Originally Posted by scootb

In 2 weeks my family and I will have been here for a whole year,wow it has flown by.
I can't complain about anything,not even the winter which was nowhere near as bad as everyone makes it out to be,maybe coming from cold,damp,Scotland I expected much worse when English and Canadians moan about the winter months,I think I wore thermal undies for one day over the winter lol.

I am preparing to send off my application for residency atm as in 2 weeks time I can apply.

We have been living life much better than we ever did back in the UK,been able to afford to do things that we just couldn't back home,and made some AMAZING friends over here Canadian,English,and Irish.

I have taught my other half,and my 9 year old daughter how to shoot,and firearms safety(which the school was impressed with,education is better than ignorance!!!)

I have nothing but positive experiences since coming here,the missus says that I always have a smile on my face since coming to Canada whereas back in the UK I was getting seriously depressed,and bored.
The kids LOVE life over here,my 9 year old daughter is even expressing an interest in taking up ice hockey at school which I will thoroughly encourage along with the music lessons that she has been doing at school.
My 5 year old daughter will be 6 this week and has been praised loads by her kindergarten teacher(they love her lol),and my 7 year old daughter has come out of her shell so much since arriving here.

I know that many people have negative experiences coming to Canada,maybe they expect too much?
Coming here was the best thing that I have done in my life(so far),and I really feel that if I can come here with a family of 5 and make things work positively then just about anyone can!

I started here with $3500 in my pocket,never had a house in the UK to sell or rent for funds,and am the sole earner in my family,so things can work out if you work at it.

I would like to thank the people on this forum who gave me good advice,and to anyone who starts to get that wee niggle of giving up,don't! Keep on trooping guys n gals!!!!

Originally Posted by scootb

Thanks Drew,my oldest daughter is 9 now and has a Canadian accent most of the time lol,the other 2 daughters still have thin Scots accents though.

Originally Posted by scootb

Just seen that my CC was charged today

Originally Posted by scootb

Got my AOR on Wed there

Originally Posted by scootb

One of my workmates just done his medicals on Friday there,he also got an email last week to make the final payment for residency,all within 8 months!
Hoping that mine goes along as fast,would be ideal to flagpole while my work is closed over the xmas period,can only keep my fingers crossed lol.

Originally Posted by gizmo59

I'm glad I found this thread! We came over nearly a year ago, with my husband getting a student visa, as we were ready to submit our FSW application in July 20-2 when they changed the criteria and took nurses off the list.

I got a job in December last year and have been patiently waiting to submit a CEC application. It sounds from this thread that I might be able to submit under FSW class? My occupation isn't on the list, so how does this work?

Thanks!