LBROWN

HI Guy's. I am new to this and hoping that someone out there will be able to give us advice on whether it is a good idea to leave Scotland and go to Canada?? We have 3 kids 13/7/3 years old and my husband is a plumber/gas engineer and we are both 32 years old. His job is on the priority list for Canada and so applying to work there should be ok, but finding work etc still has to be looked into. Its very very early days and at present we are just looking into and researching what we could expect by moving and what first steps to take. We really want a better life for our children and living here in Glasgow and opening the paper every day and seeing the knife culture and the state the country is getting in we, fear for their lifes to come. But is the grass greener on the other side?? I havent a clue about places to research into or how much pay is or anything is all very confusing. Thanksx

Oscardon

Hi

My other half is also a plumber and we spent about two years looking into where to emigrate etc and the actual application took us two years. We recently recieved PR and will be landing in Canada on 30th June but only for two weeks just to activate PR then returning hopefully spring to live in Canada.

Be prepared to get some possible negative comments about "doing it for the kids" but that was also some of our reasoning in getting the hell out of dodge. I think on here the general view seems to be go with no pre-conceived ideas that you will be living in utopia, work hard and make your mark and things should go well ( I say should, but I will let you know how it goes for us).

Good luck!

laa1973

Hello Another Gas Engineer here

We too done our recce trip, visa's stamped,sin numbers the lot back in March.

My otherhalf (Getting married next week!!) and myself are looking to go over in Jan if not sooner. Been applying for jobs on line but nothing But we've been told thats the norm. Just want to get over there and do the red seal exam.

Good luck
Lee

linz3112

Hi
How long has you Hubby been a Plumber/Gas Fitter? It is ok getting the PR Visa but then you have to pass an exam to be able to work as a Plumber in Canada. Depending on where you are planning on moving to you need at least 9000 hours of work experience to even qualify to sit the exam and some provinces insist on that experience being on top of your apprenticeship.
Just another thing you need to check!
The website to look at for British Columbia is www.itabc.ca and for Alberta is www.tradesecrets.gov.ab.ca

HTH

Linz

martikaxx

Where are you coming into ? Alberta ?
Liz

laa1973

Sorry yes we are, i didn't put that lol

YoshiPal2010

Crimes take place here, too you know? Just last weekend, the Calgary Police Service shot dead a man armed with A KNIFE! In his own home. There are also shootings, but these tend to be gang-related, but of course stray bullets don't discriminate, and an innocent bystanders have been injured and killed. Having said that, the city is generally quite safe, and the kids here do tend to be a lot nicer than some of the kids I remember from the UK, and they do seem to be involved in a lot of out-of-school activities, so your children should be able to fit-in comparatively easily. Also, do bear in mind that the country recently gave the Harper tories a majority in the general election, so I fear that we will see a similar situation regarding cuts in public spending, that you are now seeing in the UK -- health, education, infrastructure, etc. And don't forget, the bulk of immigrants to Canada are from Africa and Asia, and if that is one of the things causing you think about leaving the UK, then remember that you also WILL be an immigrant!

LucyLovelock

For us, we had all the should we/shouldnt we, and in the end decided we didnt want to live life with regrets.
We decided to go for it (admittedly we moved before having kids) and its been the best thing we ever did.
We just met some friends who moved over from Scotland about a month ago, and the guy has just got a job, starts monday, in something higher than back in Scotland, so its a move up for him, they are renting a fab house, and the kids seem happy and settled.
My husband is on probably triple what he earnt in the UK, for sure certain costs are higher over here, such as our weekly grocery bill! But we are able to go do the things we want to do, rather than working every hour just to pay the bills. I am fortunate too that I can stay home with the kids here, whereas in the UK that would have been impossible.
Good luck with your decision.
Lots of helpful info on here.

SivoxII

.. then the riots in Vancouver after the Hockey would not be the best example for BC!!

Knife Crime, Petty Thieves, Assault and Shootings happen everywhere to some degree. In my opinion, it's about finding the right part of the right town/city ... and that can probably be said for almost anywhere!

On the other hand, Culture and the way of life can be major adjustment for some folks who head to Canada!!

All the best.

izzi81

Speaking as someone else from Glasgow looking to emigrate, I can totally share your view about wanting to get out of the place! There will be those who say you don't have to move to another country to get away from something specific like Glasgow life, but for me it is much more than just Glasgow, that's just one part of the equation. I know there is crime everywhere, but in Glasgow it is more prevalent... if memory serves we have the busiest police station in western Europe here! One riot in Vancouver does not equal the violence of Glasgow (though as someone who loves Vancouver I was very disappointed to read about it )

Feel free to PM me if you like

SivoxII

"One riot in Vancouver does not equal the violence of Glasgow"

.. very true Izzy, I was purely stating that the grass isn't "always" greener on the other side. I'm sure that Vancouver being a multi-cultural city, there must be a level of crime you don't always hear about, perhaps not as intense as the back streets of Glasgow??

To the best of my knowledge, Glasgow ... although having gone through a major face lift and cultural development in the last few years, still has areas which unfortunately label it as one of the "crime central" areas of Scotland. I guess in England, Manchester would wear a similar label?

All the best.

izzi81

I agree... I do think the grass can be greener, but just because it's greener doesn't mean it's a vibrant perfect idyllic green, if you know what I mean!
I stayed in Vancouver for a while and on occasion wandered through less pleasant areas, but even those areas didn't seem as bad as some bits of Glasgow. The main problem with Glasgow is that it's all very intermixed.. you can walk 2 streets and end up somewhere you don't want to be... 2 streets later it's back to somewhere OK. This means the crime is also very intermixed. I'm not sure about Manchester as I've only ever made a day trip there and walked around the centre of town.. only English city I've stayed in is London, which is too big to be comparable really!

SivoxII

Yes indeed, so very true with most major cities!!!

We've known 3-4 couples, famillies originally from Manchester, who either visited or relocated to our area. On hearing about the "bad parts" of the city, they laughed on the knowledge of comparing the worst parts of Manchester to the worst parts of the Okanagan Valley. I'm sure the same could be said for Glasgow ... and from what I've heard, even parts of Scottish cities like Edinburgh and Aberdeen?

izzi81

Edinburgh is quite different... you have to go out of your way in Edinburgh to find the bad bits. It's one of the things I like about the place I was a student there and always felt quite safe walking long distances from one part of the city to the other at any time. Definitely don't feel the same about Glasgow!

Every city will have bad bits, I just prefer places where you actually have to go to them, rather than constantly stumble into them by accident. And I'm sure when comparing bad areas, the worst of Glasgow or Manchester would easily beat the worst of the Okahagan Valley or Halifax!

SivoxII

In my *cough* youth days, I used to walk through various parts of Edinburgh at 2-3am .. and never once had the slightest encounter with trouble.

Actually ran into unsavoury types in my home town of Livingston, more so than Edinburgh. Mind you, that was pre 2003, not sure how things are now?