misskatpaw

Hi Ladies & Gents,

Its now a week since my husband Marc and I returned from a 25 day trip to Canada. We arrived at Vancouver and did Vancouver, Seattle (only for a day and only as he wanted to go to Cabela's!) Vancouver Island, Campbell River, Nanaimo, Chilliwack, suburbs or Vancouver; New Westminster/Surrey, Kamloops (for a large portion of our time), Vernon, Shuswap, Banff, Calgary.

What a great time we had. Clinging onto that last bit of jet lag. Ha

Anyhow. Now, we are trying to establish the best way of emigrating. It is quite daunting really. I'm a Police Officer, husband Marc is a joiner. No kids. 2 dogs.

I don't think Marc's the problem here, its me. You can't join Vancouver PD unless you're a Citizen; you can't join the RCMP as an officer OR a civvy unless you're a citizen. You CAN join the Calgary PD as a non-citizen but not sure we want to live in/around Calgary.

We have our eye on the Kamlopps / Kelowna area at the moment to be honest, having spent a while living with our friends in Kamloops while over there.

I did go thru numerous pages of the forum, looking for Police-related posts but was going cross-eyed after about page 9, so apologies if any of this has been previoulsy covered.

The reccy trip was invaluable, to gain a basic understanding of Canada, the people etc. It confirmed our previous pipe-dream that we DEF DO WANT TO EMIGRATE THERE! We have the beginnings of a real friends and contacts network in the Kamloops area so it would make sense at the mo, to start lookin around there

Does anyone have any suggestions of jobs/roles that a serving British cop could look at doing? Any suggestions of companies / firms? I've been employed by the Police for 6 yrs as an officer and 3yrs previous as a civvy. Prior to this, i'm not really qualified for much else, however i'm not yet 30! Still young enough to learn and be adaptable.

Any suggestions or general chit chat would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks a lot, Katie

Danny B

You are mistaken, you can join VPD as a non citizen (must be a PR though), but you cannot join the RCMP unless you are a citizen.

http://vancouver.ca/police/recruitin...quirements.htm

Flossie and Jim

If you're both under 30 one of the quickest routes to get over there could be BUNAC visas. They are only a one-off work visa that lasts for a year but give you an opportunity to test the waters and do more research, and perhaps find an employer to sponsor you for permanent residence during that year:

http://www.bunac.org/uk/workcanada/

dboy

I wouldn't be too quick to write off the police, although it may take a while. You may wish to chose another route first. DannyB is correct you may apply as a landed immigrant to the VPD - RCMP does require you to be a citizen (the interior of BC is policed by the RCMP by the way).

Outside of the RCMP in BC, there are a numerous smaller municipal police forces - New Westminster, Port Moody, West Vancouver, Delta etc...

I joined the rcmp when I was 31 so, there's certainly time. I would look at getting landed here the quickest way that you can. The other alternative is to gain employment with the Edmonton Police or Calgary Police who will take you as part of the provincial nominee route. You could, if you wished, transfer to a BC force later ....

Good luck

PMM

Hi

1. Bunac, they are closed till December for non students.
2. The only occupation that comes close to joiner on the "list of 38" is 7215 Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades. Unless the spouse can demonstrate 1 year of supervisor experience or contracting, then he doesn't qualify under FSW.
3. The OP might, qualify under the BC PNP program, if he was able to obtain a job offer and the employer was willing to get an LMO and then PNP certificate.

ESarge

Minor quibble. BC PNP doesn't require LMO and, if successful, BC will provide a letter of support to get a work permit without the LMO.

the_tones_guy

I think that's a major quibble!! Would be excellent. If not the police though, and it might be a way in, what about security of the prison service etc...?

PMM

Hi

Ah but you still require the job offer first in BC, before the employer can apply for PNP certificate, I would think that there are very few employers who will apply for the Certificate where the prospective employee has not worked for them.

misskatpaw

Thank-you very much to everyone for their replies so far. They are very much appreciated. There's certainly much to think about!

powerwrap

Out of curiosity, have you got your eye on Kelowna/Kamloops just because you have friends there or would you consider those areas regardless ?

misskatpaw

Hiya, we had never been to kamloops prior to this trip. The fact that our friends live there & we had some great times getting to know many of their friends and families is a big plus point for us. Despite this, we did like kamloops as a place too. Maybe not as much as the beautiful parts of Vancouver island we saw, say, or as much in terms of scenery as the Rockies, but otherwise for lifestyle, we think, why not? 40 mins from Sun Peaks during the winter season, something like 2000 lakes within a 90 min drive for awesome kayaking, the Thompson rivers for fishing, oodles of mountain biking trails to choose from, to name a few endearing features...
Do you have any thoughts regarding the place?

powerwrap

Hi, yes, we think Kelowna/Kamloops are lovely places although i haven't been there for 10 years plus. We we're looking to this area, planned a recce but went over to Windsor instead, mainly because we have friends there and compared to K and K, property is much better value.

However, i'm led to believe that the work situation in Windsor is dire so we're looking at going to check out K and K later this year, probably September.

misskatpaw

ah right, that's excellent. We spent our time in kamloops & never actually made it to kelowna but we are regretting this as many people later, said what a great place it was. Had a great experience at kamloops overall & too at the airport, in case you were considering internal flights. Got a good deal with westjet too.
When I think back to it, being treated as part of a big family...really want to be back there soon!