Myself and my boyfriend are hoping to look into working in Canada, we have never been but heard such great things and reached a time in our lives where we would love to explore but we are new to Visa's, working abroad, what to do/ steps to take ect. Could anyone tell me their stories of moving to Canada. What to do, wheres the best places to live, how easy is it to become a permanent citizen, what's it like renting our there, how expensive is living.. just everything. We feel we need to chat to people who have done it and see what their thoughts are. We are both graphic designers so we would love to be close to a city, we looked at south Ontario or Ottawa but what's it like? Any thoughts and opinions are more than welcome!

Thanks
Sophie

Hi, and welcome to BE.

First thing I'd do then, is plan a holiday and see if it's for you. I know a holiday isn't the same as living somewhere day to day, but it may help you avoid making a very expensive mistake. Far better to spend a bit on a trip out there before spending tens of thousands on a move IMO.

Citizenship is a few years down the line after you get Permanent Residency. First thing to do is see if you're eligible for visas, as without a visa, everything else is moot. Have you looked in to them at all? Personal questions but how old are you? And when you say 'boyfriend', have you lived together as husband and wife for a year or more? Just that if you have then you can both go on the same visa application so only one of you will need to qualify. If you haven't, then you'll each need a visa. For visa info, you can look at our Wiki - https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Quick...an_Immigration

And the CIC website has an eligibility tool as well - https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...nada-tool.html

Renting won't be any different to in the UK really other than a bigger deposit needed usually, cost of living is also about the same as in the UK (some things cheaper, some more expensive, but generally it evens out). Best place to live is difficult to answer with so few parameters. I'd start with where you are most likely to find jobs, and go from there. You may not be eligible for a visa without a job offer, so may just need to go wherever you can find work and a sponsoring employer (so again, visas need to be the first step!). According to Jobbank (the Canadian government job stats site), BC has the most job opportunities for graphic designers if that helps at all? Average wage is $24ph.

HTH get you started at least, once you've worked out visas a bit and what you may be eligible for, and also started to research areas more, then people will be happy to help you narrow things down.

Good luck.

Thankyou so much for responding! Thats great advice. Yes we have looked into Visa's and understand the process. We are both 24 years old but we have been living together for 5 years in a rented accommodation. Thats good to know, I will see if we are eligible, thankyou.
Ah okay very similar then, thats good to know. We think Toronto has the best jobs for us at the moment, so we will look in that area and create a radius. Thankyou so much, thats great help, okay we will get on it.

Thankyou

Fab. In which case, look at the IEC visa, which would be a great option. Visas have all gone for this year, but you can apply in 2020 when the program opens up again, it's a lottery system so the earlier you apply the better. Once one of you has an IEC, then the other can accompany him/her, and then when the IEC holder is working in a 'skilled' job, the other person can get an open work permit for the same duration.

Best of luck.