SmileyGirl

Hi All, like most people I have been reading everything and anything I can about moving to canada, and this site is a great source of information. My husband and I went to a seminar in March for truck drivers wanting to relocate to canada, and as a result yesterday he has been offered a job with Transx - its all happened so quickly! our plan that is once his work permit comes through, he will go and train and start his job ( approx Oct) and me and our two girls 7 & 13 will follow early next year. We will be looking for houses in Winnipeg initially to rent and if all goes well we will sell up in UK and buy in Winnipeg once we are sure its where we want to be! we need all the info we can get!! Iv read the wages for truck drivers posts and hope we are doing the right thing!! - hes been offered $3500 minimum per month after 2 months. Iv read and seen so much about Winnipeg - Good and bad that my head is pickled!! Any advise from anybody sane or insane is most welcome!! Also does anyone else know anything about Transx???? hours etc, thanks everyone.

Suzyanne

Hi,
Not a truck driver or even going to Winnipeg, just wanted to wish you the best of luck with your move. Lots of helpful people on here, most of them completely mad but still very nice.

thundercat600

welcome aboard and congrats!

can i ask - did this seminar happen to be in Ipswich??

Member123

Hello SmileyGirl,
Congratulations on OH job offer. We are hoping to go to Saskatchewan so cant help on Winnipeg. Have you came across Burton Bunch (Gay) she is currently doing what you plan to do and her OH is working in Calgary while she has stayed to sell house. She does not recommend it but have a look at her posts anyway.
Best wishes for the future.

SmileyGirl

Thanks for your replies - the seminar was in Leicester. I will check out Gays posts

burton bunch

I'm th Gay in question !!!

Welcome to our forum.

Alison is correct I am here in the UK whilst Phil is working in Lethbridge Alberta on a WP - hope our permanent move will be Agust this year.

Having currently been on my own 15 weeks and 5 days I can say it has been the hardest time of my lilfe so far for me anyway - Phil is having a ball !

Being apart is the hardest thing in the world - if your hubby works away you always know when he is due back "home" whereas unless you make definite plans to go out to see him in Canada before your permanet move then it is horrid because you just dont know when you will be together again.

I have to say that although I feel it has been detrimental to our relationship it has put it under strain - it isnt very good having a web cam argument 6,500 miles apart especially with the time difference you cant always say sorry.

The reason why we havent gone together is that the immigration lawyer told us not to sell up until we had a WP in our hand and seeing that didnt happen until Feb 4th that is why I am still here.

It is hard but i know it will be worth it.

I dont care about anything at the mo as I will see him tomorrow lunch stood at Calgary Airport with a Timmies Iced Capp in his hand and hopefully a big smile on his face.

Gay
x

SmileyGirl

Ahhh thanks for that reply, I know its going to be hard, but at the moment its the only way we can do it. Anyway, i am being a little selfish myself and sending Paul out there ahead of us to check out everything. He also wants to know that I am home and the kids still have normality whilst hes sorting everything - he will be able to concentrate on his training/job more if hes not worrying about us initially.

Paul will be training for a few weeks and when hes not training he plans to suss out winnipeg and different areas etc.

Once he is settled, I will join him with our two daughters. Its complicated because we are not selling up. We just want to rent for a year and test the water. Dont want to sell up and then regret it. We lost everything back in the 80's crash and we are very cautious now.

Just dont know if trucking wages will support us all? if we sell up in UK we could buy somewhere and have little or no mortgage, - but if we rent we could be tight for money until I can work, which I believe is 6 months.

WP should come through in Sept /Oct so we plan on making the move after xmas when its -40!!!!

I am prepared for it to be stressfull and a real strain on us all, but its a bit like having kids, it bloody hurts and then when its over you wonder what all the fuss was about?!! When you are all back together you will be stronger for the experience and appreciate how much you love each other, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Enjoy your trip and your precious time with your other half, and the other plans you have with your daughter etc it must be very hard,but it will all be worth it.

Thanks again, keep in touch
Sharon ( Smiley girl ) - Yes Im always smiling - its hysteria!!!

simon876

CONGRATULATIONS and welcome to the BE Madhouse!

Great to hear that things are moving for you.

Simon

kate white

CONGRATULATIONSKEEP ON TRUCKING

burton bunch

Hi Sharon

I thoroughly understand your reasoning behind doint it the way you are doing it. The kids are what have to come first whilst you sort of the life you will have - I actually gave up a very well paid job when Phil went out there so that i could ensure that my two kids were OK. Apart from being stir crazy with not working it has been the best decision as they both know where I am most of the time and is reassuring when you go from being a "normal" family to a "one parent" family.

I know that you will go through the mill etc and go on an emotional roller coaster over say the next 6-9 months but if you need to chat to someone who knows what it is like then you only have to contact me via a PM or leave an MSN note and then we can chat.

I use MSN alot and can often be found on line ready to chat - and it is this method of chatting with people in the UK and Canada that has actually kept me sane over the last 4 months . And you guys reading this know who you are so big fanks whilst I am talking about you!!

Remember you always have the BE'ers to keep your spirits up now - so lean on a couple of shoulders on here.

Good luck and lots of love

Gaynor
x

denmac37

You should PM Biiink, as she currently lives in Winnipeg. She will tell you as it is.

My two cousins came over on work permits as truck drivers for Bison. One of them struggled being away from his family all the time and now works doing city driving for the same company, so he is now home every night. The other one only has the OH here and they love travelling all over Canada and the US.

Good luck.

Mrs Denmac

NovaBoy

Just wanted to say hello and welcome to the asylum.

Good luck on your OH's job front and hope you get what you wish for.

krizzy

We did a fact finding thing in Winnipeg...years ago...a friend was born there...very cold he says...LOL!

I liked it...nice place...hubby got a job offer within a day of getting there...guy willing to wait for him no matter how long it took....I love Canada but it was not the place for us to live....I have family in Calgary which give me the idea to move to Canada...plus I raced sled dogs in the UK...but we really wanted the USA which was a no go or so we thought...so made up our minds to stay in the UK...which was good for us because hubby got a job offer in the USA a few months later through a friend...

NovaBoy

I'm the only Gay in the village!!

ejbsom

just read your thread, my husband and i really would prefer u.s. i lived there for 2 years as a kid until my mum got home sick for huddersfield. then we came home. ive only re searched it a little as ive always got the impression, especially since 9/11 that there is just no way. i have aunts and uncles and cousins and stuff there but that doesnt stand for anything. my husband is a class 1 driver. how would we go about it.