Hi,

I'm a 19 year old working as an Estate Agent(Realtor) in the UK for the past year and a half since leaving college, and I'm interested in moving to Alberta, Canada. My problem is, I've never been to Canada myself and know only what my god parents (who moved out there to Okotoks, Alberta 5 years ago) have told me.

From what I have heard, Canada sounds perfect but I understand that my god parents love it out there and would therefore be biased in their opinions. I feel I need to go out there and experience life and see if it would suit me as much as it has them but they have told me that getting visas isn't the simplest of processes.

My ideal would be to go out there for between 6 months to a year and to work so as I can really get a true indication of Canadian life. I know I can holiday out there for periods of time but I don't feel that would benefit me in the same way. Is there a type of visa which would allow me to move out there for this period of time and allow me to work whilst out there? I would like to stay in the same line of business that I'm in currently and I know there are qualifications that need to be taken to work in this job which I would obviously be more than happy to complete.

I have asked my god parents' advice on getting visas however it has been a few years since the moved and their situation was completely different to my own and so they were unsure on how to best advise me.

Any advice on what is available to me would be amazing!

Many Thanks,

Marcus

Look at IEC Canada, this is about your only option as Realtors are not a demand occupation for other residency permits. You may then be able to get in through CEC when you have had some time here.

This is what it takes to become a Realtor, not sure you could do this in an IEC, by the time you get the license, not time to build up a clientele. You might want to try and become a realtors assistant for the experience.

http://www.reca.ca/industry/content/...ng-process.htm

http://www.reca.ca/industry/content/...igibility.html

http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca...nce/index.aspx

Just make sure your taste of Canada includes a winter

It has a lot of pluses...

But one big negative....... and if you can't do cold.... this aint goin'a be your home

The winter is one of the plus points.

That is true if he chooses to settle in Alberta. If he was to choose certain parts of B.C., for example, that wouldn't apply.

You're 19 years old, so I suspect that what your (presumably older.. 40s?) godparents may view as a "perfect" life may differ significantly from what a teenager might.

What do you want from life? Education? Career prospects? Travel? Social life?

Trust me, 19 years old is far too young to start dreaming of life in Okotoks.

+1
if i was 19 again would i go to Alberta???..not on your life i wouldnt

Think about it as similar to moving to a poor and remote Welsh or Scottish village. It may seem like the perfect rural idyll on the surface but at the age 19 most people would want to move away from somewhere like that as fast as they could.