Re: Pros and Cons of Emigrating to Canada from UK
 

EFA: Big cities yes, rural Canada not so much.

Re: Pros and Cons of Emigrating to Canada from UK
 

On a slightly different but relevant note you will need police certificates for any country you have lived in for more than 6 months since you turned 18. I would get one from Singapore before you leave.

Re: Pros and Cons of Emigrating to Canada from UK
 

Re: Pros and Cons of Emigrating to Canada from UK
 

Syria, Iraq and Somalia have more pros than Yorkshire :lol:

Re: Pros and Cons of Emigrating to Canada from UK
 

As Christmas has suggested, I would reiterate the need to establish your CRS score before getting too excited about PR being a walk in the park. Without a secure job offer backed up by an LMIA, getting the required 450 - 480 points is really hard to achieve. So many people have fallen foul of the misconception that getting the 67 points on the eligibility test is a guarantee of a PR Visa.

Re: Pros and Cons of Emigrating to Canada from UK
 

Many thanks respectively, Engineer_Abroad and Rivingtonpike.

Re: Pros and Cons of Emigrating to Canada from UK
 

But they won't have me. :)

Re: Pros and Cons of Emigrating to Canada from UK
 

You're very welcome. Please don't take the comment about visas as being in any way negative. I wish you every success. But at the same time, your path to the right visa is the most important part of the immigration process. It is inevitably a bit chicken and egg; Do we want to move against are we allowed to move?

For what it's worth, our move to Canada has been - generally speaking - a success. The kids are happy in a very cheerful school. Luckily we're a reasonably educated professional family, so the rather more "relaxed" school environment is a nice contrast that complements the semi hi-brow home environment (that sounds pretentious but I hope conveys the sentiment). We have a lovely house in a lovely area; something we couldn't have achieved in London. Mind you, we'd have moved out of London irrespective of whether we'd come to Canada or not.

As has already been said countless times on countless threads, it really is a case of one size doesn't fit all. Confirm your visa route, come for a recce visit, then plan the rest of your lives - easy!

Re: Pros and Cons of Emigrating to Canada from UKy
 

Hi Rivingtonpike,

I don't believe that your input was negative at all and extremely constructive. It's good to have a realistic view on entry to Canada (despite what the Visa agencies claim). I fully understand your points and re your "high brow" comment isn't vaguely pretentious.

I think with CRS we are in the 400s but regrettably not above 450 so we may well need to seek employment/explore company transfers over the coming 12-24 months.

Very glad that the move has gone well and that you're settling in well into Canadian life. Thanks again.

Re: Pros and Cons of Emigrating to Canada from UK
 

The OP recognises this, they asked what the pro's and con's are.

Re: Pros and Cons of Emigrating to Canada from UK
 

The point was they are totally different for each individual and I clarified in my other post

Re: Pros and Cons of Emigrating to Canada from UK
 

I found this piece to be interesting:

The Circles of American Financial Hell - The Atlantic

it's about life in America but, for almost all practical purposes, life in America is the same as life in Canada. This is certainly an accurate description of how the parents I know in the GTA live (not that it's different in London).

Re: Pros and Cons of Emigrating to Canada from UKy
 

If you can get an intra-company transfer sorted it is the quickest and cheapest way but be aware it will initial be a temporary work permit and in itself doesn't qualify you for PR. However, after 12 months of skilled work on TWP you can apply for PR under the Canadian Experience Class for PR. Your experience in Canada will give you some more points but you will still need to hit the 450-480 already stated.

You get 35 points for 1 year, 46 for 2, 56 for 3, 63 for 4 and 70 for 5 or more. A TWP is normally valid for 3 years.

Re: Pros and Cons of Emigrating to Canada from UK
 

Pros: it's not the UK
Cons: it's Canada. :lol:

Speaking as someone who works in IT and lived in the GTA briefly I would avoid it if at all possible. You basically have two choices - live in an apartment downtown or live in the burbs and have the commute from hell. I know you're going to say the traffic in London is bad, well try driving down the 400, the 401 or the QEW at rush hour. Or Hwy 7.

IMO the two best places to live in Canada are Calgary and Ottawa, Calgary sucks at the moment because of the recession, so if it were me I'd be looking around Ottawa.

Vancouver is even worse than the GTA imo, traffic is even worse if such a thing is possible and the only way to avoid it is to live downtown in a tiny apartment.

I agree with the comments about Mississauga and Brampton, if you want to live somewhere like that you may as well stay in the UK.

Toronto generally speaking reminds me of the UK in the late 1970s, someone's always on strike and the infrastructure is crumbling, plus the govt. is massively in debt.

I quite like Montréal too, the traffic isn't quite as bad as the GTA and Vancouver, the problem is the job market there stinks. If I could put up with all the silly Québec laws and taxes I wouldn't mind living there though. Ditto for Québec City.

The thing to bear in mind is that immigrants usually head to Vancouver and the GTA, which means they're under more pressure.

Re: Pros and Cons of Emigrating to Canada from UK
 

Did you listen to the interview with Neal Gabler on NPR?