Montrecalorontouver???????

So, had a bit of a break while I was recertifying my CCIE but, now that it's done, I can get back to the fun stuff !!

---------------------------------------------------------

Yes, Canada is big and you can't live in all of it (unless you have some pretty thick Gypsy blood in you) so now that you've submitted your immigration application, it's time to find a home.

Where you want to settle may be closely linked to your reason for emigrating in the first place or you may just want to live in Canada, somewhere. Or, like us, you may have decided to go to Canada because you visited one particular place (Vancouver in our case) but end up settling somewhere else (Calgary).

Whatever, your situation, you need to decide on a location. Some factors you might consider are:

• Your weather preference - if you're moving because you hate the weather at home, e.g. if you hate the UK rain, don't go to Vancouver. If you hate extreme cold, go to Vancouver. If you like snow, go to Alberta; if you like a lot of snow, go to the Rockies, the prairies or out East. If you love boats and flying kites, go to Newfoundland or Nova Scotia; if you love flying REALLY big kites, 300 days a year, go to Lethbridge in Alberta. You get the idea.


• Your leisure pursuits - if they are linked to the weather, see above. If the are linked to terrain, take that into account, e.g. if you like skiing, don't go to Saskatchewan or Manitoba; if you like mountaineering or hillwalking, don't go to Saskatchewan or Manitoba; if you like sailing, don't go to Saskatchewan or Manitoba.


• Your intended occupation - even though it's third in the list, this is actually very important. If you intend to do the same kind of work as you do now, you location needs to be somewhere that the work is available. However, if you are going all out for the Canadian adventure and starting a new career, your choices are much wider but you need to understand what the employment (or indeed business) options are for your chosen location.


• Your mental image of Canada - Canada means something different to everyone and, if one of your reasons for emigrating is a particular perception of Canada, such as the grey mountains of the Rockies, the big, dramatic skies of the prairies, the atmosphere and diversification of the cities or the coastlines of BC or the Atlantic provinces, then you should plan to end up somewhere that, at least partly, fulfills your fantasy. I never ask my wife to dress up as a farmer or a WWF wrestler, if you know what I mean.


• Your politics - this might seem a strange one but I mention it because some provinces stray further from the political centre than others. BC is the socialist stronghold of Canada and the unions there hold a lot of power so if you have strong liberal tendencies and don't mind lots of public-sector strikes, BC may be the place for you. On the other hand, Alberta is unashamedly conservative so, if your aim is to make money and you're comfortable with landlords pricing people out of their homes because the provincial government refuses to impose any form of sensible and fair rent control (or indeed, you want to try to change that), then you should keep Alberta on your list.

But, at the end of the day and no matter how much reading you do, there is no substitute for actually visiting a place and getting a real feel for it. As I said, we originally decided to move to Canada because of Vancouver but ended up coming to Calgary because it fitted our criteria better and we like the feel of the place. This brings up another important point. We ended up in Calgary because of my uncle, who lives on Vancouver Island (known to us 'Canadians' and "The Island"), telling us to go to Calgary because of the economy. I can't overestate the importance of having people 'on the inside'. If you are thinking of moving to Canada (or any country) and you haven't spoken to people who actually live there, you will contract the plague and die a horrible death.

Okay, so maybe that's a slight overstatement.

Howoever, the whole emmigration experience can have a lot of its scariness removed if you make contact with people who live and work in your new home. This is actually easier than it sounds. For one thing, the Internet provides access to all sorts of discussion groups. When we moved, another source of contact information was the Canada News. This is a subscription publication in the UK which publishes accounts from both prospective and successful Canadian immigrants. My wife actually wrote an article after our first research trip to Calgary. A lot of the contributors include their contact info and are more than happy to talk to anyone interested in coming to Canada. In fact, we did just this and became friends with a couple who had moved to the town in which we now live and with whom we are still friends today. I'm not sure if it is still going but, if so, it's definitely worth the subscription.

So, in short, take as many factors as possible into account when deciding on an area, do as much research as possible and talk to as many people as possible.

Next, my final post will be a list of any hints and tips that occur to me. Hope you enjoy !