# arrived in Kelowna B.C



## felicity82 (Dec 24, 2009)

well we finally made it here we have a lovely townhouse on the westbank and its very quiet and peaceful and can just hear the waterfall that is near us, its like the highway 97 doesnt exist! we have had to buy all our furniture again here as it cost so much to ship, so i am looking for any advice on cheap furniture stores until we get our budget set right once the wages come in. We have been to the brick and wonder if there is anywhere else, that is reasonable? Any pother bits of info would be welcome too, and lets hope the weather cheers up!


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## m field (Jan 27, 2010)

Hi again replied to one of your other threads. Can i ask what you or your other half does for a living and how you obtained work??. We are just about ready to send of our P.R. Visas but are just panicking about the job situatuion. My husband is a gas/plumbing engineer. Also which route did you go down to emigrate P.R then apply for a job?? so much to think about argh!! 
Thanks
Maria


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## felicity82 (Dec 24, 2009)

m field said:


> Hi again replied to one of your other threads. Can i ask what you or your other half does for a living and how you obtained work??. We are just about ready to send of our P.R. Visas but are just panicking about the job situatuion. My husband is a gas/plumbing engineer. Also which route did you go down to emigrate P.R then apply for a job?? so much to think about argh!!
> Thanks
> Maria


Hi there, we came here as in the november my husband who works for BT in the UK heard that Telus (their equivilant) were looking for british employees as they are more skilled than their own canadian workers. He was offered a job here within straight away on the phone and 3 weeks later he has signed the contract. So we have come here intially on a 2 year work permit. His was paid for by the company and mine is a spousal work permit, each cost $150CAD, our daughter libby entered for free on our permits. The work was all done by his company so really we had no form filling, they fed exed all the paperwork they had done, and when we landed we went to the immigration desk and had our permits issued within half an hour. His work permit will be renewed in 2 years and then we can opt for a perminent residency if we decide to stay.

So in our experience if you can find work here first thats a massive hurdle done and the process is simpler and quicker. They wanted us out sooner (by feburary) but we couldnt due to commitments in England regarding our house, work and our daughters childcare. They are looking for skilled workers over here but i think that they are capping it slightly so the skilled worker list is shortening as they are having an influx of people! Doing the paperwork and coming over yourselves is alot more expensive and takes alot longer as far as i know, but i have no experience with it to tell you anymore, i think it costs around the region of £3000-£4000. From being where we are in Kelowna B.C there doesnt seem to be alot of work about (i am looking for part time at the moment for myself) but however that could just be there isnt alot of work about that i am interested in. Craigslist advertises jobs as does castanet.net. Hope i have helped and if i can help in any other way then please let me know and i will do my best of try my best!


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## felicity82 (Dec 24, 2009)

Just a quick thought, have you had your P.R visas granted?? If so i think you can fly here, activate your visa, go back to uk after a couple of weeks of scouting about and then return to england to tie up loose ends. I believe on a P.R you are required to be in the country for 2 years out of every 5 for it to stay active. So could you not come here have a holiday get in touch with some gas/plumbing companies, perhaps some interviews. Then go back to the UK, secure a position and then fly back out ready to start work? If you dont have them granted as yet then the way we have done it might be cheaper, easier and quicker.


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## inutley (Jun 9, 2009)

felicity82 said:


> well we finally made it here we have a lovely townhouse on the westbank and its very quiet and peaceful and can just hear the waterfall that is near us, its like the highway 97 doesnt exist! we have had to buy all our furniture again here as it cost so much to ship, so i am looking for any advice on cheap furniture stores until we get our budget set right once the wages come in. We have been to the brick and wonder if there is anywhere else, that is reasonable? Any pother bits of info would be welcome too, and lets hope the weather cheers up!


Hi Felicity,

I expect you have settled in by now and have found most of the lcoal places - Walmart /Canadaian Superstore etc which are good value. If you do get chance to go to Vancouver there are several Ikeas there as well which are really good for reasonable furniture (similar products to the UK). Its worth atrip over to stock up!. If you have any other queries let me know - weve been here for nearly six months now so have worked out most things by now - the bottle recycling took us a while to figure out though!

Regards

Ian and Fran


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## Torrent1 (Jul 20, 2010)

Hi Felicity

I've lived in Kelowna for over a year now and its become a place I call home more than I ever did Scotland - I love it here!

There are some really lovely furniture stores about but be prepared for anything of quality and of modern design to cost a small fortune. I don't know what your tastes are or budget but, for example, Treehouse Interiors is amazing but one of the most expensive stores in town but well worth a visit and then you have JYSK which is reasonably cheap and not a million miles from Ikea in terms of style and cost. There are loads more stores in between with average prices but also average in design. Personally, I think its all expensive in terms of what you get for your money here and I'm glad we actually shipped all our stuff with us - but I still like an excuse to go shopping 

If you go to Walmart in Kelowna on Banks Road, its in the same retail park as Pier 1, Bowring and Homesense etc with Ashley Furniture just a little further up on Highway 97.

There are also lots of independent furniture stores dotted around downtown and on Lakeshore if you are looking for something a little different but again they are pricey.

Hope this is helpful and if I can answer any other questions please feel free to ask.

Welcome to Kelowna 

Tracy


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## Oggy (Jan 25, 2009)

If you don't mind gently used furniture, check out Furniture Heaven in Kelowna. Also, the local website noted above by Felicity also has classifieds for household goods/furniture. 

HUGE thumbs up to all of you that have received information here while you were relocating & now return to help others!!!


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