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When I wrote my first blog post in October, I had every intention of continuing to detail every step of our process on this platform. I hoped that it would prove helpful to others and also, that sharing my fears and concerns would help keep me sane. Funny how things don't always go according to plan. If you read my first post, you'll remember that I was at that all-too-familiar stage of doubt. Doubts about why we're doing this, doubts about whether we can. And then - something completely unexpected happened that threw our lives into absolute chaos. So there we were, getting all our documents in order and all the boxes checked before submitting our application. Our WES documents were complete, we'd done better than expected on the IELTS - all was going our way. We'd made a booking for our medicals to be done in Pretoria, with no real concerns for the outcome. Aside from a previous, but treated, heart issue with my husband, my 7-year old son and I were in almost perfect health. How wrong we were. Looking back now, and as crazy as it may sound, we have nothing but our Canadian PR application to thank for saving our son's life. Without it, we would probably not have noticed that something was wrong until it was too late. Within ten minutes of seeing my son, the amazing doctors at Hatmed were able to sense that something was not quite right. To this day I still ask myself, "how could we not have noticed?" What followed was a weeks worth of appointments, MRIs and tests. For the first time in months, our Canadian application wasn't even a thought. Without going into too much of detail, it was eventually discovered that my son had a large, extra-rare type of tumor growing inside his spine. It had probably been growing for years. We had no idea. He presented no previous symptoms - just a healthy, normal little boy. Within the space of two weeks, we had found a specialist, completed his surgery and were on the long road to recovery. It doesn't sound like much as I write it down, but there are no real words to describe the rollercoaster of emotions that we went through during that period. Life, in a sense, stopped. Canada, South Africa - none of it mattered anymore. We were just constantly thankful that we started the process to begin with - without it, we never would have known. Life works in mysterious ways. So where are we now? I'm happy (ecstatic, panicked, stressed out, over the moon) to report that this morning we received our golden e-mail. We submitted our application in December 2017. It's been a long, difficult, life-changing road to get us here and we'll forever be thankful to the long list of people who helped us along the way, who held our hands and wiped our tears when it all got too difficult - who reminded us that it all brought us here. Canada - we're here, we're healthy, we've got so much life to look forward to. We'll be seeing you soon.

Just an update for peeps who were following the timeline.... After one week of sitting on the news (being the crazy woman that I was, waiting for them to take it back), I am happy to share that I am now a proud Canadian. Just in time for voting....

I'm so excited that I'm not even sure I'm posting this in the right place. Yesterday we FINALLY received the request for our passports and pictures for our PR cards. We submitted in December 2017 (our second application...), so it's been a loooong year. We had just about given up hope, and were even getting used to the idea of putting down roots here in SA. I guess the point of this post (aside from jumping up and down with glee) is to encourage other people to persevere. It can be tough if you're not a doctor, but if my hubby and I can get the nod, then anyone can. Thanks to the forum members who have answered my many questions over the past few years. I know I'll have many more. Now that our dream looks like it's happening, we're petrified!

Eventually he returns... One year has indeed come and passed. Actually celebrating 13 months in Canada today. Work: I've been blessed and grateful with my position and remuneration which has really helped from a financial perspective. The company I work for is fantastic and I have a great relationship with my bosses. Lots of good banter. Expectations are not different to any other organisation and cultures will change depending on the company and industry in which you're working. Weather: Worst winter experienced in this province for years. Well, if this is the worst it gets then so be it. It's tough and really long. We need to learn to embrace it a bit more. We need to get our more and experience some of the winter activities such as skating and skiing a bit more but this all comes at a $ price. It's one of the main reasons why so many locals become experts at DIY as they're constantly fixing something in their house during the winter months. It's gone from an ice storm a few weeks ago to 30-degree temperatures last week so hopefully the consistent warm weather is around the corner. We're hoping to enjoy some small trail walks and picnics in the near future. Kids: Both have settled in fairly well at school. Some challenges but they have additional teachers providing extra guidance to help them reach a level aligned with their peers. Peer pressure and the different accents have created slight challenges but they continue to make friends. Sports can be quite expensive, especially for out-of-school programs, so you have to try the sports pushed through the school system and through the community centres. Something which we're still adapting to to help the pocket. They both enjoy the freedom to play in the street or ride their bikes in their neighbourhood with friends (priceless). Wife: She's been working some part-time jobs but it's probably the only province in the world where there's an over-supply of teachers. The Ontario Union protects the teachers in their system greatly and their Pension is apparently the best in the world, supported by fantastic benefits. It takes ages to climb onto the Supply List and then 5-8 years before being offered a permanent position. This has been and continues to be a frustrating process so if any of you are teachers, consider other provinces before Ontario. Finances: Read an article on this forum a number of months ago which discussed that financial emigration is exchanging financial security for general safety and security (or something to that affect). I've constantly reflected on those words and much of it is true. Financially it can be really tough. Property is ridiculously priced, especially if you're staying closer to some of the hubs. Eating out or take-away is expensive and you can't get away with it as much as you can in SA. All labour-related activities are pricey... minimum wage in Ontario increased to $14/hour (R140)... yikes! Hydro, gas and water all add up very quickly too. Internet is available at really good speeds though... got a 60Mb line for about $40. Politics: Not as bad as what is happening down South but Trudeau has a really good PR team. Ontario elections due in the next few months and that should be interesting. Liberals are good for the incoming foreigners but you want Conservatives once you're already this side of the World. Interesting times ahead. Anyway, that's a high level synopsis so far. Please continue to ask questions if there's something specific that you're interested in and I'll try respond wherever possible.

So my husband and I finally arrived in calgary on Monday after receiving our pr in August 2017. We landed with our 4 dogs - we did everything ourselves. I was looking for information while planning all this and I couldn't always find what I was looking for so I thought I would share our experience. Booking So firstly, you can only fly your dogs via excess baggage through klm on the same flight as you if you fly from cape town. If you fly from somewhere else you will need to use an agent and book them as cargo. That is through klm, . Not sure about other airlines. The cost is $200 per dog. So as soon as you have booked your flight, you need to call reservations and ask them to book your dogs. There is a limit of 3 dogs per passenger and a weight limit of 75kg per dog. They also will not allow you to fly them as excess baggage between November and March because of the weather. You should also buy your crates well in advance to get your dogs used to them. We bought them from realpet.co.za an online company that delivers nation wide. I would also advise that you ask to pay for the dogs in advance and not at the airport. We waited in for about an hour just to pay for them. Documents So canada does not have quarantine and also do not require a blood titer tests. But you must ensure that they have had their rabies vaccination within 1 year but at least 30 days before you leave. Then 10 days before you leave, you need to go to your local vet and take the pet export document with you. You get this form from the western cape government website. Just look up state veterinarian. The vet fills in and stamps the form. You then take the form to the state vets office, we went to the one in milnerton. They also stamp and sign it and print it out on special watermarked paper. We paid R600 for the 4 pages. It is not compulsory that the dogs are microchipped but your airline might require it. Klm didn't as our dogs are not chipped. On the day of flight We fed our dogs about 3 hours before we left for the airport and gave them water etc. We also took them for an extra long walk just before we left to tire them out a bit. We hired a shuttle Van to pick them up and take them to the airport and we met the van at the airport. We also put water with some calming drops in their bowls and froze them overnight so that they could lick on that throughout the flight. It melted pretty quickly though. We also slept with their blankets for a few days before the flight to get our scent on them so that they would feel more comfortable. At the airport So we met the shuttle at the airport, quickly put the wheels on their crates as there weren't any trolleys big enough for the crates. Then we rolled them and our luggage to the check in counter. They weighed our bags and each of the dog crates and gave us our bag tags and the crate tags. We then had to go to the ticket counter to pay for them. This took a while as the lady behind the counter didn't really know what she was doing. Once paid, we went back to the check in counter and got our boarding passes. Then we had to go downstairs to the abnormal baggage area which is like a window with a conveyer belt. You have to first take the dogs out of the crates and they scan the crates and then you put the dog back in and put them in the crates through the window and there they go. They don't even check if the crates comply with standards, they didn't check health certificates or anything like that. We were at the airport 4 hours before departure. We taped a form that you get from the klm website to the crate with all of the dogs details on it. We also taped dog food to the top of their crates just in case there were delays. On the flight Once we boarded, we asked the flight attendant to confirm with the captain that the dogs made it onto the plane. We did this both from cape town snd from Amsterdam. We only had a 1h 40m layover in Amsterdam so this wasn't long enough to walk the dogs. On arrival in canada Once off the plane we went straight to passport control office where they checked our landing papers and passports. They were very friendly. We landed at 1:30 pm so the line was a bit long but went quick. He then sent us to counter e for immigration and there was no one else in the queue. Also pretty friendly. They checked our landing papers and passports stamped and signed them and asked to see the declaration form and the dogs health certificates. By this time we could hear the dogs from the other side of the airport. They were waiting for us by the baggage area. The officer at the immigration didn't ask us to pay for the dogs or to do any inspections either which was surprising. He gave us our papers and told us we can fetch our bags and dogs and exit. We then went to fetch the dogs, put the wheels back on their crates and left the airport. We luckily had someone fetch us from the airport in a dodge grand caravan but we still had to dismantle the crates as they were too big to fit into the car. We had booked an airbnb prior to leaving who were fine with the 4 dogs but had a condition that the dogs need to be crated when we are not in the house. So this broke our hearts a bit. Also, the place is not fully fenced so we have to take the dogs outside on a leash all the time which is a real mission. We have booked until the 12th may, but we are looking for something else asap so hopefully we can move into a rental next week Since Monday we have managed to open our bank accounts, get our SIN numbers, buy cellphones and get a laptop. I have also put down a deposit on a car yesterday. We weren't able to pay for it from our credit card so I will have to wait for my money to clear in my account on Monday and pay by bank draft. We got insurance through statefarm. We had to pay for the year insurance upfront. We couldn't find many other places that would insure us our sa licence, although I have heard that intact also does it. So we have been searching for pet friendly places and we have found a couple. It is definitely more difficult but it is doable. We are going to look at a place this evening. Seems quite promising. We are very happy to be here and also very glad that we brought our fur kids with. The transition would have been harder without them. So for those considering it, yes it is more stressful and yes it can be a hassle but it is definitely worth it. They are our family and we made a commitment to them when we brought them home to love them forever. They have also adjusted quickly and seem happy to be here. So thats all for now. I will update when I can and let you know how our transition is. Feel free to ask questions.

Is Hidden Valley hard to find?

I have no doubts that it was the right decision for our family even though it was difficult being without the family for a few months. It allowed me to leave SA sooner rather the later and commence seeking employment in Canada, while my wife was able to finalise activities in SA with the support of family and friends. I wasn't happy with my SA employer at the time so the decision to move on was probably even easier. On landing I had the flexibility to move around as needed. I could stay at Airbnb (flexible accommodation) at reasonable rates in an environment that I was comfortable with compared to if my family was with me. I was able to make use of public transport and not have to invest in a vehicle immediately on landing. Vehicle financing was subsequently also possible after an offer of employment was presented. I was able to move around, network with various individuals at any time of day with no impact on family with me. I can see how my wife is finding it difficult to seek employment at the moment with the other family responsibilities. Fortunately, I was able to obtain employment, source a residence and have the necessities ready to go when the family landed which may have aided the settling in period. As indicated, family and individual situations can be vastly different. I'm the more flexible, outgoing individual in our relationship so this worked for us. I'm the main breadwinner and I needed the flexibility to go out and do what I needed to without the daily family pressures. It worked for us. It's certainly not an easy decision. Be clear about your family objectives and work towards those together. There may be no right or wrong way once those objectives have been achieved. Continued good luck to you and your family...

Hi @Cornel We landed in Toronto beginning March and are staying in "The Beaches", we totally love the suburb. Our aim for the first few months is to 1) Find a job, 2) Finalise all admin 3) Setttle in an area as close as possible to a job. However... so far the job-search has been a bit of a headache. We did Canadianise our Resume's, met with some resume consultants, send out a gazillion 'general" applications and as many as possible "customized' application with not a single interview as a result of the above. My husband tried the "Linked-in" premium option where you can directly "InMail" important people like CEO's, recruitment consultants, So far this lead to more "contact" but no jobs yet. One interview from this method, for a bank that doesn't have any openings, but are interested in his skills. So we are a bit restless about this... The admin is going fine, busy with driving-lessons to do G-level next week, although we will not buy a car until we have job-certainty. Our Airbnb stay is running out end of May and we found a three-month rental in Oakville, fully furnished at a not-too-bad price, so we'll move there in June. Hopefully by September we will have some jobs - praying praying praying. However, the area is beautiful and although we do not do much touristy things (eating in restaurants, going out) we do appreciate the abundance of lovely parks and the amazing boardwalk next to the lake. We experience a lot of goodwill from almost anybody and feel safe and relaxed and confident that it SHALL work out in the end. Missing home - no. Only some proper loud Jozi-thunderstorms!! I do have a blog, mostly Afrikaans although I plan to still do a few english posts and share some more interesting experences on this forums - as soon as I get a chance (inbetween modifiying my Resume the 148th time...) https://lotzofnorthernlights.wordpress.com/

Unfortunately most of the news coverage in Canada is decidedly Liberal with a socialist tinge. CBC is funded by the government and a good comparison to SABC when it comes to news. Toronto Star is very leftist. For some balance, also look at Toronto Sun. http://torontosun.com/ If you read the Globe & Mail, you should also look at National Post. https://www.facebook.com/NationalPost/ Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald. I watch CTV News, but it tends to raise my blood pressure to very unhealthy heights. Canadian news consists of numerous "talking heads," (each with distinct personal political slants) to explain the news to us poor ignoramuses.

You are now, sir Hennie vandB....! Hope you like your new name. I couldn't get vdB as someone already had it.

Mark your calendars for Saturday July 28th. SA Canada picnic in Hidden Valley Park in Burlington. Easy access from the 403 at Waterdown Rd or Aldershot GO station. For those wishing to attend but only have access to public transit, let me know and I'll arrange shuttle from the GO Train Station for you. For the newer folk here, I have a spare gas and small charcoal bbq to borrow. The park has a splash pad for the little ones, a creek (river) to explore for the not so little ones, baseball diamond, open field and more for the older. Frisbee's, rugby balls, cricket balls and bat are welcome. There is park seating for 110 people, or if you prefer, bring your own lawn chair and shade. Contact me through PM here on the forum if you would like more info.

Most airports have a transit hotel. Depends on the route you take. With three kids Emirates is your best bet. You dont need visa to get into the airport hotel. And yes you can check your baggage through to Toronto. And if you do want to get out of airport and see a bit of Dubai you can get visa on arrival.

Update: We’re almost a month in, can’t believe it! We love Aberta, I think this might be the friendliest place on earth! We’ve made good friends with 3 Canadian families, they are so helpful...even gave us some great furniture! A good friend on the forum also came by for a visit and brought some clothes and books for the kids, and each a stuffed toy...which they love! My husband started his first job on Friday and is already climbing the ladder He settled in very quickly and is now part of ‘the team’ The kids enjoy their freedom, they are able to walk to the park/soccer field, they can’t wait to get bikes/scooters to roam the neighborhood! They’re doing great in school and have made heaps of friends. It’s as if they’ve been here their whole lives. So you might ask, was it worth all the stress and money and leaving everything and everyone in SA? The answer is simple, (even though we haven’t experienced winter yet )yeah, totally worth it! My take on settling in, is to make it your own...Canada is now my Canada, the people are now my people! Become part of the community and don’t be afraid to ask for help. We now live a ‘quality life’!

After 370 days of waiting,I finally get the "Golden mail"from Pretoria LVO. I am so relieved and I would like to thank this platform that gave me a lot of encouragement and hope on this journey. We should always keep hope and faith. May God bless you.

This is our landing story, a lot like other stories but also unique in its own way. It’s a bit late but I suppose if even one person gains some insight, learnings or comfort it would be worth the time to write this. For the record this is PR activation & then returning back to SA to then settle later in 2018. We departed via OR Tambo on the 9th Feb 2018 on Lufthansa airline, our first time on this airline. What I can say is when booking a flight on an airline & they offer an economy & premium economy class, be assured the economy WILL HAVE NO LEG room. We then landed in Frankfurt for a short stop over & then on to Vancouver again. Landing in Vancouver the 10th Feb 2018 we were met by loads of friendly faces just waiting to assist us in any way possible. There we literally dozens of people standing around to direct you to the correct queue or answer a question. The officer at arrivals was full of jokes and allowed us through with our first of many “Welcome to Canada”. Next we were off to find our luggage this took a bit of time as this airport is very busy. Then we went to immigration right next to luggage collections. Here we were met with a “Welcome to Canada”, we were given a Welcome to Canada what you should know booklet & directed to the correct queue. Being number 20th we had to wait a bit as there were only 2 immigration officers & after 20minutes another 3 joined in. A couple of questions & all they wanted were our passports & COPR documents (remember these needs to be signed in the presence of the immigration officer). Off to customs we go, now for customs we prepared a detailed list of goods to follow with pictures of all the jewelry including ZAR value & CAD value with the exchange rate used. The custom officer took one look at all this and asked where the valuation certificates for all the jewelry are? Aaaaaah man “Nou wat nou”. When I mentioned that we did not have any with us we were assured that it’s ok to bring them along when we finally move to Canada. I asked him if there was any maximum time frame to this he said 1 year. So I also asked about items inherited he said as long as they are specified in the will they will be consider part of goods to follow. Now out & about in Vancouver my wife cousin met us at the airport & expertly navigated us via the sky train to the waterfront train station which was 15min walk from our air BnB. We spent the next few days exploring Vancouver restaurants, coffee shops & scenery like Stanley Park, Queen Elizabeth Park, Chinese gardens, Canada Place & Grouse Mountain. Next on the list was my Instrumentation Inter provincial Red Seal exam (Canadian trade exam) I chose a venue close to where we stayed, it was in Burnaby. There are many venues available and ITC BC allows you to choose your venue & the date that suites you. The next day it was off to RBC to activate our account that we opened from SA. Just a tip be sure to schedule an appointment beforehand. Here they required originals of the documents we provided to open the account & our SIN documents that we did not yet apply for. So get your SIN number from a Services Canada before going to activate your bank account, they need it for tax purposes & you will need it when applying for any job. Remember you will need a Canadian address for your PR card to be sent to as well as all communications from the bank & services Canada. The weather in Vancouver was very sunny & in the positive low single degrees C. We were told by many that this is not the norm for Vancouver. It rains a lot and to consider drinking Vit D if moving to Vancouver especially if coming from sunny SA. Food was great & different we ate out a lot (gets very expensive) but noted the groceries were not so bad depending on where you shopped. We always felt safe with loads of visible policing in the less safe areas. Next up was our flight to Calgary, our experience on Air Canada was a pleasant one. More “Welcome to Canada”, wow the people really are friendly in Canada. Again using only public transport we were off to our Air BnB. The very first night we were woken up by the buildings fire alarm screaming, at first I thought fire drill but decided to evacuate any way. Outside we found everyone looking on as the Calgary fire department went about check everything is ok & everyone was out. Luckily it was a false alarm, still not a lot of fun in the early hours in sub zero degrees C. Calgary was purely an exploration visit. Here we met some expats from all over the world very happy to be in Canada, just to name a few South African, New Zealanders & Europeans. We went to Fort Calgary for Sunday brunch & a bit of history, Gasoline alley museum for a large selection of 18th & 19th century brilliantly restored vehicles. Calgary zoo even had a large selection from Africa; all hiding indoors, even took a tour to the famous Lake Louise & Banff town. Not much of a lake view as everything was frozen. One thing was certain even if it was snowing & -13 degrees C people were not hiding inside there was always something to do or event to attend. The weather in Calgary was mostly sunny with temperatures during the day anywhere around -10 degrees C. People were friendly & helpful. Restaurants were great & Craft beer is a big thing in Alberta. The sales tax is less in Alberta than it is in British Columbia so grocery shopping worked out cheaper. We will have to get use to not seeing a lot of our local brands on the shelf. Public transport works well & is very reliable. Now we are back in SA & finalizing a few things before returning to Canada.

As for cold remedy. I swear by this but you need to tackle the cold early: Cold FX (3x morning, noon and night) plus Echinacea plus vitamin C. Then I drink fresh lemon juice with powdered ginger and lots of honey.

Dear Rebitseb. If you have only one kidney, you need to be very specific with your fluid intake as well as salt intake. I'm sure you already know about this. Personally I would ask for a referral to a dietician or clinician who specializes in this (nephrologist?), so that you can have very strict parameters to work with, with regular follow ups. As far as the topic (med-lemon) goes, it seems what one can take away from that, is fluid and vit c. If you put lemon in water, that would take care of that. Any NSAID (Advil, motrin, ASA etc, is hard on the kidneys......please keep this in mind. I would stay 100% away from those drugs, unless prescribed) I am trying to be helpful and not patronizing here, I hope you take it in such a way. Just like your doctor and pharmacy should know about allergies, it needs to be on your chart that you only have one kidney. All the best. Take care.

I know, right?! Once I started looking at what was in things, I was shocked to find out what's in medicines. I like the NAC things. Have a bit of a search on google for that. In general, for us, we do Vit C (ascorbic acid, not the chewy pills, they have just as much crap in them), 500 - 1000 mg every hour or so. And then the NAC at night to dry up the nose so you can sleep. Plus Advil as needed. Plus as much water as you can stand (it works wonders for fixing you in all sorts of ways, plus your kidney would love you for it )(just remember to add a little salt every now and then)

The ingredients are: CONTAINS ASPIRIN Each sachet contains: Aspirin 800 mg Caffeine 50 mg Ascorbic Acid 45 mg Menthol 2,6 mg Sucrose 4254,63 mg http://www.medlemon.co.za/products/products_original.html It is essentialy aspirin and sugar That amount of Vit C is so little as to be laughable, it is definitely not doing anything for you on that front. You can just drink lots of Vit C. Or, if Medlemon works for you, just drink Aspirin (although I would definitely not recommend that).

Thanks, Yoda, I pledge to serve and protect the Sarnia community with the same dedication, humility and dignity that Hennie Calgary always displayed... We will always remember him fondly.

Hello all , here is some information I gathered ( we went the courier route, so I can confirm that this is all valid for that) In one parcel Send the following All passports ( if more than one ) The passport request letter you received from IRCC The VAC consent forms ( http://www.vfsglobal.ca/canada/southafrica/pdf/consent_form_south_africa.pdf ) If you have multiple applications, you need to fill in a form for each applicant. For minors, a parent/guardian will need to sign The proof of payment (OR PAY BY CARD IF YOU ARE DELIVERING IN PERSON) You are paying for “Secure transmission of passport to the Embassy” see this link for costs : http://www.vfsglobal.ca/Canada/SouthAfrica/Service_and_Service_Charge.html ( this price is per passport ) Payment must be done as a cash deposit at the bank with Passport number as Reference ( if you have multiple passports, use the main applicant’s passport number ) I am not putting the banking details in ( incase they change ) - These can be found here : http://www.vfsglobal.ca/Canada/SouthAfrica/Service_and_Service_Charge.html Or you can deliver in person and pay with a card at the office Your Contact Information, including your email, phone number and return address Send an additional letter with this in your parcel — see the attached letter You can use any courier you choose You can send multiple passports and letters in one parcel ( recommend you place them in envelopes individually inside a main parcel ) Upon receipt, VFS with email your tracking numbers - Once you have the tracking number you will be able to track your application here : https://www.vfsvisaonline.com/Global-Passporttracking/Track/Index COLLECTION When You send the courier to collect, you will need to send a letter with them that gives them permission to collect on your behalf, — see the attached letter I hope this helps somebody contact details .docx letter of permission for courier to collect.docx

100% my favourite is CP24 for the Greater Toronto area. They have an awesome news channel on TV and their website is great https://www.cp24.com

@Kitcat Toronto Star (thestar.com) is also pretty good, in addition to CBC. I also like the Globe and Mail (theglobeandmail.com). For lighter reading on events and what's going on around the city, I like BlogTo (blogto.com).

Hi, you need to check with CIC when your application moves to the pretoria Visa office for processing, currently this week they are issuing PPR for applications that moved to pretoria around feb 22nd 2018. You can call cic helpline and enquire as to where your application currently is. My application was submitted on 11th jan 2018 and moved to pretoria on 8th march 2018. Still waiting for PPR to be issued

Good Morning Yolande, We [family of 4] are hoping to enter Canada this August via the study route. We are currently in the UK but originally from SA so ask me any questions and i will try to answer them. As MJ stated it is very expensive [first year fees are ZAR 150K] and the whole process requires lots of reading and planning but i can see you guys are up to that. I hope this helps

WELCOME!

Just wanted to say that it’s not a bad choice of entry to a Canada. Many have done it and have been successful, exactly in the way you’ve mentioned - one partner comes to study and the other works, then after some period, apply for PR. Once you have made the decision, you should start looking at courses and learning institutions. I know this route is not cheap and some research will need to go into it. Good luck!

That’s what I thought, eh @Reibtseb

I agree with Lizelle,I had to submitted a police clearance of my home country despite me leaving there 12 years ago. I have been explained that I need a police clearance for each country where I live 6 months or more after I turn 18 year old.

Yes, that is true. Although you may not need one: You need one for every country, other than Canada, where you stayed for more than 6 months in a row in the last 10 years since you were 18 years old If you left in 2006 it is more than 10 years ago. Your husband will need one, since it is less than 10 years ago that he left. Personally, if it is not too much of a shlep to get it, I would get one for you too (immigration processing people can be anal, and you never know what they might decide they don't like, it is easier to have it in there and not need it, than to have one forget that it was more than 10 years ago and think you need it).

Hey @PaulD Sjoe, it has taken a while. Our first application was declined because, like an absolute fool, I uploaded our son's passport twice. Once in the passport upload field, and then again in the birth certificate field. By the time we got to uploading documents we were exhausted, (two tiny tots = major sleep deprivation) and clearly overlooked the mistake. It worked out as well as it could have though. We were given a full refund, and it turns out that our IELTS would have been outdated anyway, so fortunately they didn't process it to that point, or we would have lost out on the refund. We were gutted at the time but, in retrospect, it's worked out for the best. The whole declined application thing has also been a real eye opener for us in terms of the specificity of the Canadian immigration council. The people we know who work in Canada have also said that folks do things strictly By The Book over there, which is something to be mindful of as a South African. It sometimes feels that rules/laws in SA are merely suggestions. Our second application was practically perfect in every way, no no-nos. We submitted on 28 December 2017, and early in Feb 2018 were asked to send further documentation for several reasons. For starters, the panel physician in Cape Town forgot to send through my additional medical results (!) so there was a brief visit to the panic stations when we received a second request from Pretoria for the documents. Then they also asked for more info regarding my husband's extensive work travel history, and several other misadventures we've had in the last 10 years. Congrats on getting across and doing your application on your own! @ateotia I wouldn't stress just yet - our application was in Pretoria from the beginning of February. These last few months of limbo have been agonizing as we've tried to stay in the present and not think about the big What If, so I totally understand your anxiety. Don't give up hope!

Hi Kyle, perhaps sharing our experience with you might help a little bit on the motivational side of things. We decided in January 2017 that we wanted to immigrate. Got the process started, IELTS, WES etc. My husband started to apply for jobs (he would send me the job ad details and I would type the cover letter together with the CV and email it to the address provided by the employer). The cover letter is very important, makes it more personalised. We did about 4 applications per day. A couple of months later my husband had a Skype interview arranged, and another couple of weeks later another Skype interview by the CEO of the company and they offered him the job. We waited 2 months for the actual job offer and thereafter they applied for the LMIA. Unfortunately none of us knew a lot about the LMIA process, didn't follow it correctly and didn't get an approval. At that time we thought the employer was still keen and paid an immigration lawyer to help us with the LMIA. Soon after we paid the lawyer the employer said they weren't going through with the process. Can't express in words the disappointment we felt. Well we didn't give up, 2 days later my husband started sending me the job ads again and we started applying again and again and again. In August 2017 we had a reply from an employer showing interest. My husband and the employer started talking on a regular basis regarding the work and after long conversations, phone calls, at the end of the year they offered him a job. We started the LMIA process in January. We didn't for one day give up, we applied, applied and applied. We are fortunate to have found an employee who are willing to sponsor us and wait because it is a long process. Currently we are waiting for LMIA outcome. I wish you all the best, it is not an easy process to say the least and can be very frustrating but at the end of the day I believe it is so worthwhile. At least we have this forum which is extremely helpful with regards to advise etc.. as you have seen by now

You would be hard pressed to find a bad school in any of those 3 areas. I would not worry if I were you.

Entering the country on a visitors visa, with the intent to look for work, is illegal. They will deny you entry. Which thread are you talking about was demotivating? I would like to have look at it please. (Please post a link) What field are you in?

You are very kind, Piper. Thank you for the encouragement. <3

You're most welcome. I love to help. I'm not sure in BC, but in Ontario specialists and their services are covered under the provincial healthcare plan. I believe it would be the same in BC. Perhaps your family doctor can guide you regarding the protocols in BC. The family dr may want to start with running some baseline testing, like, for instance, some standard blood tests. Again, glad to be of service.

You can also try Cold 911 and the Cold Survival Kit from David's Tea. At least it's natural and tastes nice :-) Chamomile tea is also supposed to help if you have a cold.

Oh wow, congratulations!!! 🎊🍾🎉 Must be such an amazing feeling.

Overall I think the work culture and environment is harder in Canada. I know I am generalizing (insert disclaimer) but it is likely that you will work longer hours, get less vacation days, less sick days, limited annual salary increases and less job security (they cut staff easy and with no emotion).

The paid time off is shocking compared to SA. But in my experience people come to work sick anyway, because they don't want to use their paid time off.

3 days of sick leave a year? Jeepers South Africans have it easy

My dad has used ACC 200 Effervescent tablets for the longest time in SA. Some doctor as some time told him about it, and he swears by it. I could not find it here, but this is essentially the same thing (on amazon): https://www.amazon.ca/tablets-BioAdvantex-Pharma-NAC-N-acetylcysteine/dp/B01LQLKJ2U/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1525197045&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=nac+effervescent&psc=1 I have used ACC that my dad left behind, and it works really well. The active ingredient is N-Acetylcysteine. It helps to dry up the nose (and have a bunch of other good effects on the body, to boot). I did not want to pay as much for the little packet on amazon, so I just bought N-Acetylcysteine (NAC, if you are searching for it) tablets that I use.

I used neocitran as a med-lemon replacement when I was unwell in Canada. It's a bit stronger than med-lemon. If I recall, there are night and day variants.

Walmart sells a product from "Equate" that is similar to Med-Lemon, but much stronger. It is quite effective if you're already sick. I cannot find the exact one that is available at our Walmart, but the box looks similar to this except it is sachets like Med-Lemon. I've only ever seen this at Walmart. I've tried Neocitran and Tylenol before, but I don't feel like it has any effect. My family here also recommends taking Cold-FX tablets to prevent you from getting sick.

Any day now! Its great that so soon after your interview you went to IP2 and heard back re medicals. That means PPR is on its way!

My hubby and I had under 350 points and we managed to get NB PNP. You won’t know until you try!

Congratulations on everything! Just to clarify, is the job opportunity you mentioned for your wife in SA? From what I've read on the pregnancy topic it is almost always first prize if the birth is in Canada as this prevents a "sponsorship" scenario, keeping in mind you have two new babies on the way as opposed to just one.

We had the opportunity to have some Engineering students from India over to our house one Christmas (as part of a university programme for foreign students to not be alone on major holidays and to be included in Canadian life). These guys really gave me insight in how people from other countries try to line things up to come to Canada and why some of them enter the EE pool with so many points. They finished their bachelors in India and then came over for post-grad work. They work their backsides off so that they can qualify for co-op work in order to gain Canadian work experience that way. In addition to that 2 out of the 3 had part time work (they can work limited hours on a student visa) to help cover some of the costs. It is costly to come over on a student visa as international student fees are extremely high and it is becoming increasingly more difficult to prove that you have an intention of moving back to your home country however it isn't impossible.

You cannot come over on a visitors visa to come and look for work in Canada Have you been on the CIC immigration website to see which visas are available and which (if any) you qualify for? The bad news: I very much doubt that personal trainers as a profession is on the skill shortage list, especially since it isn't a regulated industry. Being able to get into Canada by that route, in my opinion, will be close to impossible

It shouldn't really. Depends on the jobs you are targeting. I think there are many available jobs in the market that do not require French. Some jobs do prefer bilingual applicants (French and English). If you are in Quebec (and maybe some parts of New Brunswick?), French may be more prevalent in the workplace. Government jobs also sometimes ask for this requirement. But I know quite a few people within the CRA and local government departments that are not bilingual at all so definitely not a disadvantage.