Was, been retired for five years now.

Thanks for that.

Quite a change from 1972 when I was hired the minimum requirement was Alberta grade 11. It was then a government department under Transport Canada.

Yes, you are right. I missed the trades out of my thought process completely. Duh.

What do you do and which province are you going to? I know many people who had a really hard time in BC getting established. Most gave up and went home. Good degrees (outside of the trades, oops) are almost a minimum requirement in this province. I do not know anyone outside of academia (and the trades) who earns more than they did in the UK, me included.

Agreed...IMHO when you immigrate your new country offers a different type of living. You may have more disposable income, the air may be cleaner etc but this doesn't necessarily mean you will have a better standard of living or be any happier.

Hi C_M,

Sorry to hear about your frustration. As you can see from our timeline, we are in the same situation. The last few weeks have been even more so as CHC asked us for further information and we complied.

6 weeks later they asked us to send the 'original' of one of the updates we supplied. We already had sent them the original - a blank form, completed in black ink which they believed to be a photocopy! Arrrgh!

In the end, only you can decide what to do.

As Karen1 suggests, taking the new job means you get more experience (and money) while you wait. If it helps, go back to the reasons why you applied in the first place. Try to forget the speed of the process and focus on what you seek.

I'm sure it will come to pass.

Patience my young Jedi.

Keep smiling.

Simon

Are you in academia, dingbat?

C_M,

I know how frustrating this can be, I applied via the SW application back in Nov 2004

I attended the Emigration seminar in Esher at Sandown Park about 18 months ago, where the CHC were in attendance, and on approaching them about my application, they just shrugged their shoulders and said 'This event is really designed for people that are thinking about emigrating...':curse::curse:

Anyway, after several years...yes....years of waiting, I am finally picking up my visas in a couple of weeks

Within this timeframe, I have put up with negative family members and friends, my wife having a miscarriage after trying for children for nearly 10 years, my in-laws not talking about us moving, people slagging us off....I could go on.....

You have to do what is right for you, and giving up after, in my opinion, after such a short space of time, well....you have to ask yourself, and please do not take this the wrong way....do you really want to go in the first place??? Ask yourself that question....

In my opinion (and you can take that for what it is worth), think about the following:

1. If you change your mind and decide to stay in the UK, then have second thoughts and want to leave again, it might be too late to do so

2. If you do stay in the UK, you might live the rest of your life saying to yourself 'what if I had only?' and 'if only I had emigrated...'

3. You only have one shot at life and if moving to another country gives you a better quality of life for you and your family, then so be it!!!

4. If if does fail....then so what!!! At least you have given it a try....emigrating is not for everyone, and even if things go wrong, you can always come back!!!

I hope I have not offended you by writing the above, that was not my intention. You can take my advice, there again, you don't have to...

I wish you all best for you and your family, whatever you decide to do.

Brian

I have read a few posts round here that say it's even worse once you get there and try to get set up. Canada seems to be a lethal combination of chilled-out people and ultra-complex bureaucracy. To this day I cannot understand why CIC makes people wait so long and worse, refuses to take their enquiries. Australia processed me in less than one year and returned my emails with personal phone calls. If Canada treated its prospective immigrants like this there wouldn't be a problem, would there?

Everyone knows how bad it is ( CIC ) even Canadians I have spoken to are pi$$ed with it as they are crying out for skilled people ( as I am now in my Canadian job ), but why oh why do you continually come on here ( the Canadian forum ) and repeat and repeat the same old same old and push Australia ?

Have you that much time on your hands over there ? Seriously no offense meant, but you must yourself feel like a broken record or is it therapeutic for you ? Are you bitter in any way ?

You must love Australia, and I don't blame you. Strikes me as a great place, just too far away for us and our relatives are here in NB.

Please tell me ...... why are you here ?????

No need to get personal Tangy; if we all did that where would be? I will comment on whatever I want to on this forum and I do so without resorting to personal abuse.

The fact that I have several compelling and personal reasons to follow the development and application of the Canadian immigration system has pretty much nothing to do with you at all, and even if I didn't, I would still have every right to comment on it without provocative posts like yours being directed at me.

And the proximity argument is ridiculous unless retired as Canadian annual leave allows for so little time off that trips to the UK become a redundant concept.

And do please tell what I would have to be bitter about? I have relatives in several Canadian provinces and Australian states. I have travelled widely in Canada and the United States and know the two countries well. When we made the decision to go to Australia we did so after extensive research, and we found that we would get twice as much annual leave, 300 days of sunshine a year, a grant for our first house, nice cash sums for every child we have, recognition of our qualifications and experience and a lot more besides, including a nice tropical beach house to retire in. There's not much to be bitter about there. Boy, did I get lucky.

The long-term assessment is looking good for us, thanks to the switch, which was recommended by Canadian relatives by the way. With record outward-migration from Canada I'm not sure what future the country faces, apart from possibly being absorbed by the United States. This might not be such a bad thing (apart from a healthcare perspective of course) as I have said before - there's a reason why so many Canadian pensioners spend six months every winter in Florida on a B2, and it's the same reason why so many young people are buying property on VI - they don't want to be shovelling snow when they're 75. They're thinking ahead.

I'm sure you will. I wasn't being personal, please re-read. I merely asked questions and didn't accuse you of anything at all me ole T. I never said 'please go away and never comment again here - Be Gone ! '

Good for you on landing lucky mate, sounds fantastic.

I interpreted your implication that I was bitter and your inquisitive "why are you here?" as quite confrontational. If this is not the case I take back what I said.

In similar spirit, I hope Canada works out for you; after all, not everyone wants the same thing and the Aussie heat is not for all.

Regards,

T.

You're absolutely right, horses for courses.

I have travelled the world, cam eover in '57 with 8 Brothers, and I still have fond memories of the UK and visit fairly often.

My Dad gave up a good job, but he wanted a better future for his kids, and that is what emigrants do, they make a decision based upon what is the better opportunity for their kids.

I have several degrees, took many Post Grad programmes in Canada and in the US, not bad for a kid from a council flat in Bermondsey.

I hired a lot of people, and i would not interview in mnay cases a person without a Degree, the simple reason was that i expected people to grow from their current position, to assume more challenging positions, a degree was some reassurance of intelligence and common sense.

Canada is not Nirvana, but you certainly can enjoy a better lifestyle, a country with less than 2% of the world's population but 25% of the world's Fresh Water, Oil reserves larger than Saudi Arabia, and completely self sufficient for Food.

Open Spaces, ability to retire with a good social Safety Net but, again, it is not for everyone.

I visited Australia and New Zealand, I hated both places, two of my Brothers travel there frequently, they love it.

ALL Governments are mired in inertia, models of inneficiency, some more than others, but the delays are caused by to many people wantng the time of too few plus 911, everyone is extra cautious.

Glasgow and London this weekend are why.

Happy Canada Day.

I trust you're pulling our collective plonker. It's not necessary to speak fluent English to get a degree in Canada, never mind have common sense. The only thing a candidate having a degree assures is that they were reasonably well funded at the time of taking the course.