Moving to NS - 3 year plan
 

Hello all.

Me and Mrs KeithS are looking to move to NS (not sure where exactly just yet), and it's been interesting and very informative reading the posts on this site about moving to Canada/NS. Our plan is to sell up in 3 years time, although frankly I want to move much sooner than that, as I am fed up of life here in the UK, mostly the yob culture, spongers, overcrowding and the general rat race. Also house prices here seem to be at their peak, and the exchange rate is good right now.

Luckily my wife is Canadian and from NS, so moving there is probably much less of a problem for us than for others.

We will be visiting the outlaws, erm I mean in-laws, in Dartmouth during the first two weeks of September and will be travelling around a few places to eye up properties and the like.

My biggest worry when we move will be finding work, as I don't have any professional qualifications. I currently work as a recruitment consultant (I also know a fair bit about PCs and have some networks knowledge, but not enough to get work in that line probably), so I might have to take non professional work to avoid eating into any capital we may have left over after buying a house. My wife is a qualified teacher (Canadian) though, so hopefully she might get work in that line.

Ideally I would like a house with land in a rural area, but that probably makes finding work even harder!

Driving in Canada worries me a bit as well, but I will find out just how bad or good it is when we hire a car for the holidays I suppose.

Anyway, just thought I would say hello to everyone!

Re: Moving to NS - 3 year plan
 

Hi there Keith

We too are looking at NS, although both of us are British plus, we're visiting the first two weeks in Oct....have to compare notes :) There are a few from NS or planning to move to NS in the near future but I am sure you have read their threads already. Liftman I think is going over the same time as you for a visit.

We're hoping for minimum time of two years waiting, but I know what you mean about wanting to get out there now. Life here has changed so much....even our 13yr old wants to move and she's in the teenage stage :scared:

Welcome aboard from one wannabe to another ;)

Re: Moving to NS - 3 year plan
 

Not me!

23rd to 30th Sept for me!

Welcome from me too.

Re: Moving to NS - 3 year plan
 

Hi Keith,
I'm sure you will be fine with the driving in halifax, dartmouth, it's very quite, compared to roads over here, where in uk are you?
We are moving to halifax hopefully by may/june next year. I have a sister who lives in dartmouth, she has lived there for 7 years now and married to canadian and has 2 boys. We went over to visit in feb of this year and loved it. We actually fell for fall river area, which is rural but about 10 mins from downtown halifax. Not sure about the work side for you. My husband was offered a job with driving company, and they are still willing to take him on, even though we thought it would not take so long with immigration. Anyway keith, have a good trip.

Re: Moving to NS - 3 year plan
 

Hi Padsnbon!

Yes, definitely we will have to compare notes. Last time I was there was 7 years ago, I remember everyone I met was really friendly and stuff was so cheap! I suppose cheap is a relative term though, as UK money goes so much further over there. When you earn Canadian wages maybe things aren't so cheap, but the lifestyle seems so much better!

I've heard horror stories about car insurance being really expensive, so sports cars are probably out of the question there!

Photographs sent by my wife's family of a black bear in the back garden are a bit worrying too! (big guns anyone?) Apparently this was a real one-off, my wife has never seen a bear in NS. She says I have a complex about bears, but what if bears have a complex about me??? :)

Crime over here is a major worry for me, even though we live in a semi-rural area. It just seems to be getting worse, hopefully crime rates and things like that aren't too bad in NS. As I get older I want less aggro in life I reckon!

We will definitely be moving to NS, it isn't a question of "if". My only tie here is my mother, who is nearly 80 and I don't want to leave her here on her own (I have no brothers or sisters), but she keeps telling us to go and don't worry about her. It's damned difficult to take that as the truth though. Not sure that she would want to come with us, even if she were allowed to.

Re: Moving to NS - 3 year plan
 

Hi Wensamjam and Liftman, greetings to you too.

Liftman, pity our times won't overlap we could have met up perhaps.

Wensam, I am in Worcestershire (near Kidderminster, which is a sort of black hole of a place on the 666th plane of the Abyss, although the tourist guides won't tell you that). To be honest, if we could buy a place in NS outright so we have no mortgage, I wouldn't be looking for a serious career job as we wouldn't need to earn like we do here. But is that pie in the sky?

I've got a million questions and a few fears (some rational I think) about moving. I think it might be a case of not being able to move back to the UK if things don't work out due to disparity in earnings and property etc.

Anyway, I will be doing a fair bit of digging around during the 2 weeks hopefully.

Re: Moving to NS - 3 year plan
 

Hi KeithS?

We moved here (Halifax) a few months ago and there is plenty of work around for those who want it. Both my Wife and I left the UK with around 10 years recruitment experience each and both had a number of offers within a week of searching. My Wife now works downtown for a global recruiter and although the salary is terrible by UK standards it seems to be a fair Canadian wage. I currently work from home for a UK based consultancy so get the best of both worlds..... Live in Halifax but get paid in ££££.

What sector do you recruit into?? We are also talking through the posibility of starting our own recruitment company here in Halifax as believe it or not some of the UK systems and processes we used to use seem to be missing from this market and may?? go down well here (just talk at this stage)

Feel free to ask direct questions and if you want to get away from the "outlaws" for a few hours for a beer/coffee let us know..

All the best

Re: Moving to NS - 3 year plan
 

Your concerns over your mother must be heart wrenching. My mum will be nearly 80, but we have family on HER doorstep. I also have one brother in Tenerife too and he has been there for 20 years so we have family scattered to the four winds.

Halifax is not that far away when you look at it the way my mind works at least, you could compare it to the same distance in time if you moved to northern Scotland and had to travel back to your mother's by car, just a little more expensive :)

You always want to be there for the family and you are, but you will be just a further away that's all and when you need to come home for your mother, she knows you will be there for her :) Moral support over with.....bears? its spiders for me :scared:

Kidderminster....we travel through the area often avoiding the M6/M5 junction when we travel south via A49......looked nice to me. We spend a bit of time during the year at Broadway, Worcs where hubby teaches didgeridoo classes

Re: Moving to NS - 3 year plan
 

Dear All

Just had to join this thread and say hello as we too are hoping to emigrate to Nova Scotia permanently and will put in our 'skilled worker' application later on this year.

What we have done though is a bit unusual as we have recently come over to NS for a year on study & work permits with our children having already sold up our house in the UK and having bought one in NS!!! Yep....I know....jumping the gun a bit but once the years study is up as long as husband finds a job to gain work experience in what he has trained in at the college then we can stay up to another two years without HRDC approval (after he finishes his course at college) and we hope during this time to be successful in our application for PR.

Its really beautiful here. We live about 1/2 hours drive from the coast in Lunenburg County. There are lakes everywhere and the wildlife is abundant. We've only been here 6 weeks but in that time we've done things like bought a car/insurance and been through all sorts like 'goods to follow' and even brought our dog over so if I can be of any help to anyone with questions please ask .

Good luck with everything all

PS I spoke to Corky today....she is so nice and we hope to meet up soon

Re: Moving to NS - 3 year plan
 

Hi Torticat!

My wife and I both work in recruitment to the UK Water Industry, so if it's wet and watery then we recruit for it. I have 8 years recruitment experience and my wife has 7 years of admin and recruitment experience, we both work for the same company. I previously ran a family metal polishing and finishing company for 9 years, although that is a business I would prefer not to get into again !

I have already figured out (rightly or wrongly) that NS probably doesn't have much of a Water Industry as outside of Halifax and other towns people get their water from drilled wells and their sewage is on septic rather than municipal treatment. (Not sure about industrial or commercial water treatment, I will dig into that) BUT! We are very adaptable and other recruitment areas would not be beyond us I am sure.

The adage we use regarding sales people (you can teach people about products but you can't teach people how to sell) probably applies to recruitment as well. <ducks objects thrown by some sales people>

What areas of recruitment do you and your wife deal with?

I would like to meet with you during our holiday (my wife reckons Maxwells Plum?) a beer and a chat is just too tempting, even if we might come from polar opposite recruitment sectors! At least we could swap funny recruitment stories if nothing else :)

Re: Moving to NS - 3 year plan
 

Kidderminster looked nice? Were you driving a car with blacked out windows? :) Sure you don't mean Worcester? The M6/M5 junction is absolute hell as well, I avoid it like the plague!

Broadway is well away from Kidderminster's blast radius, maybe within didgeridoo range though? :D

Some might say (cue Oasis) that I have a hate on for Kidderminster. They would be right. A job in the tourist office there would be cushy though, let's face it the phone wouldn't ring that often!

ACL - way to go! That takes some guts to do it like that! Hope everything pans out for you. "Wildlife is abundant" - I will try to find the shots of the bear on my inlaw's back garden and post them. I could tell that mum-in-law was hiding behind the sink when she took them, based on the the angle and the fact that the image is quite blurred from the shaking!

Padsnbon - the way you equated NS distance with Scotland has really made me think, there is no difference in time, its just money. Thank you !

Re: Moving to NS - 3 year plan
 

Hi Keith, Gee it is nice to see so many people interested in good ole Nova Scotia! It is rainning here at the moment. It is nice to be married to a Canadian then you don't have to wait so long to immigrate....I think it is about 6 months. Where abouts in Dartmouth is your wife from? We lived in Dartmouth many years, but have now moved to the South shore...we live in the woods...lots of wildlife but must say I have never seen a bear! I do recall the bear in Dartmouth I think it was somewhere up highway 7, not sure though. I guess you are looking forward to your trip.
ACL it was great chatting with you and we shall meet up soon! I can't wait to meet everyone at Ukjo's barbie...that should be fun...watching Liftman flip a burger, I bet he does it with grace!!! Hahaha!

Re: Moving to NS - 3 year plan
 

I'll not mention my associate degree in Hotel Catering and Institutional Operational Management then.......

Re: Moving to NS - 3 year plan
 

Spot on, thats where my wife's folks live.

Re: Moving to NS - 3 year plan
 

Strange.... Only this morning they were talking on the radio about an increase in water rates!!!!! Due to the fact that new laws regarding municipal water (Treatment & Supply) were due, which in turn would require massive investment/work to be completed. Sound like the need to recruit extra staff to me

Kerri background is high end (city) commercial followed by years in the pensions vertical and I have been mainly sales focussed and continue to be so to this day.

There are a real lack (only one or two) of specialist consultancies here (down to the lack of population i guess) and what you find are a scattering of what we would call high street agencies that do a bit of everything. Kerri now works for one of those doing what she did 10 years ago but the pay is OK (by Halifax standards) and its a good starting block/introduction to working in Canada whilst we evaluate our options. if you have an open mind, good experience and that typical UK recruitment will to succeed then you should find there to be a number of options for you here.

Drop us an email or PM and we can sort out that beer!!
Ian & Kerri


QUOTE=KeithS]Hi Torticat!

My wife and I both work in recruitment to the UK Water Industry, so if it's wet and watery then we recruit for it. I have 8 years recruitment experience and my wife has 7 years of admin and recruitment experience, we both work for the same company. I previously ran a family metal polishing and finishing company for 9 years, although that is a business I would prefer not to get into again !

I have already figured out (rightly or wrongly) that NS probably doesn't have much of a Water Industry as outside of Halifax and other towns people get their water from drilled wells and their sewage is on septic rather than municipal treatment. (Not sure about industrial or commercial water treatment, I will dig into that) BUT! We are very adaptable and other recruitment areas would not be beyond us I am sure.

The adage we use regarding sales people (you can teach people about products but you can't teach people how to sell) probably applies to recruitment as well. <ducks objects thrown by some sales people>

What areas of recruitment do you and your wife deal with?

I would like to meet with you during our holiday (my wife reckons Maxwells Plum?) a beer and a chat is just too tempting, even if we might come from polar opposite recruitment sectors! At least we could swap funny recruitment stories if nothing else :)[/QUOTE]