Any Hubbers moving to or living in Canada?

[Chavo]

I'm currently in the active process of going through the express entry route. Have an open offer for a job in Vancouver which I will try leverage. The costs of the express entry route are pretty brutal, nevermind the pending expense of living in a city like Vancouver! But I think it will be a worthwhile experience and opportunity. I will update on my process as I go along

[Let's Ride]

R50 000 cost for my wife and I in total to get perminent residence in Canada.

 

English test is seperate.

 

Must have certain amount of points for the South African company to want to deal with you.

[Bateleur1]

Leather shorts?

 

Not yet 

[Ramrod]

I'm currently in the active process of going through the express entry route. Have an open offer for a job in Vancouver which I will try leverage. The costs of the express entry route are pretty brutal, nevermind the pending expense of living in a city like Vancouver! But I think it will be a worthwhile experience and opportunity. I will update on my process as I go along

Thanks please do.

[sirmoun10goat]

So I have been in Vancouver for three weeks. Weather to date has been great, and I am really loving the city. Even at the end of summer, the sun sets around 8 (was nearer to 8:30 mid August)

 

One of the highlights was the easy of travelling with a PR card - show passport together with you card and there are no questions. Cant wait to get a Canadian passport.

 

The property market here is ridiculously expensive. Luckily I have a job that pays relatively well, and when my wife gets a job financially we will be in a strong position.

 

I am staying 900m from work, and everything is close, so I walk almost everywhere. I go out for rides in the morning and on weekends. I have not had a single incident/near incident on the bike, or anything to frustrate me. Maybe this will change when I get a car and move further from the city. Hopefully not.

 

It is very liberal here - just accept it and carry on. They are too liberal to judge you on that.

 

The scourge of the heroine epidemic is visible - there are a lot of homeless drug addicts, but they stay out of your way, unlike the window washers on the corner of Grayston and M1. I accidentally rode through East Hastings - this area should be avoided, not because it is unsafe, but probably the biggest blemish on the face of Vancouver. Drug central. But again, you leave them alone and they leave you alone.

 

I have found some great food - one of my favourites is Whole Foods Market, a fresh produce store with some great on the go meals, as well as frozen/precooked foods.

 

Public transport is a breeze so far, clean and reliable, and from my experience pretty cheap as well.

 

Anyway, just a quick update on my experiences so far. Will try keep them regular for good of anyone who is interested.

[Warthog]

I want to go to Canada.

 

I've been wanting to go live there since we first visited our best mates in 1996...

[arabsandals]

R50 000 cost for my wife and I in total to get perminent residence in Canada.

 

English test is seperate.

 

Must have certain amount of points for the South African company to want to deal with you.

That is cheap. Think about the fact you're entering a stable first-world economy which is safe, and a government which is functional with very well-developed public services and social security infrastructure. 

[patham]

So I have been in Vancouver for three weeks. Weather to date has been great, and I am really loving the city. Even at the end of summer, the sun sets around 8 (was nearer to 8:30 mid August)

 

One of the highlights was the easy of travelling with a PR card - show passport together with you card and there are no questions. Cant wait to get a Canadian passport.

 

The property market here is ridiculously expensive. Luckily I have a job that pays relatively well, and when my wife gets a job financially we will be in a strong position.

 

I am staying 900m from work, and everything is close, so I walk almost everywhere. I go out for rides in the morning and on weekends. I have not had a single incident/near incident on the bike, or anything to frustrate me. Maybe this will change when I get a car and move further from the city. Hopefully not.

 

It is very liberal here - just accept it and carry on. They are too liberal to judge you on that.

 

The scourge of the heroine epidemic is visible - there are a lot of homeless drug addicts, but they stay out of your way, unlike the window washers on the corner of Grayston and M1. I accidentally rode through East Hastings - this area should be avoided, not because it is unsafe, but probably the biggest blemish on the face of Vancouver. Drug central. But again, you leave them alone and they leave you alone.

 

I have found some great food - one of my favourites is Whole Foods Market, a fresh produce store with some great on the go meals, as well as frozen/precooked foods.

 

Public transport is a breeze so far, clean and reliable, and from my experience pretty cheap as well.

 

Anyway, just a quick update on my experiences so far. Will try keep them regular for good of anyone who is interested.

 

I remember on a walk through the Vancouver CBD back in 2001 i took the shortest route on the map, and got very surprised at how grubby, seedy, and dodgy the one area of a few blocks became. Homeless camped out everywhere.

 

When i mentioned this to my friends I was staying at they were almost a bit surprised that I did not know to avoid walking in that area - they routinely just dog-legged around it. Out of sight. out of mind.

[Longbarn Killer]

I live in the south of Germany and I still wear my shorts in winter.  The neighbours however do think I am a bit fooked in the head because of it but that is their problem.  Canada however I think is more extreme I think.  In general over the last few years since we moved to Germany I get the idea that North America has had tougher winters than Europe.

My mother in law lives in Hamburg and my brother-in-law in Wuppertal. At our last visit (in March), I also wore shorts and the family also thought I was crazy. Walked around the house barefoot (that's all I know) and was told I was crazy. They bought me a pair of slippers to keep my feet warm, which I never wore (much to their disgust).

[Ramrod]

So I have been in Vancouver for three weeks. Weather to date has been great, and I am really loving the city. Even at the end of summer, the sun sets around 8 (was nearer to 8:30 mid August)

 

One of the highlights was the easy of travelling with a PR card - show passport together with you card and there are no questions. Cant wait to get a Canadian passport.

 

The property market here is ridiculously expensive. Luckily I have a job that pays relatively well, and when my wife gets a job financially we will be in a strong position.

 

I am staying 900m from work, and everything is close, so I walk almost everywhere. I go out for rides in the morning and on weekends. I have not had a single incident/near incident on the bike, or anything to frustrate me. Maybe this will change when I get a car and move further from the city. Hopefully not.

 

It is very liberal here - just accept it and carry on. They are too liberal to judge you on that.

 

The scourge of the heroine epidemic is visible - there are a lot of homeless drug addicts, but they stay out of your way, unlike the window washers on the corner of Grayston and M1. I accidentally rode through East Hastings - this area should be avoided, not because it is unsafe, but probably the biggest blemish on the face of Vancouver. Drug central. But again, you leave them alone and they leave you alone.

 

I have found some great food - one of my favourites is Whole Foods Market, a fresh produce store with some great on the go meals, as well as frozen/precooked foods.

 

Public transport is a breeze so far, clean and reliable, and from my experience pretty cheap as well.

 

Anyway, just a quick update on my experiences so far. Will try keep them regular for good of anyone who is interested.

Out of interest,what industry are you in?

[sirmoun10goat]

Out of interest,what industry are you in?

I'm a CA - was at KPMG for 9 years, left before all the commotion (guptagate, vbsgate, etc), worked as in IT consultant at ABSA for two years. I'm back in audit - it's a job, that will hopefully get me enough exposure to the market and open some doors

[ACM]

Hi

Resurrecting this post to see if there are any hubbers that recently moved from SA to Canada and what the experience has been like?

[hansolo]

I lived in Vancouver for a year in 2006 and loved it, it's a great place if you have an active lifestyle but super expensive. I was back last year for a few weeks and it has changed quite a bit, the locals will tell you it's because of Chinese investors buying up property. 

 

I would consider going back but Calgary looks like a better option, there seems to be more work and its certainly cheaper than Vancouver. 

 

There is plenty of South Africans out there, mostly doctors.

Edited March 9, 2020 by hansolo

[T-Bob]

Harry and Megan decided it trumped Cape Town... 

 

Not sure he hubs tho. 

[sirmoun10goat]

I lived in Vancouver for a year in 2006 and loved it, it's a great place if you have an active lifestyle but super expensive. I was back last year for a few weeks and it has changed quite a bit, the locals will tell you it's because of Chinese investors buying up property.

 

I would consider going back but Calgary looks like a better option, there seems to be more work and its certainly cheaper than Vancouver.

 

There is plenty of South Africans out there, mostly doctors.

Doctors do love this country. However they all end up working outside the big cities. But they clean up on the income side so I don’t think they care.

 

Calgary does seem to have an economy that’s growing fast. And as Calgary is not surrounded by mountains and the sea, so it seems to be able to keep growing without getting as pricey as Vancouver.

 

And every time I go to Toronto I tell myself that one day I will move there. Not as pretty as Vancouver. But I grew up in JHB and never cared much about Cape Town. And Vancouver is Cape Town and Toronto is JHB, just much bigger

Edited March 11, 2020 by sirmoun10goat

[Shebeen]

Doctors do love this country. However they all end up working outside the big cities. But they clean up on the income side so I don’t think they care.

 

Calgary does seem to have an economy that’s growing fast. And as Calgary is not surrounded by mountains and the sea, so it seems to be able to keep growing without getting as pricey as Vancouver.

 

And every time I go to Toronto I tell myself that one day I will move there. Not as pretty as Vancouver. But I grew up in JHB and never cared much about Cape Town. And Vancouver is Cape Town and Toronto is JHB, just much bigger

I spent 2004 in BC, the vancouver/tDot  vs   ct/Jozi comparison was exactly as you describe.