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Hey there buddy, I am interested in Immigrating to Canada to live in the same city as friends who have moved there to be with their family. I have researched this as much as I can, but I only trust the internet so much... so I am turning to the one true God of the internet GOONs to teach me aboot immigrating to Canada. I am an IT engineering Consultant with 10+ years experience. In California, and most of the US recruiters are used a lot, is that the case there too? I have been watching Dice, Indeed, and Craigslist for jobs there. Any other recommendations? Also, I have not been seeing salaries listed on job postings... so are we talking slave wages compared to California IT (15-24 an hour) or don't want to embarrass American employers (60+ an hour). I would be looking for the 60+ dollar an hour since I make over that now, and bill in the US for much higher than that as a consultant. Is consulting big the way it is in the US? Where many companies don't want to keep highly skilled specialized engineers on staff and just use consultants? Or should I be looking for Sr. in house IT work. Is there any prejudice about sponsoring US workers? I have lived in Minnesota, Oregon, England, and California so I think I can handle the climate. How well do they keep ahead of snow on the streets? The way I read the Canadian immigration website if I can find an employer to sponsor me for over 1 year, I can apply to be a citizen. Am I reading this correctly? I have also been researching the cost of living there, it looks like compared to California taxes & consumer products are higher (eg. Kraft Dinner) but real estate is cheaper vs. Silicon Valley or Orange County. Is bidding for housing competitive there? How is the rental market, is it tight or do renters have leverage on lease terms? So great white goons of the north, so give your ego's a tickle and tell me about immigrating to Vancouver.
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Sep 30, 2014 00:18
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It seems to me that right now Vancouver itself has a very, very competitive rental market. If you are willing to live "out" of Vancouver in neighbouring cities, the rental market is a lot better (e.g.: Burnaby, Coquitlam.) If you are a single dude with no dependents or pets, you may have less of a problem finding a place. The only other thing I can contribute is that goods and services are much more expensive here than LA (I have spent about 6 weeks in LA the last two years.) Hope that helps!
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Sep 30, 2014 01:46
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The job market, especially for IT, is horrific and pays far less than anywhere else in the country. We have the highest cost of living of any city in Canada. Combine those two, reflect on their implications.
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Oct 16, 2014 01:28
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Yeah, the cost of living is pretty ridiculous in Vancouver. Gas is something like $5.50/gal, not that you'll want to be in your car much. The traffic's nothing like California, but there's barely any highway system here so things move just as slow. A 1br apartment in the city will run you at least $1,200, maybe something like $1,500 if you want it to be nice. Eating out is expensive too. About the only thing here that's cheap is the sushi, at least it's usually pretty good. You'll miss Mexican food though. I won't get started on how expensive alcohol is. Pretty much everything is more expensive here The weather is nothing to worry about, probably the best thing about living here. It barely goes below freezing in the winter and I saw maybe an inch of snow for two days last winter. I can't speak about jobs and wages, but if you've never been to Vancouver, have your friends show you around for a week or so to get an idea about if immigrating here is even something you'd want to pursue.
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Oct 16, 2014 02:42
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Don't move to Vancouver.
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Oct 16, 2014 07:44
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Vancouver is a gloomy city where it is never raining hard but never stops raining. The snow is pleasant every few years but otherwise melts and it's no different from raining. Everybody is correct, everything is too expensive here, including gas, dates, dates, rent, booze, firecrackers, and medication. Weed flows freely though. To get an apartment downtown might cost $1500, but you certainly don't need to pay that much if you don't want to. Housing is still expensive though, don't expect much less than 800 unless you want to live in someone's basement or in the kind of neighbourhood where you can smell vomit and meth in the hall. The 'burbs are cheaper, but they're inferior copies of the mother city. You are correct that you can get citizenship that way. You want to get the job first, and that could be difficult because there's guarantee you'll get the visa, but your visa gets helped along by having a job lined up. Here's a page. http://www.canadaimmigrationvisa.com/morevisa.html#ind You've probably got a decent shot, but I'm not a customs officer. Knowing French will help you enter the country but won't do jack in Vancouver where the only French are tourists and students that already speak English. Be prepared to be inexplicably outed as an American or whatever, weird people live here. The city is pleasant and full of trees. Vancouverites are apparently somewhere in between Europeans and Californians in friendliness, which is still a broad spectrum. People like the outdoors, and even the gooniest goon will go hiking or whatever at some point. There is a gratuitous public transit system, but I assume you are used to cars and will hate waiting for the bus/metro. The city tends to be quiet. Big events bring out a lot of people though. If you lean more towards the natural side of leisure, you won't be very bored. Naturally, we are hipster nerd dorks that like comic books or whatever the gently caress. You will not like the town if you are racist, just putting it out there. Number Two Stunna posted:Don't move to Vancouver. Yeah this.
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Oct 16, 2014 07:51
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Just move to Seattle. I think it's just as expensive as Vancouver for housing, but the IT market should be stronger. Very similar weather, somewhat similar culturally too I think? At least most of what Slim Jim said about Vancouver culture applies to Seattle too.
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Oct 16, 2014 08:03
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It's emigrating when you are talking about leaving someplace, OP
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Oct 17, 2014 06:11
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Ask me about considering moving away from Vancouver because proper engineering jobs requiring degrees pay low $20/hour starting wages and good luck finding a good place for less than $1000/month or buying tiny condo for less than $400,000
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Oct 18, 2014 07:53
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Arnold of Soissons posted:It's emigrating when you are talking about leaving someplace, OP Whenever you're emigrating from one place you're immigrating to another, so how could this distinction possibly make sense?
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Oct 19, 2014 03:11
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The job market is a bit better in Calgary, but the weather most of the year is pretty rough. Last year was the hardest winter I've ever experienced, and I've lived here my whole life.
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Oct 19, 2014 04:53
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RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:Whenever you're emigrating from one place you're immigrating to another, so how could this distinction possibly make sense? Whenever you are delivering something someone else is receiving it, so those words must be the same 
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Oct 19, 2014 09:22
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Arnold of Soissons posted:Whenever you are delivering something someone else is receiving it, so those words must be the same You deliver to, and receive from. You immigrate to, and emigrate from. Which way did the OP use it? The right way. On topic: I know nothing about Canada, but based on my TV watching experience (Psych), Vancouver is fake Santa Barbara. If the rents people are quoting are true, gently caress your friends and move to real Santa Barbara. Same prices, way better weather.
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Oct 20, 2014 15:47
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Choadmaster posted:You deliver to, and receive from. I can confirm that those rent prices are similar, also that everything is expensive. Theres no water though.
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Oct 22, 2014 23:38
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Echeveria posted:The job market is a bit better in Calgary, but the weather most of the year is pretty rough. Last year was the hardest winter I've ever experienced, and I've lived here my whole life. Cicero posted:Just move to Seattle. I think it's just as expensive as Vancouver for housing, but the IT market should be stronger. Very similar weather, somewhat similar culturally too I think? At least most of what Slim Jim said about Vancouver culture applies to Seattle too. Number Two Stunna posted:Don't move to Vancouver. I'm a Vancouverite who has relocated to Seattle. I also have a job in IT. I've made the quotes above because I feel they are particularly salient. If you want to commit career suicide and live in the most depressing weather, with the most irredemably surly, mean spirited shitheads in North America, Vancouver is the city for you! For context, I've lived in Montreal and London for extended periods of time. I also grew up in SE Asia and I've spent considerable time in Taiwan and east Africa. As a culture, Londoners are the loving worst. Vancouverites are considerably better people but they come nowhere near the consideration I have for Seattlites and Americans in general. At this current juncture, we're now seeing a Vancouver society that has nothing to offer other than a debt fueled dog race in social climbing and materialism. The hubris of Vancouverites is loving unbearable (think America at the height of its real estate boom, when everyone was buying luxury cars with their home equity line of credit). These people literally think they live in the "Best Place On Earth".  Making the assumption that you're young, Vancouver a loving cesspool of career suicide. For the love of god, please don't let anyone convince you that there is a 'vibrant tech startup scene'. If you believe Hitler when he said that the jews were responsible for the Treaty of Versailles, they you'll believe you're going to get rich working for some poo poo-assed startup in Vancouver. Seattle's GDP is 300 billion compared to BC's which is ~200 billion. You can't loving throw a brick in Seattle without hitting a job. With regards to housing, the average house price in Vancouver reached 1.3 million: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/housing/vancouver-house-prices-hit-new-high/article17279408/ In terms of ratio between salary and house price, Vancouver is the second least affordable city in the world: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-s-housing-2nd-least-affordable-in-world-1.2505524 Are you single? Female? I hope you like masturbating. http://www.vanmag.com/News_and_Features/Do_Vancouver_Men_Suck People in Vancouver are humungous assholes. I can't emphasize this enough. I've been living in Seattle for a year now and I'm constantly amazed at how nice and friendly people are down here. I drive back to Vancouver on weekends and it's unbearable. In short, move to Calgary. But the weather there is loving T E R R I B L E.
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Oct 29, 2014 03:09
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Concerning the housing market, I moved from Vancouver to NYC, and you're all a bunch of whiners. Concerning the job market, it depends on your profession, but in general, salaries are lower, and jobs harder to come by.
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Oct 30, 2014 17:37
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Cultural Imperial posted:In short, move to Calgary. But the weather there is loving T E R R I B L E. Totally off topic, but we just had the nicest fall! It only snowed twice!
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Oct 31, 2014 15:42
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Where are the nice places in BC then, if not Vancouver? I'm going to emigrate to Canada next year, and my wife can't deal with the cold of the plains so it's pretty much BC or nothing.
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Nov 1, 2014 14:17
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Any of the smaller cities further in land. Kelwona is pretty nice, Kamloops. Or Vancouver Island - Victoria or Nanaimo. Prince George is higher up, I've only ever driven through, but it's been growing a lot.
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Nov 1, 2014 15:44
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Lot of crime and the bad kind of drugs in PG. Most places on the island are really nice. Victoria, Nanaimo, and some smaller towns like Tofino. Kelowna and the surrounding towns like Vernon or Osoyoos or anywhere in between are really really nice in the summer, but pretty brutal in the winter. Kamloops is a desert, which kinda sucks in both seasons imo, but some people seem to like it.
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Nov 1, 2014 15:55
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Eau de MacGowan posted:Where are the nice places in BC then, if not Vancouver? I'm going to emigrate to Canada next year, and my wife can't deal with the cold of the plains so it's pretty much BC or nothing. The island is probably what you want if you wife is going to complain about being cold, Prince George is kind of a lumberjack/pipeline town and it can be crazy cold up there. Anywhere in the interior will be cold as hell in the winter, but nicer throughout than Vancouver. If you absolutely need to move to BC, the best reason not to move to Vancouver is the horrendous housing bubble. Cultural Imperial sort of hits the right points, but he also sounds a little crazy. There are lots cities along the Fraser that are cheaper and seem nice. Surrey is a preposterous example of tendrilous suburbia, but if that's your thing I can't stop you. New Westminster is more compact and easy to get around in. Driving is somewhat annoying if you live South of the river because one of our bridges is constantly overloaded. But moving to Vancouver itself assures you that you'll lose money. Edmonton's housing crisis is 400,000 CAD for a single family home, while the shittiest 3+ bedroom house in Vancouver is 700,000 CAD. It's loving nuts. Don't get a condo either.
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Nov 1, 2014 20:43
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Eau de MacGowan posted:Where are the nice places in BC then, if not Vancouver? I'm going to emigrate to Canada next year, and my wife can't deal with the cold of the plains so it's pretty much BC or nothing. That depends. How much money do you make now? It's highly unlikely you won't be making less.
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Nov 2, 2014 02:02
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ante posted:
Kelowna is a pretty nice place, but there's N O T H I N G to do unless you're really into outdoorsy stuff and beaches or wine or something. It's basically a retirement and tourism community with a University. The winter here is really unpleasant, IMO. It doesn't get very cold temperature wise, but there's something about the wind and the air, the little cold that there is really gets to your bones more than in other places (I'm not a weather expert, but it's probably due to humidity). Seriously, 5 above here feels like 15 below in Alberta. There's also almost no sunshine during the winter, very little snow, and it never really gets cold enough to go ice skating outdoors or do any cool winter things. There are some nice ski hills nearby which mitigates this somewhat, but still. My recommendation: Just go to a different province and learn to deal with the winter, it's really fun and beautiful once you get used to it.
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Nov 2, 2014 07:59
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Thanks for all the advice. I like the snow and the cold, I worked for a winter in the Rockies at Nakiska ski hill. I'd live in Banff or Jasper or something if I had the choice, but alas.Cultural Imperial posted:That depends. How much money do you make now? It's highly unlikely you won't be making less. I'm actually self employed, so the job market isn't a factor to me beyond maybe picking up part time work in a bar or something to pass the time.
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Nov 2, 2014 09:11
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Slim Jim Pickens posted:But moving to Vancouver itself assures you that you'll lose money. Edmonton's housing crisis is 400,000 CAD for a single family home, while the shittiest 3+ bedroom house in Vancouver is 700,000 CAD. It's loving nuts. Don't get a condo either.
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Nov 2, 2014 09:20
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Cicero posted:It sounds like Vancouver is kind of like SF for housing, except without tons of money pouring into tech jobs. So all the money in the housing market is coming from what, Chinese nationals investing in real estate? No one really knows. Canada doesn't keep track of foreign real estate ownership. One thing is for certain, since 2008 there has been major expansion of the credit market and the government has been trying to tamp down on the housing bubble by making it harder to obtain mortgages and HELOCs since 2012.
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Nov 2, 2014 15:12
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Cicero posted:It sounds like Vancouver is kind of like SF for housing, except without tons of money pouring into tech jobs. So all the money in the housing market is coming from what, Chinese nationals investing in real estate? As best as anyone can tell. the housing bubble in Vancouver is being fuelled by insanity, self-delusion and entirely too much access to credit. It's like a disease -- even people who live elsewhere are getting infected by the idea they ought to buy a condo in Vancouver, and I can't figure out why.
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Nov 3, 2014 05:48
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Cicero posted:It sounds like Vancouver is kind of like SF for housing, except without tons of money pouring into tech jobs. So all the money in the housing market is coming from what, Chinese nationals investing in real estate? There's definitely Chinese/whatever money coming in, but it's more like a lot of local homeowners are shuffling real estate around trying to hustle the foreigners. The city is too geographically constrained to go full retard and develop a Phoenix-style housing boom so the prices just get insane. I wasn't really thinking about it before this thread, but I definitely won't stay in this city if it keeps up. Eau de MacGowan posted:Thanks for all the advice. I like the snow and the cold, I worked for a winter in the Rockies at Nakiska ski hill. I'd live in Banff or Jasper or something if I had the choice, but alas. You can still ski in Vancouver more most of the winter, the mountains are generally pretty nice. Whistler is a good place to ski, but not a good place to move.
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Nov 3, 2014 05:51
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Chipolte_Away posted:
Nope! I work in Canadian immigration (credentials: over 6 years of experience with leading Canadian immigration firms, but not a lawyer), and for you and other foreign goons looking to come to Canada to work, here are some important things to know: 1) you absolutely need to be documented with a work permit, whether working for 1 hour or 3 years in Canada. Work is not just "hands-on" work, but things like directing and controlling, consulting, providing advice and recommendations, etc. There are a few cases where work permits are not required, but you really should have an authorized immigration representative to take a look at your situation and confirm whether a work permit is required. If you don't obtain a work permit,and work without authorization in Canada, you are running a risk of being denied entry into Canada in the future, specifically a 2 year bar. Your employer also runs the risk of fines and a bar on hiring ANY foreign workers, and the fines that can be levied are in the hundreds of thousands. 2) You would be looking to apply for permanent residency (PR), not citizenship. New changes to the citizenship act will require you to reside in Canada as a permanent resident for 4 out of 6 years before qualifying to apply for citizenship. The criteria for applying for PR are varied depending on the stream, some require at least 1 year of full-time, documented work in Canada a high-skilled position, some streams require your employer to nomination you, or you may qualify currently to apply under what is called the Federal Skilled Worker Program. Once you obtain PR you can work in any job in any region of Canada, but PR applications are long and costly, and you're looking at over 1 year, closer to 2 years, for a PR case for the Federal Skilled Worker Program to be processed. Lastly, American lawyers are not legally allowed to provide paid advice on Canadian immigration matters - only members of Canadian law societies, Immigration Consultants with the ICCRC or paralegals (ontario and quebec) can provide paid advice. If anyone is interested in further immigration info, feel free to PM me. I am always happy to talk immigration.
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Nov 3, 2014 22:35
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Move to Victoria, or somewhere just outside it. The island is beautiful, and most of the complaints expressed in regards to Vancouver do not apply to Victoria. I'd say it's the nicest Canadian city next to Quebec City. It's a slower pace on the island, and vastly less expensive than Vancouver. No idea about the tech scene in Victoria. Tsyni fucked around with this message at 01:54 on Nov 4, 2014 |
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Nov 4, 2014 00:21
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PT6A posted:As best as anyone can tell. the housing bubble in Vancouver is being fuelled by insanity, self-delusion and entirely too much access to credit. It's like a disease -- even people who live elsewhere are getting infected by the idea they ought to buy a condo in Vancouver, and I can't figure out why. I remember my criminology prof telling us that areas with areas of low home ownership (you know, places with lots of renters) are associated with low incomes and crime. So it's partly a class issue as well- owning property is proof that you're not a poor!
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Nov 4, 2014 01:02
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Yeah I like Victoria. Unfortunately there are no jobs there.
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Nov 4, 2014 02:21
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Spadoink posted:Nope! I work in Canadian immigration (credentials: over 6 years of experience with leading Canadian immigration firms, but not a lawyer), and for you and other foreign goons looking to come to Canada to work, here are some important things to know: Do you happen to have a thread about this? I'd love to pick your brain. Also an American in the process of getting Canadian PR but my circumstances are a bit different.
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Nov 4, 2014 06:51
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Grrl Anachronism posted:Do you happen to have a thread about this? I'd love to pick your brain. Also an American in the process of getting Canadian PR but my circumstances are a bit different. Nope, no thread - I've thought about it but don't think it will get much interest. Canadian immigration questions in Ask/Tell or in the Toronto LAN thread (I'm in Toronto) are very sporadic and situation-specific. As noted, though, feel free to PM me as I'm happy to talk shop.
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Nov 4, 2014 19:37
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Eau de MacGowan posted:Where are the nice places in BC then, if not Vancouver? I'm going to emigrate to Canada next year, and my wife can't deal with the cold of the plains so it's pretty much BC or nothing. What about the rest of Canada? Some parts of Ontario are pretty warm and not too terrible, mainland Nova Scotia has a gulf stream so we get balmy winters...
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Nov 17, 2014 03:57
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Just ignore Dogfish. Nova Scotia is a loving economic pit of misery. There are only two places in Canada worth immigrating to. Toronto and Calgary. Unless your goal in life is to avoid gainful employment. In which case p much anwhere else if fine.
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Nov 17, 2014 04:45
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No but ships start here now you see. Toronto is a hellhole. I moved to OTTAWA from the GTA and I couldn't get over how friendly the people were and how much opportunity there was everywhere, which should tell you something.
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Nov 20, 2014 23:19
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