Dave and Allison BeattieLifestyle Is jolly good for British couple in Alberta
Quality of life. It's one of the main reasons that Dave Beattie and his wife Allison decided to relocate from the United Kingdom to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
The couple arrived in Edmonton from Southampton, England in October, 2003. Dave, who worked in the U.K. as a police officer, is now a constable with the Edmonton City Police.
And Allison, who worked as a police control room supervisor, is now a quality assurance analyst with Alberta Blue Cross in Edmonton.
So just how was it that they decided to pick Canada? "We sat down and discussed it one day," said Allison," and we picked four countries: Canada, America, New Zealand and Australia.
And we gave them a point score each. I think Canada and New Zealand were tied, but just the pure logistics of moving to New Zealand, if there was a family emergency in the U.K., you're looking at a day or two days travel."
Another factor in deciding to choose Canada was the country's reasonable cost of living.
"House prices in England in the last five years have gone through the roof," said Allison. "And people have suddenly realized that they could take their equity, and come to a cheaper economy, somewhere like Canada, where it's two for one for every English Pound. If you come to a cheaper economy, you can really make the most of the money that you bring over."
The couple are enjoying the comforts of home-living in a big way.
They traded in their three-bedroom, 950-square foot home in the U.K.
for a new home in Edmonton that is just under 4,000 square feet.
"Our smallest bedroom in the U.K. was smaller than the walk-in closet that we've got now," said Dave.
Dave and Allison have settled in well to their new surroundings. Dave says that he does a lot more socializing than he ever used to do in the U.K.. And Allison feels it's not hard at all to meet new people.
"We found it very easy to make friends," she said.
"We've got great neighbours as well who are always cooking meals for us. And because we've got a nice house, I must admit, we spend a lot more time at home entertaining, chilling out, getting DVDs, and inviting friends and family around."
Many new arrivals to Alberta are shocked at how hospitable people are, and Dave was no exception.
"When you come over on holiday, the people you normally deal with are people in the service industry, who have to be friendly.
But when you get here, and see that the average Joe Canadian is also that friendly, I think that surprised me in a very nice way."
Dave and Allison are sold on Alberta, and are encouraging their friends and family from the U.K. to join them. "We have no regrets," said Allison. "We have found it remarkably easy. Very little home sickness."
In the end, it all comes down to finding the right balance.
"People want to enjoy their free time, and I think Alberta especially is the place where you can do that," said Dave.
"There's a nice balance here between working and playing."
Six helpful tips from Dave and AllisonKeep an open mind
A good piece of advice from Dave is, "be open minded and integrate in the community. Because it's your neighbours that know how to do the things that you don't know how to do. How do you go and get your Social Insurance Number? Your Alberta Health Care? It's all about research and speaking to people, making the effort."
- Look beyond the economy
"I think that's what inspires people to want to come here," said Dave, "but when they do finally come here and look around, they realize there's much more to it than that. Especially here in Edmonton. You're three hours from the mountains, you're fairly close to the States, so it gives you a nice base to work from."
- Check out the climate
The Beatties originally checked out Canada during the summer, but came back to see what a sampling of winter would be like.
"We did the summer, but we thought we really need to see what winters are like as well," said Allison.
"We came back in March '03, and did a three-week trip.
It was minus-45 with wind chill, blizzards like you wouldn't believe.
We haven't had that since we've been here.
It was a novel experience.
But the roads were set up for it. We just loved it. The extremeness in climate really suited us. And we could deal with it. Yes it's cold, but life goes on.
The roads are cleared, people get on and do their business. Half an inch of snow on the motorways back home and England grinds to a halt."
- Attend job fairs
Dave also recommends to attend job information sessions.
"Definitely go to any job fairs.
There's a big emigrate show that gets heavily advertised.
Alberta Government staff were there last time when we went, and were very receptive.
But you can pick up loads of information.
Subscribe to publications like Canada News, which is the main newspaper publication, which I think comes out monthly.
It gives Brits great information, it gives case studies of people like us who have moved, and tells what the latest information is from the Embassy and stuff like that."
- Have a savings strategy
"For eighteen months before we came out, we knew we wanted to put in as much overtime as possible," said Allison.
"We were lucky that we were both working in a policing environment.
I was a civilian in a police control room, so I worked 12-hour shifts.
So we had the opportunity of working 70-80 hour weeks.
I wouldn't particularly recommend it, but we had a goal in mind.
We knew that every one of our English pounds was $2.53 Canadian, which was a real incentive to pack money in the bank."
- Use the Web to keep in touch
"The Internet, once you're here, helps make the world smaller for your family back home," said Allison. "We've got video conferencing set up, so technology wise, it's made the world so much smaller."
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Sameena Arif and Family
Dave and Allison Beattie
Stephane Carloni
Phillip Deng
Jamil, Neesa and Farista Mohammad
Rebecca Reed and Adam Reeves
Goran Stoilov
Martin and Jacqui Wright, and son Alex
A safe, friendly environment with an excellent education system for her children – that’s what Sameena Arif, a teacher from Islamabaad, Pakistan, was looking for when she chose to immigrate to Canada in 2004. She found what she hoped for in Calgary, Alberta and gives the city top marks in other areas as well.
