Thinking about a move

[Drooper]

Have some questions about moving to Canada

As I have said on here before myself and my Girlfriend have been considering moving to your gorgeous country.

I have e-mailed a couple of those "we will help you relocate" sites to be told that I am unsuitable to move!

Are the Canadian authorities really that against people from other countries coming to live in Canada?


I've never really looked into anything like this before as I never really wanted to leave the U.K but really fancy a change.

Obviously there a several things that would have to be taken into account, for a start there is finding somewhere to live.

I'd need to find a job, I drive trucks for a living here but not sure of my U.K licence would cover me there.

I'd need to find schools for my kids.

I have my dog to think about, not sure if I would be aloud to bring him, if not then it's not going to happen Can't leave my dog!!

And then after everything else there is my car, I have told Jullie that if we where to go we would have to wait untill my car was old enough to bring with us, sounds silly but I have my reasons.


Probably won't ever happen but just thought I'd bring it up.



Oh yer and my Girlfriend is part Canadian!

[delicat]

You're not the first one!

Check out this post:
http://www.delica.ca/forum/i-want-to-mo ... +to+canada

And yes, you can bring your dog and no, Canada isn't that close on people moving in (happens every day) and yes, your truck will have to be 15 yrs old...

Good luck!
David

[EnviroImports.com]

one thing you might want to check about is, If your girlfriend or your self decides to come for "school" you can bring your car over at any age, but has to leave at the end of the visa , mind you visa extensions are Very easy and common, My sister in law came here for highschool, Education visa, and has been extending it for many years, you might find that if your not going to make it a permanent life change, only a few years that its much easier. well at least vehicle wise that is, and at the end of that time your vehicle might be 15 years old ...My Brother has been enjoying MANY JDM vehicles that arent 15yrs old and are perfectly legal to bring over if you know the letter of the law.

[konadog]

Good choice Drooper! Hope it works out for ya! Toby is a lucky mutt to have a boss that cares so much - I wouldn't leave mine either. I remember after the big Katrina storm nightmare I saw some news footage of a guy standing in chest deep water telling the rescue boats that his dog was his best friend and no way was he going to leave if he couldn't take his dog with him. The boat moved on without him. Not sure it was the wisest thing to do, but I sure appreciate his loyalty to his dog. Any place in Canada you are esp. interested in? As various posts on the thread delicat directed you to point out, it really is a huge, varied country. I like Vancouver Island myself, but hey, I'm biased as I have spent the vast majority of my life on (and sometimes in) Cap't George's rock. Good luck,

[Drooper]

Cheers guys for the positive replies. Makes me feel all warm inside!


Konadog I haven't really thought that far ahead so not sure which part of Canada I would want to move to.

Don't really know that much about it apart from the fact that the pictures and TV footage I've seen it looks gorgeous, fresh and clean.

Oh and cold in the winter

[konadog]

Oh and cold in the winter

South East coast of Vancover Island (and the lower mainland across Georgia Straight - ie. the city of Vancouver), not so much. Wet in the winter, but not the bone chilling freeze of say Winnipeg!

[Jaz]

I think the question should not be

"Where in Canada I want to move"

as more

"Where in British Columbia, Canada, I want to move"

Because coming from the UK to the cold wilds of the prairies (anywhere east of the rockies in my narrow opinion!) you're going to have a hell of a lot more to whinge about than just drizzle in winter!

[Drooper]

Because coming from the UK to the cold wilds of the prairies (anywhere east of the rockies in my narrow opinion!) you're going to have a hell of a lot more to whinge about than just drizzle in winter!

Ah you say that but let me explain, I don't like summer!

I very rarely "winge" about the drizzle.


I prefer it when its cold and what other people would call miserable outside, I love the snow and ice and winters the way they should be.

The only downside is that my van gets dirty!!

[Jaz]

Ah, but that's the trade off - it gets frikkin hot out in the prairies during the summer!

That's when the coastal climes come in handy, as it gets warm, but not amazingly toasty.

Maybe Whitehorse up in the Yukon is the way to go for you? Goes from an average of -18c in winter to a balmy average of +14 degrees in summer... sounds perfect for ya!

[FalcoColumbarius]

I think it gets a little colder than -18C in the Yukon ~ in Northern BC it has bee known to go below -55F/ average more like -40F. Is the UK still considered rabies free? If so you won't have to quarantine your dog for six months. As far as Summers go, some things you have to consider are the bugs, i.e.; mosquitoes. In south west BC there are mosquitoes but they are not much more than a nuisance. Up north, however, the mosquitoes wear name tags, as do the black flies. Down south the mosquito's wing span is close to a centimetre. Up north, more like two centimetres. I am not embellishing. On the prairies I hear the bugs are bigger still, but I have no experience east of the Rockies. Geographically; the UK will fit into Canada forty times (not including the lakes or ice). The population of Canada is not much bigger than the population of London, every day ~ that is; not just the people who live in the GLC but also the commuters &c., which in 1986 was 23 million, where Canada was around 26 million at that time.

Canada has a remarkable natural endowment. Society, on the other hand is quite different to the UK, at least on the west coast. If I were to be an estate agent for Martians; geographically I would make BC the showroom for the world. It has big mountains; reclaimed land from the sea; deserts; torrential rain forests (like jungle); semi-arid... It is a vast place. England (without Cymru) will more or less fit onto Vancouver Island. Although the primary time zone is Pacific Standard Time ~ there are actually three time zones in BC, the other two being Alaska Time zone up around Atlin (north west) and Mountain Time in the north east. Driving from London to Newcastle on Canadian terms is no big deal, this last weekend I logged somewhere around 650 kilometres and much of that was exploring de-activated forest service roads, which is slower.

Vancouver is, I believe, the most expensive city in Canada. There is close to three hundred years of European history in BC, short by European standards, but still substantial.

Drooper, if you come out this way I think you will like it, although you really ought to check the place out before you move house, as it were.

Anyhow, these are a few of my thoughts off the top of my head ~ oh, and driving on the other side of the road is a bit of a trip at first ~ but being a lorry driver I would imagine you have some continental experience

Hope this helps! Falco.