is what counts

Thats what I want to hear!

Hey i bought 3 single and 1 double bed from liq company for $1200
they are real good as well.
ok gone over board on a table $700 for 7piece set, but i loved it and could of got one cheaper, but its one of those high rise tables and they are $1500 in the normal shops.

Here we have a website called freecycle, great place, plus local paper.
i moved here for my kids, not the high life and canadians dont believe that you should have everything, just a good truck

where are you heading

I am still in the Army for another year so researching on here and reading all this good stuff before we put the plan into the shredder and take the jump!
I have been to Alberta a few times with the Army, and was in Lethbridge last year (in fact one of my friends has recently married a lass from that area)
I am looking into trucking, there isnt many jobs for APC, missile lanching, soldier so I think I need to take up the trucking option, I would love the travelling and opertunity to see around anyway. As for where I fancy Nova Scotia but we are open to all of Canada at this time.

No sarcasm intended here but should really should bring as much as you can. Most people have spent years building up their homes and possessions and have no feel for how much the total cost of that is.

I came here in 2000 with about $55k. Souvette (a Canadian soldier posted to the UK for four years) split up with her husband while in the UK. He came back to Canada and took pretty much everything they had put in storage. We had to start from scratch. The $55k did not last long.

Thank you everyone for your really useful replies. I know everyone's circumstances are different and getting other people's experiences and rough estimates are really very handy.

Thanks again everyone

Mentioning someone's pointless sarcasm on a forum is a totallly different situation to putting up with rude/abusive people in authority.

But thank you for pointing out I'm probably too sensitive to move countries - you know me so well

Doing your inventory will be an interesting experience. You'll be amazed at the value of the stuff you own. We had to do a very detailed one (every book etc). I was amazed at the final total.