Bubble90

Ohh, OK I see what you mean. So we would need separate visas? I will need to look more into it.

Personally, I would rather have a more permanent solution so as not to risk moving my son around too much. Still doing my research on it all. Thanks for the help! Really appreciate it

christmasoompa

Ideally, you'd both get IEC's - I know you said you didn't want to work, but at least it would give you the option just in case, and you'd then have the same duration of visa. But if not, then you'd be admitted as a visitor if you entered with your husband, so although you can't be listed as a dependent on his IEC, you can stay with him for it. There's also the option of an open work permit if he finds skilled work.

I don't blame you. I wouldn't have moved with kids on an IEC with no guarantee of being able to stay permanently either personally - it's great for those that are young and without a family, but it's not something I'd consider myself. A few on the forum have done though, so different strokes for different folks and all that.

For pretty much any route to Permanent Residency (FST, FST, PNP etc), your husband will need to score above the aforementioned 450 or so on the CRS, so the first thing to do is check out his score on that. If he doesn't score enough, then your only way over would be a more temporary visa first i.e. a temp work permit or study permit. At least then you'd know and could decide if you're prepared to risk that or not.

Best of luck.

Snowy560

Hi read the section "Applicant not accompanied by dependents" section.

International Mobility Program: Canadian interests – Reciprocal employment – International Experience Canada [R205(b)] (exemption code C21)

which indicates you could each apply separately for a spot.

There are currently 385 spots still available for Irish citizens, but the number of spots has been decreasing steadily. Soon there won't be any left. It's a program that's open and available to apply for right now, if you meet the criteria.

Getting Canadian work experience could increase your chances of being eligible for something more permanent if it's in the right level of occupation.

Good luck with everything.

S

Eddmac

We moved from Northern Ireland to BC one year ago, yesterday.
We moved for some of the reasons you stated and others.
We have found the quality of life here to be fabulous, we have made great friends and we have just bought a beautiful house.

There are negatives to go with the positives. There is crime and drugs here, just like everywhere else, property is very expensive, the cost of living is high - mostly due to the property market in my opinion, everything else is similar. Generally wages are higher, so it balances out.

I came here on a temporary foreign worker visa. My employer had to apply for a "labour market opinion" (now called a labour market impact assessment or something like that) basically, they had to prove they couldn't fill my job locally and had to prove they advertised etc. I then applied for and received provincial nomination with which I applied for permanent residency, which is progressing very slowly, which is normal.

This process has taken about two years so far, but we have spent half of it in Canada.

We absolutely love it here and I haven't even thought of going back!

I would recommend coming for a holiday to the area you are interested in, both in the summer so you can see some sunshine, but also in the winter - particularly if you're thinking of Ontario. Winters there can be very very harsh.

Best of luck

Eddie

Bubble90

Thanks for everyone's help I really wouldn't know where to start had I not came across this forum. Seems to be same sort of pros and cons for moving anywhere abroad really.

It's nice to hear of people loving their life in Canada! Most of what I have read is negative but I suppose it's all about the way you look at things too. Like I said we have family in Canada and they are very happy there and they've been there for a very long time now. I'm just curious to know how others feel about it.

Ive seen a few posts about schools? My son is very young but it had always been my intention to send him to a private school (if I could afford it). Myself and my husband went to the same schools and we were held back by the rest of the students (it was a rough area and most (not all) students spent their time annoying teachers), So we spent most of our time being lectured on behaviour rather than learning anything! Would we have the same problem with schools in Canada or does that come back down to where we choose to live? Obviously I don't know the areas very well...

Although the cost of living seems higher, it does seem that it all weighs up. We just about afford our house at home at the moment as my husbands hours and wages have been cut right back. So its our intention to move before something else pops up that dips into our savings! It's always the way isn't it...

MikeUK

where we lived in Canada (Caledon, Ontario) it was difficult to move schools if you didn't like the one you were in

Not sure the private school's were all they we're cracked up to be, we heard mixed opinions ... and for many of our neigbours in Caledon cost wasn't an issue


Ironically 'one' (there were many) of the reasons we've moved back was our boys schooling (8 & 11) my wife an ex high school teacher has a pretty low opinion of the teaching methods in Canada and an even lower opinion of the teachers unions

Moving for your Kids future is a Sh1T reason and by the time they grow up everything will have changed, and you can't predict how......

Bubble90

I'm just curious about the schools. I'm not planning on moving because I think the schools will be better than they are here, but would like to have an idea of what they are like.

I'm not trying to compare any country to the UK as we have no intention of staying here. We have a few reasons for moving and some very personal that I won't mention. Everyone has their own reasons for moving, and their own reasons for returning to the UK. Our plan has always been Australia and that's what we have aimed for, but as I've mentioned we have family in Canada which is why were now looking a bit more into it so like to gather up as much info as possible.

MikeUK

For me the main difference was that the curriculum seems to be driven very locally, with some alignment provincially but almost no linkage federally.. so a bit of a mixed bag to talk about Canada in one go..
Our experience in Ontario in the GTA, the curriculum seemed to be focused on the mainstream, leaving those at the bottom of the class to founder, and those at the top bored
A practise of nobody loses also meant that those systems in place to help poorly performing children tended to become dumping ground for the mentally handicapped as it was easier than telling people these children didn’t belong in the system, the poorly performing instead of improving, by default became top of the class of a class going nowhere… a bit of a mess and by-product of political correctness..
One of the biggest problems we encountered was the strength of the union, it meant is was almost impossible to move a bad teacher, so like or not if the school was stuck with sh1te performer your child would in effect lose a year of school
One of our local classics was the Ontario teacher of the year.. lost his job, because a more senior union member needed a job… there is no merit system to support good teacher… but an amazing system to give bad teacher job security
Add to this the fact that in our board a few years ago, the teacher training days suddenly appeared the day after along week end… nice for the teachers to get a bonus day… but also nearly impossible to get any day care… forcing many to have to take extra days off to look after their kids… when you only have 2 weeks, losing 1 for teaching training days really pisses you off…..

Roberto1980

We do not live in Canada yet. But have now got our PR.

For what its worth (and to stick to your original question) here's my perceived opinion of Canada..


Positives
- Clean, Safe communities.
- Less depravation than majority of UK.. And all the unfortunate negatives that this brings.
- Diverse climate. Actual sunny summers!
- Food courts / Tim Hortons

'Day to day' Negatives
- Tax not put on items (until you get to the checkout)
- Tipping culture (keeping up the stereotype of a tight Scot)
- Amount of TV advertisements


I'm certain this list will change once we actually try living there...

It's also a whole other thread when comparing life between where you are now, and where you think you want to be in Canada in the future..

scrubbedexpat091

Except for gas, they include the tax in the price for you....

BristolUK

And almost everything you eat and drink that you buy in the supermarket or liquor store.

So it's really just a small % of everyday things that tax needs to be added to.

Aviator

Most of what you buy in a grocery store has no tax.

Oink

Oink

callysykes

Hi
I know this is a really hard decision. We have also had a long drawn out process trying to decide between Canada/ Australia. For me Canada won out as it would be much easier to come home and see friends/ family (although i see that's not so high on your importance list) and it still ticked a lot of boxes in terms of things that we like. We lived in Vancouver for a year six years ago and we have finally made the decison to go back and we are just waiting for our visas to go through. We have two kids (4 yrs and 1 1/2yrs) actually my son is just starting school tomorrow but will just be going 3 days a week till we leave (an extension of playschool really)

What I loved about Vancouver:
- big mountains
- great beachs
- big lakes
- great walks
- people are really active
- it feels like there is a lot of opportunity (although there is a lot of talk about the Canadian economy crashing)
- the school systems rank higher than english schools
- they start a year later which will be better academically for our kids
- milder winters than most places in Canada but you can still get up the mountains for snow


I think the cost of living is pretty relative to the UK to be honest