Hello everyone.

Following my interviews with some Canadian Engineering Companies in the UK, I have found out that two are interested in bringing me and my wife over to Alberta for a "look see". Wow - it's moving so quick! One company is already drafting a provisional job offer.

We are likely to be over in January for up to 7 days. By my reckoning we will probably have 2-3 days to ourselves to carry out some serious research, after we have spent time visiting the interested companies/had final interviews etc.

I have taken my internet based research pretty much as far as it can go, so now it's time to hit the streets of Calgary or Edmonton (depends on where the companies are based). We want to make the most of our time, so in your experience, if you had 2-3 days to get as much in as possible what would you do? Our rough schedule will be as follows:

Banks - for accounts plus general mortgage info (will probably use a broker when time comes.)

Houses - check out best places (most affordable) to live, get rental information as well (for first 6 months before buying)

Groceries - carry out a trial shop and get an idea of prices.

Utilities - find out who provides what (electric/gas/telephone/internet etc) and general idea of cost.

Schools - for our 3 year old

Probably far too much to do in the time available!!

Anything else you would suggest?

Obviously things seem pretty exciting at the present, however we will need to focus on "is this a place we feel we can live in?" thoughts rather than being on holiday!

[QUOTE=ARH]Hello everyone.

Following my interviews with some Canadian Engineering Companies in the UK, I have found out that two are interested in bringing me and my wife over to Alberta for a "look see". Wow - it's moving so quick! One company is already drafting a provisional job offer.

We are likely to be over in January for up to 7 days. By my reckoning we will probably have 2-3 days to ourselves to carry out some serious research, after we have spent time visiting the interested companies/had final interviews etc.

Hi ARH

Mortgage was not a problem for us when we moved to Calgary in 1997. I was with HSBC in the UK and set up an account in Calgary and got a mortgage from the UK HSBC history.

I would find out what salary and your net income will be. Try to talk to as many people to find what your real costs are.

We look at car prices, goods in stores such WalMart, Home Depot and thought everything was much cheaper when we visited Alberta in 1996.
At the time I was earning ₤45K/yr at aged 32, so we thought everything would be much cheaper than the UK.

Find out what schooling charges are i.e pre-school and full time school.
We found that the invisible living costs which you did not see on vacation to Canada were significantly higher than we had when we left the UK.

Were found that in 1997 living in Suffolk our monthly living costs were ₤1100 and when we moved to Calgary they were $2500/mth. It may not seem much of a difference but it went from 45% of my take home pay to 85%.

Find out what you pay for food, car insurance/maintenance, property taxes, medical insurance premiums, utility costs, internet/phone, home insurance etc. Canadians happy to talk about there bills etc(they are like Brits and liked moaning about costs too).

We liked Alberta but we left due to the slide in oil prices in 1999 and the job market at that time was not good. Most likely if I managed to get a comparable income/job I had previously in the UK we would have stayed.

We are living back in Oxfordshire and I start a new job in Gateshead tomorrow.

Moving to Canada is a good life experience, but we found it very expensive and at times affected your family life.

Hope you interviews go well.

hudd

Thanks for your response hudd, much appreciated....

Did you keep your property in the UK when you moved over?

I will certainly ask to get net income figures, I'll also see what level of contribution is expected for the retirement savings plan, both run 401k I think....

Schools charges, now there's something we haven't thought of - other than Kindergarten. Is there a cost for Primary/Secondary education?

Sounds like you took a hefty cut in salary to move over to Canada! I'll have to see what offers are on the table... I'm not going to accept a significant cut (if any) to make this move I'm affraid. My research to date seems to point to the fact that the cost of living is probably maginally higher in Canada than the UK. Low car/fuel prices are offset by high insurance/lower mpg vehicles, lower house prices are offset to some extent by higher grocery and some higher utility bills.

On line salary surveys seem to point to the fact that my area of expertise earns marginally more in Canada (even after exchange rate) than what I'm being paid the UK. So even if I step down the ladder to come across, I may not loose out on the salary stakes.

My family and I are in no desperate need to leave the UK, our quality of life is pretty good - but we want, as you say, a different and positive life experience. Key thing for me is what disposable income I'm left over with at the end of the month - if this can go further in Canada then great - if not then it may not be worth the expense of moving out.

And finally.....Best of luck in your new job!

It may not net out at a greater disposable income per se, but you may find that it goes to different things...different leisure, etc. That's where it can give you & family the benefits of migration. e.g. if in the UK you'd spend 100 GBP taking kids to the mindless tribalism that is soccer you could take them ski-ing. If you spend 20GBP going for a drive to some nice rural location littered with McGonads wrappers, you might find that 10 GBP gets you to some awe inspiring pristine mountain vista. What's the deal there ? Depends what you want from life in Canada. A marginal lower monthly residual for better quality of life, dustbins emptied weekly without microchips. Clean vomit-free streets. Polite people etc. There will be things you'[d never noticed before that make life in Canada just feel better.

Good luck,

Rich.

Good points Rich. Thanks. This is why we want to make the most of our time in Canada in January - get a feel for the place as well as research. I think there is a danger in over analysing the cost of living, whilst it's important to do the homework, it's also how the place makes you feel. Clean streets, polite people, even getting better value for your taxes I suppose - are all part of that as you rightly say.

I agree, a weekend in the Rocky Mountains seems a much better prospect at the moment....!

Oh and I meant to add , be sure to look for the bad as well as the good, it's out there of course, this is North America after all. The underclasses, working poor, the ghettoes, however small, it's all out there.

Just don't be afraid of it..... after all, there's no Daily Mail to worry about
;-)

Rich.

Ahh, the good old "Daily Scaremongerer" - something I won't miss!