Moving to Invermere, B.C.
 

Hi Everyone!

We are looking to move to Invermere in about 5 years time and we were wondering if anyone could give us a real idea of what it’s like to live there?

We are a family of three, and our son will be 16 when we move over. My partner will be studying for a diploma and I can remote work for my job so hoping to be home based.

Wondered if there were any particular areas that anyone recommended to buy property? Also what it’s like living in the valley?

We are outdoorsy people so looking forward to getting involved in the hiking, skiing, horse riding and golf, but what is it like for services and shops?

For our son, we are hoping he will go to the local high school so wondered if there was any way of introducing him to his peers so maybe he could make a few friends before we come over?

Basically any advice/recommendations/tips/friendly comments would be greatly appreciated 😊

Re: Moving to Invermere, B.C.
 

Can't help with Invermere info as I've never been there, but out of interest, any reason you're waiting 5 years before moving? As a mother of a 16 year old (and 14 year old) who is moving again later this year, I would personally do everything possible to avoid moving a 16 year old! Best to move sooner if you can IMO.

Re: Moving to Invermere, B.C.
 

Unfortunately we have to wait until he is 16 due to personal circumstances, meaning we have to wait until he is 16 before he can legally decide he wants to move out of the country without any complications! Otherwise for sure we would have moved ALOT sooner!

Re: Moving to Invermere, B.C.
 

Ah, I see. So you can't even apply until he's 16? What visa route are you going down?

Re: Moving to Invermere, B.C.
 

My partner is getting a study visa and then I am getting a work visa alongside that. We are using an immigration consultant for the info. We will then apply for residency either through PNP or CEC depending on where I get a job - I will be aiming for a remote working senior clinical project management job. Not sure there are many BC based companies that I could get a job with doing that!

Re: Moving to Invermere, B.C.
 

OK, so processing times won't be an issue then. But as you're going on a temporary permit, and one that requires you to prove that you will return to the UK at the end of it for it to be granted, I would definitely not sell your UK house (or buy in Canada) until you actually have PR, so stick to renting.

When you say a remote job, you mean for a Canadian employer though? Just that you won't be able to get PR via CEC or PNP otherwise! For CEC, just keep an eye on the draws and then you'll know if that's feasible given your own CRS points nearer the time. For BC PNP, all you can do is hope that there will be a stream that works for you and that you'll be eligible for.

Don't bother with an immi consultant btw, unless you have complicated circumstances there's just no need, particularly now you've found BE. :D

Re: Moving to Invermere, B.C.
 

Yes indeed for a Canadian employer!

hmm our immigration consultant never mentioned we couldn’t sell and buy on a temporary visa!! That is good to know!

Well there doesn’t seem to be any rentals in Invermere 😫😫😫. We may have to rethink the plan!!

Re: Moving to Invermere, B.C.
 

You can sell and buy, but for a study permit application you have to show ties to your home country and that you will return to it at the end of the study period. So it's never recommended that you sell your house, as it can then make it much harder to show ties to the UK if you no longer have a property there. Buying somewhere may also not be wise until you know you can stay long term, just from a financial point of view, it's a big risk.

Re: Moving to Invermere, B.C.
 

There is no need for an Immigration Consultant unless you have complex background issues.. you will have to complete all the information, tests, forms etc., yourself - you will be paying for someone to check the application for you --- most applications are online anyway!

Do check that any consultant you use is on the approved list.. and do some due diligence checking their reputation, before engaging... there are some who aren't always quite truthful, but will tell you anything to get your business (the thousands of dollars it will cost you would be better spent on the fees required by the university / college or government fees. https://iccrc-crcic.ca/find-a-professional/

Your spouse will have to attend an approved learning facility and be studying something that will allow a study permit.. I suggest you have a good read
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...ions-list.html
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...dy-permit.html

Is there a specific reason for choosing BC? Your work opportunities may determine where in Canada you end up :)
You might find our wiki links of use for finding rentals .. https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Renti...mation_sources
:)

Re: Moving to Invermere, B.C.
 

Invermere is very isolated!!

A very small town, population around 3,400, gets quite a lot of snow every year, and can be isolated because of it. Snow will last from early October to March or April, then there will be a short "spring" season full of mud before summer arrives.

It is quite pretty, as is the whole valley.

But not much going on there!!

There is one main High School, which has around 400 students in total in Grades 8-12 coming in from a large area of the Valley as well as from Invermere ......... that is small for a high school in BC!

There is a campus of the College of The Rockies in Invermere, and that shares the campus with the high school. The College offers a mix of vocational, trades, career technical and academic programs and services, for full-time or part-time study. The Invermere campus in particular offers a variety of specialized programmes including Hospitality Management Diploma, Health Care Assistant, and also Continuing Education and common interest courses.

None of those seem to be highly specialized!

Transit is VERY limited, and you will definitely need one car, possibly 2.

Why pick Invermere??

Re: Moving to Invermere, B.C.
 

So I don't live there, but I have visited there once in holiday and once on a holiday/recce trip - its on my shortlist of places to move but I've got my own reasons for it being on my shortlist.

For general living - it's pretty, and pretty small. There's a handful of food shops, couple of restaurants and your typical sort of services albeit in small numbers.

What's made you pick invermere? It's not somewhere particularly well known by us brits so wondering if there is a particular draw there for you?

Personally if I was sticking a teenager in there but still wanted something similar within the valley I'd consider looking at Cranbrook -similar poropety price, invermere is still easily reachable for a day out in the summer, still has a ski hill for the winter (kimberley) ​​​​​But is approx 10x times the size so has a lot more going on, a lot more job oppurtunities for children after part time jobs/starting careers. Wider variety of shops and services etc, airport if they choose to study elsewhere in the country etc.

As others have said invermere is quite isolated, in winter if you don't like watching ice hockey, you've got a ski hill, a bowling alley and not an awful lot else.

Sure there's plenty more similar places if you want something like invermere (golden is a slighty less picturesque town with similar proximity to ski hills and is a very similar size, Fernie - which makes calgary accessible)

A question I ask myself more than once why it's made my shortlist.

Re: Moving to Invermere, B.C.
 

Yeah we didn’t really know exactly WHAT the consultant would do? We paid for an initial assessment and basically found out that we are eligible to apply for PR but would probably not be picked as we are lower on the points. Whereas if my partner studies for two years and I work for two years in Canada (and we get decent enough language scores which we should do as native speakers with some practice tests, hopefully) the we will have about 515 points - more if I manage to get a job from a BC employer as a remote clinical project manager and mange to get PNP (not banking on that though of course).

Is it hard to apply for a student visa and a work visa? Or are we literally talking about an online form? If so how can the immigration consultant charge that much just to check our forms?? That’s insane!

Re: Moving to Invermere, B.C.
 

An initial assessment is often free from any reputable Immigration Consultant. Anybody scoring 67 or above is eligible to apply - but without a job offer or Provincial Nomination or high points, you won't get picked from the pool. You could have found the exact same information out by going to the official website - for free! Going the study permit route is usually a last resort... it's an expensive route with no guarantees.

Have you used the tool provided by RCIC (official Immigration and Canada website) to determine/check the points you will have yourself? I recommend that you do. Do it twice - once with you as the lead applicant and then once with your spouse as the lead applicant -- then do it again assuming you have gone down the study permit route and obtained one year in Canada work experience, which is all that is needed for CEC. It's unlikely you will get a full 2 years skilled work experience as it will take time to obtain a job - especially if you are limiting yourself to remote work in your profession, (it may be a case of taking whatever you can get).
https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigr...d/crs-tool.asp

Assume for the tool purpose that you have got top marks in your IELTS and have had your education(s) assessed.. then post your results in our Immigration forum :D

The study permit is applied for online, once you have received confirmation of a place on the course, you are then sent a Letter of Introduction to enable a study permit issue at the port of entry. The Spousal Open Work Permit is issued on the back of the study permit - usually at the port of entry as well. Easily done yourself.

I would strongly suggest you have a good read of our wiki sections regarding immigration / job hunting etc. https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Category:Canada Is there a reason other than the College of the Rockies for wanting to relocate to such a remote area where you will be restricted for work (and accommodation)?

Re: Moving to Invermere, B.C.
 

No, it’s not hard at all. It’s a simple form plus the required documentation (acceptance on to the course, proof of funds etc). There is absolutely no need to use a consultant for one of the easiest visa applications!

I’m concerned that they charged you for an assessment too, that rings alarm bells as it’s something any decent consultant will do for free.

Personally I would suggest you do it yourself, and do check you don’t have any other visa options yourself - as Siouxie has said, a study permit isn’t an ideal route, as it’s expensive and not very secure.

Re: Moving to Invermere, B.C.
 

Ok so! I did visit that website and... if I was to go exactly as we are now with no study or work experience the score is only 398 as my partner only did a levels no degree, and neither of us have any Canadian work experience and I will be 39 and he will be 51! (I know right...we aren’t optimum).

However, if he was to study for two years and I got a job for two years (e.g. I work exclusively with a company which has a large office in Toronto and they offer remote positions as they are worldwide - not my current employer but a client I work closely with) then with that my score goes to 498. From what I could see that might be enough for CEC?

I had typed out a whole response to the reason why we wanted to move to Invermere and it just got deleted 😩. Basically we come from a small village already smaller numbers than Invermere and about 45 minutes from any shops like clothing or large supermarkets. We have about five small shops in the village, two mini supermarkets a butchers and a greengrocers, we quite like remote and not a big town or city, the boy has grown up with that rather than lots around so won’t be a massive change. Also we like being 3 hours from Calgary and only 1.5 from Cranbrook in terms or Canada it’s not actually THAT remote so we like the balance with all the outdoorsy things we all enjoy skiing, skating, hiking, riding, biking, plus the boy is into his tech so he spends a good amount of time indoors as well with his Fortnite and YouTube... plenty of time for him to have ‘things to do’ when he moves to wherever for Uni - maybe Vancouver? So all round it suits who we are really. Man is quite happy to commute 1.5 hours to Cranbrook for college depending on the course or work after that as he currently works 4am till 6pm with a 45 min commute, so for him it’s not such a major sacrifice. Cranbrook is just a bit too large for us and so is somewhere like Canmore. We just liked the look of Invermere I guess and wanted to really get a feel of what people felt who lived there - what are the shops like, are the people nice, is crime as low as suggested from a google search, that kind of thing!