Immigrating to Canada in 96 hours!

[dsgrnmcm]

Evening All,

After a flash in the pan phone call, then Job offer we move to Ottawa this Saturday! Only last February I left the Navy, god a great job in Plymouth then this!
I did a 3 day interview in Quebec in early November, then we went out for 3 weeks over Christmas to house hunt, and now we are off.

Cars sold (Gutted I lost a right chunk on the 340i!) House sold, and slimmed down the possessions.

Are there any PH'ers in Ottawa or even wider Canada? I want to pick your brains!

I'm going to try and post a mini blog about the path way and process (as we did it) for any aspiring members who are looking to cross the pond!

[Jordie Barretts sock]

Congratulations and keep us all posted on how you get on.

[joshcowin]

I have no idea why, as I love where I live, but I love these threads! Please keep us upto date with the process and most importantly the HOA fees and the cars you buy

[dsgrnmcm]

So....

We spent 3 weeks at Christmas exploring and getting a feel or the place.

After landing we got the worlds biggest hire car (Chevvy Silverado)



Kind of scratched my "pick up" itch, Its massive, low speck, a nightmare to park.



I had to do my best Austin Powers impression of a 16 point turn to get out of some spaces. A good experience to drive, but unless you are doing serious off roading or Hauling material in the back its not that practical (Looks cool though!)



One of our friends has a high spec RAM 2500 which was bigger, louder but a lot nicer inside. He also let us stay in his caravan (RV?) which was better than our Air B&B:






I also had ago at being a lumber jack...




We spent Christmas in a swanky hotel in the centre of Ottawa very picturesque, very quiet and cold.



We looked at some great apartments like this, amazing view, $3000 per month, most bills included, but in By-ward market which is rough, so a no from us.



We were also shown this place, lovely. But it was a basement apartment. The Mrs didn't even walk in, it was turned over or just really, really messy. Not for us.

We have settled on a 2 bed apartment in "old East Ottawa"





Also worth a visit is Parc Omega, about 1hr 40 east of Ottawa, just don't take a nice car in there.

We met some Brits and got a balanced view in life over there.


Cost of Living:

I'd say that it is, overall, a similar cost of living to the UK. Bearing in mind Ottawa is the nations capitol.

Cars seem cheaper (Not European Saloons, or touring's)
Brand new GMC Yukon, fully loaded $98k!
Fuel is cheaper
Electricity (Hydro) is really cheap
Houses seem to me (From Plymouth) better value for money, although interest rates for use were from 5% to 7%

Food felt expensive, and they only stock seasonal items.
Clothes feel expensive
Internet and Mobile plans are super expensive, limited and poor roaming.
Tax (Federal and Provincial) for me is 38% overall (Based on a full tax year)

Process for Work Permot

Cant say too much on this, as my employer paid a solicitor do it for us.
We both have a Work Permit, mine is restricted to my employer and hers is open. It took a few weeks to gather the evidence, then after it was submitted a 10 day turnaround (well 8 working days) and we have our paperwork to enter.

You will have to carry your original copies, do loads of scanning and form filling. (Having your own printer / scanner is a god send)

Moving company

We canvased three moving firms, to take our stuff from Plymouth to Ottawa. They all did the same survey, all said a 20ft TEU, same time frame and all at £12 to £13k. We spoke with Pickfords, White & 1st Move international).

You have to fill out a customs form (BSF186) for the stuff you will fly in with, and a separate one for the stuff they will ship. not hard, just boring.
BSF186

Also forms for how much money you will take over (The first 12 months you can import things and money with no penalties)
Medical Cover: Prepping OHIP (NHS Card) forms, this can take up to 3 months to kick in, work are covering us. Apparently getting a GP is hard, but dentists is easy.
Social Insurance Number; Getting the SIN (NI Number) is a case of rocking up at a Service Canada building and getting one issued
Driving licence: in Ottawa you have 60 days from landing to just swap yours for a Canadian one.

If anyone is in the process of moving I have loads of forms to pass over.

[fttm]

Ottawa is my favorite Canadian City , aside from the one way system . Good prices on your container , iirc we used Whites and they were brilliant . Re food , take a tour of Sobeys or Superstore and you'll find most things , not just seasonal , Sobeys have a great British cheese selection , knocks spots of the plastic Canadian Cheddar etc .
Vehicles , buy a 2/3 yr old a save a packet .

[Tyre Tread]

Thought about it a few years ago as we have relatives who live about 1.5 hours SW of Ottawa in Perth but decided against it as the numbers didn't stack up and wife's cousin said that they thought they'd had the best of Canada.

Healthcare is expensive and the current Govt would put me off now.

Good luck and enjoy the snow. Apparently it starts off as a novelty:

Dec 8 5:00 pm - it's starting to snow. The first of the season and
the first one we've seen in years. The wife and I took our hot
buttered rums and sat by the picture window watching the soft flakes
drift down, clinging to the trees and covering the ground. It was
beautiful!

Dec 9 We awoke to a lovely blanket of crystal white snow covering
the
landscape. What a fantastic site. Every tree and shrub covered with a
beautiful white mantle. I shoveled snow for the first time in years
and loved it. I shoveled both our drive and sidewalk. Later, a city
snowplow came along and accidentally covered our drive with compacted
snow from the street. The driver smiled and waved. I waved back and
shoveled our drive again.

Dec 10 It snowed an additional 6 inches last night and the
temperature
has dropped to about 11 degrees. Several limbs from the trees and
shrubs snapped due to the weight of the snow. I shoveled again.
Shortly after, the snowplow came by and did his trick again. Much of
the snow is now brownish-gray.

Dec 11 It warmed up enough during the day to create some slush which
soon became ice when the temperature dropped again. Bought snow tires
for both cars. Fell on my ass in the driveway. $145
to a chiropractor but nothing broken. More snow and ice expected.

Dec 12 Still cold. Sold the wife's car and bought a 4X4 in order to
get
her to work. Slid into a guardrail anyway and did considerable amount
of damage to the right rear quarter pane. Had another 8 inches of that
white st last night. Both vehicles covered with salt and crud. More
shoveling in store for me today. That goddam snowplow came by twice
today.

Dec 13 2 degrees outside. More fkin' snow. Not a tree or shrub on
my
property that hasn't been damaged. Power was off most of the night.
Tried to keep from freezing to death with a kerosene heater which
tipped over and nearly burned the house down. I managed to put the
flames out but suffered 2'nd degree burns on my hands and lost most of
my eyelashes and eyebrows. Car slid on ice on the way to the emergency
room and was totalled!!

Dec 14 Goddam mother-fkin' white st keeps on coming down. Have to
put
on all the clothes we own just to get to the fking mailbox. If
I ever catch the son-of-a-bh that drives the snowplow, I'll chew
open his chest and rip his heart out. I think he hides around the
corner and waits for me to finish shoveling and then comes down the
street about 60 MPH and buries our drive again. Power still off.
Toilet froze and part of the roof has started to cave in.

Dec 15 6 goddam more fkin' inches of fkin' snow and fkin' sleet
and
fkin' ice and god knows what other kind of white fkin's st fell
last night. I wounded the fkin' snowplow asshole with an ice axe but
he got away. Wife left me. The car won't start. I think I'm going
snow-blind. I can't move my toes. More fking snow expected tonight.
I'm moving the fk back to UK!!!

[dsgrnmcm]

joshcowin said:

I have no idea why, as I love where I live, but I love these threads! Please keep us upto date with the process and most importantly the HOA fees and the cars you buy

I had to google "HOA"

We are lucky that work are assisting the initial 12 months (I'm seconded) so our gaff is $3000 pm, with Water, Electric, gas and all apartment fees. Internet will be $100 ish. Also, we aren't going to bother with Cabel / TV, as we haven't used it here since last May (News is full of C%$p. and I've gone cold turkey on EastEnders after 36 years!)

This is a really good site, as it gives you a rough guide on the condo fees, service / ground fees and bills. I'd rather have a house than a condo. Houses pay a land tax very year, based on proximity to a town, and land size and building area size. (According to our estate agent.
Canadian estate agent site

We have heard and read that a couple will get through $1000 / £600 per month on food, I cant see it myself. But I'll let you know.

N.B. We did try beans on toast one night, but there were some Canadian brand with beef flavour. Not great...



The next big hurdle is Tax, Canadian Tax and HMRC Tax. I have heard everything from its fine to having to pay HMRC a chunk of UK Tax, to just get it returned a few weeks later, Which means you have to have cash lying around to pay that.

Also conflicting advice on using a P85 form even when self assessed. We have a meeting with a "Tax mobility Specialist" this week, so I will report back on that.

[dsgrnmcm]

fttm said:

Ottawa is my favorite Canadian City , aside from the one way system . Good prices on your container , iirc we used Whites and they were brilliant . Re food , take a tour of Sobeys or Superstore and you'll find most things , not just seasonal , Sobeys have a great British cheese selection , knocks spots of the plastic Canadian Cheddar etc .
Vehicles , buy a 2/3 yr old a save a packet .

Thanks for the tips. We went to Loblaws once.....

We are looking at 2017 to 2020 cars, don't seem too bad. As much as I'd love a Durango SRT, it is something we both have to drive and I hear car insurance is quite high.

I'm planning on smuggling in essentials such as HP Brown sauce (I did see it in a shop) Marmite and Tetley tea bags.

[dsgrnmcm]

Tyre Tread said:

Thought about it a few years ago as we have relatives who live about 1.5 hours SW of Ottawa in Perth but decided against it as the numbers didn't stack up and wife's cousin said that they thought they'd had the best of Canada.

Healthcare is expensive and the current Govt would put me off now.

Good luck and enjoy the snow. Apparently it starts off as a novelty:

I'm moving the fk back to UK!!!

Yep agree, the first two days it looked amazing, then it went brown, then to Ice, then the norm.

[Terminator X]

Following as Canada is supposed to be a wonderful place to live.

TX.

[fttm]

dsgrnmcm said:

Thanks for the tips. We went to Loblaws once.....

We are looking at 2017 to 2020 cars, don't seem too bad. As much as I'd love a Durango SRT, it is something we both have to drive and I hear car insurance is quite high.

I'm planning on smuggling in essentials such as HP Brown sauce (I did see it in a shop) Marmite and Tetley tea bags.

Haha all three items available in my corner store , and I live in buttf@ck nowhere Saskatchewan, generally most Walmarts have international isles , Branston HP Hobnobs etc . BTW don't pay too much attention to Ontarios view on Western Canada , few have ever been here and most think Toronto is the centre of the universe , it isn't .

[phumy]

What did you do in the RN and what job are you doing now in Canada?

[wibble cb]

Congrats op, been here in Toronto since 2005, married, mortgaged and now a Canadian citizen, I can try and answer any questions, as Ottawa is also Ontario , so at least in the same province.

I moved here with 2 suitcases and 48 hrs notice, 3 days before my birthday, I vowed to give it a year, as I reasoned it would be too easy to quit and come back to the UK, you need to see how a full year goes, do you get on with the people, the climate, the way of doing things, it all takes effort.

Car insurance - I found it (and still do ! ) expensive, they take no notice of your prior history and treat you like a learner (almost), I still pay 140$ a month for my frogeye, compared to 100 quid in the UK, my wife pays the same for a VW Golf worth 3 times as much, I hate it, but it is what it is.

Property tax, what you described doesn't seem the same as mine exp, but might be due to differences between Toronto and Ottawa, we paid approx 6k a year on our house (paid on 6 installments) , plus bills, say another 300$ a month.

Toronto property prices have gone nuts in the last 10 years, I assume Ottawa is similarly expensive I hope to have ours paid off in 4 years


Food - up until recently it was reasonable, its getting a lot less reasonable at the moment, I miss certain things from home, but you get used to it, I still manage to get some UK stuff ever so often, and my local LCBO (govt run off licence) does Speckled Hen beer !

Do travel within Canada, there is so much to see, I have been to BC, Alberta, PEI, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, NWT, my wife jokes I have seen more of Canada than quite a few Canadians.

I'll leave it there for now, but welcome and let me know if you want anymore info.

[RDMcG]

Been in Canada for decades....Montreal and now Toronto.

Welcome to Canada- if you get to Toronto or I can be of assistance PM me!

[dsgrnmcm]

fttm said:

Haha all three items available in my corner store , and I live in buttf@ck nowhere Saskatchewan, generally most Walmarts have international isles , Branston HP Hobnobs etc . BTW don't pay too much attention to Ontarios view on Western Canada , few have ever been here and most think Toronto is the centre of the universe , it isn't .

Thats good to know, is it a chain store? Are they mega expensive?

[dsgrnmcm]

phumy said:

What did you do in the RN and what job are you doing now in Canada?

Hi phumy

I was a Dabber then went SUY in the MOB. I'm doing a bit of Business Development, Contract management and Ship Brokering in Canada. Which probably means loads of bag carrying and tea making. (no change there then)

[dsgrnmcm]

RDMcG said:

Been in Canada for decades....Montreal and now Toronto.

Welcome to Canada- if you get to Toronto or I can be of assistance PM me!

Thanks RDMcG No doubt I will be bothering you and all the other Canadian PH'ers!

[dsgrnmcm]

wibble cb said:

Congrats op, been here in Toronto since 2005, married, mortgaged and now a Canadian citizen, I can try and answer any questions, as Ottawa is also Ontario , so at least in the same province.

I moved here with 2 suitcases and 48 hrs notice, 3 days before my birthday, I vowed to give it a year, as I reasoned it would be too easy to quit and come back to the UK, you need to see how a full year goes, do you get on with the people, the climate, the way of doing things, it all takes effort.

Car insurance - I found it (and still do ! ) expensive, they take no notice of your prior history and treat you like a learner (almost), I still pay 140$ a month for my frogeye, compared to 100 quid in the UK, my wife pays the same for a VW Golf worth 3 times as much, I hate it, but it is what it is.

Property tax, what you described doesn't seem the same as mine exp, but might be due to differences between Toronto and Ottawa, we paid approx 6k a year on our house (paid on 6 installments) , plus bills, say another 300$ a month.

Toronto property prices have gone nuts in the last 10 years, I assume Ottawa is similarly expensive I hope to have ours paid off in 4 years


Food - up until recently it was reasonable, its getting a lot less reasonable at the moment, I miss certain things from home, but you get used to it, I still manage to get some UK stuff ever so often, and my local LCBO (govt run off licence) does Speckled Hen beer !

Do travel within Canada, there is so much to see, I have been to BC, Alberta, PEI, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, NWT, my wife jokes I have seen more of Canada than quite a few Canadians.

I'll leave it there for now, but welcome and let me know if you want anymore info.

Thats great info wibble cb

Thats a proper hardcore move, far braver than me. I've been living off a spread sheet for the last few weeks, still convinced I have forgotten something!

The land tax was my best guess from reading online, shows how inaccurate it is (or my 5 year old reading skills) I'll chuck some questions / dits in the main thread.

[fttm]

Walmart ? Yup they’re everywhere lol

[dsgrnmcm]

Firstly thank you to every one who has responded with some real good info, very much appreciated.

We are really looking forward to it, today we have been preparing the house for the movers to come in tomorrow and Friday to pack up all our stuff. It feels wired with the house half empty. Soon we will be sat on the carpet watching you tube on my phone, eating fish and chips.

Back to moving stuff!


[b[Tenant insurance[/b]

We have to have tenant insurance, which seems obvious, but I thought it would be part of our rent. For two of us, $500 excess, $1m cover, was £312 for 12 months. This is similar to our UK contents insurance. This feels quite good bearing in mind we are living in the capitol.

Car insurance

We have read and been informed (Thanks PH'ers) that this will be steep. Our tenant insurer has offered 10% off our car insurance and the live tenant insurance also, so I will see what she says about our first car (Below)

Selling on FB

So even though we have a 20 FT container, we still wanted to slim our "stuff" down. It is actually quite cathartic. We found dusty boxes that we took from one loft, to our new loft to gather even more dust. All that went in the bin or the charity shop.

We found that our stuff fell in to 3 categories:

Bin / give away for free

sell, as its not tat but we don't really need it, but it is worth something

Must keep, take with us or ship over.

Now the problem area is the middle section, this is where trying to sell on Facebook Market place or give away on there lets us meet some brain drains, who want it delivered, half price, silly offers or just a pain. I'm all for a haggle, but this is another level.

Anyone want a BBq, Sofa or shelves....

Selling cars

So the Mrs has a 2019 220d convertible, on 10k with FBMWSH. We sold it to "The car buying group" for £18k, but they have been late picking it up and we go early Saturday....

My F31 340i Shadow edition touring, was sold to a member on the FB 340i forum, which turned out to be my selling it to his dad who has a second hand car dealership in Birmingham. We agreed a price in November, I took a deposit, I gave him all the info, loads of photos, all the damage, every scratch, the OEM cat and air intake (I had a VRSF sports cat and MST intake) when I went to drop it off (We were visiting family) the fun started:

The reality was us driving to the garage to spend 40 minutes with the "buyer" his dad, and his brother kicking the tyres, shaking heads telling me that "This wing has been replaced", "That dent is new" there are a few stone chips (At 105k...) so I just had to stand and keep repeating its the £17k we agreed or I drive home. Then the deal was done. Painful.

Buying a car in Canada

So on to the future...

We will only have one space at our flat and its under ground. It needs to be something we can both drove (So reliable and smart for the mrs) We are thinking a second hand X5, Q7 or American 4x4 (Because we are in Canada right) We aim to explore loads of Canada (Off the road, not "Fast Show Off road" and fancy some wafting!

Ideally when we get our own place I quite fancy one of my dream cars, MK1 M5, Mk1 635 CSI, Audi S2. The SRT gang (Durango, Jeep etc) look tempting, as do the F150 in a high spec and Ford Explorer ST which seem great value.

However "Fast estates" seem thing on the ground for the second hand market, I found 2 C8 RS6 and they are over $128k!!! way too much for me.

Loads more to come!