Paraskier

Good Morning all,

I've been spending a huge number of hours on here looking at the helpful advice from you guys after my husband and I decided to look into moving to Canada.

We're a family of 4 (new born and 3 yr old), keen skiers and have visited Canada numerous times (married in Whistler!). I'm a Paramedic (BSc in Paramedical Science) and my husband is a consultant, I'm 40 and he's 43.
We love North America; specifically old school places like Fernie, Telluride, CO and have a 'dream' of living somewhere like Nelson, BC where we can ski, enjoy the outdoors and generally have a better quality of life. Cue rolling eyes....I'm sure you've heard all this before! We've travelled a lot and have lived abroad before, so living in a different country shouldn't be a huge culture shock. I've put some basic details below and would appreciate if you guys could have a look and hopefully shed some light on the questions I've highlighted?

• We've completed the CRS score test achieved a measly 413 points. After racking our brains, the only way to significantly improve on this would be to get to CLB 7 French on all tests. That would take us to around 450, but I've no idea what CLB 7 looks / sounds / reads like! I've a GCSE in French and can swot up. Is this achievable in 5 months? I turn 41 in July and lose more points.
• We've yet to create our EE profile and will do so when we've completed the IELTS tests next month and have got our ECA's (BSc, NVQ3, BTEC) I've read extensively on the issues around having NVQ and BTEC accredited, but we're going to pay the fee anyways and see what comes back. My BSc was comprised of a foundation degree at Oxford Brooks then topped up with a BSc at Cumbria. Assuming this will count as a a single BSc?
• PNP - We're willing to live pretty much anywhere for a couple of years. (all is an experience!) in order that we can get our foot in the door. The Occupations in Demand list has paramedics for Saskatchewan but we miss out on their entry level (60 points) as can only get 59 max. We believe PNP in a province where Paramedics (NOC 3234) are in demand is likely our best chance of success?
• I'm willing to travel to Canada in order to take the Paramedic Licence test, but I'm not sure if this is worth the investment nor which Province to licence in? Would it be a waste of time licensing in say BC when I may have to apply for a job in Ontario?
• My husband does not have a degree and would not qualify on his own and is likely spend 4-6 months out of Canada for work. He will not be looking for employment, his salary will support us whilst were settling and getting ourselves stable (my work, schools etc.) There are clearly dual tax implications which we need to understand, but would it be mad for him to remain UK resident for tax (is that possible?) and apply as MY spouse at a later date? This would require him to have a Super Visa? Allowing him to come in and out of Canada when needed, but without any resident benefits (healthcare etc.)

I know there's a lot there and I'll ask more specific paramedic career questions to the Para guys on here. But any help with the above would be much appreciated. If you think we're deluded, tell us! We're pretty adaptable and understand it won't be easy, it's the end goal we're focused on. We're interested in those who have similar stories to tell and whether the dream was worth following!

All the best,

Marie

christmasoompa

Hi, welcome to BE.

Nope. 'Basic' French (CLB Levels 4-5) is said to be equivalent to French A Level standard as a rough guide. Sorry, but with just a GCSE (presumably 25 or so years ago), it would take you far longer than 5 months to get to CLB Level 7 standard unless you can immerse yourself in the language?

Yep, should do.

​​​​​​​Sorry, no idea on this - worth asking in the main forums though as we do have a couple of paramedics on here.

​​​​​​​A super visa is only for parents of Canadian citizens/PR's, so your husband wouldn't get one. You could sponsor him further down the line if you wished, but he'd be better off just getting PR with you, as long as he spends at least 2 years out of every 5 years in Canada, he'd maintain his PR status.

​​​​​​​HTH, best of luck.

Paraskier

christmasoompa

Paraskier

Appreciate the advice, thanks.

Lots and lots to think about and its good to see this forum gives honest 'warts and all' views, which is what's needed when making such an important decision!

We'll keep researching whilst ensuring that our documentation is good to go (ECA, IELTS). Sounds like us both applying at the same time is the way to go, thanks.

Siouxie

ONE of you applies as the lead applicant - the other one goes on the application as an accompanying dependent... so just one application ... unless you both intend to put in Separate Express Entry Profiles in the hope that one of you will get an invite, in which case one of you would be the lead, the other the dependent.. and vice versa on the 2nd profile. Whoever has the most points as lead is generally the one we would suggest putting in the profile.

Paraskier

Siouxie,

Appreciate the advice. I'll be the lead applicant due to my education and age, it makes no sense in him putting an application in also, he doesn't have anywhere near the points and won't be immediately looking for work.

We're sending off our ECAs this weekend and booking the language test on Monday, fingers crossed.

Thanks

christmasoompa

Perfect, best of luck with it. Did you figure out a way to get more points, or are you going to be job hunting in the hope of boosting them so that you can get an ITA?

Paraskier

christmasoompa

Sounds like a plan. You'll usually need to go over there anyway to get a job offer (see the Job Hunting section of the Wiki for more info), so if you plan a trip that should help.

Could you go before then? Going in May doesn't leave you enough time to get a job offer and LMIA sorted before your birthday in July, when as you rightly say, you'll lose more points. It might be worth going over sooner if you can, even if it's just you popping over for a week of job hunting.

Obviously if you get provincial nomination then it won't matter as you'll easily score enough anyway with that, but if you want the lifestyle you've described above i.e. skiing etc, then I don't see much point in going to SK!

Best of luck.