Hi all,

My husband has his final interview for a candian company who are offering a TWP with an LMIA. We werent actually looking at emigrating any time soon and so in all honesty have no savings in place. The company is offering 3 months accommodation and 3 months travel on arrival.

Is it realistic to think that if we sold up everything that we own (what we have wouldnt be worth transporting anyway) and came over with a few thousand pounds and with what we could save from his wages from the first three months, that we could get set up in basic terms (a rental house, transport and living essentials)?

We've always lived on the breadline and buy pretty much everything second hand anyway and are very experienced at living very cheaply :-) meaning we would be happy with the absolute necessities and build stuff up over time.

Or do you not think it would be remotely doable?

I cant be more specific in terms of province, as obviously there are differences in cost of living, as we dont know where it would be at this point.

Any opinions welcomed but please be kind :-)

If you're adventurous and don't mind roughing it I'm sure you can make it work. Do you know roughly what his salary is likely to be?

Thanks for responding. I'd like to think we were pretty adventurous, you only live once and you should grab opportunities that come along. Most of my life has been roughing it to be honest!! lol

It says the salary starts at $30 p/h which is £15 p/h here and would be a good wage but I dont know how that translates out there?

That is over $60k/year and is a fairly good income. Given your declared lifestyle you should manage well on that amount. A great deal depends on what costs for housing you'll experience and that is much defendent on where you'll be living. Rents for decent accommodation can/will be high in major cities but less in smaller settings.

Don't even think of going to Vancouver if you are going to have to rely on one income though.. it's a very expensive place to live.

Does the job not determine where you would be living? If his job is in Vancouver, not much point looking at living in Alberta.

The wage offered will have to be prevailing wage or higher for the LMIA to be granted, so your OH shouldn't be screwed over, but you've not mentioned that you have children in this thread (I see from your other that you are a family of four), which may change the answers given. Personally I'd say $30ph will be tight anywhere in Canada for a family of four, different if you were just a couple.

Do you plan to work? That will make a difference, and the location will have a bearing too.

As to set up costs, this thread might be useful - http://britishexpats.com/forum/canad...canada-735341/ You can cut corners on some of it, but your basics will remain the same, and it should give you an idea at least. You mention being able to save money in the first three months, but I wouldn't count on that, as set up costs can be high. Just buying a car and insuring it will take quite a bit, as well as rental deposits, etc, etc.

And lastly, whatever you do, make sure you have at least enough money for flights home as an emergency fund - just in case! We've seen quite a few cases over the years on the forum of people on TWP's having to return to the UK, so you'll need to make sure you have enough to cover that just in case. And to give you security, I'd recommend you apply for PR as soon as you can, so that will be another $3k or so you'll need - but you'll also need proof of funds just to be able to apply, and that could be tricky from what you've said.

Just a few thoughts anyway, best of luck with it.

$60k gross, about $45k net in NB. Plus potential child benefits.

More than double our best year, including child benefits

As a family of four we'd have been living it up on $45k.

Mortgage free but the difference between property taxes, water and building insurance (none of which is paid by renters) and rent for somewhere suitable would be less than $500 a month or $6k, so the extra $22k would cover it and then some.

Yes, but as is often said on the forum, you're a special case (in the nicest possible way......).

No child benefits for the OP for a while at least, and I'm a person that lives pretty frugally, but I still wouldn't want to live in Canada on $45k a year for a family of four with rent and/or mortgage to be included in that. JMO though.

Just a few things that might affect the OP. You cannot claim child benefit in Canada as TWP until you have been a resident for 18 months.

You don't pay property tax or buildings insurance as a tenants but most landlords will require you have tenants insurance which must cover personnel liability.

In terms of the original post and budgets it all depends where you are going to live. Also don't forget all the little things you will need to buy, if you aren't shipping. haven't just spent a weekend moving into a new place can tell you it soon adds up.

Absolutely
But if we did well enough on less than $22k net in our best year (mostly between $16k and $19K) there's an awful lot of room for 'not so special' up to to $45K net.

Not sure how true that is. As a landlord, I don't. Maybe it depends on how long you intend to stay and what you have.
Certainly whenever there's a fire reported in the local paper there's usually a reference to there being no insurance for the displaced tenants.

Either way, it's a fraction of buildings insurance.

Certainly seems a clause of most tenancy contracts in Van. Especially if in a condo managed by Strata but I agree is a fraction of the cost.

Yes, I don't imagine there are too many month to month rentals in condos.

Hi guys, wow!! So many responses I dont know where to start!! lol firstly thank you all for taking the time to offer your advice and opinions, it really is appreciated :-)

Plasticcanuck - yes unfortunately without knowing location my research is limited. We would prefer more of a rural setting ( not much of a city person )

Siouxie - yes from what I gather about vancouver its pretty much the equivelent of London and more rain than britain still puts me off (prefer snow to rain)

Aviator - Im not quite sure where Alberta was mentioned?

Christmasoompa - I appreciate your thoughts and have checked out the link, thank you. Can I ask what the 3k is for? Is that the cost of applying?

BristolUK - I have to admit we had (very roughly) worked it out similar to what you have. We generally live here on probably less than £15k p/a here. Also I dont mean to pry but can I ask what makes you a special case?

Engineer_abroad - yes I had read in another thread I think about the 18 month wait for child benefit. I have moved home more than several times in the past 10 years alone, including to and from spain. I am an expert at doing things on a VERY tight budget!!! lol its still not a fun thing to do though lol

Again thanks you all so much for your responses they are helping hugely :-)

More sun too ... but real estate is expensive.

I don't think he is. Some posters are high earners and seem very money motivated. They apparently find it hard to believe that people can be happy with more modest incomes.