My brother in law wants to apply for canadian immigration from the gulf. He is in Oman. He has been a business manager for about 20 years.
He has a pakistan MA or something…
so he is wondering whether to apply for BC (Vanc.) or (Alberta - Calgary) as the wait for toronto is too long…
any thoughts …
PM me if anyone has serious advice …
Re: where in canada?
Hi Antumul,
I’d suggest Calgary without any hesitation. Actually, I’m personally contemplating moving there from Toronto in a couple of years time myself.
As the second fastest growing city in Canada, Calgary has the highest employment rate in the country right now and coupled with the lowest tax rates and the highest personal income per capita in the country, the quality of life in Calgary sounds pretty lucrative.
Also, despite being a large city, it hasn’t really lost its small-town feel... the city has a very friendly and outgoing community… I personally prefer and value such an atmosphere over the fast-paced and rushed hyper urbanism of other cities that are Calgary’s size.
Currently, the city is experiencing an influx of businesses and workers from across Canada and the globe. The most booming businesses there are in the energy sector, construction and high-tech (in that specific order).
I can’t really say what the prospects for your brother-in-law may be, but Calgary is certainly a much safer bet these days than Toronto and Vancouver which are both very economically saturated now.
Re: where in canada?
umer ..
what about weather and stuff...they will come from living in oman for 15 years to canada...I thought Vancs coastal might be bettr for them...
but your reasoning for Calgary also sounds good...
Re: where in canada?
well - Calgary is prettty darn cold... but everyone gets acclimatized in a year. Don't let the weather decide.
Also keep in mind that although Vancourver is warmer, it can be very gloomy because of the constant rain throughout the year - sometimes it rains every freakin day of the week!
Re: where in canada?
I had heard a bit here and there, but had no idea Calgary is booming and has so much to offer. Is Calgary just as multicultural as Toronto?
Re: where in canada?
AM: Both the cities have their pros and cons. Calgary may have slightly better economic prospects, but it can't rival Vancouver in terms of quality of life; in fact no other city in the world can as Vancouver ranks on top of the list. One has to live in this city in order to appreciate the diversity and dynamics in every sphere of life; whether it's food, entertainment or outdoors..
However, the cost of living is exorbitantly high. The economies in Alberta and BC are both resources driven, and there are also lots of jobs in BC in high tech, engineering, forestry and oil and gas sectors...
Re: where in canada?
Why is ur brother leaving Oman? I see some people in the west want to move to middle east (specially UAE), and here i see some1 leaving middle east for Canada. Any special reason, or just he wants some change?
Re: where in canada?
I dont want to discourage your brother in law from coming here but an honest advice would be ;
Come n visit Canada....visit toronto and have an idea of job market here before letting go his Manager level job in UAE.
Most qualified immigrants including southasians end up doing suvival jobs here. Factories, labor. etc and if they bring good amount of money they open private stores....like the famous dollar store.
Plus most Canadian employer's want to see Canadian qualifications and Canadian work experience which obviously the new immigrant lacks
Re: where in canada?
curious and bitter:
Yes he is coming because he wants to start a halal business and live without paying bribes. Which according to him (he is not a young kid) is prevalent in Pakistan and the gulf. And thay his kids are getting older so they will need higher education not avaialble in Oman and he will not send them alone to study abroad (due in about 5 years)
so he want to move to CA for this reason as atleast he will get citizenship and be able to start a small business.
Yes I am also of the ones who want to move to middle east from the US. So I argued with him untill he made the points about the things I mentioned above.
I am pretty sure he just wants to open a smalll store or gas station or something..
I told him the same thing that he shuold first visit CA and stay for a summer or somethng to see if they can even adjust...
Re: where in canada?
Umer..
I will pass on the information..
Re: where in canada?
Umer is absolutely right, Calgary is indeed growing and doing very well. It also has a beautiful landscape; I was there last year and at many places around the city you literally feel that you are standing in a postcard!
It also has a growing desi/muslim population, and not too many halal market/halal restaurant type of businesses, so your brother-in-law can actually do well in that direction.
As far as places to live in Calgary, generally the Northwest area is considered pretty good. I even looked at a small house for sale there just to get an idea. It was a 1700 square ft. house with basement selling for about 150,000 Canadian dollars.
Weather could be cold in winter, but they have this natural wind system called chinook winds that blows in the winters, which actually keeps Calgary relatively less cold as compared to the rest of Alberta.
The air is very fresh and free of pollution. People are generally nice, laid back, and helpful, as opposed to some of the bigger cities. Honestly, I liked it so much that I didn't feel like coming back.
I was there last year for a week, so my observations are based on that trip. Hopefully, it hasn't changed a lot since then. Let me know if you have any questions.
Re: where in canada?
i live in calgary and yes there is a huge boom here right now economy wise, in fact all throughout alberta so you should consider edmonton too, but i would like to point out that housing situation is not as rosy as you make it seem...there is a waiting list for every apartment building in the city, you will be lucky to find anything under $1000 and that is for a 1 bedroom...secondly, there is no way that a 1700sqft home in the northwest is selling for 150k, you couldnt even buy a 1 bedroom condo for that much, you are looking at atleast 350k+ for a home of that size in that neighbourhood...average home price is around 360k but the market has slown down and is stable for now...so i would like to point out that yes the city is nice and all, but cost of living is getting very high and the housing situation is tough...also there was not enought infrastructure in place to anticipate such a huge level of growth, traffic is very bad during rush hour and on weekends...but u have to live with it...the huge 'boom' is now also starting in edmonton so i would advise your brother to research over there too because cost of homes has not skyrocketed to the level it is in calgary but it is starting to begin so now is the time to act...also i came to calgary from edmonton for job purposes, and i can say that there it comparable to calgary in every aspect, except for beautification purposes as calgary is closer to the mountains..other than that anythign you can find in calgary you can find there too..lastly i was a bit dissapointed with the masjid situation in calgary, there is only one 'masjid' and that is in the sw which is a ways out if you dont live in that area as most desis are living in the north, the rest are all musallahs scattered around the city...in edmonton there are 3 full sized masjids and the pakistani and desi community comes together in one masjid to pray especially during taraveeh this is very enjoyable so thats my 2 cents...also note that i am not bashing calgary, it is also a great city and the economy is great..my point is that if your brother is considering alberta, he should take into consideration both cities
Re: where in canada?
^^ thx for sharing .... jazakallah-u-khairan.