Immigrating To Canada

[tillylamp 1,809]

Hope your settling in tilly,Cabelas opened their canadian store in calgary last week?I am in quebec next week,if i have time i am going to look at flights as Cabela-canada store looks incredible.

hi mackem, cabelas is a really good hunting/fishing store, everything you need all under one roof and the sfaff are really helpful and friendly, as there grand opening was just last Thursday you may still get some good deals, whilst you was here there's another store about 25 mins from chestermere (that's were i am) called BASS PRO, it is in a shopping centre called "Cross Iron Mills" it is huge, when you go through the main doors there's stuffed animals all around you, and a lovely huge fire place to the right, i mean huge, its a hunters/fishermans dream store, they sell boats, atv's, the lot, and upstairs there are rows and rows of guns, if you do manage to get a flight over hear its well worth a look,

 

tilly

[mackem 23,743]

yes mate,I have been in a cabelas and a bass pro in the states,i was googling archery supplies in canada when i saw cabelas had opened a store in canada which they have been promising for quite a while,then i saw it was right on your doorstep.We are flying to ottawa next week,going to quebec after that to see family,just having a kick around for a couple of weeks but calgary is only £270 return from where i am staying so i am umming and ahhing.

[Lenmcharristar 9,173]

 

Hope your settling in tilly,Cabelas opened their canadian store in calgary last week?I am in quebec next week,if i have time i am going to look at flights as Cabela-canada store looks incredible.

 

hi mackem, cabelas is a really good hunting/fishing store, everything you need all under one roof and the sfaff are really helpful and friendly, as there grand opening was just last Thursday you may still get some good deals, whilst you was here there's another store about 25 mins from chestermere (that's were i am) called BASS PRO, it is in a shopping centre called "Cross Iron Mills" it is huge, when you go through the main doors there's stuffed animals all around you, and a lovely huge fire place to the right, i mean huge, its a hunters/fishermans dream store, they sell boats, atv's, the lot, and upstairs there are rows and rows of guns, if you do manage to get a flight over hear its well worth a look,

 

tilly

how have you settled in? What's the cost of living like? And what's the wages like for joiner? Very intrested

[undisputed 1,664]

Bloody immigrants going over there taking all the jobs

[unlacedgecko 1,466]

Bloody immigrants going over there taking all the jobs

Hahahaha

[tillylamp 1,809]

Ps' it would be good to hear how Tilly is getting on.

Hi Maxhardcore, heres an update for yah. As you know when we landed we stayed with friends and the first job was to get a vehicle to be able to drive about and look at areas that we would like to live in. Our first vehicle that we got was a Dodge Dakota 4.7 V8 pickup. Suits me down to the ground for a work vehicle. Many areas in Calgary appeal to us but we have since learnt that we are country bumkins and would rather buy an acreage (acreage to you and me is a house with land, countryside in other words) and it would seem that most canadians prefer to live in the city, so, acreage is a lot cheaper and you get more for your money. Worked in a place called Yellowknife, which is 2000 miles away north from where we were staying. Not far from the Ice Road Truckers. Really weird because it was light for 24hours a day during the summer. 3 or 4 in the morning and it was broad daylight ! Was up there for a while but didnt suit me, what with being in a new country and being away from home it was all a bit too much to handle. Meanwhile wife now got a good job, and as she needed a vehicle so we looked for one. Shes not a lover of really big trucks but..................told her to try this one and once she sat in it, she said "this is the one !" Couldnt budge her ! It just so happened to be a Dodge Ram Sport 5.7 hemi V8. Never thought she would take to such a big motor so well. So much so I cant get her out of it lol.

 

Meanwhile we did do a little sight seeing. Went to Banff, totally breathtaking. Took cable car up to the top of a part of the rockies ...what a view, unbelievable ! We have now got a short list of places we would like, Langdon being one, Okotoks being another and Black Diamond doesnt look too bad.

 

Sadly our friends that we were staying with are having a real tough time, relationship wise. They have sold up and wanted to start afresh in a new place in the hopes of saving their marriage. So he pulled us aside and said that it would probably be best for us to find our own place and not move with them. This shocked the pants off both of us, but we totally understood the situation. So it was scramble time. Not only that we had nothing other than our clothes. Anyway we started to look that day, found a basement on an acreage, went to view, liked it, left a deposit, moved in on the Thursday of that week. Not bad really being told on the Sunday to move out and then find somewhere the following day and move in two days later. Then we had to buy everything, literally everything, we didnt even have a bed !!! We were still waiting for our container, which we had told them there was no hurry for, the longest they could keep it was 16 weeks. Then they HAD to ship it out. So something that we could NOT do in england was within two days we managed to kit ourselves out totally at a cost of around $4000 (£2000) and nothing was second hand it was all new, we just shopped around and were amazed at what bargains were to be had.

 

NIce to have our own place, didnt quite realise at the time just how much our privacy had gone out the window. Not to say its been plain sailing we certainly have had our moments of homesickness but not for the country, for family. Mr Jack Daniels has helped us out considerably lol He charges £20 for just over a litre, is that good?

 

Its now 5 months down the road and we are very happy. Home sickness for family has relatively gone as we have got a good plan on our mobile phone we can phone at a cost of one english pence per minute.

 

How about this:- sitting outside watching the Northern Harriers and hawks flying through your back yard. Laying in bed listening to the coyotes. Watching the skunks playing in the front garden. Gophers, brave little buggers, sitting on the sidewalk outside the fuel station within two foot of you. Chipmunks too ! and believe it or not mountain goats walking along the roadside in Banff.

 

All in all it was a frightening move but now at this point in our lives we are so pleased that we took that step. I realise this was a long thread but there was a lot to cover.....and.....you did ask

[tillylamp 1,809]

 

 

Hope your settling in tilly,Cabelas opened their canadian store in calgary last week?I am in quebec next week,if i have time i am going to look at flights as Cabela-canada store looks incredible.

hi mackem, cabelas is a really good hunting/fishing store, everything you need all under one roof and the sfaff are really helpful and friendly, as there grand opening was just last Thursday you may still get some good deals, whilst you was here there's another store about 25 mins from chestermere (that's were i am) called BASS PRO, it is in a shopping centre called "Cross Iron Mills" it is huge, when you go through the main doors there's stuffed animals all around you, and a lovely huge fire place to the right, i mean huge, its a hunters/fishermans dream store, they sell boats, atv's, the lot, and upstairs there are rows and rows of guns, if you do manage to get a flight over hear its well worth a look,

 

tilly

how have you settled in? What's the cost of living like? And what's the wages like for joiner? Very intrested

 

Hi Lenmcharristar. The cost of living, well I personally think its a little cheaper food wise, and you seem to get more for your money. Its very good value to eat out, on average its hard to say it depends where you eat but like us for example if we go to the local chinese for two of us with drinks its about $40 (£20) and the portion sizes are HUGE. When we were in the UK the wife used to spend about £75 £ a week on food and top up during the week with bread and milk blah blah. We shop here and get more, quantity wise, and she only spends around $110 (£55) fuel wise, diesel is 45p a litre petrol is 52p a litre. House prices are on a par with UK but yet again you get more house for your money. So you would buy for say $400,000 which would be around £200,000 and what you get for 200 in the UK is a lot less for what you get for 400 here. If that makes sense ! Most houses that are for 400 are detached and are 3 to 4 bedrooms with a basement too. The further out of Calgary you go the more you get. Calgary, what they call downtown, which to us is the town centre is very expensive because most canadians prefer to live in the cities. Cars, are a good price. My Dodge Dakota is an 07 and that cost $4000 which is roughly £2000. My wifes Dodge Ram Sport is a 2012 and had a few little bits for me to do which made it cheaper was $12,500 (£6250). Insurance is high to start with because most insurance companies here do not take into account you non claims bonus from england so its like starting again. But, road tax is around $70 (£35) thats for a full year, you have the option of buying two years if you like, we did on the ram. Plus there is no MOT here. Work wise as a joiner you could probably earn between $35 to $45 an hour. The average working week is 40 hours on 5 days but they do work 6 days too. Renting is dearer, youre better off buying. Houses to rent are expensive your better off renting a basement, they seem to be a better deal. I hope this helps and if you have any other particular questions if we can help we will

 

Tilly

[WILF 44,274]

My pal used to do the conversion thing for ages, then after so long he stopped as it was just what it was as he was earning in CN$

 

When he came back here it was a Killer for him.......$20 bucks for a packet of Benson had his eyes watering !! Lol

 

Glad to hear your doing well matey, good on you

[Lenmcharristar 9,173]

 

 

 

Hope your settling in tilly,Cabelas opened their canadian store in calgary last week?I am in quebec next week,if i have time i am going to look at flights as Cabela-canada store looks incredible.

 

hi mackem, cabelas is a really good hunting/fishing store, everything you need all under one roof and the sfaff are really helpful and friendly, as there grand opening was just last Thursday you may still get some good deals, whilst you was here there's another store about 25 mins from chestermere (that's were i am) called BASS PRO, it is in a shopping centre called "Cross Iron Mills" it is huge, when you go through the main doors there's stuffed animals all around you, and a lovely huge fire place to the right, i mean huge, its a hunters/fishermans dream store, they sell boats, atv's, the lot, and upstairs there are rows and rows of guns, if you do manage to get a flight over hear its well worth a look,

 

tilly

how have you settled in? What's the cost of living like? And what's the wages like for joiner? Very intrested

Hi Lenmcharristar. The cost of living, well I personally think its a little cheaper food wise, and you seem to get more for your money. Its very good value to eat out, on average its hard to say it depends where you eat but like us for example if we go to the local chinese for two of us with drinks its about $40 (£20) and the portion sizes are HUGE. When we were in the UK the wife used to spend about £75 £ a week on food and top up during the week with bread and milk blah blah. We shop here and get more, quantity wise, and she only spends around $110 (£55) fuel wise, diesel is 45p a litre petrol is 52p a litre. House prices are on a par with UK but yet again you get more house for your money. So you would buy for say $400,000 which would be around £200,000 and what you get for 200 in the UK is a lot less for what you get for 400 here. If that makes sense ! Most houses that are for 400 are detached and are 3 to 4 bedrooms with a basement too. The further out of Calgary you go the more you get. Calgary, what they call downtown, which to us is the town centre is very expensive because most canadians prefer to live in the cities. Cars, are a good price. My Dodge Dakota is an 07 and that cost $4000 which is roughly £2000. My wifes Dodge Ram Sport is a 2012 and had a few little bits for me to do which made it cheaper was $12,500 (£6250). Insurance is high to start with because most insurance companies here do not take into account you non claims bonus from england so its like starting again. But, road tax is around $70 (£35) thats for a full year, you have the option of buying two years if you like, we did on the ram. Plus there is no MOT here. Work wise as a joiner you could probably earn between $35 to $45 an hour. The average working week is 40 hours on 5 days but they do work 6 days too. Renting is dearer, youre better off buying. Houses to rent are expensive your better off renting a basement, they seem to be a better deal. I hope this helps and if you have any other particular questions if we can help we will

 

Tilly

thanks Tilly, stick a few pics up. Lol

[mackem 23,743]

One thing about Canada,it's certainly field sports friendly,I met a guy in napean yesterday who invited me back for a whitetail deer hunt,massive amount of waterfowl around here at first light,geese and duck everywhere and we saw two camo-clad guys in a pick-up In the middle of a corn/maize field setting out what appeared to be a decoy pattern,I even found out you can borrow fishing rods and tackle from certain libraries in toronto,what are you up to over the winter Tilly?

[Born Hunter 17,637]

Tilly, just read how you are getting on and it sounds like a dream. It sounds f***ing amazing!

 

I'm almost certainly not brave enough to leave the UK on my own but Canada or N.America more generally is the only place I'd want to go if I ever did. The big game hunting, general wilderness and freedom over there is just SO appealing.

 

Well done....

[Gaz_1989 9,539]

Good to hear you are settling over there fella.

 

What's the crack with hunting over there? Many restrictions? What do you do hunting wise?

[tillylamp 1,809]

One thing about Canada,it's certainly field sports friendly,I met a guy in napean yesterday who invited me back for a whitetail deer hunt,massive amount of waterfowl around here at first light,geese and duck everywhere and we saw two camo-clad guys in a pick-up In the middle of a corn/maize field setting out what appeared to be a decoy pattern,I even found out you can borrow fishing rods and tackle from certain libraries in toronto,what are you up to over the winter Tilly?

hi mackem, i know, the country never ceases to amaze you, there's always some thing around the corner, over the winter im going ice fishing with a mate, ive been fishing quite a bit since ive been here and in bc on different lakes and rivers, and when i was working in yellowknife in the nwt i fished a lake called the great slave lake, its huge i mean huge, its 290 miles long, and 126 miles at the widest point, and 614 meters deep, amazing views and bold eagles flying over head, buffalo's along side the roads, i was told by a bloke that you dont bib your horn at them, i said why not, and he said the last guy who did got his car wrecked by a big male and it wrote the car off, where we were was near the ice road truckers program on tv, and the ice they drive over is 6ft thick then they bank the snow up either side about another foot high then pour water between it making it 7ft thick over all, i was totally amazed again.

[tillylamp 1,809]

Tilly, just read how you are getting on and it sounds like a dream. It sounds f***ing amazing!

 

I'm almost certainly not brave enough to leave the UK on my own but Canada or N.America more generally is the only place I'd want to go if I ever did. The big game hunting, general wilderness and freedom over there is just SO appealing.

 

Well done....

thanks mate, it does take alot of guts to move away from where you have lived all your life, the hardest part was leaving my family and friends, but now we have settled ourselves it has made things easier, i do phone my dad/brothers/friends quite often which does help, at the end of this month we will have been here 6 months, the home sickness went after 2-3 months and we feel great right now, the thing is,here, you have so much more freedom, not just hunting/fishing but in general, here you have got what is called (crown land) which is owned by our queen and you can take a motorcross bike/quad/off road buggy and just ride/drive for days, pitch a tent have fire at night, with no both at all, you buy a fishing licence and pretty much fish any where, the same with a boat, you just take a little test on the computer, it was frightening at first all sorts of things go through your mind but once you get past that the reality, excitement, the feel good factor kicks in, im so glad we did it now, i would say to any one who wants to do it, or even talking about doing it, just do if you can before its to late, if it didnt work out, you could always go back home and maybe pick up from where you left it, no harm done, at least you tried it, and that would get rid of the what if's. tilly

[Qbgrey 3,981]

Sounds great.I'll love to make that move.don't it before now settled back into the UK.yoh know when your a local you don't start converting dollars back to pounds when buying stuff