Crestfallen

Hi everyone,

I'm currently based in London, UK but am hoping to move to Canada with my OH within the next few years.

we've signed up with an immigration consultant (I have read on here that not everyone thinks too favourably of them!) and have just started the process of applying.

We're hoping to get to Alberta, although to be honest ANY part of Canada will do.

I'm really looking forward to chatting to other people who are in the same boat.

christmasoompa

Hi, and welcome.

Don't worry about people not liking immigration consultants, unfortunately there are a lot of dodgy ones out there, but as long as yours is registered with CSIC that's fine. Some people are happy to do it themselves, others prefer to have somebody to hold their hand during the process, and those with complicated circumstances often find a consultant is essential.

So everybody will have different opinions on it, but don't let that bother you!

Pop over to the Canada forum and hopefully people there will welcome you and be able to answer any questions you may have.

Sue

Hi,

Welcome to BE, I hope you enjoy your stay with us.

I don't know much about moving to Canada, (I am in the US) but if you ever have any site questions please don't hesitate to give me a shout.

The best of luck with your plans to emigrate

Sue

TheThornes

Hi there. I moved to Alberta 16 months ago with my husband and kids. We were previously living in Surrey. We're now in Cochrane, just outside of Calgary. Absolutely love it! It's quite a popular area with Brits (as is Okotoks and Airdre - both just outside Calgary). Have you been over here for a trip yet?

To be honest, can't really comment on immigration consultants as such. We have friends over here that have used them and, again, we hear mixed reports. I guess a lot of it depends on who you use and personal experience. We came over via the Pronvincial Nominee Program so didn't really need an immigration consultant. With the Provincial Nominee Program, it meant that my husband's then future employers did some of the paperwork and we did some too. The whole process can be pretty stressful but it's certainly worth it in the end!

We did enlist the services of a local realator who specialises in people moving across from the UK; we met her at an Emigrate Show at Sandown in Esher. She was great. When we came over on research trips, she sorted us out with suitable accommodation, lent us a cell phone, gave us maps and even took us out looking at properties so we had an idea of neighbourhoods and what was available for our money. The best part is that all her services were completely free to us. The way it works is that she gets her money from the vendors when we finally moved over and purchased our house.

Well, I know you mentioned Alberta although happy to get anywhere in Canada! I'm probably biased as we moved to Alberta but I think it's great here. Compared to the UK, the cost of living is swings and roundabouts. Housing and vehicles are cheaper but groceries and utilities are about the same, maybe slightly higher. Compared to the rest of Canada, it is probably one of the more expensive areas. The climate here is one of the most preferable throughout Canada. It gets the most sunshine here; it's nearly always sunny blue skies and we get little rain. Winter temperatures can get cold but no way as cold as many other parts of the country. I could also probably count on one hand the number of days we had snow this winter! With it's proximity to the mountains we get chinook winds which can sometimes result in spring or summer like temperatures in winter. A few days ago (February) my children were outside playing in shorts and Ts! The summers are pretty hot; not as hot as BC but then BC gets a lot of rain and we don't!

What I also like about the town where we are is that we're only half an hour from Calgary and less than an hour from the mountains so you get the best of both worlds.

Anyway, if you've got any questions or just want to speak to someone that's already made the move, get in touch.

Well, good luck with everything.

NessieOggy

Just to add to this comment. Please remember that BC does not equal just the coastal areas of the province and a blanket statement regarding rain doesn't apply! The Okanagan Valley and Thompson regions of the province have a very dry climate (semi arid) and we generally appreciate a bit of rain. For instance, the South Okanagan is classified as a desert, so very much different from the coast.

Wishing you all the best with your application, Crestfallen.


Oggy

Crestfallen

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I haven't actually been out to Alberta yet, hoping to go out for a recce just as soon as we can afford to, I'm drawn to Calgary, but we want to take in Edmonton too and also some other areas. I have a relative (Grandma's Cousin) who is a born and bred Canadian who lives in Edmonton, who has been incredibly supportive and helpful, answering some of my more obscure questions on availability of different cheeses and suchlike
But of course she hasn't gone through the process of immigration, so it's great to talk to people who know exactly what you're growing through.

We decided to meet with immigration consultants, because we had thought that our only chance of getting out there was through getting a job offer and after applying for around 100 different jobs weren't having much luck. The thing was we had been looking at Job titles on the list and none of them seemed to apply to us, but when we met with the consultants they took a good look at our job descriptions and were able to match Hubby's job description with a description on the list. I know we're dumbasses for not looking at the descriptions, We just thought that the job title had to match
But to be honest, more than that I really like having someone to hold our hands through the process and make sure that we do everything properly first time. I know it's a lot cheaper to do it yourself, but it's nice to have someone else to fill in the forms and tell us what we need to do.

It's great to hear that so many brits do seem to enjoy living out there, we did think about moving out of London to another part of the UK, but there's just nowhere in this country I want to live, I grew up in London but am quickly growing to loathe it. Currently I work in quite a specialised area (I'm a museum assistant) I hate my current job, but there just aren't any other jobs around in the sector. Even though what I do takes in a lot of finance and admin work, if you ever apply for any of those jobs, they see the job title of my current job and run a mile, I've heard that Canadian employers aren't so quick to pigeonhole you

Thanks so much to all of you for being so welcoming and TheThornes cheers for the offer to answer any questions, I have no doubt that I will be in touch