The very beginning of our story starts here...
Myself and Shaun had initially looked at emigrating to Canada in 2007 just before Shaun's brother Michael had informed us that he was emigrating with his partner to Australia. The prospect of our move was even mentioned in my Dad's speech on our wedding day in 2009. We had various obstacles that came our way following the wedding such as 3 very close bereavements which prevented us from taking the plunge back then.
Our logic for choosing Canada was a naive one but one the we would never regret. The idea was that Australia was too hot, Europe too close, neither of us fancied America and therefore the fact that we loved the cold weather made Canada our choice.
We decided that as we couldn't afford an immigration consultant, we would do all the paperwork etc. alone as do many other expats. So on 14th July 2011 our application was posted by DHL to the Canadian Immigration service in Canada and was signed for by "Mike", so a big thumbs up to "Mike" for delivering it safely from wherever the post is received to the Officer overseeing our case.
Myself and Shaun had initially looked at emigrating to Canada in 2007 just before Shaun's brother Michael had informed us that he was emigrating with his partner to Australia. The prospect of our move was even mentioned in my Dad's speech on our wedding day in 2009. We had various obstacles that came our way following the wedding such as 3 very close bereavements which prevented us from taking the plunge back then.
Our logic for choosing Canada was a naive one but one the we would never regret. The idea was that Australia was too hot, Europe too close, neither of us fancied America and therefore the fact that we loved the cold weather made Canada our choice.
We decided that as we couldn't afford an immigration consultant, we would do all the paperwork etc. alone as do many other expats. So on 14th July 2011 our application was posted by DHL to the Canadian Immigration service in Canada and was signed for by "Mike", so a big thumbs up to "Mike" for delivering it safely from wherever the post is received to the Officer overseeing our case.
Prior to this we were lucky enough to meet a lady who at the time we were unaware would help us along our journey. She is a relocation consultant in the town in Cochrane (just outside of Calgary in Alberta) and she has become a dear friend to myself and Shaun with her invaluable knowledge of the area having gone through the process herself.
We then decided to visit Canada in October of 2011 for two weeks, Shaun had a job interview lined up in his job as a Heavy Duty Mechanic with a 'big name company' just to see what the interview process was like. So we landed in Calgary, Alberta on October 2nd for a fun filled adventure. We were greeted by Lucy at the airport who kindly had us stay with her for a couple of nights, we learnt about the lovely town in which we now live, Cochrane (30 minutes outside of Calgary). Shaun had his job interview just a few days later, we had decided to spend one week in Calgary/Cochrane, two days in Banff, two days in Jasper and the remaining few days we left spare. We had an amazing time in Banff where we threw ourselves in to the touristy things such as the Gondola and then we headed to Jasper. We were having a nice relaxing day when Shaun checked his e-mails and discovered a job offer from the company that he had received his interview and obviously he accepted! Following the fantastic trip we flew back to the UK to break the news to our family and friends that we were heading to Canada.
Then the fun began...
So we had to go through an LMO process (to determine our eligibility to work), followed by a work permit process and then finally to rent our UK property out, fly our dogs to Canada, ship our worldly possessions and say farewell for now to the ones we held dear.
Obviously our parents and family knew that Canada was where we planned to thrive in the future, but it still didn't prepare them for our news when we arrived back in the UK.
So we completed the above tasks and flew back out to Canada on April 11th 2012. It was the most exciting time of my life to that point apart from our Wedding Day and we gushed the whole flight, we were also apprehensive of what to expect at the airport Immigration wanting to drink, but not wanting to be drunk and be refused!! Everything went smoothly, one day after landing we moved in to our rented home which is beautiful. We went on a shopping spree for mugs, plates, etc... the basis really and 3 days later our worldly goods arrived, so back to customs we went for clearance, one week after landing our beloved dogs arrived, again back to the airport to clear them through customs. It was a whirlwind two weeks, Shaun then started his new job and settled in quickly with only a few glitches.
To say that the initial transition was hard would be a complete understatement, we moved with $3000 in our hand with $1650 of that going towards our first months rent. We had no furniture as we only shipped sentiments, clothing and a kitchen box!! But we were happy and that was all that counted. The dogs made it home, they loved all of the new smells and exciting new places to run to their hearts content and we were happy to be in a place that we knew would one day be home. We battled financially as the UK dipped back in to recession in April just weeks after we had left and the conversion rate to keep or UK home afloat was awful and it drank us dry. For me the tough days are a distant memory on my drive home from work. I love my 40 minute commute from Cochrane to Calgary, I relax before work and I am mesmerized daily by the drive towards the mountains on my way home!
In September we received our medical requests for Immigration, we underwent these in Calgary, Shaun thoroughly enjoyed his examination...NOT!! I am pleased to say that we later discovered that we had passed.
In October we then received a request for additional information such as eye color, height and lastly our Right of Permanent Residency fee payment. We were excited as we knew that we had made it but we couldn't bank on it until received the official documents. Another month passed, November arrived and guess what? So did our Confirmation of Permanent Residency! Ecstatic was not the word, we were home and it was official!
On November 23rd, we took a trip down to the United States border crossing of Montana to activate our permanent residency and this is the date that our work permit expired. 16 months of blood, sweat, tears and expenses came to an end and we could now enjoy the fact that we were here for good and can count down to Citizenship.
To summarize it has been the most bittersweet year of my life, the most challenging yet the most rewarding, we have battled financially, emotionally with each other.
I adore the Canadians, I have some fantastic Canadian friends and only a couple of British friends and I find that having Canadians around me and seeing their outlook is a blessing. I love their hobbies, their company, their food and their humor.
Of course I miss fresh cod and chips from our local chippy, I miss proper fried rice from "China Delight", I also miss baked beans and cathedral city, but I know for sure that if I were to ever come back I would miss this beautiful country far more!
We then decided to visit Canada in October of 2011 for two weeks, Shaun had a job interview lined up in his job as a Heavy Duty Mechanic with a 'big name company' just to see what the interview process was like. So we landed in Calgary, Alberta on October 2nd for a fun filled adventure. We were greeted by Lucy at the airport who kindly had us stay with her for a couple of nights, we learnt about the lovely town in which we now live, Cochrane (30 minutes outside of Calgary). Shaun had his job interview just a few days later, we had decided to spend one week in Calgary/Cochrane, two days in Banff, two days in Jasper and the remaining few days we left spare. We had an amazing time in Banff where we threw ourselves in to the touristy things such as the Gondola and then we headed to Jasper. We were having a nice relaxing day when Shaun checked his e-mails and discovered a job offer from the company that he had received his interview and obviously he accepted! Following the fantastic trip we flew back to the UK to break the news to our family and friends that we were heading to Canada.
Then the fun began...
So we had to go through an LMO process (to determine our eligibility to work), followed by a work permit process and then finally to rent our UK property out, fly our dogs to Canada, ship our worldly possessions and say farewell for now to the ones we held dear.
Obviously our parents and family knew that Canada was where we planned to thrive in the future, but it still didn't prepare them for our news when we arrived back in the UK.
So we completed the above tasks and flew back out to Canada on April 11th 2012. It was the most exciting time of my life to that point apart from our Wedding Day and we gushed the whole flight, we were also apprehensive of what to expect at the airport Immigration wanting to drink, but not wanting to be drunk and be refused!! Everything went smoothly, one day after landing we moved in to our rented home which is beautiful. We went on a shopping spree for mugs, plates, etc... the basis really and 3 days later our worldly goods arrived, so back to customs we went for clearance, one week after landing our beloved dogs arrived, again back to the airport to clear them through customs. It was a whirlwind two weeks, Shaun then started his new job and settled in quickly with only a few glitches.
To say that the initial transition was hard would be a complete understatement, we moved with $3000 in our hand with $1650 of that going towards our first months rent. We had no furniture as we only shipped sentiments, clothing and a kitchen box!! But we were happy and that was all that counted. The dogs made it home, they loved all of the new smells and exciting new places to run to their hearts content and we were happy to be in a place that we knew would one day be home. We battled financially as the UK dipped back in to recession in April just weeks after we had left and the conversion rate to keep or UK home afloat was awful and it drank us dry. For me the tough days are a distant memory on my drive home from work. I love my 40 minute commute from Cochrane to Calgary, I relax before work and I am mesmerized daily by the drive towards the mountains on my way home!
In September we received our medical requests for Immigration, we underwent these in Calgary, Shaun thoroughly enjoyed his examination...NOT!! I am pleased to say that we later discovered that we had passed.
In October we then received a request for additional information such as eye color, height and lastly our Right of Permanent Residency fee payment. We were excited as we knew that we had made it but we couldn't bank on it until received the official documents. Another month passed, November arrived and guess what? So did our Confirmation of Permanent Residency! Ecstatic was not the word, we were home and it was official!
On November 23rd, we took a trip down to the United States border crossing of Montana to activate our permanent residency and this is the date that our work permit expired. 16 months of blood, sweat, tears and expenses came to an end and we could now enjoy the fact that we were here for good and can count down to Citizenship.
To summarize it has been the most bittersweet year of my life, the most challenging yet the most rewarding, we have battled financially, emotionally with each other.
I adore the Canadians, I have some fantastic Canadian friends and only a couple of British friends and I find that having Canadians around me and seeing their outlook is a blessing. I love their hobbies, their company, their food and their humor.
Of course I miss fresh cod and chips from our local chippy, I miss proper fried rice from "China Delight", I also miss baked beans and cathedral city, but I know for sure that if I were to ever come back I would miss this beautiful country far more!
