Moving to Canada for 12 months - IEC Working Holiday Visa
- Thread starter ScarySquirrel
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Sounds like fun. I've still not been to Whistler yet, although I think our first visit will be a stopover in July, as we're planning on hiking and camping at Joffre Lakes, and it'd be good to not have to get up 3 hours earlier because we have to travel from Vancouver 
We went to Victoria last week and had a great time, we went whale watching and went to an awesome museum, oh and got incredibly drunk of course!
We got a seaplane from Vancouver harbour over there, it was awesome!
Coming in to land
Some from the flight
Orca!!!
We went to Victoria last week and had a great time, we went whale watching and went to an awesome museum, oh and got incredibly drunk of course!
We got a seaplane from Vancouver harbour over there, it was awesome!
Coming in to land
Some from the flight
Orca!!!
Sounds like fun. I've still not been to Whistler yet, although I think our first visit will be a stopover in July, as we're planning on hiking and camping at Joffre Lakes, and it'd be good to not have to get up 3 hours earlier because we have to travel from Vancouver
We went to Victoria last week and had a great time, we went whale watching and went to an awesome museum, oh and got incredibly drunk of course!
We got a seaplane from Vancouver harbour over there, it was awesome!
Coming in to land
http://www.ourcanadianadventure.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Victoria-32.jpg[img]
Some from the flight
[img]http://www.ourcanadianadventure.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Victoria-29.jpg[img]
[img]http://www.ourcanadianadventure.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Victoria-31.jpg[img]
[img]http://www.ourcanadianadventure.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Victoria-3.jpg[img]
Orca!!!
[img]http://www.ourcanadianadventure.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Victoria-35.jpg[img][/QUOTE]
Sweet pics man :) I took the sea plane from Vancouver Island, back to Vancouver, and the view is absolutely breathtaking (as the pics show :p). Looks like you picked a lovely day to do it aswell :)
deej: would you mind if I spoke to you privately, trying to build up some contacts in the area as the job hunt so far hasn't been great (albeit only been 2 weeks).
If you are happy to discuss with me let me know and I'll give you my email.
thanks
If you are happy to discuss with me let me know and I'll give you my email.
thanks
- Joined
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- South East
You need to update your location McD
Hope you're enjoying life in Canada so far!
When my girlfriend and I first decided to move out here, I saw pictures of Garibaldi Lake and knew we had to go. Well, on Saturday last weekend we finally did it. It was a 3 hours 20 minute (give or take) hike to the lake, we stayed there for 2 hours or so (fed birds, chipmunks, swam, ate, and chilled out), then it took around 2 hours 15 minutes to hike back down. It was incredible.
I posted these in the hiking thread but I thought I' share here as well.
Garibaldi Lake, British Columbia by Nicholas Benson, on Flickr
Garibaldi Lake, British Columbia by Nicholas Benson, on Flickr
Garibaldi Lake, British Columbia by Nicholas Benson, on Flickr
Garibaldi Lake, British Columbia by Nicholas Benson, on Flickr
Excuse my stupid expression!
Hope you're enjoying life in Canada so far!
When my girlfriend and I first decided to move out here, I saw pictures of Garibaldi Lake and knew we had to go. Well, on Saturday last weekend we finally did it. It was a 3 hours 20 minute (give or take) hike to the lake, we stayed there for 2 hours or so (fed birds, chipmunks, swam, ate, and chilled out), then it took around 2 hours 15 minutes to hike back down. It was incredible.
I posted these in the hiking thread but I thought I' share here as well.
Garibaldi Lake, British Columbia by Nicholas Benson, on Flickr
Garibaldi Lake, British Columbia by Nicholas Benson, on Flickr
Garibaldi Lake, British Columbia by Nicholas Benson, on Flickr
Garibaldi Lake, British Columbia by Nicholas Benson, on Flickr
Excuse my stupid expression!
Wow that looks great
Got my interview in London tomorrow for the Whistler job - Wish me luck!Preparing to roast in my suit
Good luck dude!
After a a couple of weeks and back and forth I've decided to go home; been here just shy of two months now but not enjoying it any where near as much as I had hoped; I think the 3months I spent travelling didn't help in the respect I've felt so unsettled for such a long time - been out of work now since December 28th and miss the routine.
I tried a lot of avenues here to get in to the career area I want and the only interested I got was quickly squashed when they asked about my work status - being here for only a year was deemed to risky by a lot of the companies I spoke to for the roles I was after. I explained I could get a 2nd year then go down various routes for PR but none seemed ready to give me a chance.
I then started looking at lower non management style roles and still didn't get much luck being told I was then over qualified for the roles! Pair that with the cost of living here and savings running low and fast I decided on the off chance to apply for a job at home - but purposely left my Canadian details on the application - saying to myself if they are interested enough to contact me here and it's the only job I go for then it's got to be a sign. Got a call 2 days later and an interview Friday!
Been a lot of issues at home as well, 2 family deaths since I got here and I am missing my young nephews a lot as well. I don't feel bad about the move back that much I had an amazing 3months in the USA and a great time here so far, but I just feel so much more displaced then I thought I would and not really that happy.
Still on wards and upwards!
I've decided not to tell people just yet though and I have a few IRL friends here so if they happen to read it, please don't mention it via social media or to anyone yet! XD
You've got to do what ever is best for you. Good luck with what ever you decide. My Sister-in-law died at the end of last year, unexpectedly and suddenly and I was disappointed that I couldn't be there in person for my brother. He did realise the difficulties faced trying to get back though.
I'm also lucky that I didn't come alone and my wife and children (along with skype) have helped out a lot with homesickness.
Unfortunately seeing as I'm up in Cottage Country, about 250km north of Toronto, I don't think my contacts will be able to help you too much. Feel free to contact me though (I think I've set up trust correctly).
If you do go back, say hello to Essex for me.
Thanks Dude.
To be honest, If I wanted to work at a bar, or retail or something I would probably be fine but it won't do much in the way of keeping me out here and I don't want to do something like that just to stay here for another 10months. I would rather go home, earn some decent money and continue with my career.
It's made me miss England that is for sure, and I never thought I would say that; also... England is very cheap compared to Canada in a lot of things which again I never thought I would say!
I didn't make the decision lightly I can assure you, many restless nights, but I am not as happy as I would hope I would be, I miss a lot from back home. I am glad I did the USA first though, that was an epic 3months and very much made the whole thing worth while regardless.
Have to try these things though, glad I did - would rather tried and not liked it then always wondered, What if?
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
I posted these in the hiking thread but I thought I' share here as well.
Garibaldi Lake, British Columbia by Nicholas Benson, on Flickr
Garibaldi Lake, British Columbia by Nicholas Benson, on Flickr
Just absolutely amazing.
I have flights to Vancouver booked for a few months time and I can't wait
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I'm sorry to hear things haven't worked out as planned, but still, it sounds like you've had an amazing adventure, and I imagine you've got a new found fondness of home, which I'm sure will be great when you're back.
My girlfriend and I are in a situation where we love the city we're in, but we miss people back home, and I think what is making it worse is that neither of us are particularly happy with our jobs at the moment. Because of that, we're pretty certain we'll want to go home after a year. Which means that we can't really feel settled any more, because we might be going back sooner than we thought it makes everything feel temporary. Suddenly buying something nice for the flat becomes "Is it worth it if we're going home?", which might sound small, but it's not a great way to live. We're 28 and 29 and we're realising that we're probably ready to settle, but not here, back home in the UK.
It's making it very hard to call this place home. We're definitely homesick though, it's funny, it's very hard to explain it, it's just a general feeling of not feeling right, despite so many good things going on in life right now (with work being the exception).
Who knows what the future holds. We have family visiting in a few weeks, then we have friends out, which will be amazing, but also very sad when everyone has gone home and the winter rain sets in. Although that does mean snowboarding and skiing starts
It sounds like I'm just moaning, this really has been, and will continue to be an amazing and very important experience for us. I love city life, particularly here.
[TW]Fox;24650394 said:Just absolutely amazing.
I have flights to Vancouver booked for a few months time and I can't wait
Awesome! What brings you out this way? Are you doing another road trip?
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That's it. If I could mix the best things about home and here, it would be the best place in the world.
Yup - doing some of the North West USA too
Just trying to work out the best way to get to Jasper from Vancouver at the moment.. Via Whistler, or the Trans Canada? Almost every inch of BC seems to be beautiful so it seems impossible to pick a route without accepting whichever one you pick means you'll miss awesome stuff on the route you could have taken!
Shame to hear you are heading home - I find it hard to imagine livng somewhere like Canada, Australia etc and actually wanting to come back to the UK but I guess until you've actually done it and not just taken holidays in places it's hard to know how it really feels. Whatever you do, I'm sure it'll be the right decision for you.
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[TW]Fox;24661554 said:Yup - doing some of the North West USA too
Just trying to work out the best way to get to Jasper from Vancouver at the moment.. Via Whistler, or the Trans Canada? Almost every inch of BC seems to be beautiful so it seems impossible to pick a route without accepting whichever one you pick means you'll miss awesome stuff on the route you could have taken!
Interestingly I was doing some research as I want to eventually do a road trip to Calgary, and I ended up putting together a blog post about it before we left the UK. The plan was to go via Jasper so it may be useful.
Basically, someone on Reddit suggested a route which was a bit longer than normal, and it doesn't go via Whistler, but it may be a bit more interesting than just staying on the Trans Canada.
The drive up to Whistler is amazing though, I've only been as far as Garibaldi Provincial park so far, but the road is amazing.
Blog post:
http://www.ourcanadianadventure.co.uk/2012/12/vancouver-to-calgary-road-trip/
Route:
http://goo.gl/maps/wgzCP
Reddit post that I found:
http://www.reddit.com/r/britishcolumbia/comments/x3j5j/roadtrip_from_vancouver_to_calgary/
I'm sorry to hear things haven't worked out as planned, but still, it sounds like you've had an amazing adventure, and I imagine you've got a new found fondness of home, which I'm sure will be great when you're back.
My girlfriend and I are in a situation where we love the city we're in, but we miss people back home, and I think what is making it worse is that neither of us are particularly happy with our jobs at the moment. Because of that, we're pretty certain we'll want to go home after a year. Which means that we can't really feel settled any more, because we might be going back sooner than we thought it makes everything feel temporary. Suddenly buying something nice for the flat becomes "Is it worth it if we're going home?", which might sound small, but it's not a great way to live. We're 28 and 29 and we're realising that we're probably ready to settle, but not here, back home in the UK.
It's making it very hard to call this place home. We're definitely homesick though, it's funny, it's very hard to explain it, it's just a general feeling of not feeling right, despite so many good things going on in life right now (with work being the exception).
Who knows what the future holds. We have family visiting in a few weeks, then we have friends out, which will be amazing, but also very sad when everyone has gone home and the winter rain sets in. Although that does mean snowboarding and skiing starts
It sounds like I'm just moaning, this really has been, and will continue to be an amazing and very important experience for us. I love city life, particularly here.
I know exactly how you feel, knowing how difficult it was for me to get the career I wanted I didn't feel settled at all, and it became very difficult every day especially with no job to keep me occupied.
I landed home yesterday afternoon and I have an interview tomorrow for a job here; so that makes me feel better I did the right move!
I am 28 as well, and if I was younger I would have probably stayed out there on a basic job and enjoyed myself, but time is getting on and I want to get back into a decent wage and start thinking of settling down myself.
I don't regret my decision anyway and I feel confident I did everything in my power to get what I wanted; but sometimes things are just not meant to be... also I love driving and insurance over there is crazy ($5000 was average quote!) - so am now excited about car shopping once I get a job!
Interview went very well in the end Feeling confident Should hear by mid-August if I've got it!
Quick question regarding my phone... I plan on buying the next iPhone when it is released in September/October... If I buy it in the UK, I'm assuming I can just go out there and grab a SIM-Only deal? What are the contracts like out there?
It's getting closer and closer now and I'm definitely getting more and more excited about it - Just wanna get out there now
I received my CIC letter of introduction, so I'm all sorted pretty much - I assume I'll get the IEC Letter of Introduction soon?
- Marky
Feeling confident Should hear by mid-August if I've got it!Quick question regarding my phone... I plan on buying the next iPhone when it is released in September/October... If I buy it in the UK, I'm assuming I can just go out there and grab a SIM-Only deal? What are the contracts like out there?
It's getting closer and closer now and I'm definitely getting more and more excited about it - Just wanna get out there now
I received my CIC letter of introduction, so I'm all sorted pretty much - I assume I'll get the IEC Letter of Introduction soon?
- Marky
As far as I know, the SIM-only deals are still quite expensive - around $50 a month. Shopping around a lot is a good idea - some providers charge for receiving calls etc. Best to get one which includes lots of data - which would be handy for using WhatsApp etc to chat to people back home
It's getting closer and closer now and I'm definitely getting more and more excited about it - Just wanna get out there now
I received my CIC letter of introduction, so I'm all sorted pretty much - I assume I'll get the IEC Letter of Introduction soon?
- Marky
The CIC LOI is the one and same thing - I assume you received the PDF with the letter on? If so, that's the one that you'll need
I'm very excited to head over there, I've realised that it's still a good while yet though - we're planning on heading out the first couple of weeks of April, as our LOIs expire on 22nd April. However, reading about how people seem to be struggling with homesickness etc, I'm worried - more for my girlfriend's sake than mine tbh - I used to be a bit nomadic really, moving around a lot - however I've never lived more than a few hours from my parents - even though my relationship with them is a lot less close than my girlfriend's with hers.
We'll see