1 Down Hopefully Loads to Go!!!!!!!!
Oct 31st 2008, 6:57 pm
#1
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 279
1 Down Hopefully Loads to Go!!!!!!!!
Well here goes……….at 5pm tonight it will be 1 year ago that we arrived at Calgary airport and had our argument with CBSA. I never realized that coming without our LMO would cause such a problem. We had sold our house and everything in it so we bit the bullet and came over hoping for a couple of weeks holiday before the work started…………we got a 5 hour interrogation. It was not fun as kids were tired and OH was gagging for a beer amongst other things 
. Five hours later at 10pm they were kind enough to let us out of the airport and onto Canadian soil……yay…..no passports as CBSA had decided to keep them and we were required to return the following Friday for an immigration hearing……..so it was a wee bit scary……why are the English not so strict?
OH employer was absolutely fantastic, they worked tirelessly on the Monday and had our LMO for us at 3pm that day……so Tuesday it was back up to Calgary to get passports back and work permit…….phew!!!!! We were all legal and ready to fly……..wohoo!
We settled the kids into school within a week, but OH had to wait for his tools to turn up so didn’t start work until December.
Winter wasn’t as bad as we were expecting except the week of -40, that was a shocker. We had gone out for a meal with some friends and as we left we saw ice on the inside of the windows????? Haha! It is a bit of a strange sensation when your eyelashes freeze and the hairs up your nose. At -19 it is ok in a jumper and coat so you can cope with it quite well. Driving is a different experience, Canada is a big skating rink for cars, it snows, melts freezes overnight then snows again, they don’t grit the roads so it is funny turning corners and your back end just goes another way, believe me that’s not just the cars!!!!!. If you can get a car with a remote starter………do it, it’s freezing getting in a cold car!!!!!!
There is lots of free ice skating for us as well when the lakes freeze up…….very good.
Summer has been fab and we are still at 22oC at the end of October so WOW! No complaints from this end……and we haven’t really had a lot of rain. It was hard work refitting a new bathroom at 40oC but that’s my fault for being impatient!!!!!, But much better than the footbath we had..
Everything has gone well with OH job and he is happier than he has ever been, it is nice to see him so relaxed. My 2 girls have done so well at school, and at 15 and 16 that has been amazing. My eldest has been on the Honors List twice so far and is heading towards her High School Diploma ready for doing a teaching degree and she plans to teach English in Japan, my other daughter wants to go to Australia to be a vet assistant, so I think we have well opened the doors for them by moving here!
Everything didn’t go so well for me, I have struggled with things and went through a really bad time earlier this year feeling really down and spending a lot of my time crying.
I felt extremely isolated and lonely, as the kids were sorted and my partner but I struggled to get a job due to my work permit restrictions. I had been working in the community before and took time out to do hairdressing, thinking I would be better with a trade……..no it doesn’t work that way. You need a license to work as a hairdresser and you need 4300 hrs experience to challenge the exams to get the license……hum!, college time is not counted so the only way I could do this was to go back to school in Calgary or find an apprenticeship……at 39 that was not really likely. I also couldn’t work with people in the community, I needed medicals and police checks before I could change my work permit………when you are trying to stump up a 10% deposit for a house and it has cost loads to get here in the first place…….this was not an option either……you are very limited on your work permit so don’t be fooled by the words “open” because it isn’t that open.
We have had fun and games with immigration also, this has been quite a battle. We initially came on a 6 month work permit as my OH had exams to do to get a license to be an Autobody Tech in Alberta, so it ran out in May. My OH passed his exams with flying colours and gained an inter provincial certificate, which allows him to work in any Canadian province. I applied for TWP extensions in March but only received mine and one daughters study permit in September, we had bought a house and moved, and although I had rang and informed CIC, my OH work permit and other daughters study permit went to our old address. We were not able to apply for replacements until they had been missing 6 weeks!!!!!!! In the meantime, we lost our Alberta healthcare due to the amount of time it had taken the work permits to come……….fab, then only mine and my daughters was re-instated as we had our paperwork. I eventually had to contact the health ministers office about my OH as he had had a few days off sick……$231 for a hospital visit is no fun. I actually got his work permit yesterday……..yay!!!!!!, so it has been a very rockie road.
We have now put in our paperwork for PR and are hoping that all will go smoothly now, and things are looking up on the job front for me at long last.
I have a great group of friends now……thanks to British Expats and Minihaha and her family have been a total godsend in keeping me sane.
In all I would not change a thing and I love being here, 319 days of sunshine a year……who wouldn’t. We have been all over and this is the most beautiful country and the best people I have ever met. We have had so much help and support from people here that I feel in awe of their generosity and compassion. We went into B.C last week and still had people saying “welcome to Canada” , how can you beat that.
. Five hours later at 10pm they were kind enough to let us out of the airport and onto Canadian soil……yay…..no passports as CBSA had decided to keep them and we were required to return the following Friday for an immigration hearing……..so it was a wee bit scary……why are the English not so strict?OH employer was absolutely fantastic, they worked tirelessly on the Monday and had our LMO for us at 3pm that day……so Tuesday it was back up to Calgary to get passports back and work permit…….phew!!!!! We were all legal and ready to fly……..wohoo!
We settled the kids into school within a week, but OH had to wait for his tools to turn up so didn’t start work until December.
Winter wasn’t as bad as we were expecting except the week of -40, that was a shocker. We had gone out for a meal with some friends and as we left we saw ice on the inside of the windows????? Haha! It is a bit of a strange sensation when your eyelashes freeze and the hairs up your nose. At -19 it is ok in a jumper and coat so you can cope with it quite well. Driving is a different experience, Canada is a big skating rink for cars, it snows, melts freezes overnight then snows again, they don’t grit the roads so it is funny turning corners and your back end just goes another way, believe me that’s not just the cars!!!!!. If you can get a car with a remote starter………do it, it’s freezing getting in a cold car!!!!!!
There is lots of free ice skating for us as well when the lakes freeze up…….very good.Summer has been fab and we are still at 22oC at the end of October so WOW! No complaints from this end……and we haven’t really had a lot of rain. It was hard work refitting a new bathroom at 40oC but that’s my fault for being impatient!!!!!, But much better than the footbath we had..
Everything has gone well with OH job and he is happier than he has ever been, it is nice to see him so relaxed. My 2 girls have done so well at school, and at 15 and 16 that has been amazing. My eldest has been on the Honors List twice so far and is heading towards her High School Diploma ready for doing a teaching degree and she plans to teach English in Japan, my other daughter wants to go to Australia to be a vet assistant, so I think we have well opened the doors for them by moving here!
Everything didn’t go so well for me, I have struggled with things and went through a really bad time earlier this year feeling really down and spending a lot of my time crying.
I felt extremely isolated and lonely, as the kids were sorted and my partner but I struggled to get a job due to my work permit restrictions. I had been working in the community before and took time out to do hairdressing, thinking I would be better with a trade……..no it doesn’t work that way. You need a license to work as a hairdresser and you need 4300 hrs experience to challenge the exams to get the license……hum!, college time is not counted so the only way I could do this was to go back to school in Calgary or find an apprenticeship……at 39 that was not really likely. I also couldn’t work with people in the community, I needed medicals and police checks before I could change my work permit………when you are trying to stump up a 10% deposit for a house and it has cost loads to get here in the first place…….this was not an option either……you are very limited on your work permit so don’t be fooled by the words “open” because it isn’t that open. We have had fun and games with immigration also, this has been quite a battle. We initially came on a 6 month work permit as my OH had exams to do to get a license to be an Autobody Tech in Alberta, so it ran out in May. My OH passed his exams with flying colours and gained an inter provincial certificate, which allows him to work in any Canadian province. I applied for TWP extensions in March but only received mine and one daughters study permit in September, we had bought a house and moved, and although I had rang and informed CIC, my OH work permit and other daughters study permit went to our old address. We were not able to apply for replacements until they had been missing 6 weeks!!!!!!! In the meantime, we lost our Alberta healthcare due to the amount of time it had taken the work permits to come……….fab, then only mine and my daughters was re-instated as we had our paperwork. I eventually had to contact the health ministers office about my OH as he had had a few days off sick……$231 for a hospital visit is no fun. I actually got his work permit yesterday……..yay!!!!!!, so it has been a very rockie road.
We have now put in our paperwork for PR and are hoping that all will go smoothly now, and things are looking up on the job front for me at long last.
I have a great group of friends now……thanks to British Expats and Minihaha and her family have been a total godsend in keeping me sane.
In all I would not change a thing and I love being here, 319 days of sunshine a year……who wouldn’t. We have been all over and this is the most beautiful country and the best people I have ever met. We have had so much help and support from people here that I feel in awe of their generosity and compassion. We went into B.C last week and still had people saying “welcome to Canada” , how can you beat that.
Oct 31st 2008, 8:06 pm
#2
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Feb 2007
Location: Okotoks, Alberta
Posts: 1,639
Re: 1 Down Hopefully Loads to Go!!!!!!!!
Hi Rainey69,
Congratulations...in just under 3 hours...for making it through your first year. What a cracking way to start off your Expats posting - a very interesting and well balanced read.
Now that you are beginning to put all the pieces of the jigsaw in their proper places, here's hoping you have many more happy years ahead in Canada.
Kind regards from just down the road in Okotoks,
Eamonn & Janet.
Congratulations...in just under 3 hours...for making it through your first year. What a cracking way to start off your Expats posting - a very interesting and well balanced read.
Now that you are beginning to put all the pieces of the jigsaw in their proper places, here's hoping you have many more happy years ahead in Canada.
Kind regards from just down the road in Okotoks,
Eamonn & Janet.
Oct 31st 2008, 8:59 pm
#3
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2008
Location: GTA
Posts: 301
Re: 1 Down Hopefully Loads to Go!!!!!!!!
Well here goes……….at 5pm tonight it will be 1 year ago that we arrived at Calgary airport and had our argument with CBSA. I never realized that coming without our LMO would cause such a problem. We had sold our house and everything in it so we bit the bullet and came over hoping for a couple of weeks holiday before the work started…………we got a 5 hour interrogation. It was not fun as kids were tired and OH was gagging for a beer amongst other things . Five hours later at 10pm they were kind enough to let us out of the airport and onto Canadian soil……yay…..no passports as CBSA had decided to keep them and we were required to return the following Friday for an immigration hearing……..so it was a wee bit scary……why are the English not so strict?
OH employer was absolutely fantastic, they worked tirelessly on the Monday and had our LMO for us at 3pm that day……so Tuesday it was back up to Calgary to get passports back and work permit…….phew!!!!! We were all legal and ready to fly……..wohoo!
We settled the kids into school within a week, but OH had to wait for his tools to turn up so didn’t start work until December.
Winter wasn’t as bad as we were expecting except the week of -40, that was a shocker. We had gone out for a meal with some friends and as we left we saw ice on the inside of the windows????? Haha! It is a bit of a strange sensation when your eyelashes freeze and the hairs up your nose. At -19 it is ok in a jumper and coat so you can cope with it quite well. Driving is a different experience, Canada is a big skating rink for cars, it snows, melts freezes overnight then snows again, they don’t grit the roads so it is funny turning corners and your back end just goes another way, believe me that’s not just the cars!!!!!. If you can get a car with a remote starter………do it, it’s freezing getting in a cold car!!!!!! There is lots of free ice skating for us as well when the lakes freeze up…….very good.
Summer has been fab and we are still at 22oC at the end of October so WOW! No complaints from this end……and we haven’t really had a lot of rain. It was hard work refitting a new bathroom at 40oC but that’s my fault for being impatient!!!!!, But much better than the footbath we had..
Everything has gone well with OH job and he is happier than he has ever been, it is nice to see him so relaxed. My 2 girls have done so well at school, and at 15 and 16 that has been amazing. My eldest has been on the Honors List twice so far and is heading towards her High School Diploma ready for doing a teaching degree and she plans to teach English in Japan, my other daughter wants to go to Australia to be a vet assistant, so I think we have well opened the doors for them by moving here!
Everything didn’t go so well for me, I have struggled with things and went through a really bad time earlier this year feeling really down and spending a lot of my time crying. I felt extremely isolated and lonely, as the kids were sorted and my partner but I struggled to get a job due to my work permit restrictions. I had been working in the community before and took time out to do hairdressing, thinking I would be better with a trade……..no it doesn’t work that way. You need a license to work as a hairdresser and you need 4300 hrs experience to challenge the exams to get the license……hum!, college time is not counted so the only way I could do this was to go back to school in Calgary or find an apprenticeship……at 39 that was not really likely. I also couldn’t work with people in the community, I needed medicals and police checks before I could change my work permit………when you are trying to stump up a 10% deposit for a house and it has cost loads to get here in the first place…….this was not an option either……you are very limited on your work permit so don’t be fooled by the words “open” because it isn’t that open.
We have had fun and games with immigration also, this has been quite a battle. We initially came on a 6 month work permit as my OH had exams to do to get a license to be an Autobody Tech in Alberta, so it ran out in May. My OH passed his exams with flying colours and gained an inter provincial certificate, which allows him to work in any Canadian province. I applied for TWP extensions in March but only received mine and one daughters study permit in September, we had bought a house and moved, and although I had rang and informed CIC, my OH work permit and other daughters study permit went to our old address. We were not able to apply for replacements until they had been missing 6 weeks!!!!!!! In the meantime, we lost our Alberta healthcare due to the amount of time it had taken the work permits to come……….fab, then only mine and my daughters was re-instated as we had our paperwork. I eventually had to contact the health ministers office about my OH as he had had a few days off sick……$231 for a hospital visit is no fun. I actually got his work permit yesterday……..yay!!!!!!, so it has been a very rockie road.
We have now put in our paperwork for PR and are hoping that all will go smoothly now, and things are looking up on the job front for me at long last.
I have a great group of friends now……thanks to British Expats and Minihaha and her family have been a total godsend in keeping me sane.
In all I would not change a thing and I love being here, 319 days of sunshine a year……who wouldn’t. We have been all over and this is the most beautiful country and the best people I have ever met. We have had so much help and support from people here that I feel in awe of their generosity and compassion. We went into B.C last week and still had people saying “welcome to Canada” , how can you beat that.
. Five hours later at 10pm they were kind enough to let us out of the airport and onto Canadian soil……yay…..no passports as CBSA had decided to keep them and we were required to return the following Friday for an immigration hearing……..so it was a wee bit scary……why are the English not so strict?OH employer was absolutely fantastic, they worked tirelessly on the Monday and had our LMO for us at 3pm that day……so Tuesday it was back up to Calgary to get passports back and work permit…….phew!!!!! We were all legal and ready to fly……..wohoo!
We settled the kids into school within a week, but OH had to wait for his tools to turn up so didn’t start work until December.
Winter wasn’t as bad as we were expecting except the week of -40, that was a shocker. We had gone out for a meal with some friends and as we left we saw ice on the inside of the windows????? Haha! It is a bit of a strange sensation when your eyelashes freeze and the hairs up your nose. At -19 it is ok in a jumper and coat so you can cope with it quite well. Driving is a different experience, Canada is a big skating rink for cars, it snows, melts freezes overnight then snows again, they don’t grit the roads so it is funny turning corners and your back end just goes another way, believe me that’s not just the cars!!!!!. If you can get a car with a remote starter………do it, it’s freezing getting in a cold car!!!!!!
There is lots of free ice skating for us as well when the lakes freeze up…….very good.Summer has been fab and we are still at 22oC at the end of October so WOW! No complaints from this end……and we haven’t really had a lot of rain. It was hard work refitting a new bathroom at 40oC but that’s my fault for being impatient!!!!!, But much better than the footbath we had..
Everything has gone well with OH job and he is happier than he has ever been, it is nice to see him so relaxed. My 2 girls have done so well at school, and at 15 and 16 that has been amazing. My eldest has been on the Honors List twice so far and is heading towards her High School Diploma ready for doing a teaching degree and she plans to teach English in Japan, my other daughter wants to go to Australia to be a vet assistant, so I think we have well opened the doors for them by moving here!
Everything didn’t go so well for me, I have struggled with things and went through a really bad time earlier this year feeling really down and spending a lot of my time crying.
I felt extremely isolated and lonely, as the kids were sorted and my partner but I struggled to get a job due to my work permit restrictions. I had been working in the community before and took time out to do hairdressing, thinking I would be better with a trade……..no it doesn’t work that way. You need a license to work as a hairdresser and you need 4300 hrs experience to challenge the exams to get the license……hum!, college time is not counted so the only way I could do this was to go back to school in Calgary or find an apprenticeship……at 39 that was not really likely. I also couldn’t work with people in the community, I needed medicals and police checks before I could change my work permit………when you are trying to stump up a 10% deposit for a house and it has cost loads to get here in the first place…….this was not an option either……you are very limited on your work permit so don’t be fooled by the words “open” because it isn’t that open. We have had fun and games with immigration also, this has been quite a battle. We initially came on a 6 month work permit as my OH had exams to do to get a license to be an Autobody Tech in Alberta, so it ran out in May. My OH passed his exams with flying colours and gained an inter provincial certificate, which allows him to work in any Canadian province. I applied for TWP extensions in March but only received mine and one daughters study permit in September, we had bought a house and moved, and although I had rang and informed CIC, my OH work permit and other daughters study permit went to our old address. We were not able to apply for replacements until they had been missing 6 weeks!!!!!!! In the meantime, we lost our Alberta healthcare due to the amount of time it had taken the work permits to come……….fab, then only mine and my daughters was re-instated as we had our paperwork. I eventually had to contact the health ministers office about my OH as he had had a few days off sick……$231 for a hospital visit is no fun. I actually got his work permit yesterday……..yay!!!!!!, so it has been a very rockie road.
We have now put in our paperwork for PR and are hoping that all will go smoothly now, and things are looking up on the job front for me at long last.
I have a great group of friends now……thanks to British Expats and Minihaha and her family have been a total godsend in keeping me sane.
In all I would not change a thing and I love being here, 319 days of sunshine a year……who wouldn’t. We have been all over and this is the most beautiful country and the best people I have ever met. We have had so much help and support from people here that I feel in awe of their generosity and compassion. We went into B.C last week and still had people saying “welcome to Canada” , how can you beat that.
Glad you have now all settled so well, long may it continue.
Thanks for an interesting read.Coming to Calgary on a recce next year, good to hear stories like yours.
Regards
Oct 31st 2008, 9:30 pm
#4
Citizenship Nov 10 2016!!
Joined: Feb 2008
Location: Stewiacke Nova Scotia
Posts: 6,659
Re: 1 Down Hopefully Loads to Go!!!!!!!!
Thanks for sharing, good luck and best wishes for the next year
Oct 31st 2008, 9:49 pm
#5
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 2,484
Re: 1 Down Hopefully Loads to Go!!!!!!!!
Well done girl on the post....see you got there after a while 
Here is to many more in the bridge and many more brews
Have a fab party tonight and catch up with you and the others next week, especially for your OH birthday
Good post
Here is to many more in the bridge and many more brews
Have a fab party tonight and catch up with you and the others next week, especially for your OH birthday
Good post
Nov 2nd 2008, 2:56 pm
#6
BE Forum Addict
Joined: May 2006
Location: Lethbridge AB
Posts: 4,250
Re: 1 Down Hopefully Loads to Go!!!!!!!!
Congratulations on making it this far ! Hope you can celebrate many more of them.
Gaynor
Gaynor
Nov 2nd 2008, 7:34 pm
#7
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2007
Location: back in Cambs
Posts: 7,157
Re: 1 Down Hopefully Loads to Go!!!!!!!!
Well done on your 1st year Rainey69 Thanks for sharing your journey with us all,
Wish you all the very best with your PR and hope you find a job you love as much as OH
Wish you all the very best with your PR and hope you find a job you love as much as OH
Nov 2nd 2008, 9:39 pm
#8
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2007
Location: Vancouver since Aug 2008!!!!!
Posts: 904
Re: 1 Down Hopefully Loads to Go!!!!!!!!
Congrats to you... It seems that it wasn't 100% straight forward, so well done for sticking it out.
Be good to hear how you get on in this year.
Again well done and thanks for sharing!
Bx
Be good to hear how you get on in this year.
Again well done and thanks for sharing!
Bx
Nov 2nd 2008, 11:48 pm
#9
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 312
Re: 1 Down Hopefully Loads to Go!!!!!!!!
You know you have so many years ahead of you here, even better than the last one.
Be proud of all you have accomplished so far.
xx mrs minihaha xx
Be proud of all you have accomplished so far.
xx mrs minihaha xx
Nov 3rd 2008, 1:44 am
#10
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jun 2007
Location: Back in Blighty!
Posts: 1,424
Re: 1 Down Hopefully Loads to Go!!!!!!!!
Congrats and well done. Here's to good times.
Nov 3rd 2008, 2:01 am
#11
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 279
Re: 1 Down Hopefully Loads to Go!!!!!!!!
Thanks to all for your kind words and Karma. I am positive this next year is going to be brill and my thoughts are with all that are starting this rollercoaster journey. It is well worth every second
Nov 4th 2008, 1:47 pm
#12
Arrived at last!!
Joined: Oct 2005
Location: Bragg Creek, AB
Posts: 1,354
Re: 1 Down Hopefully Loads to Go!!!!!!!!
Great post and glad you are now feeling happier yourself. You certainly have had some challenges from the day you arrived so everything should be plain sailing now!!! 
BTW, my cousins son went travelling after he finished Lethbridge University, and has now just started a teaching job in Japan has a contract for a year and he is loving it.
BTW, my cousins son went travelling after he finished Lethbridge University, and has now just started a teaching job in Japan has a contract for a year and he is loving it.
Nov 9th 2008, 3:19 pm
#13
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2007
Location: Okotoks, Alberta
Posts: 678
Re: 1 Down Hopefully Loads to Go!!!!!!!!
As it has already been said, brilliant read. Really good to hear about peoples journeys and how they have made it to the other end. We know it's going to be hard, but we are determined to get there and threads like this really give to a boost.
Tap yourselves on the back and congratulate yourselves and enjoy the rest of your journey.
Congratulations to you all and all the best for the future, please keep us posted.
regards to you all, from us all,
Carl
Tap yourselves on the back and congratulate yourselves and enjoy the rest of your journey.
Congratulations to you all and all the best for the future, please keep us posted.
regards to you all, from us all,
Carl
Nov 16th 2008, 1:02 pm
#14
Forum Regular
Joined: Oct 2008
Location: Drum
Posts: 52
Re: 1 Down Hopefully Loads to Go!!!!!!!!
Well done! and thanks for sharing your story, must admit the more I read this forum, the more I am sooo glad I found this site, it's providing me with invaluable insights into the expats' trials and tribulations in Canada!
You mention that "open" work permit are not as open as they sound, can you elaborate on this please? That's the kind of work permit I'd be coming with so interested to hear more about it if you wouldn't mind!
and thanks for sharing your story, must admit the more I read this forum, the more I am sooo glad I found this site, it's providing me with invaluable insights into the expats' trials and tribulations in Canada!You mention that "open" work permit are not as open as they sound, can you elaborate on this please? That's the kind of work permit I'd be coming with so interested to hear more about it if you wouldn't mind!
Nov 18th 2008, 4:23 am
#15
BE Forum Addict
Joined: May 2006
Location: Lethbridge AB
Posts: 4,250
Re: 1 Down Hopefully Loads to Go!!!!!!!!
Well done! and thanks for sharing your story, must admit the more I read this forum, the more I am sooo glad I found this site, it's providing me with invaluable insights into the expats' trials and tribulations in Canada!
You mention that "open" work permit are not as open as they sound, can you elaborate on this please? That's the kind of work permit I'd be coming with so interested to hear more about it if you wouldn't mind!
and thanks for sharing your story, must admit the more I read this forum, the more I am sooo glad I found this site, it's providing me with invaluable insights into the expats' trials and tribulations in Canada!You mention that "open" work permit are not as open as they sound, can you elaborate on this please? That's the kind of work permit I'd be coming with so interested to hear more about it if you wouldn't mind!