Four weeks in Oakville
Mar 24th 2011 | 2:06 am
#1
Thread Starter
Just Joined
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 5
Four weeks in Oakville
Four weeks in Oakville .... can't believe it!
My husband moved over in December 2010 having been offered a job transfer from Manchester, UK to Toronto. I joined him with our two girls four weeks ago and have already done so much.
I was quite apprehensive about landing in Canada and feared being turned away but the whole process has been flawless. I entered with the girls on my husbands TWP which is for three years. We have a lease car, rented a house, got study permits for the girls (which we had to pay for on entry to the country) and have bank and credit cards sorted. We did struggle at first to get a car due to having no credit history but we now have a Ford escape 4x4 which is much needed in snowy conditions.
I think having read some of the posts and troubles people had experienced about emigrating to Canada, it simply put the fear of god in me. We have been fortunate in that my husband had a job offer prior to us emigrating but then I wouldn't really want to emigrate to another country unless we had the security of a job, especially emigrating with children.
My husband found us a beautiful house to rent in Oakville (the views are awesome with a resident eagle and beaver in the back ravine) and we registered the girls with the local school board. My eldest daughter started school four days after we arrived and is loving it having made lots of friends already. My youngest is registered to start Kindergarten in September and is desperate to start as she attended preschool in the UK and seriously misses it. However, at the weekend we joined the local YMCA which is brilliant, albeit you have to pay monthly fees of about $150 for all of us, the courses and progammes that run are amazing.
I also got my canadian driving licence in the first week and although I was very apprehensive about driving (i've never driven on the right hand side before not even on holidays), I think I have now come to terms with the rules of the road!
To top it off we are expecting our shipping container to arrive tomorrow...awesome!!! Having had the goods to follow forms completed at customs on our arrival at the airport and then all we had to do was attend the customs office at the airport to get the goods received form stamped and then this was given to our shipping consultant - job done!
We are missing friends and family (especially my 16 year old step son who is to join us in August for a trial period) but with the help of Skype we actually speak to them all a lot more than we did when we were in the UK.
If there has to be a downside to our move so far it is the fact that I can't quite suss the canadians out completely as they are all so so helpful, I can't quite believe they can be that helpful without having an ulterior motive. I guess its because I just wasn't used to that kind of helpfulness in the UK. So this has to be a bonus really.
All in all our move has been very successful and I only look forward to what the next few months bring.
My husband moved over in December 2010 having been offered a job transfer from Manchester, UK to Toronto. I joined him with our two girls four weeks ago and have already done so much.
I was quite apprehensive about landing in Canada and feared being turned away but the whole process has been flawless. I entered with the girls on my husbands TWP which is for three years. We have a lease car, rented a house, got study permits for the girls (which we had to pay for on entry to the country) and have bank and credit cards sorted. We did struggle at first to get a car due to having no credit history but we now have a Ford escape 4x4 which is much needed in snowy conditions.
I think having read some of the posts and troubles people had experienced about emigrating to Canada, it simply put the fear of god in me. We have been fortunate in that my husband had a job offer prior to us emigrating but then I wouldn't really want to emigrate to another country unless we had the security of a job, especially emigrating with children.
My husband found us a beautiful house to rent in Oakville (the views are awesome with a resident eagle and beaver in the back ravine) and we registered the girls with the local school board. My eldest daughter started school four days after we arrived and is loving it having made lots of friends already. My youngest is registered to start Kindergarten in September and is desperate to start as she attended preschool in the UK and seriously misses it. However, at the weekend we joined the local YMCA which is brilliant, albeit you have to pay monthly fees of about $150 for all of us, the courses and progammes that run are amazing.
I also got my canadian driving licence in the first week and although I was very apprehensive about driving (i've never driven on the right hand side before not even on holidays), I think I have now come to terms with the rules of the road!
To top it off we are expecting our shipping container to arrive tomorrow...awesome!!! Having had the goods to follow forms completed at customs on our arrival at the airport and then all we had to do was attend the customs office at the airport to get the goods received form stamped and then this was given to our shipping consultant - job done!
We are missing friends and family (especially my 16 year old step son who is to join us in August for a trial period) but with the help of Skype we actually speak to them all a lot more than we did when we were in the UK.
If there has to be a downside to our move so far it is the fact that I can't quite suss the canadians out completely as they are all so so helpful, I can't quite believe they can be that helpful without having an ulterior motive. I guess its because I just wasn't used to that kind of helpfulness in the UK. So this has to be a bonus really.
All in all our move has been very successful and I only look forward to what the next few months bring.
Mar 24th 2011 | 2:13 am
#2
Moderαtor Emeritus
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 30,771
From: Upstate South Carolina
Re: Four weeks in Oakville
Good to hear, and hope the container doesn't contain any nasty surprises!
Mar 24th 2011 | 2:51 am
#4
Moderαtor Emeritus
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 30,771
From: Upstate South Carolina
Apr 2nd 2011 | 7:18 pm
#5
Just Joined
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 25
Re: Four weeks in Oakville
Four weeks in Oakville .... can't believe it!
My husband moved over in December 2010 having been offered a job transfer from Manchester, UK to Toronto. I joined him with our two girls four weeks ago and have already done so much.
I was quite apprehensive about landing in Canada and feared being turned away but the whole process has been flawless. I entered with the girls on my husbands TWP which is for three years. We have a lease car, rented a house, got study permits for the girls (which we had to pay for on entry to the country) and have bank and credit cards sorted. We did struggle at first to get a car due to having no credit history but we now have a Ford escape 4x4 which is much needed in snowy conditions.
I think having read some of the posts and troubles people had experienced about emigrating to Canada, it simply put the fear of god in me. We have been fortunate in that my husband had a job offer prior to us emigrating but then I wouldn't really want to emigrate to another country unless we had the security of a job, especially emigrating with children.
My husband found us a beautiful house to rent in Oakville (the views are awesome with a resident eagle and beaver in the back ravine) and we registered the girls with the local school board. My eldest daughter started school four days after we arrived and is loving it having made lots of friends already. My youngest is registered to start Kindergarten in September and is desperate to start as she attended preschool in the UK and seriously misses it. However, at the weekend we joined the local YMCA which is brilliant, albeit you have to pay monthly fees of about $150 for all of us, the courses and progammes that run are amazing.
I also got my canadian driving licence in the first week and although I was very apprehensive about driving (i've never driven on the right hand side before not even on holidays), I think I have now come to terms with the rules of the road!
To top it off we are expecting our shipping container to arrive tomorrow...awesome!!! Having had the goods to follow forms completed at customs on our arrival at the airport and then all we had to do was attend the customs office at the airport to get the goods received form stamped and then this was given to our shipping consultant - job done!
We are missing friends and family (especially my 16 year old step son who is to join us in August for a trial period) but with the help of Skype we actually speak to them all a lot more than we did when we were in the UK.
If there has to be a downside to our move so far it is the fact that I can't quite suss the canadians out completely as they are all so so helpful, I can't quite believe they can be that helpful without having an ulterior motive. I guess its because I just wasn't used to that kind of helpfulness in the UK. So this has to be a bonus really.
All in all our move has been very successful and I only look forward to what the next few months bring.
My husband moved over in December 2010 having been offered a job transfer from Manchester, UK to Toronto. I joined him with our two girls four weeks ago and have already done so much.
I was quite apprehensive about landing in Canada and feared being turned away but the whole process has been flawless. I entered with the girls on my husbands TWP which is for three years. We have a lease car, rented a house, got study permits for the girls (which we had to pay for on entry to the country) and have bank and credit cards sorted. We did struggle at first to get a car due to having no credit history but we now have a Ford escape 4x4 which is much needed in snowy conditions.
I think having read some of the posts and troubles people had experienced about emigrating to Canada, it simply put the fear of god in me. We have been fortunate in that my husband had a job offer prior to us emigrating but then I wouldn't really want to emigrate to another country unless we had the security of a job, especially emigrating with children.
My husband found us a beautiful house to rent in Oakville (the views are awesome with a resident eagle and beaver in the back ravine) and we registered the girls with the local school board. My eldest daughter started school four days after we arrived and is loving it having made lots of friends already. My youngest is registered to start Kindergarten in September and is desperate to start as she attended preschool in the UK and seriously misses it. However, at the weekend we joined the local YMCA which is brilliant, albeit you have to pay monthly fees of about $150 for all of us, the courses and progammes that run are amazing.
I also got my canadian driving licence in the first week and although I was very apprehensive about driving (i've never driven on the right hand side before not even on holidays), I think I have now come to terms with the rules of the road!
To top it off we are expecting our shipping container to arrive tomorrow...awesome!!! Having had the goods to follow forms completed at customs on our arrival at the airport and then all we had to do was attend the customs office at the airport to get the goods received form stamped and then this was given to our shipping consultant - job done!
We are missing friends and family (especially my 16 year old step son who is to join us in August for a trial period) but with the help of Skype we actually speak to them all a lot more than we did when we were in the UK.
If there has to be a downside to our move so far it is the fact that I can't quite suss the canadians out completely as they are all so so helpful, I can't quite believe they can be that helpful without having an ulterior motive. I guess its because I just wasn't used to that kind of helpfulness in the UK. So this has to be a bonus really.
All in all our move has been very successful and I only look forward to what the next few months bring.
My wife and I are moving to Toronto with my job in June, along with our 3 kids and 2 dogs. We are originally from the UK (Manchester!) and have been in Australia for the last 8 years. We are trying to decide where to live and are probably more suburban types - we like our space! We have heard good things about Oakville but it would be great to hear from people on BE that live/have done the move. What do you enjoy about living in Oakville and what don't you like?
Is it a nice place for kids? I have heard it is expensive. Would we be able to get a decent 4-5 bedroom house with a reasonable garden/yard for $800k-$1.3M? How is the commute to Downtown? Is the GO train any good? Are there lots of outdoors things to do (hiking, camping, etc.) and is there any good skiing within 2-3 hours of Oakham?
Thanks in advance!
Big Bear
Apr 3rd 2011 | 2:40 am
#6
Bon Vivant
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 2,956
From: Nova Scotia
Re: Four weeks in Oakville
I lived in Lakeshore and Winston Churchill neighborhood for some 30 years until 2001. It was seven minutes drive to Clarkson GO station and 22 minutes to Union Station. A pretty good commute. Clean trains, reasonable fares and pretty reliable too. Lots of things for kids to do. A pretty good place to be all in all.
