Family holiday/relocation from uk
Apr 10th, 2006, 06:12 AM
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Family holiday/relocation from uk
I am planning a family holiday to british columbia in August with a view to applying for residency in Canada. I am thinking of looking at Nelson or Kamloops but don't know much about these areas. I will be spending some of my time looking around for possible areas to settle but also have 2 children aged 9yrs and 6yrs and therefore need to spend as much time taking them to lots of fun areas. Any ideas? I seem to be having trouble finding accomodation that has outdoor swimming pools - both my children love swimming and this is a big part of their holiday. I don't really want to spend time in a indoor pool. I would be grateful for any suggestions
Apr 10th, 2006, 08:17 AM
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Hello christine3663,
When it comes to the Nelson area, I don't think it's all that important to have an outdoor pool. The reason I say that is that you can stay in a property on the shores of Kootenay Lake, and swim in the lake.
In addition to conventional hotels, Nelson has several B&Bs, including some along the lake. I think B&Bs are good from the point of view that you can chat to the owners, and that may give you more of an insight into the area as a place to live.
When it comes to Kamloops, an Internet search brought up Lakeside Country Inn. Its website states that it's 25 minutes west of Kamloops, on Kamloops Lake. It says you can swim in the lake and rent their canoes and bicycles.
http://www.lakesidecountryinn.com/
Another Internet finding is South Thompson Inn Guest Ranch & Conference Centre. Its website describes it as being 15 minutes east of Kamloops, overlooking the South Thompson River. It has an outdoor pool and a golf course. It also offers horseback riding.
In the town of Kamloops itself, another Internet search reveals that Coast Canadian Inn and Quality Inn have outdoor pools.
On your way from Nelson to Kamloops (or vice versa), you may like to stop in the Okanagan Valley (in Kelowna or Penticton or one of the other towns). Lake Okanagan is a very family-friendly area with heaps of fun stuff for kids to do.
Tourism British Columbia has a website which offers a great wealth of information:
http://www.hellobc.com
If you have not yet discovered it, I highly recommend the British Expats Forum. There you can find out a lot of information about the technicalities of immigrating, and you also can find out about specific communities. The BE Forum has at least a couple of members who live in Kamloops and are very enthusiastic about it.
http://britishexpats.com/
But your insistance on an outdoor pool, during a trip that is partly a reconnaissance expedition, makes me wonder if you have any idea at all of what is involved in immigrating.
I can say that because I myself am an immigrant. My husband and I moved here in the late 1970s. It has been ever so worthwhile from the point of view that Canada has given us all kinds of safety that Southern Africa couldn't give us.
But we have paid a steep price in other respects. It was very tough when my father, and later my father-in-law, passed away in South Africa.
Now my great niece (early twenties) is dying of brain cancer in South Africa. My sister and brother-in-law (her grandparents) are beside themselves. They were devoted grandparents who went to every school play and every sports match that their grandchildren were involved in while they were growing up. I hear that my brother-in-law, who is the sweetest man in the world, cries every day. I would do anything to be able to give my sister and BIL a big hug, but we're saving up to visit my mother-in-law for her eightieth birthday next year, and we can't afford to visit South Africa now.
My great niece, the one who has cancer, has an eight-month old baby who, judging from photos, is just gorgeous. Since her surgery, which was unsuccessful in getting all of the malignant tumour, my great niece has been assembling a scrap book of her poems and photos so that her little son will have some way of knowing who she was after she is dead.
I find it painful to be excluded by distance from the family circle at a time like this.
Canada is closer to the UK than it is to South Africa, so travelling back and forth probably will be more feasible. Still, if you move to Canada you probably will face events that will induce sadness and guilt in you too.
To give you the motivation to make it work, I think you need a strong reason, like the one we have, for staying in Canada.
At the British Expats Forum, there are different sections on Europe, Canada, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, and so on. Those are good sources of information on various countries. What is also very instructive on the BE Forum is the "Moving back to the UK" section. It is very interesting to read messages posted by people who have returned to the UK from the USA, Canada, Australia, etc., and their reasons for doing so. I regard the reading of those posts to be an essential part of one's homework before one emigrates.
Another thing you may or may not be aware of is that the immigration process to Canada now is taking about 4 years from the time that a person submits his/her application to the time that he/she lands in Canada as a permanent resident.
There is a way of speeding up the process, if you have a skill set that is in high demand in Canada. You can apply for a temporary work permit. However, the employer who employs you has to demonstrate that he/she has tried unsuccessfully to find a suitably qualified Canadian resident to fill the position.
While you're living in Canada on a temporary work permit, your application for permanent residence can be making its way through the process. That "short cut" works out fine for thousands of people.
But a temporary work permit is not without its risks. Usually it has conditions attached to it. For example, it may be stipulated that it's valid only as long as you're working for a specific employer. There currently are a couple of posters on the BE Forum who came over on temporary work permits and who have been laid off from their jobs. They're now scrambling to find jobs that would earn them the right to get new temporary work permits. Keep in mind, they can't look for just any jobs. They must be jobs for which no able and willing Canadians are available. There are a couple of them who look as if they'll be forced to return to the UK, and that's after buying houses in Canada and various other complications.
If you have money and entrepreneurial skills that would enable you to set up a business that would employ Canadians, you can immigrate as a business class immigrant.
Several posters on the BE Forum get into Canada as family class immigrants. Typically they're married to a Canadian or else to a Briton who, through a Canadian parent, is entitled to Canadian citizenship. Family class applications are processed much more quickly (6 - 9 months as opposed to 39 months).
Sorry if I bored you with my long sob story, but the tone of your enquiry gave me the impression that a reality check might serve you well.
But, after all that, I hope you have a wonderful vacation in British Columbia.
When it comes to the Nelson area, I don't think it's all that important to have an outdoor pool. The reason I say that is that you can stay in a property on the shores of Kootenay Lake, and swim in the lake.
In addition to conventional hotels, Nelson has several B&Bs, including some along the lake. I think B&Bs are good from the point of view that you can chat to the owners, and that may give you more of an insight into the area as a place to live.
When it comes to Kamloops, an Internet search brought up Lakeside Country Inn. Its website states that it's 25 minutes west of Kamloops, on Kamloops Lake. It says you can swim in the lake and rent their canoes and bicycles.
http://www.lakesidecountryinn.com/
Another Internet finding is South Thompson Inn Guest Ranch & Conference Centre. Its website describes it as being 15 minutes east of Kamloops, overlooking the South Thompson River. It has an outdoor pool and a golf course. It also offers horseback riding.
In the town of Kamloops itself, another Internet search reveals that Coast Canadian Inn and Quality Inn have outdoor pools.
On your way from Nelson to Kamloops (or vice versa), you may like to stop in the Okanagan Valley (in Kelowna or Penticton or one of the other towns). Lake Okanagan is a very family-friendly area with heaps of fun stuff for kids to do.
Tourism British Columbia has a website which offers a great wealth of information:
http://www.hellobc.com
If you have not yet discovered it, I highly recommend the British Expats Forum. There you can find out a lot of information about the technicalities of immigrating, and you also can find out about specific communities. The BE Forum has at least a couple of members who live in Kamloops and are very enthusiastic about it.
http://britishexpats.com/
But your insistance on an outdoor pool, during a trip that is partly a reconnaissance expedition, makes me wonder if you have any idea at all of what is involved in immigrating.
I can say that because I myself am an immigrant. My husband and I moved here in the late 1970s. It has been ever so worthwhile from the point of view that Canada has given us all kinds of safety that Southern Africa couldn't give us.
But we have paid a steep price in other respects. It was very tough when my father, and later my father-in-law, passed away in South Africa.
Now my great niece (early twenties) is dying of brain cancer in South Africa. My sister and brother-in-law (her grandparents) are beside themselves. They were devoted grandparents who went to every school play and every sports match that their grandchildren were involved in while they were growing up. I hear that my brother-in-law, who is the sweetest man in the world, cries every day. I would do anything to be able to give my sister and BIL a big hug, but we're saving up to visit my mother-in-law for her eightieth birthday next year, and we can't afford to visit South Africa now.
My great niece, the one who has cancer, has an eight-month old baby who, judging from photos, is just gorgeous. Since her surgery, which was unsuccessful in getting all of the malignant tumour, my great niece has been assembling a scrap book of her poems and photos so that her little son will have some way of knowing who she was after she is dead.
I find it painful to be excluded by distance from the family circle at a time like this.
Canada is closer to the UK than it is to South Africa, so travelling back and forth probably will be more feasible. Still, if you move to Canada you probably will face events that will induce sadness and guilt in you too.
To give you the motivation to make it work, I think you need a strong reason, like the one we have, for staying in Canada.
At the British Expats Forum, there are different sections on Europe, Canada, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, and so on. Those are good sources of information on various countries. What is also very instructive on the BE Forum is the "Moving back to the UK" section. It is very interesting to read messages posted by people who have returned to the UK from the USA, Canada, Australia, etc., and their reasons for doing so. I regard the reading of those posts to be an essential part of one's homework before one emigrates.
Another thing you may or may not be aware of is that the immigration process to Canada now is taking about 4 years from the time that a person submits his/her application to the time that he/she lands in Canada as a permanent resident.
There is a way of speeding up the process, if you have a skill set that is in high demand in Canada. You can apply for a temporary work permit. However, the employer who employs you has to demonstrate that he/she has tried unsuccessfully to find a suitably qualified Canadian resident to fill the position.
While you're living in Canada on a temporary work permit, your application for permanent residence can be making its way through the process. That "short cut" works out fine for thousands of people.
But a temporary work permit is not without its risks. Usually it has conditions attached to it. For example, it may be stipulated that it's valid only as long as you're working for a specific employer. There currently are a couple of posters on the BE Forum who came over on temporary work permits and who have been laid off from their jobs. They're now scrambling to find jobs that would earn them the right to get new temporary work permits. Keep in mind, they can't look for just any jobs. They must be jobs for which no able and willing Canadians are available. There are a couple of them who look as if they'll be forced to return to the UK, and that's after buying houses in Canada and various other complications.
If you have money and entrepreneurial skills that would enable you to set up a business that would employ Canadians, you can immigrate as a business class immigrant.
Several posters on the BE Forum get into Canada as family class immigrants. Typically they're married to a Canadian or else to a Briton who, through a Canadian parent, is entitled to Canadian citizenship. Family class applications are processed much more quickly (6 - 9 months as opposed to 39 months).
Sorry if I bored you with my long sob story, but the tone of your enquiry gave me the impression that a reality check might serve you well.
But, after all that, I hope you have a wonderful vacation in British Columbia.
Apr 10th, 2006, 12:25 PM
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Hello Judy, thank you so much for your reply it was very interesting reading it. I have just read it out to my husband. I have to be honest and say that we have only just started to think about moving to Canada that is why we are planning our holiday visit. I still have alot of question marks in my head as to whether it is the right thing for us and I'm hoping our visit might answer alot of my questions. I will enjoy looking on the ex pats website to find out what other people have gone through. My main concern is for my 2 children and how upsetting they will find the move. As for my family my parents live in Ireland and I only see them once/twice a year and my 3 sisters are always toying with the idea of moving away. My husbands family are much closer to us and I keep reminding my husband how much we will miss them and how much they will miss us. It's a very big decision to make so I am grateful for all the information I can find. Thanks once again.
Apr 15th, 2006, 07:14 PM
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Hi in the Kamloops area you may want to stay near Chase or even Sorrento. They are alittle out of Kamloops but there are cabins to rent on the lake {Shushwap} Around Nelson you also have the choice of Christina Lake.
