steve lowe

hi everyone..
we are thinking of emigrating to canada this year and i have been told to try Vancouver island.. iam a carpenter and we are coming because iam repeatedly being told of the shortage of carpenters in canada.. we are coming over in sept for a couple of weeks to have a look.. so what do you guys think should we look at the island or have you any other suggestions..
we dont want some were to expensive to live for now.. and does any one know what a landed immigrant status is as i was told i might be able to apply..

thanks.... Steve

ellsie

We are also going to VI but can't help you on your job skill. If you check out campbellrivermirror online you can check the classifieds. You will also have links to other newspapers across the island. Campbell River does have a driftwood carving comp each year and all over town you see wood carvings everywhere, huge ones, if you are in the area. And housing is cheap there too.

Island_Girl

Hi Steve

Vancouver Island is a beautiful place to live if you look into Victoria ( the largest city and provincial capital) it can be expensive to live ( I rent a 3 bedroom townhouse for just under $1000 a month) heating is mostly electric.
As you go up island it is less expensive to live. not sure about the work but I hear trades are in great demand all over BC.
Once you have landed immigrant status it means you can live and work in Canada to maintain your status you must live in Canada 3 out of every 5 years. Once you have lived in Canada for 3 years you can apply to become a Canadian Citizen and yes you can retain your British Citizenship and hold your Canadian at the same time.
I would suggest you go online research the job market in BC along with some of the communities you might be interested in visiting.

Island Girl

SarahBC

Hi Steve,

Vancouver Island is a good place to check out. It's got a good variety of communities, and parts of it are not (yet) as expensive as Vancouver. And it's not got the cold winters like other parts of Canada.

The landed immigrant status refers to the right to live permanently in Canada. If you are not Canadian, you can look at:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.html

to find out which visa would be appropriate for you. There are various visa types, appropriate for different circumstances. As you'll see on this forum, waiting times for your visa to be processed can be very, very long.

I haven't got Permanent Residence status in Canada. I was going to apply for a Skilled Worker Visa, but was discouraged by length of waiting time (and the fee!!).

Instead, I contacted an employer who was interested in me. They obtained a Labour Market Opinion (indicating that there wasn't any Canadians waiting to do my job). Once I have the LMO in my hand, I completed a Work Permit application. It took about 3 months to process, and I was issued with a 1 year permit on entry to Canada. It's just been renewed for a further 3 years, but during this time I must obtain my PR status one way or another to be allowed to stay.

Hope this helps,

Sarah

H143

Sorry to go a little off topic, but what are the different ways you can become a landed immigrant?

thanks,
Hayley

sans

Hi steve
Just read your thread, vancouver island is great you and your fam will love it i'm sure. We were over their april 05 visiting friends i met back in the 70s, weve just had are medicals and all being well, will be heading back their are selves. Victoria is a beautiful city, tho expensive you can stand at the waters edge and see seattle at the other side it is really a lovely city, its alot cheaper on the out skirts and nanaimo which is about an hours drive away, is the 2nd biggest on the island, alot cheaper to live their and it seems to be flourishing at the moment, their is alot of houses being built in nanaimo and apparently alot of government money being spent. Lots of info on internet and you can pick up lots from the emigrate shows they have usually a couple a year. My hubby is a welder but as we have been looking, have come across lots for joiners and carpenters maybe you could get on a pnp its supposed to be a lot quicker then skilled worker. Hope this as helped a little. good luck sans

mandyrawlinson

i know alberta has better long term prospects than bc but your a brit, think of that weather, look at the nationals broadsheet and tabloids have adverts in them for all trades, mainley alberta but a few for everywere, there a mag called start or restart(cant remember) large sections on canada.

monster and bc jobs also good job sites.

good luck

sans

I know what your saying about the jobs in alberta, they seem to be crying out for welders their, and i have family in alberta, financially we would probably be better off, but vancouver island is calling me :scared: heart ruling the head abit, but decided it would be easier to move from van island to alberta then alberta to van island, if need be.
Cheers sans

H143

Sorry, was being daft there! Someone once said to me that if you stay here for 3 years you can become a 'landed immigrant' and I was thinking of that. But have now realised landed immigrant simply means PR. I suspect the person telling me that was refering to citizenship.

I've only driven through a bit of Vancouver Island. Victoria was nice, but the rest of what we drove through was a little remote for my liking. But's that's just me, it might look great to others. Apparently Tofino is fantastic to visit. Everyone here raves about it. Not sure it's somewhere you would live though.

bananahammock

I've only driven through a bit of Vancouver Island. Victoria was nice, but the rest of what we drove through was a little remote for my liking. But's that's just me, it might look great to others. Apparently Tofino is fantastic to visit. Everyone here raves about it. Not sure it's somewhere you would live though.[/QUOTE]



We visited Tofino & Ucluelet last week............It is a lovely place to go & see but very small & fairly remote, beaches are great ~ lots of surfers, the drive through the mountains to get there is fantastic when the weather is good but I wouldn't imagine its much fun in the winter. I've included a couple of photos from the drive there..........................................

hot wasabi peas

Fantastic pics!

dexdaw

We did a reccy of the whole island earlier this year. Victorias beautiful but really pricy. $500K dollars gets you a nice house in a nice place. Going up the island, I dont know how you get from Victoria to Nanaimo in an hour unless your using rocket power. At the speed limit its around 3 hours! Personally, and IMHO, I wouldnt live in Nanaimo. It has some nice parts like most places, but a lot of its just a building site. Further up and Parksville is nice, although quiet. Mind you, we didnt notice that much difference in house prices. They were just expensive everywhere! :scared: Places off the beaten track seemed cheaper though. A nice 4 bed in Parksville was around $400k. With regards to work, there is so much building work going on that you should have no problem finding work. Not sure what qualifications you need though, or wether uk qualifications would be recognised.

bananahammock

3 hours!! ...........did you walk
But then, I am a woman driver

Tableland

Victoria to Nanaimo is about 80 miles, so if you were going about 80 miles an hour (130 kms an hour), you would have made it in an hour. As far as I can recall, the limit on this road was 80kms an hour, so this was quite an ambitious speed you achieved!

willmore

We visited Tofino & Ucluelet last week............It is a lovely place to go & see but very small & fairly remote, beaches are great ~ lots of surfers, the drive through the mountains to get there is fantastic when the weather is good but I wouldn't imagine its much fun in the winter. I've included a couple of photos from the drive there..........................................[/QUOTE]

Absolutely gorgeous pics...reconfirms my reasons for living in paradise!