Hi all

Has anyone recently moved to Canada who could give me some information on shipping your worldly goods? I don't have any furniture of great value, so I was thinking it would probably cost just as much to buy new out there, but I obviously want to take my personal stuff. Can anyone please let me know things like approximate costs and how long it takes and whether it is better to freight by sea or air.

Also, when you emigrate are you allowed extra baggage on the plane or can you only take the usual allowance?

Many thanks for your help.

Cheers - Jo

Hi,

Shipping your goods is something that requires a lot of thought...We are in the process of waiting at the mo (12 months since receipt of AOR), however we bought our house in cochrane 18 months ago. we had plans before then of taking most of our Uk furniture etc....However when we were over there we could clearly see that our treasures may seem a bit out of place in our new house, so we have decided to take the basics and start afresh when we get there (hopefully).

Anyway, our neighbours moved to Canada about 15 months ago they used a firm (from the UK) called Kelly's international, the website is www.kellysuts.com, phone number 01483 455455. They said that they were very reasonable in cost. The only downside seems to be the timeframe when things arrive....2 month from shipment, I think.

Also with regards to the flight, there were a family on our flight who were starting a new life.......They had piles of stuff, so again contact the airline that you wish to use and i would imagine that they will give you costs etc. But I do know that if you use the other airlines that are on the canadian affair site, they restrict you to the normal 20Kg plus another 5kg or so for hand luggage.

Well good luck

Regards
Al

Cheers Al

I'll definately have a look at that web site - it's not easy this emigrating thing is it??

Good luck with your application - mine took 18 months from me sending my application to receiving the visas so hopefully you'll hear something soon.

Best wishes

Jo

Wait till you land...the paperwork/process is only the beginning of the process, not the end

It is actually quite easy and not too bureaucratic: Assume you have all your possessions underway on a container, you have already landed in Canada with your family and your container is arriving: read on http://www.stephenbottcher.net/imm.htm#Chapter6

The issue with your personal belongings should not be your primary concern: everything you owned before and import as personal effects will be considered taxfree if you did the paperwork right! I bought a lot of new stuff (motorbike parts) in England before I moved which I declared as motorbike parts and there were no questions.

One advice: leave everything electric in England. I took everything with me, but it is not worth to have a 220->110V transformer in every single room. Especially since you still need new VCRs, TVs etc because it is 60Hz vs 50Hz in England. Sell it or scrap it. I have tons of extension cords, a very good VCR, wireless headphones and other stuff which I can't use anymore. Maybe somebody returning to England buys it off me!

Cheers, Stephen

I did that the first time, and realised that some of it will work on the 60hz, and every house has a 220v feed coming into it...

Not easy and requires a reasonable understanding of electricity but totally doable
….going for 50hz specific stuff is harder, but even so still possible

@MikeUK
Absolutely right, it is doable and I am still maintaining one European system, but it is such a drag. Sure, most of the stuff works on 60Hz, but in order to get the 220V 50Hz I had to buy a voltage transformer and a 220V 50Hz UPS. Like home, just a little bit more expensive. I don't have 220V 50Hz coming into my house btw ...

Not the point of this thread anyway.

Cheers, Stephen

Just because you are emigrating you do not get any additional allowances. Depending on how much you have then paying for extra baggage may be an option. Normal allowance is 20kg each. On our last flight we upgraded and got a 30Kg allowance each.We could have had about 5 suitcases full.

Have you ever noticed at airports people bringing in massive boxes with tv's electrical goods etc. If there is more than one of you, then you each get 30kg,(upgrade with Canadian affair) and depending on the airline you could pay for extra, however many have a limit to this now.
I import and export and believe me airfreight is expensive for even a small amount. It is actually cheaper to fly yourself several times with the full allowance than sending it on its own!!
Price is worked out on cubic metre, and weight, and sometimes you pay as much for a small amount as you would 4 times the amount.
Sea freight is cheaper, and takes a few weeks/ or a couple of months depending on where you are living. It take 19 days from China to UK, but I do not think as many ships leave for Uk to Canada, as they do form China.
Then it has to go through customs etc. and get to you,
Nobody can really quote without knowing exactly the cubic size and weight of the goods destination etc. There are several companies, that you could ask, but they will probably need all that info first really. I think a few people have recommended companies on the forum so you could do a search and see who they were.

Thanks for the info - sounds like it could be a very expensive experience! I'm aware about the difference in voltage, so I'd only be taking stuff like my daughter's toys, photos, books & CD collections etc, but it's amazing how much stuff you have once you put it all together!

Cheers