RossOkeefe

Hi guys,

This is my first post, but wanted to start by saying how useful this forum has been over the past few weeks.

My partner and I (and our 2 adopted sons) will be submitting our profile within the next 40 days (when all the relevant paperwork is back), and points projections appear promising.

Thing is, everything suddenly feels so real! Like, we've suddenly found ourselves on the precipice without ever actually believing we would get here. So, knowing that everyone's experience is different and we all got to this point with vastly different motivations, I'd like people to share some positive experiences of their transitions (without ignoring the challenges) so my OH and I don't lose our nerve. My OH will probably struggle with separating himself more than me, but ultimately we're making the move to improve our sons' opportunities.

Also, any of you guys from Wales? (Not essential, just nice to connect with some locals). We're near Cardiff and would love to connect.

Many thanks,

Ross

christmasoompa

Hi, welcome to BE.

For positive stories, the Canniversary section is the place to go. If you want reasons why people may return from Canada, head over to the Moving Back to the UK forum, and a quick forum search will bring some relevant threads up.

Whereabouts are you planning on heading to? And what are you scoring on the CRS?

RossOkeefe

Thank you for the response.

We're quite open to where we go, but our preferences are Alberta (for me) and Nova Scotia (OH). Current CRS score is 454, so keeping g our fingers crossed. Yesterday's draw was encouraging.

- Ross

christmasoompa

454 is good, and should mean an ITA relatively soon. When do you lose points due to a birthday?

RossOkeefe

September for me, May for my OH. Hoping to be fully in the pool by the end of March

- Ross

christmasoompa

Fingers crossed then, sounds promising. I'm sure you'll get lots of advice etc later on when Canada wakes up. For me personally I don't think Canada offers kids more opportunities, both the UK and Canada are first world countries and I think a good life can be had in either place, but others will be along to give you their opinions on bringing up children in Canada v the UK I'm sure.

Best of luck with the move.

RossOkeefe

Aw thank you very much. Are you in Canada atm, or the UK?

christmasoompa

UK. No plans to go back to Canada for anything other than a holiday (which we did, this August, it was gorgeous). I think Canada's a fabulous country but for various reasons the UK is better for us as a family. Many others will be along to sing the praises of Canada for family life though, so don't worry!

raindropsandroses

Hi and welcome!

We live in Nova Scotia, and I did think we would live here forever, but looks like we may be on the move again soon.

What is it that draws you to Nova Scotia and Alberta respectively? Are they the places which would offer the best opportunities for your careers?

We've lived all over the world, and whilst I don't think its ever easy settling in a new country, if you steel yourself to activity work to create and carve out a life for yourself, you should be fine.

Some places are easier to make a life for yourself than others though, and I definitely don't think Nova Scotia is one of the easier ones.
Have a search of the forum for Nova Scotia, in particular the recent thread about "Come from Away" if you haven't already read it.

From personal experience, one of the most crucial things is securing a good, decently paying job, without that things will always be a struggle, no matter how cheap the house prices or how pretty the location.

We will stay in Canada forever, and I do believe it's the best place for us, we're just taking our time finding the right spot in Canada. Third time lucky perhaps lol!

Former Lancastrian

As many will say scenery doesn't pay the bills. Dependent on your jobs IMHO is going to a place where there are jobs in your respective fields. Alberta and NS are 2 completely different provinces and have differing lifestyles. If pining for a quick trip to the seaside (ocean) then Alberta loses out though if wanting downhill skiing then Alberta beats NS for mountain type skiing. Halifax is closer to the UK both have direct flights to the UK though Calgary is a 3 hour longer flight using London as an example. Alberta has no Provincial Sales tax and just GST at 5% rate Halifax has a 15% HST but doesn't mean things are much cheaper in Alberta. Both have decent schools and bad ones. The City of Calgary has a higher population than the whole of NS. Both have pros and cons. Halifax closer to the US East Coast but Alberta closer to the US West Coast.

Again where are the jobs as you need them to pay the bills unless wealthy enough.

BristolUK

This one, presumably, rather than the nightmare renting one

Struggling with NS

raindropsandroses

Yes! That's the one thanks. Nope, not the rental property nightmare one - different kettle of fish I think . Or perhaps another symptom of a wider problem?
Who knows. Until a few days ago I did have every intention of staying in NS.

Every place has its good points and its bad, you just have to choose your poison and find the one where for you personally the bad parts are at least tolerable and are vastly outweighed by the good parts.

dbd33

Or you can just abandon concerns with a sense of place. For example, people live in Fort McMoney, they certainly don't choose that location because the place appeals to them. I've lived around Toronto for a long time and, I suppose, count as a positive immigration story but I've never much liked Toronto and area.

HGerchikov

I agree with Christmasoompa in that a good life can be had in both the UK and Canada and it depends on each family as to which place is a better fit. My children were 9 and 5 when we moved (they are now 23 and 20) so my experience of UK schooling is based on my current 23 year old's first 4 years, and that is a while back. However from what I have read I don't think the UK system has changed all that much.

I felt that it was very front end loaded - in that there was a lot of pressure put on children at a young age. In the school he went to, they were streamed for maths and english by the time they were 7. The top stream did more difficult work so the bottom stream fell behind and it was close to impossible to make the leap.

When we moved here, we found the whole elementary school thing to be very relaxed (almost frighteningly so as for years they didn't seem to be learning anything). Then the last 4 years of school, in fact really just the last two they switch a gear and somehow by the end of it they were at the level where we would have expected them to be so they must have been absorbing something in the early years. Now, for our eldest son, who was without doubt a late developer this worked great. By the time it mattered he was focused on his school work and knew what he wanted to do and worked really hard to get there. However, if you have a child that is very academic at a young age, you might find it doesn't work so well for them because is the potential for them to feel like they are not being challenged.

On non school related topics, both boys really love living in Canada and consider themselves 100% Canadian. They took up ice hockey immediately upon arrival and both played at a reasonable level, the younger one at the top level for a few years until he decided to concentrate on his school marks. Not having family here meant that we could devote more time to their activities so we traveled all over Canada and the US for hockey (either ice or roller) tournaments which was a lot of fun and we got to see places we probably wouldn't have gone to.

All in all we found the move to have been a positive one for us, I think if you step outside your comfort zone once, its easier to do it again so after 14 years here we moved from the big town and we now live on several acres in the country. I would never have done that if we stayed in the UK - not that the opportunity wouldn't have been there (although possibly not as affordably) but it would not have occurred to me to do it.

Good luck with your application and the move - basically you will get out of it what you put in. Don't have too high expectations, you may well be disappointed, but take each day as it comes and for the adventure that it is and you will be fine.

Howefamily

hi, we are in NS and love it. Personally I don't see a shortage of skilled work. Where I work we are looking for engineers and accountants and it took ages to find a procurement manager. I know someone who says that Scotiabank are looking outside the province/country to replace their financial advisors.
I also see all the teens finding work in the likes of Tims, McDonalds etc, without issues....

I cant comment on AB as have never been. Good luck in all your planning, its a leap of faith for sure but so exciting!
PS: what line of work are you in?