tawny

Ann

There is no doubt that its a trade off in some ways by leaving a secure 30 year career in the UK to start again.Its taken me 19 yrs,shed loads of courses,exams and one promotion to get where i am.

The point is that it counts for nothing if you can improve your familys quality of life in some way. I would rather learn a new trade as a cop elsewhere and give my family safety and happiness than spend 30 years as a cop here watching the UK get worse and worse. Its not that bleak here but things arent getting any better.

I guess its down to a realisation that you are starting again bringing your previous policing experience albeit it may be not be recognised or used.

A UK county inspector now is on about £45,000 ish which isnt great considering most DC` will far surpass that with overtime. Unless you hit Superintendent money doesnt come into it.

Touch choices whcih individually i guess we have to make.

Thanks for all everybodys advice.It helps us Brit Cops thinking about it.

ann m

Hi Tawny. Absolutely! And neither rae, nor I, would ever say "don't come" - but it makes me smile sometimes as to how similar he and my husband view their new world.

My husband does see a good life here for us all - but things were never awful in the UK either. I hear all about what goes on at work, how things are done and who says what. I can interpret it all in my own way and feel qualified to form an opinion (16 yrs in myself) on his day. But it also makes me feel bad and somewhat guilty that my best friend is now a little more subdued, unexcited about his day job and potentially not even fussed now about his career. He's currently not striving for the next thing because not a lot is exciting him. And this only affects me (us) because he was never like that previously. So a nice house, and ski-ing and blue skies can only supplement things so far. I remember writing somewhere else before - is Canada enough?

Regarding the police,it's not terrible here !! There are some lovely people, and there are some very good procedures out there. Some ex-UK people think it's absolutely fantastic here (which worries me slightly ) but many do chunter quietly about certain other procedures. And I'm not saying the UK does things perfectly - far from it - and yes, of course, Canadians do things differently - but some things and some procedures do alarm me in 2009. And personally, I feel that those with strong CID background should certainly dig that bit deeper on their research trips.

New country, new life, keep quiet and fit in. But can you help it if your brain thinks otherwise sometimes?

For us, personally, I think we both wish we'd done a bit more research on the work side of things - we were more concerned about homesickness, getting settled, fitting in, finding new friends, etc.

The job's the same the world over? Kind of, but not exactly

And despite all I say - I really do like it here - but I'm not under any pressure to earn the main income at the mo

burz

hi there, im a GMP cop of 12 yrs looking at my options to move to canada and have last Oct decided to make a move by taking my little family of four on a research trip. I was origionally looking at Edmonton because they are they only ones open to applications at the momment but I ended up being drawn to calgary because its closer to the rockies and the lifestyle we desire. I covered my options spending a week in calgary - including a visit to the CPS and having a ridealong - and then driving up to Edmonton ( with its amazing mall ) and then treating myself to a final 3 days travelling back via the rockies and banff.
My advice to anyone considering to move is visit an EMIGRATE show to make contacts then go WITH the family to see for yourself. It was delibratley NOT a holiday and we saw and learned loads which reinforced my decision that Edmonton is too far from the rockies for me and I will just have to wait for Calgary to reopen its doors (which im told they will eventually)
For those who have yet to go - get going, its a cost worth paying and whatever your outcome, its priceless information.
For those of you fortunate enough to be on you way, congratulations and is there anything you can say to swing my choice?
ps. for those going out - leave your mobiles OFF. I ran up a huge bill very quickly!!!!:curse:

Dom B

Hey, i too am a GMP cop of 6 1/2 years service and i agree with most of what you say. We too have recently visited Edmonton & Calgary, and admittedly did not spend very long in Calgary, but in my opinion, Edmonton is a "Nicer" place.

As for the claims people make to Calgary being close to the mountains - banff (etc) of course they are not wrong, but for me, Banff, from Edmonton is 3.5 - 4 hours drive away. Which, i do not personally believe to be a long way! Lets face it London is about 200 miles away and last time i drove it, it was at least 6 hours drive due to traffic.

Given our recent trip, i certainly would not say that Banff was a long way from Edmonton and if 4 hours drive is a long way, i'd happily make that drive once a month or once every 2 months to visit the place, because it IS GORGEOUS. Of course Calgary is nearer, but for me, Edmonton does not put me off for being far away, cos when people are prepared to drive 6 hours in England for a week or Weekend in Great Yarmouth, then 4 hours straight drive nice an easy,is not so far that I personally would dis count Edmonton. I completely agree that a trip with the family is a MUST to see if you like the place.

Granted, Calgary DOES have its plus points, but so too does Edmonton, and for me, none of the places are better than the other purely on location. Yes Calgary is nearer the rockies and the American border, but what are you actually looking at moving for? If you want to move to the rockies, then Calgary is the nearest you'll get, if you want to move to Canada, and try to make a new life out there with better housing prospects and start a new rung on the ladder with a great wage then I see absolutely NOTHING wrong with Edmonton. It's a great place, with great people, and is a great City! In the grand scheme of things, when looking at moving to the worlds second largest country, is 4 hours a long way? NO! course not! And for me, i cannot see why if i move to Edmonton, why i would want to move away...

I do agree that what YOU are looking for is a big deal and if Edmonton does not offer what you want then that's fair enough, but for me, it has outside skiing and skating in the winter, biking and allsorts in the summer. As i say, Calgary is better placed, but from my research, Edmonton has an awful lot to offer, that would certainly do me! They even have an all english football team that actively recruit English lads to play in the indoor and outdoor leagues! At the end of the day (midnight) once in the country, you could apply to go anywhere! And once given permanent residence you could surely apply from force to force for employment.?

As the previous poster said, it is a MUST that you check the places out to see if they suit and they are by no means "holidays" but i really liked Edmonton, more so than Calgary, so each to their own and good luck to all who take the plunge!

Dom

dboy

And once given permanent residence you could surely apply from force to force for employment.?

Hi, yes you can move from force to force. Most of the muni forces take landed immigrants. I think the only force that requires citizenship is the RCMP.

Canada is a big place and law enforcement is set up very differently than the UK. For example in the greater vancouver area alone there are the following local city forces:

vancouver police department, west vancouver police department, New Westminster police service, port moody police and Abbotsford police department there is also GVTAPS which is like the transport police.

Vancouver Island has Victoria and Sanich Police.

Some are very small forces with only around 80 members. The biggest is Vancouver with around 1200 members.

It's much the same across the country. Ontario has the OPP (provincial) and toronto metro and numeous smaller forces, such as Peel Regional and Waterloo.

Cops are in demand and service is transferable for the most part. Career wise the larger forces would be better. Pay and benefits are pretty close across the board.

Hope that gives you a rough idea

rae

yes, yes, yes. the best thing i like about your hubby is that he is too miserable to actually even come on here.

i have changed my avatatar recently accordingly. basil has gone, as the feeling of hating everyone, acting like an imbecile, pretending to know everything while knowing nothing and being a completely smug bas+ard has left me. i am now left with a sense of persecution, sarcasm, and cynicism with a hefty dollop of negativity...bring on victor.

we need to meet in red deer and drink heavily.

burz

dom, you have just reminded me why I dont usually bother writing on these threads....
I didnt dislike Edmonton, I loved the Mall and the centre and more, but as I said it is FOR THE INDIVIDUIAL to go out and see for themselves to make the OWN choice. There is NO right OR WRONG here. We are all trying to make better lives for our famillys and it is each to there own. I have friends in BOTH citys, have visted BOTH citys and I may even change my mind if - as I asked - someone can persuade me?
for the record, Location is not the be all but it is important and i want to ski as often as poss so distance is a consideration.
Stay positive and good luck!

Diggler

Cheers Rae.
Will send you PM in a bit,

Diggler

Dom B

Yeah, i weren't havin a go mate, and I DID say that it's what matters to the person, was just trying to put a positive spin on the distance thing.

Hope all goes well

ann m

He's not that miserable - honest !

Yep.

tawny

Hi Ann

Thanks for the advice which is well received.

I would be lying if i said im ecstatic at pounding the beat again as ive been a detective for most of my career. Its a tough call i guess and there is no point living in the nicest place in the world when for 11 hours a day you are bored or unfulfilled.

I plan to visit as others have done and maybe explore the work side further on your recommendation.I can live with standing on scene guards etc for a while but we all need to develop in whatever role we do.

Still eyes wide open,listen to people like you and Rae(Victor) and ask the right questions when out there.

What can go wrong?

Dont answer the last bit..

Tawny

rae

now i'm dissapointed.

rae

the whole calgary vs edmonton bit has been done to death on the main forum, if you try various combinations of words on the search engine, (i am sure there was a thread simply titled calgary vs edmonton actually) you will find lots of info.

for me it can be summed up very simply and quickly.

+ calgary. more cosmopolitan feel, white collar. no heavy industry. nicer surroundings in the country. closer to usa and the mountains. CPS more forward thinking, progressive and accepting. much much better international air links and airport generally. stampede. bit warmer.
- calgary, had a little bit of a snobby superior air to me. houses more expensive. closer to usa. seemed to have as many if not more big city problems with homelessness and gangs.

+edmonton. cheaper houses. down to earth people with a nice friendly feel to the place, quite obviously more blue collar. mall and all the attractions. whyte ave and all the free bits of the many festivals. river valley. i'm struggling for more to be honest.

-edmonton. far too many industrial and chemical works and plants around the city in relation to the oil industry. its cow town and all that comes with it, i can't believe i am missing some element of political correctness as it really is say what i like, like what i say around here. many low income/homeless areas around the city, where you are not safe, even a few off duty cops have been robbed here recently. too far from banff, and to cross to bc and the sunshine, well ok maybe not at the moment.

you see, the huge positives from the uk to canada are present in both cities, so i think you can afford to be picky about what may appear to be, and granted probably are, some minor details. knowing what i know now, having my time over, i would go for calgary and be in a slightly smaller house and i was a major exponent of edmonton when i got here in most regards. only after living here a while and being to calgary lots, (4 times this year, sorry ann i do mean to give you a bell each time but forget) do you start to notice the differences which are perhaps not obvious at first.

stewie_griffin

Some friends of ours came to stay this summer and they stayed with us here in Edmonton, then went to Vancouver and drove through the Rockies en-route. They said that although Edmonton wasn't the prettiest place in the world, the conditions (cold winters, lots of 'big oil' industry, prairies, an isolated northern city etc) seem to make the people very friendly.

I've found it easy to settle here, mainly because I approached it with the idea that I couldn't go back, ever. I didn't want to go into emigration with the idea that if it didn't work out I could always go back because I thought it would make me less determined to give it a fair go.

Now, about 18 months in, I don't think about going back.

Diggler

Food for thought.....