DandNHill

I always thought it was Mandarin?

But regardless of language, there are areas where the population is diverse and others where a particular nationality has settled. If you are not of that majority nationality it can feel a little overwhelming as when you go to public places, groceries stores for example, they are not speaking in English or French but in their native tongues (notice I said tongues not tongue).

I much prefer a culturally diverse environment. I'm never going to be taken for a Canadian unless I never say anything but equally I want to be able to blend in to the crowd which seems to be a good fit in Hamilton.
When we lived in small town NS people would stare at us when we spoke as they weren't used to hearing a British accent whereas here in Hamilton there is a good mix and so we just "fit in"

raindropsandroses

Yes, we made some really good friends there, but there were a lot of things which didn't match up with what we wanted from the place we call home. Fortunately Nova Scotia is everything we wanted, and despite having lived all over the world I've never felt more welcomed or more at home anywhere.

raindropsandroses

You missed off trucks, guns and denim. Possibly all at once. And camo denim - that's really where its at.
On a serious note I'm sure we all know what Matt meant, for example if you went to live in Hong Kong, would you want to live in a suburb full of British people?
As for Halifax, when we first moved to NS I was expecting it to be a tiny backwater place, instead I felt like Crocodile Dundee on his first trip into the city .

dbd33

Today I went to buy paint. I had to wait because the paint man, who is from Kent, was explaining to the couple in front of me that he'd been in Canada for fifty years. They were from Scotland. If you do want a suburb full of British people, I can tell you where to go.

raindropsandroses

I have circumvented the not sounding like a cradle Canadian matter by going to French speaking playgroups and social groups, now people think I'm from Quebec.

Shakyuk

I'm in England and I don't want to live in a suburb of British people

DigitalGhost

I'm fairly confident it would be Mandarin tbh.

DigitalGhost

The part-time receptionist in my old apartment building was from Essex and immediately upon meeting me she told me about an English chippy down the road that was ran by a couple from Scunthorpe.

A lot of the people who might be considered white Canadians at first glance will sometimes turn out to be old school immigrants from the UK and Ireland as well. My first boss there was Welsh although she'd lost most of the accent at that point and sounded somewhere between a Canadian and an Aussie.

adele

Hi Matt,

You're welcome :-) Here's the info about maternity EI: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/be...igibility.html

All the best with your planning!

Kind regards,
Adele

bats

Not Peterborough which is 95% English speaking white people. Is this what makes it dull perhaps?

hh619

So, there’s more news on the job front - I’ve had 3 successful interviews. 1 in Halifax, 1 in Mississauga and 1 in Ottawa.

From the feedback during and after the interviews, I’m expecting some offers to come in. However, I’m now only considering the Halifax and Ottawa opportunities as we’d prefer those locations.

There’s something very intriguing and exciting about the Ottawa job though. It’s a job for a start-up company (3 years old) in Kanata… very small team with a great product. They are experiencing some organic growth and have various new positions. There’s one that I fit perfectly, It’s even 100% remote!!


They’ve hypothetically asked whether, if offered the position, would I be able to start working remotely from the UK within a month? They have said they have an urgent requirement, but would potentially be willing to wait until April (which was our original schedule) if it wasn’t doable.


I’d never considered remote work for another country before. But in this situation, I think it would be very beneficial. It gives me a chance to get a feel for the company, allows us more wriggle room with regards moving dates, and its more money than I earn now. One negative would be that they don’t offer benefits just yet. It’s on the horizon, but likely to be in 6-12months.


How the hell do you pay taxes when you work for a Canadian company from the UK? I’d only expect it to be a few months. Would it be a higher % of tax than i'm on now? (40% tax bracket)


Are there any other drawbacks when considering working remotely before committing to the company and moving over?


With all that said; they may not make an offer, but It’d be interested to know thoughts on how to pay taxes, and peoples views on the lack of benefits and remote working.

Novocastrian

Congratulations. Ottawa is a good choice (apart from the climate there).

WRT to taxes, you should become self employed in the Uk for the transition period and have your Canadian "salary" represented as consultancy fees. Souvy is the expert in reverse. (Also near Ottawa).

As to you're bolded bit, be careful. Several decades ago, I worked in a start-uo which also promised benefits in 6-12 months. They didn't materialise and I left (for a much better job in Germany).

Caveat emptor.

hh619

Thanks Novocastrian!

Yeah it gets pretty cold there.. i have a weather app on my phone with about 10 Canadian cities where i monitor the temps out of pure curiosity

Right, i thought the self employed route would be required.. bit of a pain for a couple of months, but i guess it may go on a few more if the house doesn't sell.


Hopefully Souvy will be along to give some advice
Yeah it's a little worrying about the benefits. Every other employer in my field are offering extended health, etc. I'm going to need IEC insurance, would that be enough to cover health expenses, or would i need to purchase additional cover? I really don't want to go thousands out of pocket covering health expenses if at all possible. I'm healthy, but you never know!

A Start-up could be very rewarding or a complete failure. I would be coming in during the early stages (but not too early) so it's very exciting, and from the sounds of the future plans, it will be very rewarding indeed.

Shakyuk

Hey that's great news!
Just a thought, if they want you to work remote then they must need you urgently, can you not negotiate for the benefits to start earlier? If you're going to work remotely then when you actually land in Canada is when you'd actually need the benefits. If you start employment in Feb then land in April, you've already done a couple of months anyway.

hh619

Thanks

I'm expecting a call this evening, which is rather fast considering the interview was yesterday. it's good news. But, you're right, if they do require my services urgently it might be something i can negotiate to have sooner.

I also thought, i may ask them to corroborate a PNP app via OINP job offer stream. If they give me a written employment offer, i can start the ball rolling as it's paper based and will take quite some time to go through!

As a foreign worker, you must also:

1. Have two cumulative years of work experience in the same NOC occupation as the one in your job offer in the last five years immediately preceding the date of application submission.
2. Have the relevant mandatory licensing in Ontario for a regulated occupation, if applicable.
3. Be residing abroad or residing, working or visiting Canada on a valid work permit, study permit or visitor record.
4. Have an intention to reside in Ontario.

There are also some other requirements the employer needs to meet in regards to turnover, which i need to find out about.