Hortons to go

Hi all, After a little over four years of talking about Canada to everyone i meet and a month long visit to Nova Scotia last year, i finally think the time for talking has to stop and we need to get going.

I am interested to hear when did others on here decided to bite the bullet and start acting rather than dreaming?

Was there one thing that made you decide, 'right we're going'.
or
were you pushed and now thankful

And what was your first positive step to start the ball rolling?

Thanks for your time.

R I C H

We were discussing all the implications when I heard that my job was likely to be made redundant, so that gave us some impetus to get on with things.

The house went up for sale and we'd moved to BC within 3mths. In retrospect we probably bit off more than was sensible (buying a horribly run down property while here as tourists and then applying for WP's to run a business), but sometimes some pressure to have to knuckle down and make things work can be a good thing.

If we'd just sat out the last 3yrs in the UK waiting for PR I think we'd have got pretty frustrated and bored with the whole process. Being proactive is the best way to realise your goals and ambitions.

Hortons to go

Hi, thanks for the reply. Last year we popped into a few real estate offices and see some great houses but couldnt commit due to the 'dreaded fear' I have been self sufficiant for years and i can't see why it would be different for me in Canada.

Did you not worry about being kicked out for not having the correct papers?
Did you find work soon after landing?

Judy in Calgary

R I C H didn't find work. He made his own work. What he did took a tremendous amount of guts. You can read his story in his original post on this forum, UK --> Kamloops: My Story.

I believe there were a lot of risks in what R I C H did, and I take my hat off to him for doing it.

But his case is unique on this forum. I'm not aware of anyone else here who has done quite the same thing.

Yes, there are a few other forum members who have started businesses in Canada, but as far as I am aware they did so as permanent residents. R I C H is the only person here who, to my knowledge, has obtained a temporary work permit on the basis of starting a business.

Relatively recently Mr. and Mrs. R I C H became permanent residents. But that was unrelated to the temporary work permits that they got in order to run their business. Rather, the PR application that they had submitted three years or so previously ran its normal course and was accepted.
x

R I C H

We were perfectly entitled to be here as tourists, the most stressful part was getting the paperwork together for the WP application. We employed an immigration lawyer to help us, so we relied on his advice and expertise.

We started our own business, rather than finding employment, which was a little daunting having not been self-employed before.

Nobody's going to push you to make the leap and 'start doing' - you need to motivate yourself and decide the risk is worth the effort. If the pull factors of Canada aren't strong enough, then ultimately I think it's unlikely to work out long term.

Attitude is important, move for positive reasons rather than negative, and work each day to trying to achieve your goals. Some days are tough and you'll question the decision you've made, but if you don't get off your butt then you may live with the question 'what if...?' forever.

Souvenir

In January 2000, it emerged that Souvette was going to have to leave the UK in the summer. She really couldn't stay and longer. The only options were to say bye-bye to her or bye-bye to the UK. We both left in August.

mandymoochops

Picture the scene - lazy hazy summer afternoon in July 2006 Norfolk, having a bbq with friends. Mrr MMC gazes into my eyes and says lovingly

"I'm sick to death of this s**thole, lets move somewhere" (not sure whether he meant England, Norfolk, Wells or our decking but anyway)

The morning after the alcohol had cleared the system I gently ran it by him and he said he was serious - not something i'd ever contemplated but then thought, how exciting!!!!

So we spents hours, days and weeks on the internet researching many diff places and decided on Canada. Mr MMC applied for some jobs and we came for an interview last year in May.

TWP approved and we arrived here November 13th 2007. Best thing we ever did. Lifes an adventure

Souvenir

I think I was pissed at the time, too.

mandymoochops

Don't let Souvette here you say that. Joking aside sometimes the kneejerk reactions have the best outcomes, take Rich for eg. He says with the benefit of hindsight he would have done it a different way but if its the right thing to do at the time - then go for it!

Canada Dreams

go on risk it

Getting There

We had been toying with the idea of making a move from the UK for some months before we put our SW application in around Nov 04. We had toured many parts of the USA but they never quite felt like they could be a new home for us (as opposed to great places to visit). We felt the same about Vancouver when we visited in May 2003 but soon after we arrived for a holiday in Calgary/the Rockies in July 2004, we began to develop an affinity with the place. Despite having carved out a reasonably comfortable existence for ourselves in the UK, we began to think "we have one chance at life, why not take a risk or two and see what we can make of a life in Calgary" and over a rack of ribs at Tony Romas the decision was made to start gathering our papers for our application. Some 9 months after the move, all is going well so far.

Eamonn & Janet.

Hortons to go

This site just gets better and better, thanks for the replies.

What would you suggest our next move should be? Our worry is that i have no qualified skill to speak of, i have been self employed for around 15 years. I have had a domestic appliance repair business which evolved into a retail and rental business, I have renovated a couple of houses and picked up loads of skills as i did many of the jobs including plumbing, electrical, and i even tiled a roof. Currently i have a small used car lot. Thankfully we can raise a few hundred dollars to help. We thought of buying a guest house but not sure if that would qualify for business class status. We welcome any advice but on here just reading peoples experiences helps.
Thanks for you time.

Judy in Calgary

Perhaps the Nova Scotia Community Identified Stream (NS-CIS) would work for you, and it's something you might at least investigate.

I see from other threads that you've been to Nova Scotia on a recce trip and you've received some advice about the real estate market and other issues from locals. It's very useful to hear the real deal from local residents and, at this stage of your research, local residents who do not have a vested interest in your decision about whether or not to buy property.

I'm not saying that the NS-CIS is the be-all and end-all of everything, as some people will imply. But, if you don't fit into one of the other boxes and you need to think outside the box, the NS-CIS may provide an answer.
x

Patsy

This doesnt really answer your question.
We didnt actually act out our dream. After years talking, thinking, literally dreaming, asking advice, filling in forms, talking about it again to ANYONE who had the slightest connection with Canada, i realised it had affected the quality of our life here. For example, i turned around and the kids had grown up!! what happened there?
just do it or dont, but my advice is dont ponder for too long.

Hortons to go

Thank you Judy, that might just be the best bit of information i have ever received from this site. When we were over last year we looked at a large 3000 sq ft house, it was advertised as a fixer upper. It had 9 bedrooms and we asked if we could apply for a change of use to a guesthouse. We were told that we could apply to planning. Later sitting in a Tim Hortons we discussed about using the house as a development and if we got planning to start a business. This in our mind would give us good reason for living in NS as we developed the house as a job and once converted open it as a guest house and then running it would be our full time job. If business was slow then we could get second jobs even working in Tim Hotorns i joked.

Reading the NS-CIC i am now thinking this could be an option. The time spent renovating would i feel allow us to make contact with local businesses and the town hall etc. Then maybe fitting into the community. We have made friends in Nova Scotia, a young couple with two children, one if from Newfoundland and the other from Cape Breton. We learnt a lot so far from them. They live in the Valley and i hope our friendship grows. We loved NS and the sense of community as i feel this is missing where we live.