Possible move to Vancouver, British Columbia

[AlwaysTheMummy]

My hubby has a possibility of a job offer in Vancouver - I've done a little research, well as much as you can via the t'interweb, but just wanted some insider info.

I realise Vancouver is very expensive to rent or buy, but which areas are good for families with young children, we have a ds (5y) and dd (8m).

Anything anyone can add would be much appreciated.

TIA xx

Romy - Anymore news from dh??

hi lazyhen - only spent two nights in toronto i'm afraid - definitely a west coast girl!! i think it was one of the other mn-ers who was en route to toronto actually... i'll see if i can work out who it was - but was saying she was literally supposed to be starting work in a month, and couldn't find any childcare, anywhere, with daycare etc saying they had waiting lists etc etc...

i'd be really interested to hear more about what you're looking for - it's always good to hear from others who are trying to decide where their future lies lol.

nah - no news yet. dh is umming and aaahing now. we know someone who has just got their 90 day letter who is 7 months ahead of us in the queue - so now he's worried that if he takes this job (assuming he gets offered it lol), then we might have our update letter before he starts in feb - and if we follow that route then we obviously get the option to live/ work where we want, including in our own house...

he's also got another job coming up which he finds out in october, which in theory allows us to continue our sw application in country with no risk at all, as it would be a transfer with existing company, and therefore we could just transfer back if we got turned down for pr.

i am being forced more into allowing circumstances to dictate to us i think - if he gets this job it is obviously a 'sign' that we are meant to go this time, and not wait to find out whether the other comes off! soooo difficult. they apparently said they would let him know within a week or so (as they still have to decide which jobs etc etc) so we're on day 5!!!

FAO Romy7

could you pop over to Armed forces as there is a girl there asking for help and i think you could help her.

Sorry for hijack

lazyhen - it was BrownSuga, and it was montreal, not toronto (it's all french to me lol)
i think they are there for a couple of years...

Ah thanks. In reply to earlier question - I'm an Occupational Therapist, so I have the 'desirable' trade. DH has more general skills but we would move on my job iyswim.

I have spent a while on the expats forums which are really interesting. Although I think it's more relevant speaking to Mums planning to move with young children as opposed to people retiring for example. Needs and outlooks are very different!

For what it's worth I loved Vancouver. I think it would be a really nice place to live, and I'm sure if you did get placed out there you'd love it.

loads of mums on britishexpats.com (as opposed to other variations lol) most of the members seem to be families moving over for work, and trying to get jobs. their jobhunting wiki is also very useful... i might have seen you on there actually - OT rings a little bell...
(i always notice OTs because of dd2 lol)
some of the families also have bogs i think, sometimes they are useful to get an idea of what you need to sort out with kids! not sure if you have any school-age - there is also an canadian education wiki etc...

my top tip would also been to trawl through likely threads, pick someone in 'your' destination city, and send them a pm with loads of questions - i've tried it a few times (apologising for being cheeky lol) - and got some v good info!

I can imagine that being helpful although I haven't actually posted on any other forum (except for before my wedding!) so I might give that a try!

just noticed my typo - blogs, clearly... i think even the canadians have plumbing these days...

Still no news to report this end, I hate all the waiting.

But on the normal day to day front - I bought my hubby a Nintendo Wii, I've not seen him so happy lol, plus we bought a camcorder, I've always wanted one and think it'll be such a good thing to have with the kids growing up, even though Erin is only 8 months old, it's hard to remember her as a newborn iyswim.

I've got a week off work now so tonight after dinner, I'm gonna have a proper look through the expat website you recommended Romy

Lazyhen - hope you find the info you're after, but feel free to keep us updated on this thread, it's a nice cosy friendly thread I feel lol xx

well, it's a week now, but it feels like a month. dh came home from home work yesterday in a foul temper - confessed he'd only have needed a phone call from canada for him to resign on the spot. ho hum. he was off inot london today to have a sense of humour failure, so i have no idea what will happen later lol.
i think we're going to get a wii at christmas - my poor deprived children don't even own a playstaion or a ds, so they are total social outcasts
we haven't got a camcorder either lol... but got lots of pictures

i think this week all the expat boards will be full of 'zoom and gloom' with people stuck all over the place. thank goodness we've booked with canadian affair for feb...

Keep us updated.

So jealous of you going in Feb.

xx

We're selling our house and during a viewing today I actually said the reason we're selling is because 'we're moving to Canada'... Felt very nice hearing it out loud!

My husband is a chauffer and hears lots of stories from people who have/are living in Canada. It's really interesting to hear people's feedback (even if I do think DH has edited it a bit!)

Oh wow, I can't wait for that part, telling everyone we are moving to Canada.

Once we receive this email and know a little more about what the job offer is, then maybe we can plan more but as it stands we are kinda in limbo.

To pass the time I have done a spreadsheet of everything we own - literally lol - and broken it down into what we will sell, what we will donate to women's refuge/charity etc and what we will take with us, can you tell I'm impatient.

We had a chat with my hubby's kids about a possible move and they seem ok, maybe they were just a little shocked, we'll see when the time comes. Our son talks about it a lot and he's totally excited about going to live there, even though he's only 5 and doesn't really understand, but he's very adventurous and as long as we are there he would live anywhere.

There will be a downer to our move - we wont be taking our pets, we have a dog, cat and hamster, I know its easy to take animals over but it's something we have discussed and decided that it just wouldnt be admissable for us to take them, we'd have to find them a lovely home before we went, I'm almost certain my mum or my friend would take our cat, my sister might take the hamster so that just leaves our crazy collie, I'd ideally like her to go to a farm and someone with plenty of time and space, it's quite sad thinking about it now but we know deep down it's for the best.

How come you wouldn't take the dog? That's the one thing that would be a deal breaker here.

We wouldn't take the dog because when we get over there we will be renting and the majority of places we can afford do not allow animals, plus I may have to go back to work and we can't leave her inside all day while we both work.

awww. we took ours when we went over for 2 1/2 years - she loved it, but was slightly about the fact she had to stand in a lukewarm bath to melt the ice that formed between her pads in the winter! she spent the summers chasing gophers (including the one that decided to move in under our back porch - which wasn't great from a digging point of view) and arctic hares miles over the prairie, and the winter scooping up snow with her nose at 100 miles an hour. she had a whale of a time. we have two labs now, who will be going with us... if.... when....
dh is going to ring up today - it isn't two weeks yet, but he's goint to ring and ask when they think he will hear one way or another... i'm not sure he'll take it now - he seems to be swinging wildy from one extreme to the other lol.
i can't believe how organised you are already, always... i keep surveying the surrounding chaos and thinking... how on earth am i going to get rid of this lot if we get the go ahead? we've literally been carting everything aroundthe world with us since we got married and we are total hoarders... i just feel the need to know now so i can start shedding stuff if nec!
lazyhen - golly - i hadn't realised you were as far as selling the house - that's very decisive!

it's not so much being organised than it is purely to pass the time lol.

I hope they can tell him something xx

Ah Romy - That sounds like dog heaven... Good point about rental places not allowing dogs though alwaysthemummy. Food for thought!

Well hubby received the email, he has been offered the job, we can go out there from March 2009, it's just surreal to me at the minute, I'm going through a range of emotions from sheer excitement to dread.

I know this is what we've always wanted but there will always be a part of me that hangs back.

So now we've got to get the ball rolling, selling the house, paying off debts, tying up loose ends, I can't even think straight.

Will post later when I've gotten my head round it xx

oh that's fantastic! you must be absolutely buzzing! so many things to sort and sooooooo much to do! dh has also had a summons, but no idea what it means really - the vp is flying in next week and has asked to meet up on weds... fingers crossed we will be following you lol! surely if they were going to change their mind they would e-mail him? surely they want to talk terms? ach, it's endless....
and eeeeeeek for you - selling the house?! do you think it's going to go in this market or will you look at renting it out too?

i am so excited for you - well done dh!!!
are you booking a recce?

so happy for you! (oooooh, canadian baby......)

If we don't sell then we will look at renting it out.

Fingers crossed for you too, sounds positive.

Lol @ canadian baby, that'll be a few years yet, need to get settled first.

Wont be booking a recce, need all the available cash to pay things off, will just have to look at picture instead lol.

I've started listing things like books and dvd's on amazon to get the 'Canada Fund' started.

I'm just so excited, my face is hurting from smiling so much but I'm also scared that it will all go wrong. I just wanna bury my head in the sand and let someone else make the decisions for me.
xx

i can't believe this happened so quickly for you - i thought your seminar wasn't until october?!
i am unbelievably jealous this morning but you must have woken up thinking 'omw - is this real or did i dream it?'
so will ds start in kindergarten or grade 1 by then? will work help you find a rental or pay for a hotel until you find one when you arrive?
you need to apply for a SOWP for you and a study permit for ds at the same time as the TWP... am i teaching you to suck eggs - sorry!
get your list out and start selling!
have a lovely lovely day on cloud 9!

Hello!
Sorry for butting in...
First, my sister is an estate agent ( a nice one!) in Southern Alberta, so if anyone needs any advice (no obligation!!! LOL!!), I am happy to give her email address. The town that she lives in has lots of people who have moved over to the uk...

Second, I am Canadian (everyone asks what on earth we are doing here!!)...do you mind me asking why you want to live there? Not that its a bad place...just curious!

My DH would go in a heartbeat, but I can't bear the thought!