Wondering about emigrating to Canada.

Hi Caroline,

Welcome to Expat.com Canada.

I am an RN and moved to Canada nearly 4 years ago. I love it here but things have not always been easy.

The decision to come was a little easier than yours as i had no young children, mine being all grown up. We came over here through my husbands work in 2008. He is a Class 1 driver and got employment with a transport company with a Labor Market opinion. Basically he was issued a work permit for 2 years on arrival. I was not allowed to work until i applied for my own LMO or we got permanent residence. Now he did work long hours and the company he worked for made life very difficult for him sometimes. Very different to working in the UK.
I had already applied for my nursing registration however because my training was done in the 80's some of transcripts were not available. Therefore to get my registration i had to undertake SEC assessments to prove my education. If you want more advice on this then let me know. I eventually got registration sorted and then had to wait for medical paperwork etc to go through. All RN's have to take the Registration exam and until I passed that i had to work on a Grad license. As these only last 3 months i had to apply for a new work permit and grad license 3 times. Basically I didn't start work until FEb 2009. Husband was then let go from his job in June 2009 because the company were wanting to get rid of drivers and all foreign drivers were let go. By this time due to the fact his company had messed us around with our residency paperwork i decided to apply in my own right for residency as a Provincial Nominee through my work. Until we got acceptance on that he was not allowed to work. Eventually in Feb 2010 he got a work permit and new job. We eventually became permanent residents in 2011.  I don't want to scare you off but you did say you wanted to go into this move with your eyes open.  Depending on where you decide to move to over here it can be hard to settle. Some areas have more of an expat community then others. I live in a small city on the Saskatchewan and Alberta border and found it hard to settle especially as i had no work permit and it took a long time to get my registration organised, 9 months to be exact.
Canadians are very friendly and if you have young children you will find it easier to meet people because your children will make friends at school etc.
I don't know too much about the education system apart from the fact i know a friend came here from the UK. Her son was 5 and was in Year 1 at school there. When she arrive here her was only eligible for kindergarten however the school assessed him and he was allowed to start Grade 1 here.

As for holidays etc it is true that holiday entitlement is usually 2 weeks a year but just remember that depending on which province you live in you have 10-12 bank holidays in a year as well. Hours are long but a lot depends on the job you do. I am working a 4 week rotation as a full time nurse and basically i work 12 hour shifts and i do 12 of these in 3 weeks and then have a week off. The most in a row i work are 3 shifts. I come under Saskatchewan and my pay is good. Nurses can earn $29.57 -44.46 an upwards depending on your experience etc. Not sure about electrician hours but i suppose that would depend on which company you work for.

My advice for you both is to inquire if your husbands electrician qualification is accepted here and if he would need further education. That could be gained by contacting different companies etc. Not sure if you intend to work yourself but if you do then start collating all your transcripts and paperwork ready to apply for your registration. Be aware that it may take a while to get it organised here.  Depending on how soon you wish to move here you then will either have to apply for residency before coming or find a company to sponsor you with a LMO.

On your comment re cost of living that you get used to here. Electric and Gas bills are monthly and more expensive then I found in the UK. Food choices are less and i do miss things like hula hoops, walkers crisps etc. Quality of life for us is different unless you move to big cities the roads are less congested. We find loads of things to do, not much soccer however there are local Canadian football games to watch in the summer, ice hockey, rodeos, bull riding, skiing etc.
We eventually bought our own house in 2010 which is a a good size with nice size garden as well. Depending on where you settle you will find house prices not too bad. Rental property prices however can be rather steep.


I hope this info is not too much for you and i wish you good luck. If you want any other info then just ask

Sue