And now, the wait begins....

[ChimpMaster]

I liked 1982.

[doodab]

I liked 1982.

Beats living in 1984

[ratewhore]

Good luck with that FAQQER. I spent a bit of time in Edmonton, Alberta. Love the place, love the people...

[Crumlin]

Sounds like his wife is a tit.

HTH

Agreed. She lives near us now, has avoided us as she knows what I'll say for sure!

[Pondlife]

I was working over in Toronto circa 2003 and again for a couple of weeks in a city a few hours away last year. It's a FANTASTIC country.

Good luck with it Faqq. If you ever feel inclined to write up your experience of the application process don't be shy and post a link.

[TheFaQQer]

Thanks all - will let you know how the process goes.

good one Xeno

and which province ?

Milan.

Probably Ontario, as the IT industry seems to be mainly based in or around Ottawa. With the normal permanent residency permit, you can live anywhere apart from Quebec (who have their own rules on who they let in,and you need to be pretty fluent in French).

How long does it take to get the residency? I heard it can take years (but why so long?)

It seems to vary - they brought in a new immigration process a couple of years back to speed things up, but the stats are still waiting to come through. It also depends on where you have to apply to get vetted - London seems reasonable, but Moscow is a lot longer.

They now do a pre-screening in Nova Scotia to see if you are likely to get in. After that (takes a few months), they either refund your fee and say no, or tell you to apply to your local visa office for a more detailed vetting. I'm guessing somewhere in the 2-3 years timeframe - bear in mind that this is for permanent residency, though, rather than just going on a work visa.

Also isn't it hard to get jobs out there, purely because there isn't much of an IT industry out there?

There are less vacancies at the moment, it seems, but I'll worry about that once I have the visa If necessary, MrsF can go back to teaching, which seems to earn more than over here. Luckily, the visa isn't conditional on working in a specific location or job, so I have a bit of freedom there.

If you ever feel inclined to write up your experience of the application process don't be shy and post a link.

I'm starting a blog about how it's going, but it may be slow going. Once I have a few more posts, I'll put a link up.

[Gonzo]

Good luck with that FaQQer.

I haven't travelled extensively there but I did like the place overall. Each of the large cities seemed to have a completely different feel to them so I am sure that you will find one that suits you.

I didn't feel at all comfortable in Montreal but absolutely loved Toronto. Having said that there was a TV show on while I was there with a comedian investigating why the rest of the country all hated the people from Toronto and I suspect my liking for Toronto could have been down to the fact that my preference in the UK is to live in London and it had a similar, but much friendlier and more relaxed, feel to it.

I have a cousin that married a Canadian chap and moved to Ontario to live there. They did seriously look at coming back to the UK to live for a while but their standard of living would have taken a serious hit in terms of the size of house that they could have in the UK compared to Canada so they stayed put and seem very content. As a result my uncle and aunt get to spend a month or two in Canada every year or two to see their grandchildren and are very happy with that arrangement.

When you show your parents where you are moving to, show them on a globe rather than a map. It will look much closer IMO.

[Sysman]

Canada = too f*****g cold

Some years ago I read about a Canadian bird who lived underground during winter. All the shops, restaurants and cinemas she needed were underground.

Sorry, I like daylight too much.

[Sysman]

Beats living in 1984

Beats the crap out of living in 1984.

[Sysman]

I'm starting a blog about how it's going, but it may be slow going. Once I have a few more posts, I'll put a link up.

Well done FaQQer. I looked at Canada years ago, but Europe got there first. I look forward to seeing your blog.