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Plz guide: Having to move to Canada with pregnant wife facing immediate delivery

T

TD259

Newbie
Oct 6, 2012
5
0
I would much appreciate if anyone can kindly help me better understand my options.

1- Is it possible for us to land and settle in Quebec? (we are federally selected and dont have certificate of selection by Quebec). We dont know french. How difficult it would be to find a job with only english language?

2- Does Toronto make an exception for pregnancy regarding the three month waiting period? I have tried calling the various numbers, all lead to service ontario's automated voice lines. Is there any number where one can talk to an operator?
 
1. No - unfortunately you cannot land in Quebec if you were selected through the federal program. You can select any province other than Quebec.

2. No - unfortunately Ontario does not make exceptions to the three month waiting period for pregnancies. The three month waiting period applies to all newcomers.
 
Instead of Toronto, why don't you consider Edmonton or Calgary. I heard no waiting period for newcomers.
 
True. Pretty much all provinces except Ontario, BC and Quebec have a first day coverage for new settlers.

Alberta may not be a happening place to live, only 2 major cities, about 1 million people in each of them and they are not very high culture or very diverse but AB is the richest province with the lowest unemployment rates.

If you do decide to go to AB and have your baby, you should keep in mind that you should stay for at least 6 months because of the health care. In order to be eligible for health care in any province, you must be residing there at least 6 months a year. If you go there, get health care, have your baby and then move, you risk that they could decide that you were never eligible for their health care in the first place because you never spent 6 months in the province so they could pull your coverage retroactively and back charge you for what they paid. I have actually never heard of AB doing this but I know that in BC they have. Better be safe than sorry.
 
Thanks Scylla, Steaky and Leon.

Scylla, thanks for clarifying the matter. I have a relative who was federally selected and he went on to live in Quebec where we have a common relative and got his PR cards there. He was of the opinion that we CAN go to Quebec: being federally selected we can select any province to settle which i doubted very much. However, it makes me wonder how he got to live in Quebec in the first place as he was also federally selected? your opinion? Also I would like to ask if we live in a province other then Quebec for some time say 6 months or more can we move to Quebec later on or is FSW immigrant barred from Quebec altogether?

Steaky and Leon, our primary concern is having a health coverage for pregnancy and delivery as we are having to move in a hurry. However, the next big concern is finding a job. a friend was advising that Toronto and Montreal are the biggest cities so more jobs and better public transport (as we would not have a car immediately) also the housing is relatively cheap in Montreal (according to the ministry of health website Quebec). However, we have a family friend in Edmonton and it is likely that we shall have to go there to better face the initial challenges (housing, health) with their help. My concern about Edmonton is Job, rent, weather, and diversity but primarily job.

1- Are rents in Edmonton higher than Quebec (according to the Quebec website average rent for an apartment with 2 rooms a living room kitchen and a bathroom is 600). I heard Edmonton is more expensive on the average?

2- Job Scenario. Being from a regulated health profession i am looking for any job initially to settle down and later think about future career steps. But most jobs demand extensive list of experience and qualifications of Canadian standards. What options do i have in this regard? Do immigration services help and if yes, how?

3- Any suggestions of good websites for searching job, accommodation, CV making?

4- I talked to Alberta health, the lady said that we would need to show our commitment that we have made a permanent move to Alberta by a rent agreement etc. However, as i said that we are initially going to live at a friends house for some time. so how can i show that this is our address and that we are committed to living in Alberta?
 
1. You can compare prices here: http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Canada&country2=Canada&city1=Edmonton&city2=Montreal It looks like rent is higher in Edmonton than in Montreal. However, the unemployment rate in Edmonton is 4.5% vs. Montreal 8.4% and keep in mind that you do not speak French which will exclude you a number of jobs.

2. You may be able to find some newcomers centre that will offer to make you more employable but I talked to a man who had tried that and he said they are govt. funded programs and they do not really help you much. They just want your name so they can charge the govt. for 1 more person they "helped". You basically have to find your own job. Think about what you might be able to do or would like to do and start applying. If you are from a regulated health care profession, you may find another regulated health care profession that is easier to get licensed in to start with and still pays ok. For example, some doctors settle for working as nurses while they work on their licensing and some nurses get licensed as practical nurses to start with. You could also try to apply at medical supply businesses or for office jobs in health care where licensing is not required.

3. Here are some job websites:
http://www.canadavisa.com/career_zone/canadian-immigration-job-search.htm
http://www.jobbank.gc.ca/
http://www.eluta.ca/
http://www.monster.ca/
http://www.workopolis.com/
http://edmonton.en.craigslist.ca/
http://montreal.en.craigslist.ca/
http://edmonton.kijiji.ca/
http://montreal.kijiji.ca/

As for finding an apartment, let your friend help you do that.

4. If you are committed to living in AB for 6 months, you will be getting your apartment, right? Or are you planning on living with your friend for 6 months? Can you make a rental agreement with your friend to rent a couple of rooms in his house?

As for the question of are you allowed to move to Quebec, the answer is yes, you are but it is complicated. Quebec wants people who want to immigrate to Quebec to apply to their immigration program directly. When you applied federally, you said you are not intending to live in Quebec. Therefore you should not land in Quebec or tell immigration when you land that you are planning on going there. Aside from that, nobody will stop you. However, you have one minor problem and that is applying for health care. Normally if you move within Canada, you have your healthcare coverage in your old province and that covers you while you wait for coverage in your new province. If you are going to Quebec directly, you do not have any old province coverage. That means your only health coverage for the first 3 months would be Quebec healthcare exception for pregnancy and childbirth. When you try to claim this exception for your wife, they may ask you how come you are moving to Quebec right after landing when you did not apply for your immigration through the Quebec immigration program.
 
Thank you very much Leon. You are a great help. May i ask for further information on "medical supply businesses".
 
TD259 said:
Thank you very much Leon. You are a great help. May i ask for further information on "medical supply businesses".
Click to expand...

Medical supply jobs might include working in a store selling such supplies, managing such a store or selling supplies to such stores working for an importer of such goods or a manufacturer. You can go to any job website and enter medical and the city you want and see what pops up. Some of the jobs that come up may be regulated but some are not. They may be office or sales positions in the medical field. You can look at those ads and see if you think it is something you could do or might want to do. Keep in mind that job ads asking for experience and education are always the employers wish list. You can still apply even if you don't meet the requirements. They may have no applicant that fulfills all their wishes and then they will look at somebody who comes close.
 
TD259 said:
4- I talked to Alberta health, the lady said that we would need to show our commitment that we have made a permanent move to Alberta by a rent agreement etc. However, as i said that we are initially going to live at a friends house for some time. so how can i show that this is our address and that we are committed to living in Alberta?
Click to expand...

This is fine. But make sure you don't just go to Alberta, live there for 3-6 months after your wife gives birth and then leave for another province. We had someone on this forum a while back who did this and the province went after them for the costs of the birth (somewhere between $30K and $40K since there were complications). Only go the Alberta route if you actually plan on living there. Otherwise the province may accuse you of coming there for a few months first just to take advantage of the health care system.
 
Thanks guys for your continuous guidance.

I am aware that in any province you must spend 6 months out of 12 to continue to be eligible for healthcare. so we are bound to stay in Alberta for 6 months at least otherwise province can back charge us. However, what happens after 6 months? can we move afterwards if we get a job somewhere else? To me home is where the job is. We couldn't live on our personal savings indefinitely.

Anyway, taking Leon's guidance I have looked at Edmonton where we have a willing friend and I said to myself ''hay it is not so bad". Although the rent is somewhat higher. It all depends on finding a job and fending for ourselves after some time. I have looked at some other message boards and saw people discussing how hard it is to find a job, any job in big cities like Toronto and Montreal etc, let alone a job of a regulated profession. So I guess we don't have many options anyway. Once we have paid our obligations and settled a bit by "fitting in" maybe then we would have more options.
 
This fellow also recently immigrated with pregnant wife to Calgary and he said jobs are easily available:

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/landing-experience-calgary-alberta-t120819.0.html
 
If you stay for 6 months, you can move anywhere and AB health will cover you while you wait for health care in your new province.

Read again where I mention the unemployment rate in Edmonton vs. Montreal. Big city can mean a larger number of job ads but also many more people competing for those jobs. Use your 6 months in Edmonton looking for a job in AB. If you can't find one in AB, look elsewhere.

Some years ago, I met a young engineer from Iran who immigrated and settled in Toronto because his family was there. During the next 6 months, he could get no job except survival jobs. He was about to give up and go home again when he got a job offer in AB. He settled in AB then. Just because a city is bigger doesn't mean that you have better opportunities.
 
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