Trehorn

Guys, apologies but this is already posted in someone elses thread and was advised to start a new one.

My first post on here. What a great forum. Only discovered it yesterday but love what i'm reading so far. Sorry if this seems to by hijacking someone else's thread but it seemed to link in a little with our circumstances a little.

We have litterally only just started along the long road to emigrating. I sent off for my IELTS yesterday and have only just started pulling all the paperwork together for our application.

I've been working as a quantity surveyor for several years but i'm a time served joiner by trade which is what i'm expecting to have to fall back on if/when we come over. My wife and I have two children aged eight and ten and two dogs. Living in gods country (yorkshire) we love the outdoors and we're really looking forward to the open spaces of Canada.

My wifes sister lives in Collingwood, Ontario which is where we're looking at starting out. We visited together for Christmas ten years ago so we're familiar with the Canadian winters. We're visiting again in July this year with the kids for the first time which we're really looking forward to.

We have a few questions and would be really grateful if you guys could help us out.

Q1. We only have aroun 5K in cash at the moment but should have around £30k in equity in the house which we'll be selling when we move. Will the fact that the majority of our funds is currently in equity be acceptable?

Q2. We'll be relying on my joinery qualifications to get us accepted. Would this cause a problem if i wanted to fall back into Quantity Surveying?

Q3. I'm a Navy Reservist in the UK and would love to be able to continue with the forces in Canada. The websites say that you must be a Canadian citizen. Can anyone give me an idea on how long that could take and would there be any assistance available with me looking towards joining the forces?

Q4. My wife does not have what you would call a skilled occupation. Basic office admin. How easy would it be for her to find a job?

Sorry for all the questions. We're not looking to move to find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. A reasonable standard of living would be nice but we're mainly looking to get out of the flushing toilet which is the UK and into a country which still maintains some standards and a degree of respect for one another.

Thanks in anticipation :-)

Dashie

Q1 - depends on the path you take. I believe if you come on a TWP, you don't need cash, or if you come as PR with a job, you don't need cash. If you come as a PR, it has to be cash. Equity won't feed your family while you look for a job, so you would need to sell before you come if that's the case. How much you need depends on how many family members you're bringing with you. The amount required by CIC is a bare minimum, it's been suggested that you double it to be comfortable, even basic and comfortable.

Q2 - check the Wiki at the top of the page, and the links to the CIC site, where they tell you which occupations will qualify for the Skilled Worker routes, but be aware that they're changing everything at the moment. I think they're due to restart and announce the changes in January, so maybe check in May

Q3 - To apply for Canadian Citizenship, you have to have been a PR for 3 years. At the moment, applications are taking an average of 21 months, so budget a good 5 years to get everything together I'd say. No, wanting to be involved with the forces won't make it happen quicker. If it did, they'd be full of foreigners trying to speed up their applications.

Q4 - Depends if there are jobs available, how long is a piece of string? I've known people get jobs quickly, and others struggle. Be flexible, join agencies, get Canadian experience. Volunteering can also help in the beginning.

No, you won't find a pot of gold. Some will argue that you won't find the other things that you're looking for either, many standards are lower here than the UK, imo, and I've also found the same with general respect. There are good and bad about both places, it just depends which you prefer at the end of the day.

christmasoompa

If that's your main reason for moving, then you might want to read some of the threads in the Moving Back to the UK forum. Last thing you want is to spend $50k on moving only to discover that the same problems are everywhere!

As we often say on the forum, move for the love of a country, not the perceived negatives of the one you've left behind.

J-A-UK

I pretty confident Canada is generally a "nicer" place that Uk but it has to depend on where you leave and where you arrive and what expectaions you have and abitlty to make it happen

Good Luck

Trehorn

Thanks for all the replies guys.

We do absolutely love Canada which is the main reason for our decision. My wife has visited her sister three times and I've been once. We're visiting again in July with the kids.

Obviously there's good and bad in all places but what we've seen of Canada really appeals to us. We also realise that working there will be very different to holidaying. I'm intending to make some enquiries when we visit and hopefully I'll get some positive responses.

TTFN.