We asked our communities what tips they may have for people moving from Canada to an overseas posting in Europe and here is what they had to say!
Before you Leave
Passports - Ensure you have enough time left on your Blue passport to cover you for the entire length of your tour, the 10 year option may be a good investment, some members have been offered extensions and it will cost you more to apply for your Blue passport while you are abroad and it is at your own cost.
Mobile Phones - Unlock your mobile phone if you want to bring it overseas. It will cost you to unlock it once you arrive. Consider a pay as you go SIM card for the first year. There is usually a credit check done when you start a contract and members don’t have established credit upon arrival to their host nation.
Leave – It is always suggested that you use at least 10 days annual before you arrive at post as you will be adjusting to the new schedule and sometimes won’t not have the time to explore your new surroundings right away. Consider this a good time to visit with family before departure as travel seems to be somewhat of a challenge these days.
Research license, health care, banking, school enrolment and get it all done early! Most can be done online now.
Bring some mementos from Canada such as red and white balloons, maple leaf streamers, Canada Flag, even things like Canada Day cupcake liners. It’s fun for kids to have something to show their classmates or just to celebrate Canada Day.
Ensure that your driver's license is up to date and will not expire before you return to Canada. It isn't possible to renew them once you're overseas.
Connecting
Join social media groups (i.e. Facebook groups) ahead of time to get a feel for the location you’re moving to (for example, I joined Canadians in Scotland and New in Glasgow a few months before we came and learnt a lot from those communities).
Parcel Service – Let your families know that they are able to send you parcels and it’s free for them at Christmas time. They must follow the Canada Post Guidelines on prohibited items, so inform them. Packages have been delayed in the past for people who send over liquids such as perfume or syrup in glass bottles, and things like compressed gas like shaving cream, or hair mousse, etc).
Use your sponsor, reach out early, some of the sections will have reached out to you as soon as they receive your posting message. Sponsors in most cases will have just arrived the year before and will have ideas of what they wished they had included in their move or tell you what they miss most about “home”.
Be aware that you may be prepared for living up to 8 time zones away from loved ones in Canada but it is another thing to actually experience health issues with your parents or loved one so far away, and unable to visit home because of a situation like COVID-19.
It is wonderful to have the support of the CAF community, but making local friends is a great opportunity to immerse yourself even more into the local culture, and have a support system outside of work.
Day-to-day life
North American Appliances- Consider leaving your appliances at home and purchase new ones when you arrive, transformers are becoming a thing of the past as they aren’t being replaced once they become non serviceable (N/S).
If you're posted to a northern location, bring sleeping eye masks as it’s very bright at night during the summer months.
Be prepared for both forward and backward progress with services. For example, the cost and plethora or internet plans are seemingly decades ahead of Canada, while your local bank branch may be closed on Tuesdays.
Also manage expectations in regards to not expecting the same standard of housing as we expect in Canada. This includes no basement, a drastically smaller fridge / freezer, bedrooms that seem no bigger than a storage room back home and without closets, and very few homes that are open concept or without carpets. Remember, you're not living in your forever after house. This is just another example of part of the experience of living OUTCAN.
Keep in mind that dwellings in Europe are smaller than what we are used to. your queen size box springs probably won't pass through their stairwells. Purchase a split queen box spring prior to leaving Canada.
Employment
Spousal Employment - Spouses that have an interest in working for Canadian positions such as PSP or as a LEE/LES for long term or for ETH positions should apply for their security clearance (Reliability) before they leave Canada. One spouse was offered an ETH for June/July/August and her security clearance sat in a queue from February until October meaning she missed out on an opportunity.
Finances
Posting Loans - Talk to your losing unit to apply for your Posting Loan prior to moving to post over. You will have it in Canadian funds and it will help pay off any debt you may have before you arrive. Members have up to a year from their COS to apply.
You may run into some issues with your Canadian credit cards. We had difficulty paying for utilities, groceries and online orders with our Canadian credit card. With our quarantine, there was a delay in setting up our UK bank account. Have the local Canadians in your area help you with online grocery orders if you are in quarantine in your home (again, this is related to our difficulties with our Canadian credit card).
For people that may need to access RESPs while they're away for adult children left behind to attend university, make sure that they discuss access with their bank. While the Government of Canada allows you to contribute to and use RRSPs and RESPs while you're out of the country, Canadian Securities seems to have rules that you must be present in Canada to make changes to your accounts. I've heard from other military families that SISIP has provided headache-free access to RESPs, but we haven't used them for this, so I can't confirm the services they provide.
Food
Be brave and try every famous local snack or delicacy. Everything means not just High Tea, but also trying real Haggis or a proper Scotch Egg!
Moving
BGRS - Understand the policy. BGRS will take tax adjustments from your pay when you aren’t expecting it. Depending on the benefits you utilize, there may be a large sum taken when you least expect it.
Start inventory early.
DECLUTTER - your home may be smaller in Europe.
Keep your receipts organized - it will make doing your claim easier AND anything that doesn’t get reimbursed by BGRS could be a tax deduction in some circumstances.
Making the Journey
SNACKS, for adults and kids. During the move and busy times it can be easy to forget to stay fuelled. Have snacks on hand in cooler bags and don’t underestimate the power of take out/take away for a quick easy meal without clean up!
Pack a carry on bag for 2-3 nights to take on the plane.... this eliminates stress if your bag is delayed... Also makes it easy to grab the basics when you arrive exhausted at a hotel.... and not needing to go through 3 suitcases each. PACKING CUBES also very helpful, bonus points for colour coded. Some people divide these by outfits of the day or by grouping clothing by category by person. All my t-shirts in one cube, my shorts in another. The kids each have their cubes for shorts, PJ's etc. Makes it so much easier.
DONT FORGET THE STUFFY!!!!! This is for all the favourite items of each member of the family. Pack a comfort item for each person. It could be candies for dad on the airplane, a stuffed animal to help sleep for the kids, or mom's favourite tea....
Airplane: Antibac WIPES!!!! and baby wipes.... zip loc bags.... we used these 3 items for everything!
Most airports have guides of what to expect passing through the different areas of airports and where you will be covid tested. Healthy Canadians has a great video for arriving in Canada.
Enjoy your posting
Enjoy your posting. It’s sometimes a painful process just going through the screening and the move itself but I assure you, it’s worth it. You are basically a tourist on the weekends. If you are having a bad day you can always look out the window and say “Hey, you know what? I’m in ___________”
Google Maps- use google maps to help everyone get familiar with the new location. Look around for parks and points of interest.
Pets
Travelling with pets: use a pet transportation company (required for the UK but people going to other countries have the choice to use one or not). Worldwide Animal Travel are recommended as they great to work with, and the people there are very experienced to help answer any questions you have.
Pet-friendly hotels: many in the IHG group (so Holiday Inn, mainly) accept pets with a reasonable daily pet fee.
Travel
Remember to take time to travel. After all, it's one of the biggest perks of living OUTCAN! Europe is at your doorstep, and as expensive as it might be to visit Switzerland or Iceland, it is much cheaper than doing so from Canada. Plus, travel as much as you can, as there might just be a global pandemic waiting around the corner to put an indefinite stop on all future opportunities.
Train service is also great for many destinations.
When trip planning (fingers crossed) be sure to check multiple airports and companies. We have flown from Birmingham, Luton, Stansted, Heathrow and Gatwick.
Double check the costs of parking and/or travel to and from these airports during your flights times. For us many times driving to Birmingham although longer in distance was faster than fighting London Traffic. Check Expedia and the multiple travel websites including TUI, British Airways, EZ Jet, etc...
UK Specific....
Learn which way to look on the roads and sidewalks
Take away has now become more popular and widely available, but check out opening times of restaurants and pubs in your area. Many serve food between 12-2 pm and 6-8 pm which can be a challenge with younger children. Delivery options can be limited in the countryside.
AMAZON PRIME. You will use it!
Many rates for standard utilities and insurance change annually and most "locals" frequently change these services including "black friday" deals. Shop around for mobile plans, cable plans (although Freeview is great with a TV licence) , insurance coverage, utility bills.... Sometimes your current company will match the cost if you provide another quote.
Prepare for culture shock! UK Speaks English, but there are many difference to culture to Canada including local dialects, social interactions !
Mentally prepare that driving a UK mile is not the same as a CANADA mile... The UK roads are narrow and fast and crowded. It can be exhausting to drive and a 2-hour trip can be exhausting even for seasoned travellers and road trippers! Don’t be afraid to explore and get off the beaten track!
If you're posted to the UK, as part of the Commonwealth Agreement, you are eligible to vote in their local and federal elections. It is a wonderful opportunity to exercise your democratic right to vote outside of Canada.
If you're a sports fan, try to not only follow some traditional British sports, but actually experience Rugby, Football (our soccer), or Cricket by playing or watching it live. Seeing the English National team pay at Wembley Stadium is truly a once in a life-time experience in regards to the match, but also the atmosphere.
Understand that although the curriculum is similar to Canada, it is a very big adjustment for children at school. Moreover, this is in addition to them navigating through the unique difference of schooling here, vice changing schools in Canada. For example, naturally your child(ren) will have a different accent than the others (some younger children will actually adopt the British accent while here), but it is truly a rich opportunity to learn with, from, and teach students in a foreign country.
You may wish to apply for a credit card with no transaction fees for international purchases. For the first couple of weeks while we were in quarantine, we had to purchase everything online, and since we didn't have our bank account set up yet, we had to use our Canadian credit card and pay transaction fees.
Ask a local family about cell phone coverage in the area where you are being posted. We were given the advice to purchase SIM cards at the airport. We purchased E3 SIM cards, to find out that we have no coverage with E3 in Cambridgeshire. It was a struggle to get O2 SIM cards while in quarantine. Therefore, we had little communication ability while in quarantine. It was also difficult to set up home utilities and bills without a UK phone number.
Try to have your internet and cable set up ahead of time, perhaps through your landlord. It was helpful to us to have an internet connection during our quarantine. The downside, is our internet bill is under our landlord’s name for a year. We can only switch to our names once the contract expires.
If as a spouse, you are planning to work in the UK, you may need certified true copies of all your education & training documents in English. It is a good idea to have all certified true copies before moving to the UK. This was a challenge for me, as some of my degrees were completed in French. It was a challenge to have my documents translated by a professional and then verified as certified true copies. Also, it would be prudent for dependants to come over with police background checks, as it is more difficult to initiate outside of Canada.
Here are two recommendations for Pet Insurance in the UK. Animal Friends: https://www.animalfriends.co.uk/ Pet Plan: https://www.petplan.co.uk/pet-insurance/puppy-insurance/
The price of a hotel room can fluctuate in the UK, especially during the summer months. When checking into your hotel, request a receipt which shows an average price per night. Ex; 14 nights totalling $2100 @ $150 per night. Otherwise, you might have to pay out of pocket for the peak days.
Final words of wisdom
Remember to be patient with the whole system; things tend to work out in the end, but it’s the uncertainty that can be tough to bear. Be as patient as possible with the unknown (and also patient with yourself and your family!)
Manage expectations that your entire posting won't be like a honeymoon experience. You will face personal and professional challenges, no differently than you would in Canada.
- By members of the UK OUTCAN community