Hi, I am looking for opinions from CANADIANS principally, but anyone with experience would be helpful, thank you!:D
I currently live in Orange County, California, I am Mexican,:cool: and currently I work as General Manager of a hotel,:p I was brought to the US when I was under age and now I’m 30 years old, I am interested to live in Canada, as it is a country that has always called my attention and seems to be extremely beautiful, another thing that calls my attention is the fact that I have met people from all over the world that have migrated to the USA, but there are not that many Canadians, this tells me that they have a great country to live in and don’t seem to have the need to migrate to the US. I have seen the Canadian government website, and it has tons of information, all the forms and procedures required to actually apply for a resident permit, unlike the US, they seem to offer all the information needed to migrate to Canada, and they encourage you to do it, which seems to me as a great plus for that country.:)
What I need your help with is by telling me if it’s really a place with lots of opportunities, and if the process to get the residency is hard, do they actually approve people to be residents from other nationalities?:confused: How difficult it is to find a job? Where are the best places to move and find a job? I read in the website that I would need to have some money in my bank account in order to apply for residency, which is not a problem, but I am afraid that I save for months and months just to find out that they don’t take many residents per year.
All your comments are greatly appreciated! Thank you so much!

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Originally Posted by mrchava

I have seen the Canadian government website, and it has tons of information, all the forms and procedures required to actually apply for a resident permit, unlike the US, they seem to offer all the information needed to migrate to Canada, and they encourage you to do it, which seems to me as a great plus for that country.:)

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Yes, one thing I can say about the Canadian Government is that their websites do have a lot of relevant information.

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Originally Posted by mrchava

What I need your help with is by telling me if it’s really a place with lots of opportunities, and if the process to get the residency is hard, do they actually approve people to be residents from other nationalities?:confused: How difficult it is to find a job? Where are the best places to move and find a job? I read in the website that I would need to have some money in my bank account in order to apply for residency, which is not a problem, but I am afraid that I save for months and months just to find out that they don’t take many residents per year.

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Yes, Canada has a policy of immigration, multi culturism. The old Liberal government’s goal was to take up to 250,000 immigrants a year.

The Conservative government? I don’t know.

You have been living in the USA for 12+ years now? Are you an American citizen?

I have not yet heard of an American citizen, with no criminal record, of being denied immigration to Canada.

Best places? Major cities. Vancouver, BC or Edmonton or Calgary, AB or Toronto, ON.

I don't have much to add... everything Captain Forest said was right on. The only thing I'd suggest is that if you like the climate of Orange County, southern BC would be the best place for you to move to... it has a very mild climate compared to most of the rest of Canada. Vancouver as Captain Forest said, or Vancouver Island. Actually the warmest city in Canada is Victoria, BC. They rarely even have snow in the wintertime. The only drawback to BC is the very high housing costs. As large centres go, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg are cheaper. I think Toronto pretty much equals Vancouver for high costs, but it's a very interesting and multicultural city, as is Montreal.

Captain, I have been in the USA for over 10 years, I don't have criminal record, I am still a Mexican Citizen, as in the USA is extra hard to get even a resident status when you are Mexican, but if I move to Canada I would move from California.
Orange, thank you for your post, I really don't care about the weather in California, if it was cold it would mean the same to me, so the weather in Canada would not be too much of a problem to me, I am more concerned about the price for apartments and the oportunities for work, as I am a Hotel Manager and most of my experience is in the Leisure/Travel/Lodging Industry, based on that, where do you think I could live better?

Mrchava,

You say you don't care about the weather, I would make sure about that.

The weather in Mexico/California is substantially different than most parts of Canada.

As orange said, Vancouver/Victoria, BC would be the most similar weather for you.

You are in the Travel, etc. industry.

You would want to go to a big city.

Example, Vancouver or surrounding area, Toronto would be you best bets.

While the Atlantic provinces do have a big tourism industry, they are not that well known for having people immigrate there.

Best bets: Vancouver or surrounding area.

If you are interested in working in the Tourism industry, once again southern BC is a good place, but the apartment prices in Vancouver, on Vancouver Island, and in Whistler are some of the highest in Canada. For example, a decent one bedroom apartment in a good area of Victoria will run you about $1000 - $1600 a month, and Vancouver is even higher than that. Calgary, Banff, and Jasper, Alberta are great places for tourists as well, but with slightly lower housing costs. Banff, Alberta is located in the Rocky Mountains and its main industry is tourism. It's very beautiful there. Saskatchewan and Manitoba don't have as big of tourism industries, unless you are interested in working in a northern hunting lodge, or talking Americans on hunting and fishing expeditions. But Saskatchewan and Manitoba are very affordable for housing. The same apartment that costs $1600 in Victoria costs about $600 in Saskatoon, SK. In the west though, for both tourism and housing combined, I'd say somewhere in Alberta would be your best bet. I live in the west myself, so I don't know as much about the tourism industry in Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces, but I imagine it's quite active as there are many beautiful places and sites in those provinces.

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Originally Posted by CaptainForest

Mrchava,

You say you don't care about the weather, I would make sure about that.

The weather in Mexico/California is substantially different than most parts of Canada.

As orange said, Vancouver/Victoria, BC would be the most similar weather for you.

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Yup this is a really good point. Saskatchewan, for example, has about 7 months of winter, and it can get down to -40 C or even lower. Even people who have lived around here all their lives don't like it much! Alberta is a bit milder, but not by much.

Personally I find Vancouver Island to be the most beautiful place in Canada, and I also love Vancouver. If you can find a way to afford to live there, it would be best because of climate and industry. Banff is also very beautiful, but it does have winter and lots of snow!

Captian may have more info on this, but as a person who lived right on the border before and traveled into Canada a lot. ( and knew people who lived on both sides and worked on both sides)

I believe Canada has much tighter restrictions on immigration than the US does. And being allowed legal status to move into as a residence and to work there is harder also. I would personally recommend that you contact their immigration department for up to date info on their current rules and regs, and forms if you wish to start the application process.

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Originally Posted by orange

Yup this is a really good point. Saskatchewan, for example, has about 7 months of winter, and it can get down to -40 C or even lower. Even people who have lived around here all their lives don't like it much! Alberta is a bit milder, but not by much.

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I simply wanted to comment on this, but it would not allow me.

In case mrchava is wondering what -40C is in Fahrenheit, I looked it up.

In fact, -40C is -40F. Go figure. Normally it's not the same.

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

Captian may have more info on this, but as a person who lived right on the border before and traveled into Canada alot. ( and knew people who lived on both sides and worked on both sides)

I beleive Canada has much tighter restrictions on immigration than the US does. And being allowed legal status to move into as a residence and to work there is harder also. I would personally recommend that you contact thier immigration department for upto date info on thier current rules and regs, and forms if you wish to start the application process.

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What year was this?

The last 13 years, the Liberal's have made immigration much easier.

And during the Conservative's 9 years before that, they made it much easier for foreign investment.

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

You got liberals too huh, it has been a while, my family is actually from Canada and I was looking into citizenship some years ago, maybe it was just me they did not want

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Yeah, we have Liberals. As do the Brits and Aussies.

Brits being lead by Liberal PM Tony Blair, while the Aussies being lead by Tory (Conservative) PM John Howard.

Yes, perhaps they didn’t want you. Did you try applying through a Quebecer? Cause they really love their churches and religion (sarcasm). :D

Quebec is the least religious province in Canada.

Haha I don't think the word "liberal" means the same thing though in Canada as it does in the States... in the States the liberals are the far left-leaning people. Here Liberals are more centrist and left parties are the NDP and The Green Party.

Once again, I can't simply comment on your post.

Good point.

Americans do view “liberal” as something different that us Canadians.

Even some of the progressive conservatives like Scott Brison and former PM Joe Clark were “liberal”. Socially liberal that is, economically conservative.

And also, our Conservative party is not nearly as conservative as the USA's Republicans. Well, Harper himself is, but the party as a whole isn't as much.

there are migrant workers here from Mexico in BC. mostly working in the farm industry, Abbotsford and Kelowna, but there is a new program for skilled individuals from outside of the country that may apply, I'll try to find more info.

If you are looking for a job in canada I would recommend alberta. Calgary, edmonton, grand prairie, lloydminster the latter two being much smaller cities. If you can't find a job in alberta you don't want to work. In the town I live in companies actively seek groups of people from south america to come work here. Not quite your situation I know but just an example to show you how desperate for workers some companies are. Housing can be hard to find so money is the bank account is a great asset. If you require any details post again and I would be happy to provide some more detailed information.