Canada 2010-2011?

Vincent.Murphy

Thanks a million for all the information. I'm glad it grew on you in the end. I was the same when I went to Australia, took awhile to settle into the way things were over there, also the insane heat. Won't have to worry about that over in Canada tho!!

Looking to do the same to begin with, explore the different city's of Canada because I hear there so diverse. I was travelling America a few months ago, went from Texas, up the east coast hitting New York and Boston and finished up in New Hampshire, theres a lot of diversity and looking forward to seeing that in Canada. You don't really get the same experience going from Sligo, Galway and Dublin!!!

Let us know how your getting on and if you know anyone looking for someone to rent a room get in touch. Definitely don't want to go the hostel route.

dirtyghettokid

Vincent.Murphy wrote: »

Thanks a million for all the information. I'm glad it grew on you in the end. I was the same when I went to Australia, took awhile to settle into the way things were over there, also the insane heat. Won't have to worry about that over in Canada tho!!

you will if you are in southern ontario or in the prairies! it gets up to 30-40C+ in the summer time.

ronan25

Hi all. Im a little confused. Heading to canada in january. Applied for the U-35 visa from usit. Paid the fee etc and booked flights. Was under the impression if you havent any convictions you automatically get the visa. Read a diff thread and it indicated that it is not guaranteed! Usit never said anything about this. They certainly gave the impression thats its automatically guaranteed! Can someone let me know!
Cheers

i_love_toast

Well if it helps i dont think anyone has ever been refused the u35 visa for absolutely no reason at all.
Im in the same boat as you, waiting for the visa to get back (should be in the next few weeks) and heading off in jan!where u going by the way?

BehindTheScenes

Just so you know you can do the under 35 visa straight through the Canadian embassy now. Just so you can save a few €.

http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/ireland-irlande/highlights-faits/IEC-EIC-Oct2010.aspx

As well police checks have to be within three months.

Heading to Vancouver when I get my visa in January and can't wait!

ronan25

i_love_toast wrote: »

Well if it helps i dont think anyone has ever been refused the u35 visa for absolutely no reason at all.
Im in the same boat as you, waiting for the visa to get back (should be in the next few weeks) and heading off in jan!where u going by the way?

thats good to know. dont know why some people post stuff like that. Were booked to go to vancouver but Im seriously considering going to calgary for the first few months as there seems to be more work there - just in case i couldnt get anything in vancouver and ended up coming home early!

BehindTheScenes

ronan25 wrote: »

Hi all. Im a little confused. Heading to canada in january. Applied for the U-35 visa from usit. Paid the fee etc and booked flights. Was under the impression if you havent any convictions you automatically get the visa. Read a diff thread and it indicated that it is not guaranteed! Usit never said anything about this. They certainly gave the impression thats its automatically guaranteed! Can someone let me know!
Cheers

Hi Ronan are the visa applications open yet? I couldn't find anything on the internet.

the whole year inn

ronan25 wrote: »

Hi all. Im a little confused. Heading to canada in january. Applied for the U-35 visa from usit. Paid the fee etc and booked flights. Was under the impression if you havent any convictions you automatically get the visa. Read a diff thread and it indicated that it is not guaranteed! Usit never said anything about this. They certainly gave the impression thats its automatically guaranteed! Can someone let me know!
Cheers

If you dont have any convictions you should get the visa.No reason why you shouldnt,only thing is that if you lived in a different country you have to get a police cert from each country,thats the only reason I can think off,well maybe the medical,but you only have to do that if you are looking for certain jobs kids etc.

Since the flights are booked you will be sound,unless you do somethign stupid at immergration haha,I wouldnt worry!!!

tipp86

Anyone know where to get irish or british butter in Toronto i need it badly.

nicola84

Hey, Im heading over to Canada in Jan... Just wondering if anyone has suggestions of the most fun places to go??

lilmissbadass

tipp86 wrote: »

Anyone know where to get irish or british butter in Toronto i need it badly.

no frills does a brand called Becel its the same as flora just a different name over here

i think you can get it in most other supermarkets and convenience stores too

fanzhiyidan

what are the best / cheapest supermarkets in toronto?

JONJO THE MISER

nicola84 wrote: »

Hey, Im heading over to Canada in Jan... Just wondering if anyone has suggestions of the most fun places to go??

St John's Newfoundland, Halifax anywhere on the east coast.

lilmissbadass

fanzhiyidan wrote: »

what are the best / cheapest supermarkets in toronto?

probably No Frills. you can pick stuff up really cheap and they always have good deals on. plus they are all over the place so you wont have a hard time finding one near you

red menace

If you are sharing a house with a few people it may be worth doing your shopping in Canadain Superstore or getting a Costco card, the prices are good but the quantities tend towards the industrial.
Myself and my wife did our food shop in Superstore on Sat it worked out about ten bucks cheaper than a similar shop in Save-on.

ciaran67

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

St John's Newfoundland, Halifax anywhere on the east coast.

She said fun not closest

Fun = Toronto, IMO

red menace

nicola84 wrote: »

Hey, Im heading over to Canada in Jan... Just wondering if anyone has suggestions of the most fun places to go??

Where are you flying in to?
Will give you better suggestions...

JohnMearsheimer

Looks like Sayit Travel will be doing the Under 35 visas too for next year, got an email from them.

davetett

Hey everyone,

This website was recently started for people moving to Toronto, its only jst up and running but the more members the bigger the forums get.
www.irishalien.com

fanzhiyidan

thanks for the advice.
it'll only be my girlfriend and myself, so don't think we'll be going down the industrial route.
I presume there are plenty of small stores that do herbs and spices, asian shops and the likes

nicola84

red menace wrote: »

Where are you flying in to?
Will give you better suggestions...

Flying into Vancouver to go to whistler for a week or 2 and then was planning on heading over to toronto because i know a couple of people over there!! Still any suggestions are welcome... i was looking at newfoundland alright because i heard it was good from a friend... is the nightlife in Toronto good? I'm not a pisshead or anything but id love to know where the craic is!!

fanzhiyidan

anyone take a look at the alien website yet?

red menace

fanzhiyidan wrote: »

anyone take a look at the alien website yet?

Yep and meh.

lilmissbadass

fanzhiyidan wrote: »

thanks for the advice.
it'll only be my girlfriend and myself, so don't think we'll be going down the industrial route.
I presume there are plenty of small stores that do herbs and spices, asian shops and the likes

yes there are alot of shops around like that. especially places around chinatown and kensington market.

fanzhiyidan

cool, thanks badass

tipp86

Im mad to play sports while here until feb i assume there is no gaa going on. Anyone got tips on soccer?

Im staying on queen st east.

TechnoPool

tipp86 wrote: »

Im mad to play sports while here until feb i assume there is no gaa going on. Anyone got tips on soccer?

Im staying on queen st east.

lots going on in calgary

tipp86

TechnoPool wrote: »

lots going on in calgary

Lots of gaa?

should mention im toronto

CiaranMT

tipp86 wrote: »

Lots of gaa?

should mention im toronto

At that time of year, not a hope. It'll all be indoor sports; B-ball, ice hockey, indoor soccer, etc. It will be bitterly cold in Jan and Feb.

Lenmeister

I'm just back from a year in Canada. I stayed 6 months in Whistler including through the olympics. Then came down to Vancouver for 5 months, a week in Mexico and a week in Toronto.

Vancouver is an amazing city, really laid back, yet vibrant and full of life. People are really friendly, overly friendly. There's a TON of stuff to do there, especially for the outdoors type person.

3 local mountains and Vancouver Island, then Whistler which is a little over 2 hours by coach northward. Roughly 50 Dollar return by greyhound. Get a HI Hostel card, will give you discounts off greyhound travel, 25% I think, and other stuff, so well worth it.
It has a waterfront that goes right around the downtown part which is really nice to walk around. Has about 5 beaches - including a nude beach if you're into that kind of thing. There aren't many ugly spots in Vancouver, overall a really pretty city.

Granville St is the main area with coffee shops, bars, clubs, nightlife etc. There's another area in downtown called Gastown which is a fairly active nightspot, a little more expensive than Granville though.

If you're lookin for somewhere to stay, the Samesun is on Granville right in the middle of the nightlife. Great spot, but can be a little noisy depending which rooms you're staying in, though I found it fine. Has it's own bar downstairs with daily and nightly events - Poker nights, Pub Quiz etc. The HI hostel straight across the street is a more toned down spot, if you like your quiet or prefer to be alone then that's the spot to go.

Any big city in Canada is generally expensive, and you're required to tip for all "services" - tip the bartenders, leave tip with the bill, tip the cab driver etc. It's annoying but it's the way it is. You can get away with not tipping but they WILL make sure you know if you don't tip. I.E they will make sure you're the last person at the bar to get served and they'll take their sweet ass time doing it etc. This applies to everywhere in Canada, though some bartenders etc aren't so malignant. Since alot of places have tip jars you can get away with throwing some loose change in since there's already some in there. Just remember if you like a bar or club then make sure to leave a good impression, especially since the staff wherever it is usually remember you and tend to serve you faster etc so it works both ways.

I can't say much in the way of Toronto except that I wasn't too fond of it. Very ugly city with towering buildings all around. Just a concrete jungle really. No waterfront or local mountains, not ver much outdoorsy stuff to do. Good nightlife but so has Vancouver. I just went because I had a lot of friends around Toronto, and to see Niagar Falls ofcourse, which was well worth it.
By the way, Montreal has the best nightlife by far, or so just about every Canadian tells me.

Things of note:

Sea to Sky Highway - Road to Whistler with nice views
Georgia Straights - Lots of big islands rising from the ocean
Vancouver Island - 1 hour by ferry
Whistler - 2 hours north of Vancouver
Seattle - 90 mins south of Vancouver
East of Vancouver - Jasper, Kelowna, Big White, resorts etc
Flightcentre.Ca - Deals from Van Airport to Vegas, San Fran, Japan etc
Vancouver Canucks - Hockey team
BC Lions - Canadian Football team

I went through Usit. Although they were a little pushy about things, I found the deal I got overall was worth the money I paid. And yes Canada Air really sucks, I got my snowboard bag with all my toiletries a week after I arrived. But besides that, my flights, insurance and visa were sorted out for me, so not having to lift a finger except to pay them was worth it in my opinion.
I'm also trying the get back over there cause I loved it so much, fingers crossed!

Hope this helps. If anyone has any questions feel free to pm me or email me. <snip>