Hi, I would be very grateful if anyone could give me some help on what I should do about emigrating to Canada with my husband and family. I don't honestly know where to start apart from a vague idea that I want to live in Calgary. My husband is a skilled IT person so we need somewhere that has large IT companies, an area with goods schools as we have 4 children and good shops would be an advantage too. We also really haven't got any idea about how we sort out banking or getting a house or renting, getting children into schools or anything. Is there anyone that could give us advice as to what to do starting from scratch - would anyone recommend getting an agency to help sort out things - if they exist or would it be a waste of money. I could really do with talking to someone who has been through all this and come out the other side. I would be grateful for any help you can give
Thank you
Anna-Maria

Hi Anna-Maria and welcome - you've certainly come to the right place! Can't say I've been through the process and out the other side - think I'm stuck somewhere in the long tunnel at the moment! Should be moving out to Victoria, BC in 2 months though.

I've found answers to virtually all the myriad of questions that I also had by searching this forum - and if I haven't there's always been someone happy to answer a new question.

I also work in IT, so started by searching for potential job opportunities/employers by looking at sites such as http://www.workopolis.com/ and http://jobsearch.monster.ca/ for starters. You can limit the search to look at Calgary only.

You'll also need to look into visas and possibly applying for PR so you'll need to look here http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/index.html. Depending on what area of IT your husband is in, he may qualify under the CIC/HRSDC expedited process, detailed here http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/itw-jobs.html (mainly for techy people, rather than project manager types).

Most provinces, Alberta included, also run their own provincial nominee programme (PNP) to ensure they can fasttrack the entry of certain skilled foreign workers to fill employment gaps - the specific criteria for Alberta are here: http://www.alberta-canada.com/pnp/. If you are able to secure a job which would qualify for PNP you're looking at getting PR within about 6 months rather than the current c.3 years which it's taking to process.

Personally, especially given the potential difficulty and timescale of getting a work permit/PR then I would focus on this initially, and then worry about arranging banking, schooling etc. subsequently (as these are compartively straightforward!) and I would be flexible on areas initially. We wanted to move to Vancouver, but I was very fortunate to be offered a job in Victoria so we're taking that; it's a foot in the door which can be hard to establish from overseas.

As for using an agency, no I wouldn't recommend it personally - especially at this stage when you're still fact-finding. You're obviously online and can use a PC so should be able to dig out all the info you need, and this site is a great place to start...!

Good luck!

Welcome to the forum, Anna-Maria.

Before you narrow down the area in which you want to live, you need to familiarise yourself with the immigration process. They say it's taking around 39 months for permanent residence applications to be processed for people in the skilled worker category. Then, once they add on medical exams, selling up and packing in the UK, etc., it's typically taking in the order of four years for people to get from the UK to Canada at the moment.

Some people manage to cut that time down to just a few months by initially coming over on temporary work permits and starting their life in Canada while they wait for their PR applications to go through. However, there is a catch to getting a temporary work permit. The employer has to demonstrate that he/she has tried but not managed to find a suitably qualified candidate who is a Canadian resident. That happens in fields for which there is a very high demand or in locations that are unpopular. From what I've read here, that seems to apply to engineers with relevant oil industry experience, skilled tradesmen of every kind, and long haul truck drivers. I can't say that I've noticed a member of the forum who is in the IT field getting a temporary work permit. But perhaps it depends in what area of IT your husband's expertise lies. If his skills are relevant to the oil industry, that probably would be helpful.

There also are Provincial Nomination Programs. They ultimately lead to permanent residence, but they are like temporary work permits in the sense that they are designed to attract people who have very specific sets of skills that are in high demand.

You can familiarise yourself with the basics if you read through the website of Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

I would suggest that you refrain from contacting an immigration consultant right away. Even if you retain a consultant, there are heaps and heaps of documents that you are going to have to gather for your application. The consultant cannot do that for you. He/she will give you a list of papers that you will have to provide to him/her, and then you will have to do the legwork yourself. Besides that, if you eventually decide to hire a consultant after all, you'll be in a much better position to select one if you've first educated yourself about the process a bit and are in a position to ask some intelligent questions. There are many previous threads that will help you to select a consultant. In fact there's an active one right now. But, as I said, I suggest that you refrain from looking at that for the time being.

If you're interested in Calgary, this thread that Hangman (Steve) started contains tons of information.

At the risk of blowing my own trumpet, you could do worse than to follow my signature and read every message I've posted on this forum (along with the Calgary-related messages by other posters that you will find in those threads). I believe that, at one time or another, I've answered just about every question you've asked (some of them several times).

If, after all that, there still are some issues in which you are interested and that have not been addressed by this message, by the discussion thread that Steve started and by the previous threads in which I have participated, you could use the forum's search feature.

Also be aware that there are at least three forums here that are of potential interest to you : Canada - Lifestyle & Culture (for questions related to everyday living), Canada - Immigration (for technical questions about the immigration process), and Working Abroad By Profession - Information Technology. Oh yes, have a read of the Returning to the UK forum to see why people return to the UK from Australia, Canada, etc. It will help you to enter the process with a higher degree of realism.

All the best in your quest.

The last thing I usually do before posting a message is preview it. In doing so, I see that The Escapea has beaten me to the punch and has said some of the same things that I've said. However, since my message contains some additional information, I'll let it stand.

Have a look at WWW.CANILINK.COM
Ian and jane are very helpful

Except when you dont buy a house from them. Then they are rude and verging on the abusive!

Sorry folks I had to say it

There's another catch in even if you do find a sponsoring employer and go to Canada on a work permit, if you are fired or resign (before getting PR) then you will have to go home unless you can find a new employer prepared to sponsor.

Same applies if you can't get PR (not enough points, health issues etc).

There are also other issues with not being permanent, including problems getting credit and higher education costs (dependent on province), among other issues.

Going to Canada on a work permit - especially if it involves abandoning a comfortable life in home country - is not for everyone.

Anna-Maria

Why Calgary?

99% of cities in Canada have an IT job market of some sort. so unless very specialised don't start with a job or even Schools everywhere has schools.

Start with looking at what your family needs

House - 3 Bedrooms won't cut it so you need to look for 4/5 at least.


www.mls.ca list most of the houses for sale.

Calgary has 136 4 or more with the cheapest being $279,900
Winnipeg has 332 with the cheapest being $24,900 so look around.


After school activities -

Is any of your family active in any hobbies?
Is Mountains Sea Lake important in any of them?


Basically to start the process you need to sit down and think about what your ideal family life would be doing other than school and work as they are a given to happen.

I have 4 kids and work in IT ( not a developer ) and didn't like the idea of being house poor and hours in traffic jams in the larger cities. So came to Winnipeg, fortunately kids hobbies benefit from Flat ground.

Oldest is 18 he's in his 2nd year at Uni - played on Provincial soccer teams -Provincial champions 4 years in a row.

next is 17 final year at school does Army cadets and spends 6 weeks in summer Camps where she gets paid to go. Wishes we had mountains now as loves the climbing, who knew?
next is 13 into Music in school band, private lessons and friend's houses, is a year up for her age and not struggling, socially or academically.

next is 11 and has done a different sport almost every year, glad she is not a year up in school, even thought the academic side she could manage, I couldn't handle the social side.

PM me if you have any questions been here 7 years and travelled around and meet loads of others who have stayed and moved on for different reasons.