Teanmontana

So 12 months after moving from the UK to Montana USA we find ourselves moving again, through no fault of our own we have been told we have to leave the US by the end of the year. The site I currently work at has been sold as part of a company acquisition and a I am a L1B status I can no long work at the site under the new owners. We were given a choice as to go home to the UK or take a re-location to Canada. We weren't ready to go home and have worked out a new contract and re-location deal with my company and will be heading up to Canada in the next few months. There is just my wife and I as our daughter stayed in the UK to study when we left.
A few fact about us and the situation.
Age - M36 F38
From - Stoke on Trent UK
Profession - Engineer & Special schools practisioner.
Work base in Canada - Mississauga on the shore of the lake
Housing areas we are looking at - Oakville - Milton and surrounding, approx 40 minute commute.

So this isn't our first rodeo but we by no means know everything to know, so any helpful tips or advice would be well received about moving up to Canada.

Thanks

D&C

ScotinCanada

DigitalGhost

Not much to tell really. Expect much of the same only slightly stricter liquor laws and probably a more relaxed and safer way of life. There are numerous pages on here regarding bank accounts etc and I'm sure your employer will be helping with settlement.

The only thing to keep in mind is that the word Engineer is somewhat protected in Canada when it comes to job descriptions and qualifications whereas it tends to be used slightly more often in the UK and US. This won't be a big deal for you right now since you have work sorted out in advance but it might be something to consider if you look to change jobs later on.

DigitalGhost

Just to mention that you might find it easier to find things from home in Ontario as well compared with the US as Canada is still a commonwealth country and has a large expat population from the UK, Ireland and India.

It isn't uncommon to see things like Tetley tea bags, mushy peas, crumpets, baked beans and rich tea biscuits in the normal supermarket and they're not altogether terribly priced either.

Engineer_abroad

You will need to get licensed with PEO to gain your P.Eng. status in Ontario. Were you a PE in Montana? If so you may find it easier. PEO are known to be a little more difficult to deal with.

Kentonmag

You mention that there is only the two of you. and your place of work is Lakeside. Mississauga, so depending what your budget is I would try and find something between Southdown and Cawthra in the Port Credit area, South of the QEW. You will really cut down on commuting and gas money. There is a nice small town center with bars and restaurants. Oakville, unless you live off Lakeshore, is just a boring suburb where you can't do anything without having to drive anywhere. I don't know Milton but the travel is further than Oakville down to the Lakeside. You also don't say whether you are looking to buy or rent, which will also be a big factor in your choice.

Siouxie

You don't mention whether it's your intention in the long term to remain in Canada and get your Permanent Residence.. but if it is, please bear in mind that your daughter will only remain a dependent for PR application purposes up til her 22nd birthday. After that, she would have to find a way to gain PR under her own steam, if she wanted to be here with you both. If it is your intention I would encourage you to apply before she is 22 (the age is locked in at application) even if she says she isn't interested - kids change their mind and it's always good to have options.. as I told my son many years ago, if you have it you can choose to come or not - but if you don't go on the application you won't have a choice.

Best of luck with the move across!

Teanmontana

OK thanks definitely worth remembering.

Teanmontana

Good to hear as they are hard to come by in Montana lol can't beat Heinz BB LOL

Teanmontana

OK will take a look at that definitely worth knowing

Teanmontana

Thank you

Rete

All of which are readily available in the majority of US supermarkets. Canada doesn't have a monopoly on selling Brit products in their local marketplaces.

Teanmontana

Apart from in Montana lol lol

Oakvillian

I live in Oakville (in the "boring suburb" part according to Kentonmag, north of the QEW highway, but hey ho) and work on Lakeshore Rd in Port Credit. FWIW my commute is around 15km each way, about a 20-minute drive in rush hour, which is a huge quality-of-life improvement over my previous schlep right across Toronto, so I love it! If I were younger, less fat, and more inclined to that sort of violent physical exercise, it would be quite easily cycleable.

The strip of Lakeshore just east of the Credit River and west of Hurontario is buzzing - plenty of restaurants & bars, some of which are more salubrious than others. Accommodation options vary from the McMansions up the Mississauga Road and into Lorne Park to the west, to some fairly ordinary condo blocks up towards Port Credit station and the foot of Hurontario St, and everything in between. Depending on whereabouts in Mississauga you'll be based for work, it might be very possible to have a walking commute (though less likely if your place of work is in the industrial area off Southdown Road - as you're coming from Montana are you in the oil industry, by any chance?).

Reading between the lines, if you are indeed going to be in the Southdown area, then Clarkson Village would be your next-best bet for a v short commute and a decent place to live. Again, a mix of all sorts of different housing; not quite such a village-y feel as Port Credit but still a thriving community in its own right (and a couple of decent pubs, which is always important...)

Keep us posted as your plans firm up. There may be an excuse to have another try at a west-of-Toronto meetup in one of those pubs...

dbd33

I lived in what is now the Waterside Inn in Port Credit, in the apartment building opposite the Clarkson GO and up Lorne Park Road by the high school. I hope this scores me very many Kentonmag points. All of those were ok places in a suburban, would go home if I had the airfare, kind of way. I work now with a Russian who has just bought a house after renting in the area for a few years. He advises that 55 Park St. is still the building to avoid and that the one to the west of the Credit river mouth is still nice.