I live in L.A. and I''m truly done with this country. How hard would it

[Lindsey]

be to move to Van Couver? What's involved? I have a Bachelor's Degree and I've been in the Education Industry for 20 years. I've taught and I've been in high level Administrative positions for 10 years. What are my chances? I just can't take this country anymore.
I'd appreciate any input. Thank you.

[rationalcalgarian]

1. Hope this helps

(and by the way, just a head's up for ya.... Vancouver is one word ;-) )

OK, now that that's out of the way..... have a look at this:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp

http://www.educationcanada.com/

http://www.educationcanada.com/browse.phtml?sid=bc

http://www.applytoeducation.com/

http://americancanadian.tribe.net/

Might help, might not. I've never had to emigrate before so I'm just guessing these links will give you an idea.
On the whole, it's not difficult to emigrate to Canada. If you can line up a job before hand, even better.

Good luck!

:toast:

[Lindsey]

2. Awesome. I'll check these links now. I ALWAYS forget how to

spell Vancouver! When I make it one word, I want to make the "C" a capital letter. Thank you very, very much for the links!:toast:

[Lindsey]

3. I took the test and scored a 69 so I'm 2 over the required 67.

I think my next step is to get representation. I'll need someone to walk me through this. Thanks again!

[Rainforestgoddess]

4. You might want to

Look into private education. I know that there are jobs in the public school system available in the province, but you have to go outside of the major centers to find one easily. Might be too much of a shock to your system to go from L.A. to S.T.N.B.C. (small town Northern British Columbia). ;)

One of my friends graduated from education a few years ago and applies every year but hasn't got in (Victoria - capital of BC). Granted, she's not very driven, and doesn't want to go the route of building up experience by substituting, so her chances are slim.

[Lindsey]

5. Private Education is exactly what I've been in for all but one of

my 20 years in the industry. Thanks for that bit of information. This is the kind of input I'm wanting to get.

[Fiendish Thingy]

18. We used Linda Mark in Surrey

Her office was extremely helpful in handling the maze of paperwork and calming my many anxieties. It isn't cheap (around $7000 CDN IIRC) including govt. fees, you're looking at $10k or more.

I also highly recommend a book called How To Move To Canada, by Terese Loeb Kreuzer and Carol Bennett.

We landed in November, and are in the process of selling our home right now. Next comes job search (things are tough in BC, although not at bad as the SF Bay Area). We expect to relocate permanently a year or so from now.

Good Luck to You - if enough of us Progressives move and become citizens, perhaps we can wrest control of our new home from the Tories...

[RedSock]

6. check out our story

it'll take about 2 years....

my partner wrote a lot about our experience (2003-05) at her blog. it has been a huge help to a lot of people.

http://www.wmtc.blogspot.com/

[Lindsey]

7. Whoa! This looks incredible. I'll spend some time this weekend

reading it. Thank you sooooooooooo much!:)

[RedSock]

9. also

My partner points out that it is harder now than it was a few years ago. I think they may be only allowing people with certain job skills.

[L-girl]

12. more info on that

Right. You need either arranged employment or to be on the list of professions they are looking for. But it is still possible to do. Lots of folks are getting temporary work permits then applying for permanent residency from there. If you can handle that, it seems to be working for many people. Good luck!

[rationalcalgarian]

8. Keep in touch

Post on DU

Let us know how it's going.

[terrya]

10. Stupid question

Are there age limits to immigrating to your wonderful country?

I'm 54.

I know about the test and have done pretty well.

My partner is Canadian and he lives in Toronto. I do want to move there.

Thanks.

[L-girl]

11. not a stupid question at all

After a certain age, you lose points for age. However, if you have a Canadian partner, she or he can sponsor you, which is a different category of immigration. You might want to investigate that.

Please note, this wonderful country has been hijacked by dickheads and we are trying to wrest it back. But, unlike in the country I left, this is possible to do. We're having problems, but the system works, and I truly believe this is a temporary setback.

Meanwhile, we still have a robust public health care system (despite what you may hear from the US MSM), equality of all peoples, humility, and a bunch of other nice stuff. Plus we are not an empire.

[Spazito]

13. Welcome to DU, L-girl!

Loved your description of our current 'status' ie "hijacked by dickheads", well said!

[L-girl]

14. thank you very much!

I really really love saying "our country" about Canada. In two weeks we take our citizenship exams!

[Spazito]

15. Wow, congrats!

I have great respect for those who travel the 'long road' to become citizens, it seems along the way they develop a great love for their new country, in this case, Canada, whereas those of us born here tend to take it for granted far too often, imo.

[JBoy]

16. I want to echo the welcome to DU, L-girl.

Took a quick look at your blog. Tons of good stuff there!

[terrya]

17. Thank you for answering my question!

Canada is a truly wonderful country. Very friendly people, a wonderful health care system (we passed something down here in March, but it's stretching it to call it health care "reform"). You have full GLBT equality, which I'll never see down here in this country in my lifetime.

And the fact that you're not an empire is so appealing.

Welcome to DU. :-)