Im living in Calgary a booming city but now saskatchewan province is leading but i didnt like it there, prairie life is so different from the west an d east, but it is developing at a very fast rate leaving alberta behind.

Anyway for climate, cheap food and cheap rent( not cheap housing) vancouver is the best for any mauritian who dont want to face the harsh winter in any other province.However,if you are able to downgrade yourself, please dont be offended, what i mean by downgrade is do a job that is inferior to your qualifications and what you were in mauritius, THEN WITH TIME YOU WILL SUCCEED. Many mauritians have been doing odd jobs, even me i dont mind it coz a job is a job here no one will laugh at you or will look down unless anyone from our own community who may take himself to be superior but who forget his past when he first came in canada……

Ok jay, im going to work now, is working on this week end. Well manoj enjoy the PRB buddy, i dont have these
opprotunities here but there are many other opprotunities that outclass the prb, thats for sure lolll

C u buddy

Take care and my best wishes to your family

Vijay

Jay

Wish you all A HAPPY CANADA DAY to all new mauritian immigrants and mauritian canadian citizens. May our new and beautiful country brings prosperity, peace of mind and happiness to all of us.

Enjoy summer 2008

VIJAY
CALGARY

Thanx for all the info.. These days ive been so much busy with studies and work that i didnt have time to browse for all the info that i need, thats what i used to do anyway. Ill try to get contact with the AQIM members and ill let u know the outcome.

As always
Noor

Hi Frank,

I heard a lot about UK and Home office issues. Let me tell you one thing which any one need to understand carefully. The education system here is different from UK, you may be skilled and having degrees and masters etc but you need to do the equivalent assement here and you may need to go back to university or school if you lack equivalent education according to the canadian education system. However if you are an immigrant you can get help from the government of your province of settlement to get these equivalent certificate or education.

Well there are so many benefits being a permanent resident of Canada and if you can take the most advantage of it to contribute to your own education and to the work force of Canada then you will better off than in UK.

Yeah North America will have an edge on UK very soon. Do you know that here in Calgary and Alberta province there is a large community of British and Scottish? Many british are choosing canada to settle. Yeah for temperatures it may rise to extremes and fall to extremes as -50 in prairie provinces. But you need to dress up in layers not the light layers in UK that doesnt work at all here buddy loll, even teh vodka effect just disappear in a jiffy once you are outside loll.

Anyway buddy need to leave you my friend.

Take care.

Vijay

Calgary

Hi Noor, nice to hear from you buddy. I think i said in Toronto, if i said in Montreal then i made a big mistake buddy. You please forgive me. Toronto what i heard from a friend in Montreal, who went there for visit, that there is a community that help you settle and make you feel comnfortable. You just need to have an apartment and they can help you with very basic things like bed maybe some furnitures. He even told me that its completetely different from montreal, i mean the mauritians there in Toronto. Please i dont mean any offence to mauritians in QUEBEC. Its what i heard from many people and many different people cant lie on the same issue.

When i went to Montreal i relied on close friends of mine, but there was only a few of them that i get help and i ”debrouille myself” as much as i could. There are many mauritians that can help you in Montreal but i dont know them, even that in Toronto i dont know them but i got good feedback from friends. I have been living in both federal and quebec, there is a big difference between these 2 provinces. There are so many quebecquois here in Calgary and there will be more that i assure you. People from the east are just pouring into Alberta, increasing cost of living housing etc etc. However, i can certainly refer you to AQIM, Association Quebec Ile Maurice, i heard that this is a very helpful organisation, you can just go on their site and try to contact the members, they can certainly give you more information than i could on settling into quebec.

Concerning your medical, it varies, maybe once you get the certificat selection it must take around 8 months i assume now or less depending on Nairobi. Once you get it , i mean the medical you did it within 45 days then you will have to receive your permanent resiedent visa within 1 year you medical have been finalised. By finalise i mean it will take you one more week from the day you went for the medical that is to get your XRAY results blood test and HIV test, then the doctor will have to sign on the medical form and check if you are eligible according to tests and results. Then they will send it 4 you to nairobi. I will advise you if you get the medical test just do it as soon as possible because it is taking so long now,my wife got her final reports in 3 weeks. She said there are so many people doing medical for immigration, so i guess you have to do it quickly before the 45 days.

Now once you get your visa, you will have to there before the expiry date. You may receive your visa within 4 to 5 months or even longer but you must receive it before 1 year from your final medical report.

Well i hope that you will get help from AQIM, but in Quebec once you get there and get a place to live, the immigration authorities at the airport will guide you to the respective immigration agencies for help in settling and adapting to the Cultures of Quebec.

Anyway wish you all the best Noor.

Take care

Bye for now.

Vijay.

Calgary

One question, you mentioned in one earlier post that you have a friend who told you that theres a community helping Mauritians settling down in montreal? Could you tell me more please?

Second thing, how much time do you have in between receiving you medical request and the limit to which your visa is valid?

As always
Noor

You are right in terms of the papers , lodging etc. But there is one thing which canada knows how to do best ie attracting highly skilled migrant unlike the uk. I will not be surprise to see North America having an edge on europe in the future.You can spend your whole existence in the uk and contribute towards the british economy but you still feel like foreigner unlike in canada.You will be baffled the way the Home Office in the uk behaves towards a number of extremely competent individuals through refusal of extending work permit or even issuing new ones.
I sincerely believe that canada is a role model in terms of immigration despite the harsh weather conditions which i guess you will get used to on the long term :). Yes dude…getting use to -10c .i am sure you will be alright with a few shots of vodka lol

It does rock buddy but its not the nice weather conditions and the night life in england buddy. I was in Uk for one week in February and it was +11 everyday buddy whereas when i fly to Montreal it was all icy and -10 my friend. Big difference eh lolll.

Here we are subjected to harsh weather conditions but we can survive. Well i have gone to UK twice buddy, its nice over there but its so crowded and you dont feel at ease if you dont have the british papers or you are not secure with a means of living and lodging.

Anyway you take care buddy and enjoy the best moments in UK.

Thanks for your comment on our site especially from a UK mauritian, we really appreciate it buddy. You are teh most welcome buddy

Vijay
City of Calgary
Alberta province

You are right Calgary is geting better and better buddy, lets cross fingers. At times it can be hot in the day and at times cold, at times you want to remove your jacket lolll. Spring is now fully into Calgary and teh city is just booming with activities.

Im quite surprised that you didnt even meet any mauritians in Toronto?????? If you were in Calgary i wouldnt have been that surprised to hear that from you because there is not many mauritians here and they are scattered over the four quadrants of teh city. But you have not seen any mauritian in Toronto, very surprising buddy. Mauritians in calgary told me that when they were walking on the streets of Toronto they could see mauritians talking in creole and mauritian community what i heard from a Montreal friend is very helpful to new immigrants without regarding race and religion.HATS OFF TO THAT HELPFUL GROUP. May be you have been very busy at work or have not been able to see them due to weather conditions of winter. Im dead sure you will find lots of them in Spring and Summer then you wont feel homesick buddy.

Anyway enjoy Spring in the beautiful province of Ontario, here in the Prairie its not that nice due to the hot weather conditions in Summer. Thank god we have Banff and Jasper and drumheller ( there is a prehistoric museum there with an archeological site- Its worth the visit for kids and adults and its 10$ the ticket not that expensive)

Anyway keep in touch buddy.

Vijay
Calgary