Hi All,

After considering a move to Toronto for the last 10 years we are finally thinking of taking the big leap. My wife is originally from Canada and she moved to the UK when we got married 13 years ago. We more or less spend every summer there and love spending our time out there. All her family and friends are out there.

Before we get the process started, was wondering whether there are any software/web developers on here who have made the move from the UK? what has been your experience? Main technologies I work with are .NET/SQL and work as a lead developer for one of the big insurance firms in the UK. Have been working in the industry for about 14 years now.

Those who take the leap, if you could kindly share what the difference you found in the recruitment process? what are the difference in the work atmosphere? Packages? How was your experience? Any thing you could share about your experience would be much appreciated.

With children, house, steady job just want to make sure it is the right move before we take the plunge.

Thanks

Do you have experience with the Guidewire suite of products?

Unfortunately not yet... suite is still being introduced to the business.

I work with a development team in a similar organisation. I don't suppose you would find the working environment much different, half the day is taken up with Agilestrivia meaning that people work evenings and weekends to do their actual work. Priorities change constantly so there's a lot of confusion and rework. Lots of staff are engaged in musing on the True Path of Agile and sculpting the burn down chart so development is mostly done by contractors. Almost everyone is from somewhere else, I have met some cradle Canadians along the way but many more Indians, Chinese and Russians. There are no two people on our team who have the same combination of passports. Selenium, gherkin and cucumber are words of the moment (as of last Friday). Staff have flex days, contractors don't. Contract (effectively hourly paid, no-benefit, jobs) are more common and easier to get than staff positions. Nepotism is rampant. People typically work from home one day a week.

Does sound like most of the teams I've worked in, the constantly changing requirements and priorities... never do go away! Started favouring the back end database work to avoid the weekly change in tech stack!

Regarding the nepotism... did surprise me when I first started speaking to people about roles and how everybody mentioned 'it's lot easier if you know somebody' or 'can you not hook that guy up?' . Don't really see that at least in the roles I have done, yes may be you can put in the referral but everything usually goes through the official channels so not much more you can do.

Compared to the job market in the UK, my impression at the moment about permanent staff positions is that there are lot of companies looking for developers and usually find it hard to fill these positions. Wonder how different the Toronto market is.... In the past it's taken me a few weeks/interviews to find my next position and have to avoid unknown numbers to avoid the recruitment agents. I've tried my hand at contracting as well as it can be very lucrative getting paid by the day and you can cover the lack of benefits/vacation time. That seems to be a lot more competitive here as the companies are more specific regarding the skills and lot more people are trying their hand at it to earn the day rate.

I've signed up to couple of the job sites to see the positions coming up and have seen a fair few come up but is difficult to asses what sort of success rate you would have applying for them and what sort of competition you are up against for each one.

Thanks for the feedback, appreciate it.

Welcome to BE!

You will find getting an interview / getting a job offer much easier if you have status in Canada - i.e. Permanent Residency - I'd suggest getting your Spousal PR application in as soon as possible... it's the fastest permanent route and the simplest.

I would suggest your wife apply for British Citizenship, if she qualifies, prior to moving to Canada permanently.

You can find lots of helpful info on job hunting in our Wiki (including some links to specific industry recruiters / websites.
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Quick...uctions-Canada
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Categ...Hunting-Canada

Spousal sponsorship is the way to go. Started discussing the idea of moving to canada in the summer of 2016 folowing the Brexit vote. It took us 3months of planning to get all the relevant info prepared Jan-Mar 2017 and 4 months going through the immigration process. April--July 2017. Validated PR in September 2017. Put house on market Jan 2018, sold April 2018. Moved May 2018, updated LinkedIn profile, networked and got a contract starting last week of June 2018. Looking back on the whole process, everything went smoothly for us. You will probably need to factor in 2years from initial thoughts to actually being here. Good luck.

Thanks for the info! Very useful! I was estimating about 18 months for the process, 2 years is probably more realistic with a house to sell etc.

Seen a lot of people make that move post the Brexit mess and definitely something that has had some influence on us.

Brexit there, Trump here. There's no escaping public stupidity.

I moved from the UK to Toronto a long time ago (1989) - so my experiences are very out of date. However, your skill set (.net/web/sql) is exactly what my company is looking for. I work on a large development team comprised of people who live all over the world (including the UK and Canada). I work from home (as do many others) although some people still prefer going into the office either full-time or part-time. I am based near Washington DC now but we have an office in Toronto where some of my team members work. If you're interested, please let me know and I'll give you contact details.

That would be great... please could you send across the details, I'll get in touch. Just starting the sponsorship process so not expecting to have Spousal PR at least till late next year.

Works one of the biggest concerns I have, I'm sure it's the same for most people. Anything I can do towards making that side of the move more concrete would help calm the nerves.

Thanks for this, appreciate the help.

You could potentially have it in 6 months, depending on how strong your supporting documentation is and which office processes!


Good luck and do take a look at our great wiki sections on Spousal sponsorship.
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Spous...sorship-Canada
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Spous...lication_Forms
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Spous...hip-Canada/FAQ

Thank you... these will be very useful! If it happens sooner then might give me a chance to go before the rest of the family and start getting things in place! Maybe should have tried this a lot earlier when the kids were a bit younger! They are 10 and 8 now so there is added pressure to get things right.

Sounds organised compare to the company I work for (well I did until the payroll bounced).

Are you in need of contract employment, somewhere near Waterloo, and, if so, do you have experience with the Guidewire suite of products?