treacle1

LOL thats easy for you to say. Well Sheffield had an amazing depth of 1 inch and all roads came to a stop, infact we have been told to say indoors unless its necessary to travel haha. Anyway Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year.

mwt

Hi folks.

Starting the process of applying to edmonton with a fact finding tour comming out 6th Feb until 10th Feb, we are going to calgary after that to have a look around there also. Having read the forum i'm comming out with my girlfriend to see if we like the area and if we could live there. Hopefully at the end both of us will by putting our applications in. We have decided to come out when it is still winter to see how cold it is and to see whether we could live in it.

I have read what rae and others have said that policing is virtually the same but it where you live you have to get used to, so we won't be looking to much into the policing side just yet when we are out there.

I would like any suggestions about where to go, what areas to look at for housing etc i have read about st albert area which we intend to look at. If anybody has any suggestions about and what differences we should look at e.g shopping, petrol etc or any realtors they can recommended. We intend to have a good look at prices of cars,houses,shopping and also whether the move would suit us. We are going into this with our eyes wide open and welcome as much help as possible to give us a rounded non-tourist/excited rose tinted view so we can make an informed decision.

Cheers

Marc and Liz

stewie_griffin

In a straight comparison between Edmonton and Calgary, Edmonton would lose most of the time. It's more or less one large industrial estate with some nice enclaves. It doesn't have the benefit of the Chinook winds so winter is significantly more Arctic but with less snow. Calgary is closer to the Rocky Mountains (Banff and Jasper), while Edmonton is closer to.... the fertilizer factories of Fort Saskatchewan.

The police forces are much the same as well, but with markedly fewer Brits in the Edmonton force than in Calgary one. Training is similar but less paramilitary in Calgary. Pay is about the same.

I live in Sherwood Park and commute in to work in the same division as Rae. It must be some coincidence but the other day 3 out of 3 of us working on a project were Brits and this week 4 out of 12 on a checkstop were Brits.

Ashleyg

EPS just announced next recruit class is 12th April 2010 - hopefully they can send me my contract now!

treacle1

hi people, hope you had a good xmas and new year.
I have just received a reply from recruitment and they have two classes of 35 this year second one in sept, wait for it........ all usa and uk applications have been put on hold until they know if any more classes are to run. bad news for us but at least their recruitment drive is successful.
Fingers and legs crossed once again.

treacle

arabian77

Well, immigration paperwork hand delivered to London on Monday. Fingers crossed everything is filled out correctly.

tim010

Good work Les. Mine's been with them (2nd time round) since 17th December. I'm hoping to hear something in the next 2/3 weeks. I did e-mail them last week to check it is in process and get an AOR but have yet to get a response.

Tim

arabian77

Thanks Tim. Do you know when we have to do the medicals?

nige1521

Arabian,

I've just done my Medicals (4th) and we got sent the request through the post from CIC. We also had the passport request attached, telling us to send the passports and 2 updated photos exactly 30 days after our Medicals.

We sent our forms to London at the end of October and got an email mid November from CIC giving us a file number, also saying that they started to process our application on the 9th of November.

It was about 6 weeks all in, until we got the Medical requests.

I was asked if I wanted the April class, RTC120, but I asked if I could have the September class RTC 121 (dates not confirmed) as it suited us better, schools etc.

Nige

arabian77

Thanks Nige, it helps knowing whats meant to happen next.

Les

StuArc

****ALL - PLEASE BE ADVISED*****

Just had an email from my F.M and that all UK recruiting is NOW ON HOLD. Those going through the process are essentially frozen at that particular stage; So NIGE1521 you lucky bast*rd, you're through.

As for me, I'm at approval stage with the file selection committee!!!

I'll keep you all updated if I hear anymore.

wannabecalgarypc

Oh no, I hope not for good I just shelled out for the IQAS, because when I spoke to them in December they said they would not be stopping for some time to come!!


I can't see it on there recruitment site?

tim010

At worst then you will have wasted about £100 but remember the assessment will be valid for the foreseeable future so can be used at a later date.

Tim

wannabecalgarypc

I wonder why in less then a few weeks they go from saying they can't see it ending for some time to come, and then stopping it now. It is not just a worst case loss of £100 its my future that I am planning for me and my family being put on hold

nige1521

Wannabecalgary,

The reasons they have decided this, is no doubt financial contrainsts in the current climate. The actual budget was only decided a few weeks ago, so it's taken a little time to filter down from "Command teams".

I don't think, at the moment, they know when the situation will change and when they will continue the international recruitment. This could change at any time.

Of course it will be frustrating to place on hold your plans, but there are positives from your perspective. I understand that you are currently applying to join a UK police service. If successful, then your experience in that police service will stand you in good stead as and when EPS continue to recruit internationally.

As any number of people on here will tell you, the EPS process is highly competetive and they can afford to be selective.
So, any experience you gain in the meantime can only be a positive.

As Tim has already pointed out, your IQAS will be valid for a while to come. I assume that you are quite young, (correct me if i'm wrong), so time is on your side my friend.

Patience, the situation will change in time, let's hope sooner rather then later.

Regards

Nige