Moving to Canada - panicking slightly about logistics!

[lamprey42]

We're probably moving to Canada in the new year (well I've just been offered a very good job there - undergoing contract negotiations at the moment). We both have visited the place and really like it and there is very good (and cheap! ) childcare for our 3 yo twins.

However, I am starting to panic about the logistics of packing up our very cluttered house and moving. We'd obviously get rid of as much clutter as possible. The idea would be to rent out our house here (possibly part-furnished) and then ship some stuff over. What do we take though? Do most people take everything or get rid of larger furniture? Any tips on moving or renting?

I'd take everything. We had a container full of our things but we wish we had brought more with us! We find it pretty expensive to buy decent furniture, we just bought our daughter a bedroom set and it cost $3000.
Can't offer ant advice on renting but good luck with the move! We love it here, been here for 6 1/2 years best move we have ever made :)

Thanks TrueScot. I think we are probably looking at a container. Hadn't realised furniture was that expensive - ouch!
Everyone I've talked to seems to say nice things about Canada which is reassuring. Whereabouts are you?

Not to Canada, but we have just move continents.
We have rented out house fully furnished. We spoke to two estate agents. One was certain it could be rented furnished, the other certain it could not. We had 5 viewings in 2 weeks, and one set saying they would apply as soon as we had a departure date (we were awaiting visas), one wanting it if they could put all our furniture in storage, and another took it.
With the rest of the stuff, we did serious decluttering, have rented a storage unit for bits, rented a fully furnished house (to the level of spoons, bedding and towels), came over with 6 suitcases, and got 30 boxes shipped flown over.

The kids have missed their bikes and painting stuff (preschoolers).
I've missed kitchen scales and a cake tin.
DH wanted some reference books for work.

Is shipping included in your package? As we were leaving furniture, we took cash in leiu, and arranged through Pickford's. Think furniture would have made the company option look good.

Start now getting rid of bits. I spent several weeks attacking the bottom of cupboards and underneath beds, and seemed to have got rid of a lot without appearing to make a difference.
Also expect it to look worse before it gets better - think about having binned everything that isn't going with you before you put the house up for rent.

Also, not sure what the shipping time to Canada is, but what are you going to sleep on etc while everything is on the water? Do you want to be camping in the shell of a house for 6-8 weeks?

We moved to Prince Edward Island. We love it here but hate buying furniture! Lol I find the stuff over here isn't as good quality too. Even the set we bought for our daughter has some flaws and will have to be replaced.
Our container didn't arrive until one month after we got here, we bought inflatable beds and some lawn chairs to tide us over until the container arrived. My daughter loved it! Lol

We've moved continents, and are planning to do so again. I recommend shipping everything. Much nicer/easier having all your own stuff.

Use it as an excuse to rationalise a bit. And get shippers who pack, do all the customs paperwork and unpack at the other side.

We rented a furnished apartment for 10 weeks, a corporate type place, while we waited for the container to arrive. It was also when we worked out which area to live in etc. then had a week or so camping in an empty house. We'll do the same in reverse next time. Pack up house, ship contents, corporTe rental while we sort out a few things, hit new country, corporate rental while we find new house

We moved two years ago from the UK to Canada. We have kept our uk house and decided to only move a few bits of furniture that we really liked, books and personal items, clothes and the kids toys. It ended up being not a lot. We figured moving over that we would need to replace a lot of things in the period between shipping and it arriving and so that made it easier to decide what to leave....we knew we would need pots and pans and cooking things, towels etc so only brought anything that fell into category if it had some sentimental meaning.

Also remember that anything electrical isn't going to work here. I hope the move goes well for you. We spent about 2 months decluttering before we left which was both useful and cathartic.

You don't say where exactly you are moving to but Good Luck.

lamprey42 where are you moving to? we moved 6 years ago and i too second bringing everything with you. Canada isn't a cheap place to live, furniture is expensive, you will need to replace electrical goods. (We had an allowance to replace these as part of our package.)

Thanks for all the advice everyone and apologies for the delay in replying. Really useful to hear about everyone's experiences - and good to knwo people do survive it! Just signed the contract so visas permitting we will be moving over in 2016 - to New Brunswick. I have got a relocation allowance which should cover shipping most stuff and they are giving us a furnished house for the first couple of months so that should work out while all the stuff is being shipped over. We're planning to rent our house out so will need to re paint etc so hoping to pack everything up and stay with a friend for a bit before we go so I can work in a clear house. Let the de-cluttering commence!

One tip I'd have is to think carefully about what you use every day and make sure you pack it, so it's easy to access when it arrives. When we last moved, I left behind a lot of basic essentials like dustpan, mop, etc. Cost quite a lot in time and money replacing everything, so wish I'd just packed it!

I also swear by asking yourself as you consider each item for packing if you will be happy to open a box and find it on the other end! Makes it much easier to cull collections of books, DVDs, paperwork, etc...