sarahjay

has anyone out there emigrated with a large family,we have five children ranging in age from 1 to 17, wonder what advice you can give about education and cost of settlement fee's, and general living
cheers

Piff Poff

While I can't answer you questions you will probably be pleased to know there are lots and lots of families with 4 or more kids here, it seems to be unusual to stop at just one or two.

Atlantic Xpat

What else do you do during the long winters........

fledermaus

Rearrange your condom collection?

Piff Poff

One kid is PLENTY for me, I'm NOT starting all over again....it's one of my fears

Ah! Now I have a hobby

Chookie

We have 4 kids - ages ranged from just shy of 18 months up to nearly 8 years when we emigrated.

Education? As far as I can tell, schools are much of a muchness - if you live in a decent area, the school your kids will be assigned to will be OK - certainly I have had no complaints with my 4.

The one thing that IS expensive is childcare, but because I was a SAHM that was not an issue for us. Also all the activities that kids want to do seem to add up... by the time you include swimming lessons, sports, music, dance etc etc etc there isn't much money left at the end of the month for us.

Beyond that, our larger family isn't much of a problem, and our 4 girls certainly get us noticed (helps that they are all pretty girls with long blonde hair, each one being almost exactly 2 yrs apart - and we get compliments on their politeness and behaviour!) I only have to call the school up and they know exactly who I am - the "Smith girls" are well known at the school

The4BellsLondon

Any idea which bit of Canada you are aiming for?

Also which route - -will the 17 year old not count as a kid by the time you get visas etc??

sarahjay

we're hoping to go to Nova Scotia, we're hoping if poss to come via the pnp route, as for our 17 year old who knows if she wants to come with us 1 day she does the next she does'nt.

Simon Legree

What line of work will you be looking for in Nova Scotia ?

sarahjay

I am a gas service and breakdown engineer for british gas, as far as i can see that roughly translates to gas fitter/technician

Simon Legree

Sadly, at this time there is very little use of natural gas in Nova Scotia. We are still stuck with using oil. There is some industrial use but domestic or residential use is very limited. They are slowly putting service in to Halifax and Dartmouth so it may be a good opportunity. However, because of politics and all it may be a long time before the use of gas becomes popular. This is a shame because there is a pipeline which brings the product from Sable Island. The cost of laying supply pipes to residential customers makes the use of gas prohibitive in all but the major urban areas such as Halifax and Dartmouth. I doubt very much that there will ever be service to my house because I am not in a heavily populated area.
If you are able to gain employment in your field it would mean that you would need to live within commuting distance of Halifax/Dartmouth.
Good luck with whatever you do.

sarahjay

Thanks for that it narrows down our area to look to move to, do you mind if i ask how long you have been in NS.

Simon Legree

Ten years.
I landed here in Halifax in 1969.
Spent 30 years in Toronto.
Retired here in 2001.

robert_masters

Hi

Yep very common in teenagers, good luck with that one. The younger will be fine.

Remember things change a lot while waiting for visas, and then have to make even more decisions!!

Angela