Pinging without ponging...
 

I just wanted to air the turmoil that goes on in what used to be known as my mind.

In brief I am 43, I have a loving a very tolerant DH, 6 kids aged 23 down to 8, 5 huge dogs and I own a business in Manchester UK with my sister.

I looked at emigrating a few years back in 2006, and then pinged before I had ponged and instead of moving to Australia (had a friend who wanted me to go into business with him in Brissy) moved to Cornwall. There were a lot of factors in the decision, including a hysterical eldest child who refused to go with us and announced that I would leave her 'an orphan', a sister who said that she would never forgive me and my dad who burst into tears - tower of friggin' strength my lot are.

Two years later I got itchy feet again, but then my business in Manchester went from strength to strength, so instead of taking the plunge I again opted to move within the UK - stayed in Cornwall but moved right onto the coast into a major renovation project, unfortunately although it is beautiful it is also in the arse end of nowhere.

Fast forward to now and eldest child is safely ensconced at uni doing Law and Japanese and talking about working overseas, my dad spends 3 months of the year snowbirding in Thailand and my sister is living in LA - funny how these things work out eh? - and we are in the process of selling our business.

I have the opportunity to emigrate now on an investor category visa, and having looked around the world - as you do - have decided that the only person that I have to really talk round is my dad, and Canada is the closest to him. Not the best reason in the world to pick a country I know, but to be honest Canada and Oz were pretty much neck and neck for various reasons.

I have spoken to an immigration expert at great length, and he reckons that it would be fairly straight forwards, but obviously all swings on the sale of the business going through - which if you have never done it is like the ultimate house sale, but with a 12 weeks bl**dy survey. Frustrated? You bet.

I have never actually visited Canada before, but in order to do a reccie like we did with Oz I need to know roughly where to visit and Lord is it a big country!

My question to you all at this stage ( obviously there will be loads more!) is given that I have 6 kids, at least 2 of whom will need part time jobs when we get there ( I am a firm believer in them getting into the swing of work at an early age) where should we consider and why?

If I lay out our needs do you think you could give me some pointers?

1. I hate living in the city, we have 4.5 acres at the moment and a few neighbours, but we are 10 miles from the nearest supermarket which drives me insane when I forget the milk. I am not particularly sociable ( very low tolerance for the terminally stupid) but then I can in all honesty say that I would hate to have me as a neighbour, who would want to live next door to 6 kids- who all ride quad bikes, yes I am that annoying - 3 Newfoundlands and 2 Labradors?

2. The kids moan ( a lot.....) about the lack of public transport and facilities, so we would need to be on some kind of a transport network and near a town

3. I am used to very very low crime - we dont lock our doors and can leave the keys in the car overnight if we forget.

4. Opportunities for work for the kids - not so much of a problem for me and HD as we will be in the enviable position of being 'retired' - but the job situation in Cornwall is beyond dire. Do not believe what you read about the SW having low unemployment, the only jobs available here across the board are minimum wage, seasonal, tourist related crap. A job at Tescos is like the holy grail of employment opportunities and they are handed on between families - I kid you not.

5. Proximity to a city (within 2 hours drive) with preferably an international airport. At the moment we have to drive for 6/7 hours to get to an airport and add 2 days onto the holiday which is very annoying.

6. An area that is friendly towards immigrants, I know that people are people and all that, but having compared Manchester to Cornwall in the UK I am also aware that some areas are more closed minded than others.

7. Somewhere that kids can still be kids and they aren't caught up on labels and materialistic nonsense ( Cornwall is very good for this)

8. Somewhere with beautiful scenery and near to water, we can walk to the cove at the moment and the kids swim with the dogs etc in summer and I would hate to lose that.

9. I veered away from Vancouver area because everything I read said that their weather is very similar to the UK and the idea of yet more grey fills me with horror. Yes I know the winters elsewhere can be brutal, but I am sure that if the kids get to trade quads for snowmobiles they will get over it.

My biggest fear is that I will once again talk myself/ get talked out of the decision and in 2 years time will still be sat like piffy on a rock bun moaning about wanting to emigrate. I have a once in a lifetime opportunity and I really don't want to waste it. I really really dont want to ping before I have ponged again..... or is it pong before I have pinged?

Has anyone got any ideas or pointers (other than suggestions regarding therapy/positive visualisation etc) that may help?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

This makes me realise that one really shouldnt be pushed around by other peoples emotions so much as eventually they may go their own way anyway and you are left doing what they wanted you to do.

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

It sounds like you could settle pretty easily in NS as long as you are on a bus route and manage to pick somewhere reasonably rural thats still on said route. Not sure that is possible though, but maybe I just dont know enough about that as we all drive.

If you are used to being in an area where who you know helps you to get a job then you will fit in rather well here as networking is pretty much everything.

This is a province of opportunity as well, especially since we won the shipbuilding contract.

I am sure someone with comments on other provinces (and more on this one) will be along soon to add to this.

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

sorry, I am not very good at the quotes thing or else I would use it and answer each point - this place has a load of water. Maybe somewhere like Porters Lake could be a good option, its on the metro transit route (29 km to Halifax if I remember rightly), its right next to amazing beaches and of course its on a lake so water water water.

Kids stay kids pretty much everywhere here, especially in the more rural areas

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

Very true! I do tend to end up as the emotional security blanket for my family, but I am a soft arse when it comes to them all. It is a fine balance between potential guilt and simmering resentment lol.

By NS I assume that you mean Nova Scotia? It is not an area that I know much about, are there part time jobs for teens? Is there an international airport in Hlaifax? How are you finding it there? Porters Lake sounds like just the ticket I will have to google it - what did we do before tinternet?

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

The Investor category is closed to new applications until July 2012. They now have a 700 applicant cap for each year, so if you are thinking of applying you will need to have everything ready and in place for submission.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigra...tors/index.asp

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

Hi, yes I do mean Nova Scotia. Halifax Airport is an international one, the flights between it and the UK are between 5.5 hours and 6.5 hours long
There are part time jobs around but it depends what they want to do, I know quite a few that work in Tims or McDonalds part time.

Oh and dont allow yourself to be talked out of this, unless you personally dont want to do it.

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

I did notice that, which isn't a problem as it would take me that long to see the sale of the business through etc. The thing that is worrying is that according to the Canadian Embassy site it is taking 32 months to process the investor applications :blink:

I know that the Quebec program is still open and a lot quicker - 14 months at the moment - but as I don't speak French it is a bit of a non starter.

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

If you want the best of both, I'd consider the Niagara escarpment and surrounding areas, it’s not cheap, but it’s easy access to the GTA and the lakes, has lots of very nice acreage properties, setting up business in the GTA gives a lot of scope and with Toronto as your international airport

look up Caledon on MLS

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

That is less time than it takes my DD to get the train from Manchester to Cornwall, and looking at the latest rail hikes would probably be cheaper.

That is the sort of thing I am looking for work wise for them, just something that they can do around their studies.

I am the worst offender for talking myself out of decisions that involve the family, never have that problem in a business sense but struggle when it comes to family happiness.

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

Define not cheap? Do you mean London prices or are we talking uncomfortable but not unreasonable?

I am thinking of semi retirement, maybe get some rental properties or just passive investments. Though I was thinking about ground source heat pumps after reading about the fuel bills...... how green/eco aware is Canada?

Oh Ignore my first comment I just had a quick look on that link, they are actually not bad for price and hopefully the exchange rate will pick up a bit in my favour. I will have a snoop on the internet at the area.

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

Comparable to Texas.

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

Put simply: it isn't. It purports to be, but spending 10 mins observing any Timmies drive thru will blow that out of the air. No one has been able to explain to me why every downtown office block in Calgary has to have every single light on all night. Pretty, it may be, green/eco it is not. I doubt that any other city in Canada is any different, but I suspect I will be proven wrong.

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

Pricing I would say is reasonable considering its proximity and access to Toronto, (Caledon is about 45mins peak period from the Airport). I’ve only shown Acreage on the link, un-click to get smaller properties
Ground source and solar energy are growing in popularity in the area, I think that’s partly due to its location, and catering to wealthier home owners who can and do think long term, as well as provincial grants available for green energy in Ontario

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

we heat our home with wood. Its much cheaper than electric or oil. I am afraid that Canada is not green at all (apart from the scenery)

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

No shit. Caledon is just south of the new home of the world's biggest gravel pit. NS is home to something called the Sydney tar ponds. Where else are you looking at?

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

I have to say that i like the look of this one, talk about best of all worlds, the kids can get into the city and I can be as anti social as I like.

http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetail...Key=1777750660

I was wondering if there is anyone over there doing that at the moment, the fact that grants are available is a good sign, didn't Canada sign up to the emissions agreement that the Uk is so desperately trying to comply with?

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

I am open minded at the moment, I have no preconceptions. I was looking at the eco/green thing from a slightly more business perspective to be honest - not that I want the children breathing in smog....

Any suggestions?

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

I bet it sure makes the skyline look purty at night though.

Look on the bright side, at least they aren't sticking wind farms in everyones back gardens then adding £200 to your electric bill for the pleasure.

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

Depends what you mean by your desire to be near water. If that means ocean then I think you can only get something you'd recognise as urban, for the children, with transit, around Vancouver.

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

No, they're knocking down the windmills in order to dig the gravel pit.

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

Best way to put it is Canada put the knife in the back of Kyoto; it likes the revenue of the Oil sands etc
But Ontario does have a bit of a pro green liberal provincial government at the mo, hence the grants..

I have seen a lot of ground source heat pump installations on the bigger new builds in the area, and quite a few solar power set ups appearing on properties too, with some quite big set ups on the farms
You can make quite a saving if you can run a solar powered ground source heat pump for your summer air-conditioning here in SW Ontario!

I’d Google street view some of these properties, as I believe that house is very close to a new housing development across the gorway road.

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

I wish I had the option to heat with wood at the moment, we got absolutely spanked on our last oil delivery. The UK is quite green if you can afford the technology or are doing a new build, otherwise they just tax the arse off you for having to use non green facilities....like your car and lights at night.....

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

we used to have an Audi A3 1.9 Tdi with a road tax of GBP35 per year and I loved that car. Here everything has a much larger engine than that i(it seems). I am looking forward to getting another TDi at some point as I miss it. There seems to be no incentive to get a more efficient car apart from your own view.
Love heating with wood, it saves us so much money and looks nice, our one wood insert heats our whole house

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

I liked heating with wood except that it meant I couldn't be gone for more than 48 hours at a time during the winter. How do you get around that?

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

we havent been gone from our house for that length of time

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

We looked at it when we bought our house as it had quite a nice fancy wood stove installed, but after looking at the health and safety aspect and also compared real costs/efficiency…
I took it out last year, bought a fancy thermostat to control my gas furnace/heat pump system..
Its sitting in the basement in bits now

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

We had my Father In Laws removed for that very reason.

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

The answer to that is to use an external furnace. That will allow burning any old toxic crap.

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

Vancouver has more sunshine on average per year than Cornwall, and more than Halifax NS, for example.

It has the Ocean, lots of beaches with easy access, decent public transport-ish, beautiful scenery, and many options for homes with acreage depending on budget.

It would have work options for your kids as well as the potential for a social life and winter sports very close by.

Materialistically, Canada is no different to the UK so there would be no way of getting away from it.

Check out areas such as Deep Cove, Steveston, White Rock, North Vancouver, and Port Moody for starters.

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

Nah we just got rid completely in order to drag him into the 1990's.

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

I will be converting our old wood stove, with a flat panel monitor, small speaker set (for the crackle) and a old thin client..
all the visual appeal (from glowing embers to roaring inferno) and non of the risk..

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

The blow up doll of woodstoves.

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

Is your woodstove sitting in bits? Thats such a shame. Ours is a pacific energy one, very efficient

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

Now correct me if I’m wrong, but I have a Jotel unit and they are in principle the same as the pacific energy units, they are lined with mineral wool insulation to keep the outside layer from getting too hot to be a contact risk and as a result minimize the amount of radiant heat emitted, the unit does allow some airflow around the fire box to get some convection heat flow from the fireplace , but I’d bet about 70% of your heat goes up the chimney!!

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

We are caught by the fact that we have to have an 8 seater and we live down some of Cornwall's more *ehem* rural roads so we need a 4x4 as well, thus catapulting us into the 'bend over and take it like a man' car tax bracket. The thing guzzles gas and the nearest bus stop is 4 miles away but the kids insist that they need friends and a social life (selfish little buggers) so there isn't a lot we can do about it.

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

Not bothered about it being the ocean, in fact it would cut down on the potential area that the air sea rescue have to cover when they go missing in their kayaks.

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

A transit mini-bus would seem to be the answer then.

Re: Pinging without ponging...
 

Health and safety on a wood stove? :confused: