hi, i am one of those lucky enough to have a position on the PNP for Calgary police. i am a swerving UK police officer at the MO. i did the testing in Oct 06 and expect to have residency by sept 07. My wife and i have been in the loop since oct 05 (immigration papers sent) and looking since may 04. without the PNP we would have at least another 2 years to wait as skilled worker applications are taking approx 42 months to process. that means to reach the top of the pile.
If you are serious at staying in the Police you will find the canadian police is far superior to the beurocratic machine we currently work in, better wages (starting salary $72000), reasonable home prices(compared to what we have to pay) and good benefits (health care, OT etc).
Although employers are sdesperate for skilled workmen, it seems that there desperation does not filter through to the immigration people, and unless you get sponsored by a good employer, the wait can be long and frustrating. In one way its good, they dont accept anyone unlike the UK, but for those of us with vakluable experience and skills, it can be a drag.

i would strongly suggest that you take a trip to canada. the west is very different from the east. What are you looking for in your new life? I was lucky, i visited BC and AB in one holiday, loved AB, came back 6 months later with the kids and since then have been back every 9 months for a week or two making sure that i haven' t missed something...can it really be this good? surely there is something bad i can say about this place?..... to date NO.

there are quite a few ex yorkshire bobbies in CPS now too, i did a ride along with two of them in Oct, so you wouldn't be alone and would have someone else who could understand your accent.

good luck

bobster

hi, i am one of those lucky enough to have a position on the PNP for Calgary police. i am a serving UK police officer at the MO. i did the testing in Oct 06 and expect to have residency by sept 07. My wife and i have been in the loop since oct 05 (immigration papers sent) and looking since may 04. without the PNP we would have at least another 2 years to wait as skilled worker applications are taking approx 42 months to process. that means to reach the top of the pile.
If you are serious at staying in the Police you will find the canadian police is far superior to the beurocratic machine we currently work in, better wages (starting salary $72000), reasonable home prices(compared to what we have to pay) and good benefits (health care, OT etc).
Although employers are sdesperate for skilled workmen, it seems that there desperation does not filter through to the immigration people, and unless you get sponsored by a good employer, the wait can be long and frustrating. In one way its good, they dont accept anyone unlike the UK, but for those of us with vakluable experience and skills, it can be a drag.

i would strongly suggest that you take a trip to canada. the west is very different from the east. What are you looking for in your new life? I was lucky, i visited BC and AB in one holiday, loved AB, came back 6 months later with the kids and since then have been back every 9 months for a week or two making sure that i haven' t missed something...can it really be this good? surely there is something bad i can say about this place?..... to date NO.

there are quite a few ex yorkshire bobbies in CPS now too, i did a ride along with two of them in Oct, so you wouldn't be alone and would have someone else who could understand your accent.

good luck

bobster

Katie - hi - welcome to BE. You've been given lots of good advice already.
I would just say - keeps as many options open as possible.

If Mark can get the points, submit the Skilled Worker Application. You may also qualify for the points too, think about it that way round too. If you are very keen on the police, and I'm not sure that you are from your post (!), then certainly investigate the Provincial Nominee Programme via Calgary or Edmonton which could make the process SO much quicker. (That won't work, however if during your visit, you fall in love with Vancouver or other bits of British Columbia!!) I guess in some ways it doesn't really matter who is the principal applicant or who gets the job offer first, if you are both planning on working anyway. You've both got skill sets that can be exploited to get you over there.

And then, of course, as you already know, there is the WP route for Mark - but that might limit what YOU can or can't do initially ...

Gosh, decisions, decisions ! I don't envy you this bit - been there - but it'll all come out good in the end Very best of luck to both of you.
PM Robin or me for any other queries - we're in the same position as you and have muddled together lots of reseach already ...