Rachelmark

I wanted somewhere that was close to water and that had a decent uni. We also wanted somewhere with hot summers and snowy winters.

You sound like me!
I grew up in Cornwall and even though we moved away years ago, sometimes we just have to drive to see the sea (even if "the sea" is now the brown Bristol channel!)

Finding employment in our professions has been more difficult than we anticipated given that London is home to 350,000 people, but Tom has a great job and we now have contacts after being here for nearly two years!

What areas of work are you in?

us3andthedog

We did loads of research before we left in May for our Holiday! (Where shall we move to exploration)
Did the drive from Calgary to Canmore / Banff Did the tourist stuff lake louise etc on to Jasper and back down to Cochrane before home back to Calgary and back on the plane to the UK
We have decided on Cochrane / Cremona / Water Valley area and cant wait to be there.
Still checking out prices of Land and properties even though we have 2 1/2 years to wait

Tom Masters

Hi Rachel

I have family in Cornwall and Devon - lovely area, although the roads get congested so easily!!

As far as employment is concerned, Tom is a chartered accountant. It took him 7 months to find work, although another British couple that moved here in the summer found work in a couple of months (he was in IT) - a lot of it depends on being in the right place at the right time!

I have just noticed that you are a teacher. What do you teach? I am a primary teacher. I am registered with the Ontario College of Teachers. The process is a bit of a pain as far as gathering paperwork is concerned etc. and they are pretty slow but they recognised my quals straight away. I have a B.Ed. I also have a MA but I don't think that made any difference to whether they accepted my B.Ed or not.

It seems that finding work as a teacher is difficult no matter where you go in Canada. You just have to be persistent and go through their systems. Teaching is heavily unionised so it tends to be very protectionist. It isn't because you are British - their own Canadian grads have a very tough time too. Teaching is quite well paid over here and often people go in to teaching because of that or because they didn't get their first choice of career so it is less of a vocation for some. In the UK, it has to be a vocation or you're crazy!!

Often the best way to get a foot in the door is to volunteer. This gets you references, a little Canadian experience and shows your keen. In this particular school board, a principal can get you on the supply list although they don't advertise this fact. This seems to be a very important step. It also gets you an employee number. In London, you have to do 40 days of supply before you can qualify for a long term supply position. This eventually leads to a permanent position! Something else you can do while you wait, is Additional Qualifications (in Ontario anyway, not sure whether the other provinces have the equivalent). I have just completed two courses in Special Education as it is something I am really intersted in. It has really helped me to understand the way their system works and will be of great help in the future for what I want to do.

All in all, you have to be very determined but it can be done. Our kids love being here and although it has been tough, I feel a great sense of achievement having been through the whole immigration process. We are not planning on going back to the UK to live (even though I really like Britain and still get pangs of homesickness) as we really like the lifestyle here. It has certainly been an adventure which is what we wanted!!

Chris

Steve_P

We do have theatres in Calgary and believe or not you can actually buy a Jag with leather even.

Surprise,surprise.

Rachelmark

Thanks Chris.

We have family in Truro, which is where we both grew up, although I was born in Exeter.

I have similar qualification in primary teaching (Ba Hons with "Qualified teacher status"!!) and am currently doing supply work. I am also interested in special education, and currently have a part time contract with autistic children in a special school. (This reads like a c.v!)

Hope you don't mind all the questions, but what age are your kids and how long have you been over there?

Tom Masters

My uncle and cousins are from Truro. I have a 7 year old boy and a 5 year old girl. We have been here for almost 2 years. We arrived in April 2004. Our son has just discovered hockey and there is no way he would ever want to give that up!! Our daughter was 3 when we arrived so she might as well have been born here - she is a little Canadian already. They have had no problems adjusting to being here - they loved it from day one, probably because they spend so much time outside or being involved in activities provided for kids here. It is very family/child oriented.

anjit

pm'ed you tom masters

CalgaryBlade

It's just difficult to see the stage over the cowboy hats

CalgaryBlade

And this week's "I live in the centre of the universe" award goes to ...

The great thing about Calgary is that you can go to the theatre or a concert one evening and then get up and go skiing the next morning.

I'll have to apologise to my kids for my failure in that they only get piano, art and dance lessons to go with their swimming and skiing lessons. And only taking them to Paris, Barcelona and Bilbao as well as the Tate, Tate Modern and The National Gallery.

frankieforehead

A very wise decision indeed ....If you can manage to secure some land now, I would strongly suggest doing so, as a recent report in the Calgary Herald (Fri) has stated new house prices are likely to go through the roof. for instance the average price for a plot of land in Calgary now is about $100,000.

Rich_007

LOL personally I wouldn't touch a car with leather unless it had heated seats. hmmm, heated leather and a mug of hot coffee in an insulated mug for the cold morning drive very suitable for truck or car.

Rich.

dbd33

See. You drag them half way around the world so they can see a painting. No need to do that here, they bring things from the civilised world this far.

dbd33

OK, I know that there are, in fact, people in Calgary who do not wear Wranglers and cowboy hats. Not every vehicle has animal parts mounted on the cab, I expect there's even a Smart car there somewhere. However, Alberta is markedly more redneck than the rest of Canada and I wonder if people considering moving there from the UK might do well to consider a left leaning US state as an alternative. Colorado would be the obvious one, similar geography, similar climate, healthy economy but less hard right politics; it might be less of a shock to someone from the UK. Not only that but it's warmer.

Steve_P

The opinions above are those of one individual who does not live in Alberta, and really has no clue what it is like to live in Alberta.

Most Albertans are probably no different than any other Canadians however there are a small number of "Red Necks" (Ralph for example) who seem to get us all a bad name.

Rich_007

Yes but ultimately there's the matter of the socio-political-economic psychology of the country you live in, and for some people that's a big deal. Call it 'nailing your colours to the mast' or whatever. People of conscience have to have something to align their values to. Though usually, it comes lower down the tick-list than immediacy of jobs, social needs, access to leisure etc.

Alberta would the most rightest-leaning of what it still a reasonably leftist-leaning nation, and whatever you might decry Alberta for, including the predominance of religion and right wing politics, at least there isn't the crazed paranoia and dark times (the 'new dark age') that we see south of the border. There is still a vast difference in culture even though on the surface it might not appear so.

Calgarians to comment ?

Rich.