Helen Parnell

When we decided to move over in 2001, we made the decision, we applied, we got PR and we moved here. Great decision, and i am now living happily ever after.

We had no jobs and knew no one here but a realtor who we had never met. We did want to join the CPS but they had no fast track system and an applicaton to them in 2002 took over a year to be processed, but we had each other and made friends, got jobs etc etc.

It seems only a few years later people need to know everything, have a secure job to come to and have so much information that any risk or adventure has been taken out of the move.

When we moved over i did not know about this forum, but now it is very popular. But i have also read today that some people do not want to start new threads in fear of being mocked off.

So we now have a situation that people start threads like' I can not live with out british gravy, shall i move to canada?' and of course some people then make great imagative replys.

So getting back to my point. In the 1960's the internet was not invented and people still emigrated. Even when I moved in 2002 help was little.

So to those of you who have moved recently, if you did not have this forum or access to the masses of information on the internet to help you make the decision would you have emigrated. Are you the type that needs a secure job to come to and not take any risk?

JonboyE

Like you, we moved without a job and without much in the way of help of the internet, or from anyone. Some people are more able to cope with risk and uncertainty than others. Even so, we did a recce beforehand and spoke to people while we were here, so it was a considered risk. As it turned out, it was exactly the right thing for us to do.

Others are less willing to take risks, so want much more more comfort before they are willing to uproot their lives. Like you, I sometimes read posts and wonder why on earth the person is considering emigrating, but I guess it is just their way of dealing with the uncertainty.

We can still help people to make up their minds.

Helen Parnell

I agree it was a considered risk. It just seems to me today for those people that need all the answers first, would they have taken that risk.

When I was in the Police in the UK, I was the first one from my station to emigrate (over 1000 officers at the station) A lot and i mean a lot of people just said 'i could not take the risk'.

Now the Calgary Police service open the arms to Uk Officers, they bend over backwards (literally I think) to help them move over. There are of course lots of other professions and organizations as well who have done just the same as the CPS.

I wonder sometimes whether these were the same people 8 years ago who could never take the risk!!

Alan2005

The world is just a lot smaller now than it used to be. I don't think emigrating is a particularly big deal - but I probably wouldn't go somewhere where I didn't have a job unless finding a job was easy.

Edit to add, this is cos I don't like being poor rather than any 'fear' of the unknown...

ann m

I enjoyed playing with the forum in the research stages, but participation and answers received to questions posed would never have decided the "do we, don't we" bit. We were going regardless. I think.

However, I do not think we would have jumped ship without a job offer. I would say that, apart from emigrating (!), we are somewhat risk adverse. I could not have risked it all with no guarantee of paying the bills (although, to be honest, we would have had the financial means to keep us going for quite a while - so that's a limitation we mentally put on ourselves. We fought hard to build up some equity and I wasn't brave enough to lose it all on a whim - I don't do skint very well ).

I'm not sure CPS bend over backwards (The current PNP thingie did not assist us) - but the ability to get over in about 18 months versus 3 or 4 years as per SW applications a few years ago certainly did help more recent arrivals. And the recruitment people are very polite and helpful But if you can't qualify through the application process, then you can't qualify. They did condense the application process to about 10 days though (instead of over months) which is probably the biggest change they accommodated.

There are plenty of contributors on here with great pioneer spirit and I admire their ability to leap into the unknown. I don't think I would be in Calgary if I was a more brave person - but that's where the job was.

However, in the day and age of Google et al, there is not much 'unknown' to leap into now - and with the easy availability of all kinds of information, those that leap without doing any or much research are mad not to avail themselves of decent groundwork advice.

It's a double-edged sword though - because so much information (or crap) is out there, suddenly everyone wants every single query and fear allayed beforehand.

Hey ho - 'tis the way of the world.

Almost Canadian

Alot of that depends upon how "secure" one feels in their current situation - good income, no real chance of being fired - I would guess that sums up most police officers in the UK.

Compare that to someone in the private sector who has just been fired - current economic situation - why not hand in all in and give it a go somewhere else.

The friends that have visited us are very roughly split between those that wouldn't do it unless everything was "guaranteed" (public sector workers in UK) and those that say they would give it a go (private sector in UK).

I am not saying that it is as cut and dried as this, that is our experience.

Most of our friends said that we were crazy to give it a go - no job waiting, long requalification process ahead. It just depends upon how risk averse and confident one is that success will be achieved.

Piff Poff

Feb 2004, We put our application for PR in after just spending 5 nights in Ontario (3 Toronto/2 Niagra on honeymoon). Had PR come quicker we would have moved without a job offer. June 2004 we hired a RV and checked out as much as we could in two weeks in Alberta/BC and hubby secured a job offer by chance. We didn't have a usable computer as such, dial up internet and pedal speed connections meant I didn't use the home PC, work PC was only Intranet so our research consisted of the map book we bought on reccie and the travel books I had managed to buy. We found out about SIN/Driving licence/Realtor/car ins/car buying/WP virtually on our own - the immigration consultants we hired were more of a hindrance than help. There are times I wish we had found this site before hand - we would have saved 1500 pounds on immigration consultants for a start. We were moving from England whatever and didn't fancy europe, Canada ticked our boxes for us then and all the eggs were put in the we're moving to Canada basket, thankfully for us the eggs are still in tact.

HOWEVER! If we were to be making a move right now, in the current employment market, I would be very wary of comming on a WP with the hope of gaining PR eventually - maybe if I was nearing the PR approval date I may chance it, or if we were renting out the UK house I would chance it - but I would spread those eggs about a bit

lancashirebird

I have to say that if we did not have the secure job to come to we would not have made the move, when we was offered a job transfer it took me years to say yes, by that time the market had turned in ontario and we came looking at alberta
We made friends on here and came for a trip, i think if it wasnt for contacts that we made via the net i would be bored and fed up in the uk by now..
We are going through the PR process and are real lucky to have a real good employer, especially after what his boss said yesterday to him

I know people that have moved with PR in hand and are struggling, i think we are all different and different situations etc
i just wish we had looked at alberta earlier and moved earlier, but then part of me still wants to be in the uk right now, i think this immagration process takes alot out of anyone..........

As my dad used to say "if you could turn back time" - but he also advised if you did that, you would have what you have today..........