So, I am watching the news and once again I am pissed about the crime stories that make up at least a third of the broadcast. Yes I live in a shitty crime ridden hell…but this is not too different from most other big cities in this country. I am tired of being hassled when I walk down the street. I have had a few too many close calls and I am absolutely sick of it. So before this turns into something more worthy of the Pit…my point…
I need to get away from this shit. A lot of the assholes are allergic to cold weather. I have seen that the colder the climate the lower the crime rate–of course Detroit and Chicago disprove that to a point but those are exceptions I would guess.
I have considered Minnesota…but hey…universal health care would be a nice thing.
So I am giving some thought to thinking about considering a move to Canada (heh). Has anyone made the move from the United States to Canada? How hard was it? How long was the process? Are you glad you made the move? Would an unskilled person with just a high school diploma have too rough of a time getting a job?
If you’re an unskilled worker with only a high school diploma, Canada’s probably not going to want to let you in on those qualifications. I suggest becoming a skilled worker with a college degree and the ability to speak French.
This page discusses immigrating to Canada as a skilled worker. If you have sufficient experience in one of these jobs, you qualify as a skilled worker. Doesn’t mean they’ll automatically let you in - this self-assessment test will tell you if you should bother applying.
Or you could go the family route. If you have close relatives in Canada, they could sponsor you, or you could become romantically involved with a Canadian.
Nah, you don’t have to speak French at all to move here. It might be a benefit if you’re looking at the Quebec City area, but not at all in the rest of the country. Hell most of our immigrants don’t even speak our first language, let alone our second.
To that end, not a lot of our immigrants are highly-skilled either. A lot of students, so if you’re looking for education, I suppose you could look at a student-landing program to get your feet wet.
I do want to be clear on two points though. First, we DO have warm weather in most parts fo the country. That footage you see on the news of snow up to your shoulders is either extreme storms along th eeast coast, or reaaaallly far north. Urban areas like southern Ontario routinely reach up to 90 degrees in the summer.
Second, we have crime here too. Granted, we don’t have as many guns as America, and nobody is supposed to have guns, but they’re out there, and people use them. I’ve never been harassed just “Walking down the street”, so maybe I don’t have an accurate gauge on the conditions where you are. Suffuce it to say though, that Canada is NOT a crime-free zone. There are many senseless shootings and kidnapping cases here on a seemingly escalating level.
Well, of course there is crime pretty much everywhere…I just know there is less up there. I will probably look into going to school there.
thanks for the answers folks!
I should’ve been more clear - speaking French is HELPFUL, point-system-wise, but not necessary.
Why must you live in a big city? Why not move to a small town? Or a rural area?
Come on up!
Move to British Columbia and you’ll never be sorry you did! Vancouver is really nice. Where else do you have world class skiing, moutain biking, ocean kayaking, and scuba diving in one place?
Coincidently I ran accross this article in the Smithsonian on Vancouver, it’s a very good read:
Smithsonian Article
BTW, where I live (3 hours east of Vancouver), we have about 8 weeks of 30+ degrees celsius weather.
MtM
Or you could move to Edmonton, which has a reasonably low crime rate, beautiful country, close to major ski hills, and sitting on a gigantic schwag of petroleum deposits. The Edmonton-Calgary corridor has one of the hottest economies on the planet, we don’t pay provincial sales tax, we have almost no debt and the lowest taxes overall in Canada. And yet, Edmonton currently has the lowest real estate prices of any major city in North America, and we’ve been rated the cheapest city to do business in of any nation in the G8. No coincidence that our economy is so hot.
I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but if you’re hoping to permanently relocate to Canada, it’s not as simple as one might hope.
Assuming that you initially come on a student visa to study here, you will be highly restricted. You will be allowed to live and study in the country, but you can’t work here except for on your own school campus (and I believe that you are limited even there to somewhere between 10-20 hours per week). Even in the summers. So you’ll need either the cash to pay for it up front or you’ll have to take out student loans to pay for pretty much the whole thing.
Upon graduation, international students are alllowed to get a ONE YEAR work permit to stay in Canada. But that applies only if you already have a job offer from a Canadian employer (which could be tricky to find, since they only give you a set number of days after your graduation date to do so).
After that one year (assuming you were able to pull that off), you’re back where you started. If you want to become a permanent resident, you’d still have to apply as a skilled worker and meet those requirements. Your education and time living here would give you some additional points, but you’d still have to provide proof that you had one year of working experience in one of the jobs listed on the government’s official list (most retail, restaurant, or service-type jobs won’t count unless you were a manager).
Your other option would be to meet a Canadian significant other (either citizen or permanent resident). Getting married to a Canadian would solve your immigration problems easily, but you could also apply as a common law partner or conjugal partner. However, to be considered common law you’d have to live with that person for a minimum of one year and be able to prove it. As a conjugal partner, you’d need proof that you were dating for a year and a really, really good excuse why you hadn’t been living with your significant other for at least twelve months already.
So…in summation, it’s really tricky to immigrate to Canada unless you have a high level of education and job skills, a Canadian relative who could sponsor you, the cash to start your own business here, or a Canadian significant other. But, with that said, if you’re really determined it would be possible.