Canadian Roll Call

[MyOldKentuckyHome]

My potential employer has been able to get a response from the government in PEI.

Apparently they don't think I qualify as a "general laborer" under the program but I'm sending a copy of my resume, including the relevant skills that I've been doing for the past 5.5 years as a camp manager to see if they are willing to classify me as an "carpenter apprentice".

If they sign off on that we are pretty good to go.

If not the lady at the government office said since my wife is a citizen and I have a job lined up that once my wife gets a letter of employment that if all else fails they'll help me piggy back off my wife's citizenship (especially since I've already submitted a PR application) to get a work visa.

The contact at the construction company was all apologetic that "this will probably take around 19 weeks once the paperwork starts rolling" and I about jumped for joy. That puts it in the February-April timeframe. We had kind of expected the June-August timeframe was the earliest we could hope to make it happen!!

SO EXCITED!

 

[MyOldKentuckyHome]

Started this thread on September 1st

It's now February 3rd

All I need is one document from PEI and I can submit my work permit - which takes up to 11 weeks to process (I've heard they sometimes come through sooner)

Originally we applied for my permanent residency via the Family - Spouse Sponsorship route. However we quickly learned that would be a minimum of a year wait (meaning September 2021 at the earliest)

However because I got a job offer with a construction company we learned I qualified for the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).

I have made it through that process now and have my PNP certificate.

Now I need the work permit to get there and am simultaneously submitting a new PNP permanent residency application (but this way I'll be able to live and work in Canada while the PR is processed).

Hoping/praying for a late April or early May arrival at the latest.

We've been very fortunate. It is in NO WAY an easy process. I'm a well educated guy and it's taken multitudes of help from government officials to get this far. It's not cheap either. We easily have $2000 tied up in the process already.

The PEI staff have been amazingly helpful.

And my employer has bent over backwards to help expedite and move the process along.

We believe my wife has a likely job lined up (though we need a firm date to make sure things line up) as well.

Of course once I get the work permit we also have to find a place to rent, get the relevant paperwork and pre-travel approvals from both the federal and provincial officials and will have to quarantine for 2 weeks upon arrival.

But each day brings us one step closer.

 

[Doc4]

But each day brings us one step closer.

Cool!

 

[Alacrity59]

Man . . . PEI is a great spot. I hope we can say hi to a new Canuck soon.

 

[MyOldKentuckyHome]

Still waiting on the last piece of information from PEI but they got slammed with a big snow last night and half the Island is shut down.

On the plus side, the shirts we ordered with my daughter's drawing for Tomas "Tuna" Tatar of the Canadiens came in. My wife, a Maple Leafs fan, even got one!

 

[Beefdrippings]

It’s like the capulets and the montagues! @MyOldKentuckyHome

 

[MyOldKentuckyHome]

FINALLY - got last piece of information from PEI today and was able to complete my work permit application online.

I checked the "processing time" estimate on the government website in January and it said 11 weeks, but today it says 8 weeks - so that puts us around April 15th.

I've read online sometimes it can take less time (like around 30 days) which would be AWESOME but either way the next step has finally been taken on our journey to PEI

 

[Doc4]

It’s like the capulets and the montagues! @MyOldKentuckyHome

The Habs-fields and the McCoys.

 

[MyOldKentuckyHome]

Update on our MOVE TO CANADA adventure:

I'm still waiting on my work permit but it should clear between April 8-15th. My permanent residency is being processed and I've done my medical exam.

However, the big news is MY WIFE GOT A JOB!!

She'll be working with a cool organization that provides services to adults with special needs - she'll go in their homes and help with chores, cooking, budgeting, etc.

They want her to start in mid-April so she has to leave here on April 9th so she can quarantine.

It's been a whirlwind week after things have been petering along slowly.

The good news is we also got word yesterday we have an apartment secured in Kinkora, PE which is centrally located on the Island. My wife's drive to work will only be about 15 minutes. My job's headquarters is about 40 min away - but they do construction projects from tip to tip and I get paid for the time it takes to drive one way. It's also about 25 min from the church we have been attending there online since around October.

The apartment is nothing fancy - just a place for us to move to get settled in the first year - but it's in the exact area/community we were hoping for. It's literally right across the street from my oldest daughter's high school, you can walk to my youngest daughters elementary school in about 10min and the local ice cream shop and a park are all also within a 5 min walk. The beach is about a 15min drive as well.

It's going to be a harder transition than we had hoped - with my wife leaving and the hours she will be working (shift work - she will work 3 days a week most weeks but have shifts of 12-24 hours where she will actually stay overnight in the residential house) don't make for a good option for our girls to go right now. So the three of us will have to stay until my work permit clears and I am able to finish getting the camp I work at completely ready for the summer season, which should be mid-May.

But then my wife will have to either stay in a hotel or with a friend for 2 weeks once we arrive because she can't be with us during quarantine - so we are likely looking at around 5 weeks apart in two countries PLUS 2 weeks apart when we arrive - though we plan to check and think it's allowed that we can sit on our apartment balcony and she can sit in the yard and we can talk during those 2 weeks.

Exciting but CRAZY times!

 

[Doc4]

However, the big news is MY WIFE GOT A JOB!!

She'll be working with a cool organization that provides services to adults with special needs - she'll go in their homes and help with chores, cooking, budgeting, etc.

Congrats!

Good thing she had all those years of experience in the field ... looking after YOU!

 

[Cafebarian]

Hail from Annapolis Valley Nova Scotia!

 

[MyOldKentuckyHome]

I'm in PEI!

Got here early June, clear quarantine tonight at midnight.

Haven't hugged my wife in 67 days!

Been a crazy 4 weeks so I haven't been on but we are settled (pretty much), my wife joins us in the apartment tomorrow morning and I start my new job on Monday.

So good to FINALLY be here.

Here on a work permit at the moment but my permanent residency application is proceeding pretty well. I go get my fingerprints taken later this week for the biometric portion.

 

[Ron R]

I'm in PEI!

Got here early June, clear quarantine tonight at midnight.

Haven't hugged my wife in 67 days!

Been a crazy 4 weeks so I haven't been on but we are settled (pretty much), my wife joins us in the apartment tomorrow morning and I start my new job on Monday.

So good to FINALLY be here.

Here on a work permit at the moment but my permanent residency application is proceeding pretty well. I go get my fingerprints taken later this week for the biometric portion.

I have been to PEI a few times as a tourist, hope everything goes well in your journey of life twists & turns as we bump along. Beautiful smaller province of Canada and enjoyed what it had to offer while visiting.

 

[Dalejr]

I'm in PEI!

Got here early June, clear quarantine tonight at midnight.

Haven't hugged my wife in 67 days!

Been a crazy 4 weeks so I haven't been on but we are settled (pretty much), my wife joins us in the apartment tomorrow morning and I start my new job on Monday.

So good to FINALLY be here.

Here on a work permit at the moment but my permanent residency application is proceeding pretty well. I go get my fingerprints taken later this week for the biometric portion.

Glad to hear you made it. Just in time for summer.

 

[SharpieB]

Glad to hear you made it. Just in time for summer.

And potatoes soon after. Lots and lots of potatoes.

 

[Owen Bawn]

And potatoes soon after. Lots and lots of potatoes.

Boiled potatoes, green peas, and herring.

 

[SharpieB]

Boiled potatoes, green peas, and herring.

That’s not really Canadian.

THIS is 100% Canadian.

 

[Doc4]

That’s not really Canadian.

THIS is 100% Canadian.

That's not, like, really really Canadian, eh.

This is:

 

[SharpieB]

That's not, like, really really Canadian, eh.

This is:

That’s my backup Canadiana content.

I bought that album when it was released. “Ten bucks is ten bucks, eh?” - Geddy Lee of Rush.

 

[Doc4]

That’s my backup Canadiana content.

I bought that album when it was released. “Ten bucks is ten bucks, eh?” - Geddy Lee of Rush.

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

A beer.

... in a tree.