Immigrating to Canada

Savings going good!

I am almost there with the Settlement Funds I need to apply. I have however has mixed messages about the amount of money I will need. The Official immigration sites say about $10,200, whilst others range from $7,000 to $12,000. I think I am going by the official ones for now.

I have read something that I am not too impressed about. I will have the funds in about 2 to 3 months time, but at least £1,500 of those funds are held in Premium Bonds. I have read that the Immigration Department gives a set amount of time in which to liquidate these funds. It's not going to be a problem to liquidate them, it takes only 8-10 days to cash them in, but I really don't want to. They are valuable, especially at the moment, I just don't want to get rid of them unless I really have to. I don't see why they would force me to cash them in, especially as they are considered valuable. The way I see it is that they are there as a backup, and if I know in my head that they are only to be cashed in in an emergency then I will have more incentive to get a job. As far as I see it they are there as a psychological safety net, and nothing more.

I am going to have to get some clarity on this. If it is the case that they will have to be cashed in no matter what then I will have to consider the possibility of delaying the application for another year.

posted by Marie17183 @ 11:44 0 Comments

Oh, OK. Is Toronto really that bad?

I have just read on CNN that people in Canada hate Toronto. I don't really know why, but they do. I was looking to move there. Yes it does strike me as a Corporate city, but that's the reason why it would be a good choice to settle there when I first immigrate. There are plenty of jobs to choose from, a lot more that in other Canadian cities. It makes me wonder whether its the best place to head though.

If anybody has any other suggestions about any cities that have reasonable accommodation costs and a decent amount of jobs please let me know.

posted by Marie17183 @ 19:39 2 Comments

Still Struggling

Well, I have finally managed to upload some French onto my MP3 player. About time too. However, that's as far as I got. It's a step in the right direction though.

Something that is going much better than my pathetic attempts to learn French is my savings. An unexpected lack of spending has meant that I have had more money left over each month than I thought I would. I anticipate that I should have enough money by July/August. I have to keep an eye on it tough. Maths is not my strong point and I have probably messed up somewhere along the line. Then I have to throw all my money at saving for my trip to Africa next year, only 14 months to save £3,000. Wonderful!

posted by Marie17183 @ 14:58 0 Comments