[desertdude]

Didn't know where to put this, so mods move this to the approprite section if you feel it doesn't fit here.

I was just wondering since Me and my wife were planing to migrate to Canada, curently now looking into Kitchner/cambridge/waterloo, Missisuaga, Brampton, Guelph or GTA or basically anywhere in Ontario not too far from Toronto ( dunno why though just feels comforting to be close to a big city ! )

What would you all consider a decent income to live in a decent studio ( just the two of us so anything bigger I consider would be wasted space ) have an average car, not too flash maybe eat out once in a while.

I've been looking at the jobs available for accountants( certified and non certified ), wife is one with 15 yrs experience and there are listed at starting from 25k to 140k per year ? Although I know all to well about the "canadian experience" dilema but I think we are pretty street smart and once on the ground can get someting in the range of atleast 50k ish until the relevant experience is gained.

I on the other hand don't like desk jobs too much and would prefer something involing cars or in the automotive industry. I have good auto diagnostic skills and don't even mind something like a auto mechanic, maybe even apprenticeship ( btw do apprentices get paid ? )

I also have good eye for cars ( currently know as the guy to get in touch with anything regarding cars in my social circle and even beyond )

Maybe I could something similar to what I was doing here, buy cars people dont want on the cheap, do them up and sell at a profit. One car at a time. Although this needs local know how as in where to source th echeapest bit and where to source such cars.

Anyways so basically in a nutshell what would be a decent combined income to expect and what kind of monthy charges I am looking at in regards to rent, utilities=Electricity, water, heating,internet Petrol, maybe a dinner to two out once every two weeks, car insurance and anything else you guys can think of.

Thanks alot in advance

Cheers

[Bodah]

Welcome,

Sounds like you've done your homework. I'm not to familiar with the Toronto area but since your not planning on living in Toronto which would be a little more expensive I'd say if your living in the surrounding cities a salary of 40+ is comfortable

Sounds like you have an education you should check out what that means for you here.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/ ... /index.asp

All things considering it would appear you've master one our two official languages so the opportunities for you to get government help and schooling here to further your education certainly exist if you work hard will be ahead of the game in no time.
Best of luck to you.

[desertdude]

Hi there Bod and thanks,

Well have already jumped through all the hoops to see if we qualify under the fedral skilled workers program and other govt websites tell us that accountancy is one of the in demand profession. So were good there.

Also don't worry about the language all my schooling were in British Schools since Kinder Garden and am too westernised for my own good. Yet to accquire a Canadian accent, eh ! Wife also has a firm grasp of the English language so were are good there too.

Integrating into Canadian society is not an issue at all. Now I'm am doing as much research as possible before we finally land there. So there are no hidden suprises and we are pretty much familair with everything before hand. The process is still in its conception stages though.

Also another thing is wether we would want to move there or not. Also looking into places like Australia, New Zealand etc etc. But to be honest not really keen on both of those.

UK doesn't intrest me, niether does rest of Europe save Sweden, but for that I think one needs to have a job offer and plus its also too cold !

[Brenda]

You only know that you qualify for your visa once it is glued in your passport. And then still, you could be rejected upon landing. It takes forever to get it processed too...

But, once you HAVE it! Then it starts

Good luck, it's quite the journey

[Scape]

Some useful links:

www.canadaworkpermit.com

www.cic.gc.ca

http://www.immigration.ca/

Here are the links to all the forms you will need. They are all pdf's

Work Permit form
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/f ... M1295B.PDF

Skilled Worker form
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/f ... 008_3e.pdf

Perm Residency form
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/f ... 08egen.pdf

Family Information form
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/f ... M5406E.PDF

Personal Background form
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/f ... 008_1e.pdf

Use of a rep form (not really needed nor reccomended)
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/f ... M5476E.PDF

[PublicAnimalNo9]

desertdude desertdude:

Didn't know where to put this, so mods move this to the approprite section if you feel it doesn't fit here.

I was just wondering since Me and my wife were planing to migrate to Canada, curently now looking into Kitchner/cambridge/waterloo, Missisuaga, Brampton, Guelph or GTA or basically anywhere in Ontario not too far from Toronto ( dunno why though just feels comforting to be close to a big city ! )

Stay away from the Greater Toronto Area. You may find 40K/yr a little tough to live on considering the cost of housing in the area. Yer best bet would be Kitchener/Waterloo or Cambridge. It's also one of the fastest growing regions in Canada.
If you choose Cambridge, I'd suggest something in Hespeler. You have fairly quick access to Guelph, Kitchener/Waterloo, the rest of Cambridge and yer about 45 mins from Mississauga and Brampton. Lots of work in teh area as well.

[desertdude]

Thanks Bren, yeah I know its not over till the fat lady sings and you've done your landing and gotten you PR card and its quite a long and tedious journey. Which like most other people I'm kinda happy about as gives me ample time to get prepared mentally and otherwise.

And thanks Scape but by now I've memorised the entire CIC website, have gone through it so many times ! And downloadeded all the PDFs, forms etc etc.

Now looking into the provincial nominee programs but like I said in my OP I'm nit looking into immigration info but what happens after.

[Brenda]

$1:

Thanks Bren, yeah I know its not over till the fat lady sings and you've done your landing and gotten you PR card and its quite a long and tedious journey. Which like most other people I'm kinda happy about as gives me ample time to get prepared mentally and otherwise.

You will definitely need it. Still, it's the moment that you have your visa in your passport that you can really start planning.

I don't know if you planned on importing all your belongings? It's pretty expensive, but buying everything new is also pretty expensive. I don't know what kind of TV system you have there, but here it's NTSC. For me, that meant I couldnt bring my tv's as we used PAL.
You cannot import your car, unless it's 15 years or older. You can bring your pets, and they can fly on the same plane.
Finding housing and a job is not easy to do from another country. I rented a vacationhouse for a couple of weeks, until we found a permanent place.

[desertdude]

Thanks No9. I've heard some good things about Kitchner/waterloo area as I have some friends from way back to junior school who are now Citizens and living there. So that was also one of the factors as clearly having someone you know will also be very helpfull in the intial transition phase.

Also how feasible would it to be for example if you have a decent job in Toronto or GTA and live in some place like Kitch. I know there are trains ( or was it buses or both ? )running to and fro the cities. Only if places like those pay better than the small towns. Otherwise totally not worth it.

I am actually not too keen to live in big cities anyways( read my intro thread ) but would be nice to have close access to one for some weekend fun, if there is any to be had.

@ Bren : Thanks bren, appricate the info and yeah I know what you mean that the actual realisation is when you actually have the visa stamped.

I know its going to be super expensive as I usually get small stuff shipped from US and UK. So will see if its worth bringing in your stuff or cheaper just to buy new. We at the moment are pretty mobile and live in a studio by choice ( don't need more space for two people than that in my view ) other than the regular ding dong of Beds and wardrobes don't have much stuff anyways, and nothing we can't leave behind. Also yeah already know US and Canada are NTSC ( dunno why though, PAL is much higher def ) but my small 32" HDTV LCD is compatible but probally not worth bringing over anyways.

I'm good in the Car Dept as well, sold both my Range Rovers and now drive a 12 year old Land Rover Discovery now, but I've already looked into 2nd Land Rover Discoverys in Kijiji and makes more sense to just go there and buy one. Hard Core Land Rover Fan Boi here

What about other stuff like Utilities, gas, groceries, car insurance and clothing etc etc.

And since I've lived all my life in a tax free place, how does that work. When salaries are mentioned is that before or after tax cuts. And whats the tax percentage ? I really haven't looked into that yet but heard its around 30% ? Do I have to pay tax on stuff like car, housing etc etc ???

Cheers

[PublicAnimalNo9]

Unfortuantely, there is no light rail service between K/W and The Toronto Area. There are buses that run between the cities though.
Salary as mentioned is always before tax. There is sales tax on the purchase of any car, as well as on the insurance premiums and any maintenance done it. Tax on houses is only property tax, there's no tax when you buy one. Well, actually, with the new tax regime being put in place, I believe there will be taxes when buying a brand new home in Ontario.
Hydro is expensive, natural gas isn't too bad. Gasoline runs around $4/gallon in Southern Ontario, prices will vary by region.

The really cool thing about K/W is, yer only an hour from London, Paris, and Washington, just not the London, Paris and Washington yer thinking of

[Bruce_the_vii]

I think, not exactly sure, that Accountants are covered under NAFTA. This means accountants can travel back and forth between America and Canada without going through immigration. There's free trade in a List of Professions. You have to get a job offer and then pretty much you can come. And, not exactly sure again, but there are reports of shortages of accountants so finding a job should be easier. In a couple of years retirement should start to hit the accounting field.

Kitchener / Waterloo is a satelite city of Toronto. Is doing quite well and not as crowded as Toronto. Population 300,000. It's not that close but a friend of mine does commute by bus.

Good luck

[desertdude]

Thanks for the NAFTA lead didn;t know about that, will look into it.

And by Hydro you mean Hydro electricity as in electric bills right ?

[PublicAnimalNo9]

Yeah, that's what I meant