Hotscot

"I have recently returned from a year long working holiday in Australia"

scrubbedexpat091

The conviction or criminal issue or whatever it is that was mentioned at one point could be an issue, but Canada is like the US but with a few added benefits that make living here a little easier when compared to the US, although we don't get the cheap crap in stores like the US does. Canada is your young enough also has working holiday programs younger workers can participate in without having to commit to a permanent move.

Biggest benefit is healthcare for residents, its not what I'd call perfect nor true universal as its a provincial thing and can very by province, but its its better then the US just for the fact you wont end up with a 5 or 6 or 7 figure medical bill for a major health issue.

If you lose your job here, EI isn't much better then unemployment in the US, but you get a bit more protections here from firing, not a lot but slightly better.

Its like USA lite, you get the US with slight differences.

Bnet36

This might be another case of... Let them experience things first hand. From the outside looking in America looks great but there is so much more. It's a rat race, every man for himself not to mention all the other things. I would have never believed all that I now know had I not experienced it first hand.

Maybe his experience will be different.

unique_boy

He did a 1 year working holiday, these can be extended to two years if you do the seasonal work. Getting a permanent visa out there is a lot easier than it is for the US in my experience. I have friends out there being sponsored, one in finance, 1 is a brickie (got the job with no experience by starting as a labourer) and the other is a carpenter (again starting with no experience).

It at least offers something different to the UK and is potentially easier to get a visa.

Hotscot

Thought they had some sort of points system there?

Pulaski

FIFY

Dorothy

And?
If he did the regional work in the first year. And there have been a lot of restrictions put on sponsorships lately meaning that it's not simply a matter of getting in with no experience. (Also, your friends are probably being sponsored for 457 visas which means temporary and dependant on working for the sponsoring employer only)
Yes there is a points system. And while it is easier than the US to get in, it's not by any means a walk in the park.

Hotscot

That was my point.
Holiday, not necessarily immigrant qualified.

andrewlohnes

I have 5 friends that have gone to Australia in the last 5-6 years and they are all still there. They all have trades but didn't find it hard to get residency at all.

zzrmark

I, too, am one of those who wonders why the US is top of many people's 'preferred ultimate destination? Many times in the past I've considered emigrating from the UK but not until I met a certain lady did I ever entertain the thought that I'd visit the US let alone decide to make it home. Is it the influence of the film industry that instils a yearning to relocate in many who may never have graced it's shores?

I looked at the usual commonwealth countries in the past, luckily for me I have certain skills that New Zealand, Canada and Oz were (and certainly Canada still is) desperate to accommodate. I did a six month stint in France in my 20's, which was enjoyable but, language aside, it was not as alien to the UK's culture as I'd expected.

As for my current emigration hopes, I'm under little illusion that an, albeit skilled, manual worker with no (or lapsed) certification may find it hard to obtain gainful employment - especially as this one hasn't been in the PAYE system for over 20 years and likes to run things his way!!!

Hotscot

The film industry is very fragmented these days anyway.
Production a la Hollywood is plunging...

Nutmegger

It seems that every other film I see is in fact made in Toronto . . . or Poland!

Pulaski

Production is chasing tax credits and state subsidies around. I wish the states would all realize that the film companies are taking the taxpayers for a ride, but for now at least production is following the subsidies, and the states keep paying up.

A few years ago NC was paying the big bucks, and we got Hunger Games, Leathernecks, Jackass-Bad Grandpa, and two series of Homeland among others, but the production companies seem to have packed up their trailers and moved on.

Hotscot

If anyone wants to break into film production I suggest they head for Prague.
Certainly not Los Angeles.

Sally Redux

Movies give people the impression it's glamorous in the US - for some reason. I suppose even things like 8 Mile have an American Dream element.