My son went to school for one year and I pulled him out again it was so awful. They told us he had ADD and then put him in detention loads of times for failing to keep up with the others and then at the end of school year said he'd failed and would have to repeat the year - last year I took him back to England and he got on fine and they couldn't see anything wrong with him. I'm now home schooling him until we get to Canada next Spring! I totally agree with you about guns - within a week of the schools opening last summer our local high school had found one kid beaten up in the car park (students can drive early here - what a joke!) and another was arrested for having a gun and drugs in his car, meanwhile some young kids down the road got into a fight at a petrol station (over who should sit in the front seat of the car) and one of them got shot in the leg while they were fighting - all very, very sad. Also the owner of our favourite Irish pub in town got shot and killed right outside the doors of their own pub. It's all so normal here aswell, for instance a shoooting would be front cover news in the UK and here it's often listed in local news on page 5 or something and not just one a week but several - I personally hate it.

Good luck with the elections by the way - go Arnie, go!! Let's hope it's not that blond with the big boobs who's elected - mind you, anything's possible

Hi - I just wanted to add that our visas have now arrived - hurrah!

I've updated our application timeline on page one of this topic if anyone wants an idea on time of processing. Each case is different of course but for anyone aiming for the Manitoba nomination it gives some idea of what's involved!

Does anyone know where the best places to live are in manitoba? My other half and myself were trying to find out more about the different areas but didn't find anything on the internet. In an ideal world, we'd really like to live somewhere that's fairly remote but has towns, shops etc. near by and is fairly safe.

Can anyone suggest anywhere?

Can I share some of your guiness? Cheers!

Now where was I? Oh yeah, I can give you a couple of websites which has copious amounts of information on various areas around Winnipeg. It's a lot of sifting through but this one http://www.city.winnipeg.mb.ca/census1996/pages/wpg.htm has a breakdown of all the different areas in relation to age groups, types of houses they live in, size and cost of house, ethnicity and languages spoken and so on. Secondly here's this one http://www.communityprofiles.mb.ca/index.html which includes huge amounts of information on transport, schools, history, types of neighbourhood etc. etc plus some pictures. By the end of it all you'll be even more confused as you were before but at least you'll know more about the area! I've noticed in my own research that the inner North is the worst area so that would be one to avoid most. Another place worth mentioning to give you more of a feel for Winnipeg as a newcomer is http://www.virtualtourist.com/vt/dc631/ this is such a huge source of info. that I haven't even finished going through it yet but it has reviews from tourists and people who live there on places to eat, stay, drink, spend leisure time (the list goes on!) and there's some photos too so pretty cool! If you fancied Manitoba but not necessarily Winnipeg then you can still navigate to the whole of Manitoba in the above link and the community profiles links covers other parts too such as Northern and Interlake areas so worth checking out.

As there's a group of folks now in Manitoba or heading there in the next few months I guess we could have a Brits knees up one day. I'm happy to organise something next year so if you want to join in, send me a Brit Expats forum personal message and I'll contact you with details nearer the time! Plus if you're already in the Winnipeg area and have particular fave. places to eat, shop & be merry, then now's the time to divulge!

Thanks guys,

crazydaisy

I'm very confused here.
How is it possible to move and apply for work at the same time?
I thought we had to have a job offer before we apply
to the PNP in any province.

I'm asking because (by way of intro), I'm hoping to move to
Canada as soon as possible. And a provincial PNP seems to
be the fastest way, if I can find a job. That's a big "if" but I'm
pretty determined. And I would absolutely happily
go to any province that has a PNP BTW.

So, hello everybody.
Thanks very much.

MollyV6.0

On edit: Whoops, I think my info is outdated and now a job is required before applying to the Manitoba PNP.
Sorry about that. Bad first post.

MollyV6.0

Hiya - you can apply without job offer as we did and became accepted, but the case will be second in line to those with job offer and/or family living there. We did have to prove why we wanted to settle in Manitoba and show that we weren't just using it as a means to get in the country as points wise we didn't at the time qualify for the federal program. They wanted to know what research we'd done on the area and why we'd decided to apply and only then were we given a nomination. So if you do decide to apply without job offer you won't automatically be rejected but you may have to do some persuading!!

I'm not sure PNP is necessarily faster than federal processing as it took is 10 months for the PNP and then another 10 months for the PR but with job offer it should be quicker.

i am buying a business, my husband has been offered a good job and has hrdc approval for his work permit as our pnp has come through and still have the pr to do, the pnp only took us 2 months which seems quick but as we own a property in winnipeg that probably sped the process up as we actually went to them personally to apply.
I do know though that Manitoba incourage foreign people to move here and so you have a better chance with their pnp , that is my opinion anyhow.
good luck

This is very helpful info crazydaisy.
Thank you so much.
It's rather confusing because all of the PNP sites state
that an applicant must have a job offer before applying.

Do you happen to know if the other provinces will consider
those applicants without job offers?

I understand that it'd be much better to have an offer.
And I'll certainly try. Though I'm in the IT field, which has
tankeg everywhere but Asia. I'm willing to do just about any
job, and live in just about any province. I don't mind starting
over. (Yes, I'm eager. )

So I've been exploring the various options.
And since I don't have relatives in Canada, I could apply
for a Canada skilled worker VISA, though that takes years.

I thought the PNP would be faster, but it sounds like yours
was slow. As you said though, it'd be faster with a job offer.
Then again, in a catch 22, Canadian companies often want
Canadian experience.

Sorry about rambling, but I've been spinning my wheels on this,
in spite of my determination to go North.

I've actually considered moving right next to the Canadian border,
and trying to sign up for some volunteer work in Canada, so that
I can network (which I understand is important there), and get
some Canadian experience for my resume.
I don't know if that's a terrible plan or not.

I'm very happy for you that you successfully immigrated.
I'd love to join you someday, as soon as possible.

One more question: when they asked about your research
on the area, was that an in-person interview?

Thank you again for the input.
It's much appreciated.

MollyV...

Thank you CJ6680.
It helps tremendously to hear what successful immigrants
have done. Have you moved to Manitoba yet?

Would you mind divulging the field your husband works in?
(IT, construction, etc.)

Congrats on your successful application.
I'm very happy for you.

MollyV...

Hiya Molly - I'm not sure about the other PNP schemes - the ones I looked at do mention job offers needed. I think Saskatchewan you don't need job offer but do need to be on their skills shortage list if I remember rightly - check out http://www.immigrationsask.gov.sk.ca..._questions.htm - I noticed they mention a PNP case takes about 8 months so not too bad. If you wanted to check out what the salaries are like in your field and which types of employers are available in Sask. check out http://www.labourmarketinformation.ca

Networking/volunteering all sounds good also as while you're there you can check out which places you'd like to settle the most too.

Re: your question on research on the area - I had been in contact with a British expat since we applied and she had been sending us information on places to live, latest stats. on the job situations etc. so I asked her permission if I could give them her number and they called her and it was after that that we got approved, so I'll be buying her a big pint when we get there!! We didn't need to attend any personal interview though. Good luck!

Molly - I just looked at the Manitoba PNP website and they had new rules effective from February 2003 which specifcally states that people must have job offer or family support in Manitoba now to apply (see http://www.gov.mb.ca/labour/immigrat..._may_apply.pdf ) so it looks like things may have changed since we applied in 2002 and it may now be harder to get in without job offer (sorry about that!) Also they state that they only accept applications from residents who are 'outside Canada' or 'have been legally admitted to Canada e.g through visitor, student or work visa'.

It may be worth checking out the Sask PNP and see if that's any easier.

Thanks very much for the input crazydaisy.
I'll be job hunting up there (all over Canada) soon.

I'm researching how different Canadian style CVs are from
'Merkan style resumes. Same for cover letters.
Same for interview style, etc.
Need to better understand the culture I'll be trying to
worm my way into.

Thanks again!
Hope you're happy there.

MollyV...

Anyone relocating to Manitoba may be interested in a labour market report that comes out every month or so - it gives details of everything from new businesses opening, new housing developments, government funding on new projects etc. etc. http://www.mb.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/lmi/cu...winnipeg.shtml

A really cool thing is the local government has opened a new centre for newly arrived immigrants, offering families somewhere to stay for up to 3 months and they help with drawing up job resumes, researching the job market etc. It is set up especially for the skilled worker who have no pre-arranged job (anyone coming over on employment or family sponsorship don't get in ) Fabuloso!

Thanks again Crazydaisy. That labor link is a great resource.

Molly...