# Moving from Spain to Canada (?) - info please



## scharlack (Nov 21, 2008)

Good day everyone,

My wife and I live in Madrid, Spain. We are fluent in 3 languages (English, Spanish and Portuguese - the wife also speaks French) and we both work in the IT field with certification and a decent qualification and experience. She's 30 and I am 28. No kids.

She holds the Canadian residency card as she went through the immigration process a while ago.

We're thinking about making a move because although Spain is a beautiful country, with great food and awesome weather salaries here are very low and life is expensive even to the ones holding high qualification. This is the "mileuristas" generation in Spain meaning a lot of people make around 1000€/month which is VERY LOW given a rent in Madrid costs around 650 - 1000€/month. I have been lucky as far as salary goes, but not meaning a comfortable life at all. I have searched some Canadian websites and I could get paid a lot more.

I have been to Montrèal once and I liked it a lot. My wife has been to Montrèal , Toronto and Quebec City and she loved them. We would be looking 

I would like to get some thoughts from people that left their countries and moved to Canada. What are the pros and cons on the day-to-day life in Canada? WHat do you miss the most from home? Do you feel that Canada is e good place to raise your children?

All insights/opinions/info are welcome.

Cheers


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

scharlack said:


> Good day everyone,
> 
> My wife and I live in Madrid, Spain. We are fluent in 3 languages (English, Spanish and Portuguese - the wife also speaks French) and we both work in the IT field with certification and a decent qualification and experience. She's 30 and I am 28. No kids.
> 
> ...


Hello and welcome to the site.

When you say your wife has a residency card I assume you mean she has PR status. When did she achieve this? It doesn't apply for ever. There are medical and residency obligations that have to me met.


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## scharlack (Nov 21, 2008)

Hello,

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, she has been granted PR status and she'e gone through the medical exams. 

She achieved it last year (April 2008) and I believe we still have 2 yrs to effectively live in Canada as PRs.

Cheers.


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

scharlack said:


> Hello,
> 
> Thanks for your reply.
> 
> ...


The rule, I believe is:- 

Out of any five year period, you must have been in Canada for two years (730 days). 
It does not mean consecutive days but rather cumulative.

I would like to get some thoughts from people that left their countries and moved to Canada. What are the pros and cons on the day-to-day life in Canada? WHat do you miss the most from home? Do you feel that Canada is e good place to raise your children?



I will try and give you some answers, from my perspective, to your questions. The very first thing I must tell you, particularly because you're from Spain and Brazil. Canada is extremely cold in the winter months. I am sure you think/believe you know that, but believe me, you do not cold until you have experienced -20 to-40C for weeks on end. From reading posts on a number of websites I would say that this is the biggest complaint of immigrants here. If you are into winter activities such as skating, curling, skiing, ice hockey, snowmobiling then you will have a great time. If not, then you will spend your whole winter inside. Now having said that I should qualify it by stating that everything here is designed to deal with the winter. Good quality clothing and excellent central heating everywhere.
Spring, Summer and Autumn are wonderful seasons here with the temperatures in Summer in the 22 to 30C range but these seasons only last at most a total of seven months.

I don't know a great deal about living in Montreal although I've been there a number of times. I note that your wife speaks French but I assume you do not. While there is no legal requirement to speak the language in Quebec it is required for most facets of life so that should be considered when making your location decision. Notwithstanding, it is a wonderful city.

Toronto I'm very familiar with, living just on the outskirts for many years. Having been here so long there is nothing I can truly say I miss from "home". Other posters have said they miss certain foods, TV programmes, some clothing styles and, of course, family and friends. Absence from family is a big one but offset somewhat today by the advent of email, Skype, and inexpensive overseas 'phoning. Toronto or the GTA as it's now known, is a large city/area of over 6 million people. As you might expect it has everything one needs for a good life. Great housing of all types, good nightlife/summer/winter activities and excellent shopping. It's only 2 hours rom the US border.

Most people who come here, even those who are not overly enamoured, consider it a great place to raise children. The schooling is good as are the extra-curricular activities. We are fortunate here that we do not have the YOB culture existing in the UK and other parts of Europe. That's not to say we do not have some serious crime but I would say that the streets of Toronto are regarded as very safe. I, for one, would have no hesitation in walking in most parts of the city.

I note you're both in IT. Toronto, as I'm sure you know, is the financial/commercial centre of the country and Ontario is regarded as the country's engine. It has good (not European standards) transit facilities so getting around is relatively easy.

I have rambled here so please ignore what's irrelevant to you. If you have any more questions I will be happy to try and answer them for you.


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## scharlack (Nov 21, 2008)

*Thanks Auld.*

Auld,

Thanks a lot from your prompt and helpful reply. You nailed it all! Very kind.

Cheers


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## sharongilor (May 5, 2009)

Hi 

We have been living in Ottawa/Canada for 4 years from 2002 to 2006. A family of 5 - 2 adults and 3 boys

I love Canada, and enjoyed very much our stay there. 

As was already advised to you - Canada is extremely cold. -40 is very common during the winter which last 4-5 months. If you don't enjoy winter sports then it can be a very long and boring winter. 

We skied, ice skated, and our boys played Hockey, so for us winter passed quick. Moreover it was an adventure, because we knew that Canada is only a posting, we will not have to experience the winter all our life. 

Living in Montreal or Quebec and even in Ottawa means that you must know how to speak French. Otherwise it will be very hard to find a well paid job. 

You might want to consider moving to the west coast - Vancouver is a great place. It is less cold, hardly snows (although is rains a lot), and no need to know French to find a good job.

Good Luck
Sharon


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## scharlack (Nov 21, 2008)

*Thanks... and yet another question..*

Thanks Sharon! Much appreciated.

Would anyone be kind enough to add a few things about vacation in Canada? I mean, vacation days one is entitled during a working year.

Moreover, how is the public health system rated by the Canadian population? (This question comes because in Brazil you MUST have private health insurance if you want to have a decent service and it's totally the opposite in Spain which is regarded to be one of the world's best public health systems)

Cheers


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

scharlack said:


> Thanks Sharon! Much appreciated.
> 
> Would anyone be kind enough to add a few things about vacation in Canada? I mean, vacation days one is entitled during a working year.
> 
> ...


Vacation time is another contentious issue with immigrants from UK/Europe. Generally the norm here for new workers is two weeks + about 10/12 public holidays per year. The vacation time often increases with time served in the company. In other words one has to earn vacation time.
Canada has an excellent healthcare system, financed through taxes. Each Province manages its own plan so there are minor variances but whatever the Province its plan covers one for the whole country. Private healthcare is illegal in Canada with some minor exceptions. Many companies provide supplementary health/dental coverage to employees. The supplementary could/would cover such things as drugs, semi-private/private hospital rooms, chiropractor, podiatric care, etc. I had extensive medical care three years ago, three months in hospital and major (12 hour) surgery. The value was in excess of $1 million and I did not pay one cent.


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## scharlack (Nov 21, 2008)

*Thanks. See you soon!*

Thanks again. Very impressed with the cost and coverage that the public health system provided you. 

We have decided to move to GTA. The wife is planning to go first (end of July) and she'll start my visa sponsorship. I expect to be in Canada in November(ish).

Cheers!

Cordially,


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

scharlack said:


> Thanks again. Very impressed with the cost and coverage that the public health system provided you.
> 
> We have decided to move to GTA. The wife is planning to go first (end of July) and she'll start my visa sponsorship. I expect to be in Canada in November(ish).
> 
> ...


Well, it seems you've made up your minds and that's a good thing. I hope you'll both enjoy living here. It's far from perfect but all-in-all it"s a great place to live.
I'm sure you have reason(s) for you coming separately from your wife but I assume you do know that she can spousal-sponsor you from Spain and that would allow you to arrive simoultaneously.

Much Good Luck.


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## scharlack (Nov 21, 2008)

Hello Auld,

Yes, we will consider kicking-off the spouse sponsor process here at the Canadian Embassy in Madrid. We need to know if it would take any longer than if she were in Canada. We will try to sort that out and make up our minds.

Many thanks,


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## scharlack (Nov 21, 2008)

Auld Yin said:


> Well, it seems you've made up your minds and that's a good thing. I hope you'll both enjoy living here. It's far from perfect but all-in-all it"s a great place to live.
> I'm sure you have reason(s) for you coming separately from your wife but I assume you do know that she can spousal-sponsor you from Spain and that would allow you to arrive simoultaneously.
> 
> Much Good Luck.


Hello,

Auld, the wife has touched base with one guy from Brazil which is now a PR in Canada and she was told that if we are apart the process takes less time than if we were together. Therefore doing it from Spain could take over 6 months whilst doing it from Canada/Brazil would take around 3-4 months. That would be the only reason for us to kick off the sponsorship process apart from each other ...

Many thanks for your support. Very much appreciated!

Cheers.


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