Thinking of Canada - advice please!
 

Hi, we are a family of 4 (parents, baby & toddler) and we are seriously considering a move to Canada. We want to move for the outdoors lifestyle and because we are a bit sick of the cramped living conditions here in the uk (our garden is the size of a postage stamp!)

I have no delusions that a move will be easy and understand that we will have to take a cut in pay. My question is, that we are both reasonably successful in what we do (university administration manager and internal auditor) but this is based more on experience than qualifications. Did anyone else manage a move with young children and with more experience than qualifications? As I say, we are more interested in the lifestyle than money so starting from a step down wouldn't bother either of us.

Second questions, did you use one if these companies that charge you to help find a job and somewhere to live? Just had a quote for £2400 with the promise that they should be able to find us jobs relatively easy (yes I know, they would say that wouldn't they!).

Any advice on making the move would be really appreciated.

Re: Thinking of Canada - advice please!
 

Hi, and welcome to BE.

Would a move within the UK change things? Somewhere more rural where you can afford a bigger garden would certainly be an easier and cheaper option than moving to Canada! If you love Canada and want to move there, then fair enough, but just thought I'd play devil's advocate. :D

I shouldn't think anybody on the forum has used a company like that, mainly because it's illegal in Canada for anybody to charge you anything to find a job, so I'd steer well clear if I were you! The best person to find yourself a job is you, have a good read of the Job Hunting section of the Wiki to understand how to go about it.

Best of luck.

Re: Thinking of Canada - advice please!
 

Don't pay anyone anything for any part of the process- all the advise you need is here. Welcome!

First thing you have to do is try and establish what category or option of immigration you can persue.

Then you need to start learning about Canada because it is a huge place.

As alluded too already a lot of your current situation problems are more easily addressed by simply moving somewhere else in the UK.

Your situation sounds familiar. Please also review this link:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=830546

Re: Thinking of Canada - advice please!
 

"cramped living conditions here in the uk (our garden is the size of a postage stamp!)"

Interesting comment. When we first started looking at houses in/around Calgary we thought all the gardens would be massive because the country is so big. In practice, most of the houses in the Calgary area seem to have very small gardens (smaller than ours in the UK), and are built very close together. You may be lucky and find one that isn't, but they tend to be very expensive, and out of town.

Not sure where in Canada you're looking at, and I only know about Calgary, but I'd do some research as you may get an unpleasant surprise otherwise.

Good luck.

Re: Thinking of Canada - advice please!
 

whatever you do, DO NOT pay anyone for any sort of service or promise to find you jobs etc! there was a guy on here recently who paid £2500 up front and has heard next to nothing in return, he is now in the process of trying to find someone to help retrieve his money!
My husband and i, and our two children are in the process of moving to canada at the moment and OH has just signed a 3yr contract with an employer.
He sent his c.v away to several companies over there and it went from there really.
Good luck and wish you all the best

Re: Thinking of Canada - advice please!
 

hiya. I have lived in Toronto Ontario and the UK. If you have the dream when you are young, go for it!! Canada is a big place but heck my parents did it when they were young with me and they made IT work! I myself love both places and decided to move my family back to the UK and good point was made about trying maybe another area of UK. We are down in Devon and absolutely love it here!!! Lots of green space and have a nice size garden for our children. anyway I won't go on about UK, cause this site is about Canada.
there are Jobs are out there, but, it won't be easy. Can you find work before you go? What part of Canada to you intend to reside as research your chosen field and see what pay is like etc and rent or cost of houses.
Good luck not sure if im much help but if you want to talk Canada I'd be happy to help if I can. lived there for 30+yrs.

Re: Thinking of Canada - advice please!
 

I also expected to find houses with big properties, nice gardens etc. but nope! They like to squeeze as many properties onto a plot of land as they can, and then allow all of your neighbours watch you try to enjoy the 4sq ft of sun that your back garden offers haha It seems the more they build, the smaller the gardens are getting.

That's my view of what's happening anyways, and I am only speaking for the Lower Mainland of BC. It may be different elsewhere.. but I doubt it.

Re: Thinking of Canada - advice please!
 

It's quite simple really. Developers (of the big chunk of property) want to maximize the yield (number of lots) so they make more money. In North American cities, they are trying to densify, taking a couple of single family lots and developing them into townhouses or condos.

Usually, if you want a plot of "land" you have to go rural then you have to deal with the drive to work in the City.

Re: Thinking of Canada - advice please!
 

Yup.. It is strange to drive through a neighbourhood of single family houses and then come across a small development of 'townhouses'. They look so out of place.. As does the random single family home nestled amongst newer developments/apartment buildings as they didn't sell to the developers.

Re: Thinking of Canada - advice please!
 

They are planning rules too, to prevent urban sprawl.

Re: Thinking of Canada - advice please!
 

It does depend where you live in Canada, and you don't have to be right out in the sticks to have an affordable house with a nice chunk of property.

Peterborough, Ontario for example...perfect location to enjoy all the outdoors has to offer....and its a big enough city (well I call it a town) for all your needs, and just a 10-15minute drive out of town will get you a nice sized house and very sizeable plot of land....for the price of an averaged 3 bedroomed semi in the UK.

Added to that its only an hour and half drive to Toronto if you want or need the big city for anything.

The drawback is if you can find work in or nearby Peterborough, but then I suppose the same goes if you relocated to a rural part of the UK, also its not the best place to live for a single person, as I have found, but as your a family and looking to enjoy the outdoors Peterborough would be perfect for you...all depends on employment opportunities and how far you want to commute.

Re: Thinking of Canada - advice please!
 

Me and my wife are in the process of moving to canada and went to expo overseas fair in London it had a lot of use full information for us there it is defiantly worth a trip. We got talking to someone who works for the federal skilled workers in bc and he took my cv handed it out and found me an offer off employment, I now have the contracts all signed and just waiting to get the visa then were off as people have said you better of with someone like him as they don't want any money off you the companies in canada bc pay them to find people for them if you want any one more info send me a pm and I would be more than happy to help.

Good luck

Re: Thinking of Canada - advice please!
 

I can give a bit of insight on houses in Oakville, Ontario. Oakville has a mix of good-sized houses on large-ish lots (50x120 or so) in the "older" areas - pretty well anything south of Upper Middle, as well as River Oaks, Wedgewood Creek, and parts of Joshua Creek. The newer the house, the smaller the lot size, generally speaking. If you go to the newer areas - Westoak Trails, Glenorchy, the north part of Joshua Creek, etc, then the houses are about the same size but on much smaller lots, more like 40x90.

Lots of the areas do have rows of townhouses that look like less of an eyesore than others, and there are some condo buildings dotted around, but Oakville is predominantly detached homes.

An average 4-bedroom well-maintained but not renovated house in Glen Abbey in Oakville will sell for maybe $850,000 or so (more if it has lots of renovations and/or a bigger-than-average lot), and Oakville is a 30 minute drive to Toronto in no traffic, and on the Lakeshore West line which actually means regular trains in and out - 25 minutes on the express, or 45 minutes on the stopper.

(Friends of mine bought a terraced house in Zone 4 in London, 4 bedrooms, renovated kitchen but lots of work elsewhere, pretty good lot, 10 minute walk to the train station that's then 15-25 minutes into London, and they paid £575,000.)

Re: Thinking of Canada - advice please!
 

This looks tricky to me. University administration is a dead-man's shoes line of work, you need to be a graduate of the university where you're applying and, even with that connection, it's very hard to find a post. I suspect internal audit is the more dynamic environment, maybe pursue that?

Re: Thinking of Canada - advice please!
 

Ambit Recruitment in Toronto specializes in Audit recruitment.