Category Archives: Wednesday’s Weekly Update

These posts were written and shared during the summer of 2020 when we were meant to be in Canada but were unable to be there because of the travel restrictions in place due to the Covid-19 global Pandemic. As you will see from reading them, we had know idea if we would be able to get to Canada and these post were a way to keep people up to date with out attempts and failures. They were also an immensely cathartic exercise during the chaos.

I hope you won’t find much here to help you move to Canada, because I hope you won’t find yourself moving in similar circumstances. But you will find a unique story and one which, as it was written, we had no idea how it would end!

Wednesday’s Weekly Update No.7

I have good news and bad news to share this week! The IRCC (Canadian Consular in London) finally replied to my email. You can find out about my previous communication with the IRCC here: Part two: How Coronavirus derailed our plans for moving to Canada (scroll to May/June) and check out Wednesday’s Weekly Update No.5, which explains why I got back in touch with them three weeks ago

1. The bad news. For the fifth time Canada have extended their border closure with the USA. We’ve been here before, ya’ll know the score: we wait until the end of the month for the news that they are remaining closed to the rest of the world and the game goes on…

2. The good news. I have an interview with District 57 to be a Teacher Teaching On Call, basically a Supply Teacher. Good news indeed, as with a job I can enter Canada right now, but we mustn’t get too ahead of ourselves; this isn’t going to be a golden ticket into Canada. Assuming they want to employ me, I won’t have a formal job offer for weeks yet. It also may not lead to work for months because I have to have the BC Teaching Certificate in place before I can work as a TTOC. And as I explained in Wednesday’s Weekly Update No.3, getting certified can take months and months . But it is a foot in the door of District 57. And it is, finally, some positive news to share with you.

3. The IRCC’s reply. Frustratingly, the IRCC’s response was very similar to what they said in June. In short, they can only confirm that I can to ‘proceed’ to Canada, but my entry will depend on the decision of the boarder agent who processes me on arrival. Additionally, they issued another exemption letter. Let me remind you of our previous experience with one of their so called ‘exemption letters’: Part two: How Coronavirus derailed our plans for moving to Canada (scroll down to May for the unpleasant tale of how I was denied boarding!). The bright sparks among you may have noticed something about this game of Snakes and Ladders we’re unwittingly playing: we are right back with the same dilemma we were trying to figure out in my very first blog written in June: A little less arrogant about how far a British passport and a smile can get you.

Only this time it’s…

Option one: Attempt to fly.

Option Two: Give up.

What’s Bothering Babs?

Babs’ Question: “What are you going to do now?”

We’re not ready to give up yet. But believe me, we’re nearly at that point. Which means we’re going to throw everything we have at it, before accepting that 2020 has beaten us.

Step one: On Monday I emailed the IRCC back to get some confirmation on a few things, including… What does ‘proceed to Canada’ actually mean? I’ll keep you posted on their response.

Step two: Prepare for my interview.

Step three: As it really helps prove that our travel is non-discretionary, we are going to continue renting our house in Prince George for one final month.

Wednesday’s Weekly Update No.6

If you missed the previous update, here it is: Wednesday’s Weekly Update No.5. But in short, last week involved a lot of email sending and this week is involving a lot of waiting for replies.

Canadian Boarder. It’s that middle week again in this strange new normal of ours. The week where my disappointment about Canada not opening has worn off and, rather against my will, my hope starts to grow that Canada will reopen their boarders or make some concessions which would allow me to enter. Once again, we anticipate knowing more about the US/Canada boarder by the 15/16th, then the rest of the world/Canada boarder by the 31st. And once again there is little hope of anything changing.

Nomads again. After two weeks back in the East living in a friend’s house, while they were on holiday, we have now commandeered my sister’s house while they bask in the Cornish sun. At least if Canada all falls through we’ll have some reference should we take up a career as House Sitters.

Making a break for it?! You may remember that last week I told you about my emails to the IRCC London and IRCC Canada. We sent emails explaining our situation (not for the first time!) in the hope that they would offer advice and/or confirm that we (well, I) had permission to travel to Canada. We’ve been hinging our hopes, with regards to making a break for it, on their responses. And what have we heard? Nothing. Which is rather disappointing. Plus the super high temperatures in Southern England are not helping make the waiting game any less frustrating.

What’s bothering Babs?

Babs’ Question: Are you still renting a place in Canada?

Yes, but probably not for much longer. The 15th August, our agreed date to review the situation with the landlord, is creeping closer. Little is likely to change over the next three days so it appears we will probably have to give up the house.

Wednesday’s Weekly Update No.5

I can’t believe this is update number five. I can’t believe it is August. And I can’t believe we’ve without a home for 195 days! So here is the latest…

Getting to Canada! We’ve been back in touch with the IRCC London . You can remind yourself of our previous correspondence with them in this post, Part two: How Coronavirus derailed our plans for moving to Canada (skip to the part under June 2020). We’ve also been in touch with the IRCC Canada*. They have a whole system set up for Covid-19 related inquiries, in your email they ask you to state your reason for travel. Writing that section really made me reflect on how sad it is that a few months ago the world was so open for adventure and now you have to beg to be let into a country you have a work permit for and rent property in. It brings the madness of our situation into stark relief, so I thought I’d share it with you…

Reason for travel: I am moving to Canada to both live and work, and to reunify with my husband, who is a temporary foreign worker at the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George, BC. My husband and I left our UK jobs and housing rental agreement before the Canadian border closed in March. We do not have anywhere to live in the UK currently, but we do rent a property in Prince George, BC. To avoid an separation of unknown time, my husband returned from Canada to the UK, and has worked remotely since. However, he now needs to return to Prince George to fulfil the role of his employment. As is not financially viable for us to rent properties in both Canada and the UK, my husband will be required to resign from his job if I cannot get to Canada soon.
As far as I can gather, I would not be exempt from current travel restrictions as, while I hold a work permit approval letter, I don’t currently have a job offer in Canada. Since April, we have waited for the Canadian border to open so that I can enter Canada without ambiguity and not risk being turned away by CBSA staff on arrival but, for the reasons given (my husband’s employment, and that we rent a property in Prince George), we now need to get to Canada as soon as possible.
We have a sound quarantine plan (with people who can help with groceries and medicines, as required), believe that we would both be travelling for essential (non-discretionary) reasons, and intend to live and work in Canada until our work permits expire in around two years time.

2. The house. On the frustrating side we’re paying for a property we’re not living in. But our landlady – who we’ve never met – continues to live up to the Canadian stereotype of being kind and helpful. After emailing her with our concerns about continuing to rent the house, she wavered the one month notice period and suggested we wait until the 15th August to see how things are looking then. In her reply she also mentioned how she’d gone above her call of duty and decided to ring the CBSA (Canadian Boarder Services Agency) to state our case and get some more information for us. Not being able to call them ourselves, we were really grateful for this help.

3. Bally The Greyhound. As it becomes more and more obvious that Canada is going to be closed for some time and we may have to try our luck at getting in or give up going, we’re obviously worried about Bally. When we signed up to this adventure, there was no question that he was coming too. There still isn’t, but getting that lovely long boy there is now so much more complex and costly. Flying dogs to Vancouver is possible, but only with special permission and the cost will be double what we were originally quoted. Not ideal. There is also an option to fly him to Toronto and it’s only £300 more than we were originally quoted. But we’d have to drive 2642.0703 miles across Canada, travelling through five provinces and four time zones to get him back to Prince George. Once you account for gas, accommodation and snacks on a mission like that, we’d easily spend quadruple what we were originally quoted. So, not a great option.

What’s Bothering Babs?

Babs’ Question: You can go if you have a job, right? So, how is the job hunt going?

Remember how I told you about having to submit 18 different forms of evidence in order to become a certified teacher in BC. Good news is 14/18 of those have now been submitted! I’ve also applied to be a Supply Teacher and sent out some feelers about working with disabled children. And in other work related news I had a wonderful and emotional day saying goodbye at The Heathland School. I received some lovely gifts, which nearly compensated for the lack of hugs, including a set of Bear Bells each for Jacob and I. Speaking of Jacob, UNBC are still being good about him working remotely and his team are still not expecting to be able to do field work this summer.