Who Are We?

The Condensed Version of our Journey..

We left our home in London, England over 25 years ago and arrived in Toronto, Canada.

A time before the internet or social media. Let me tell you about the "We." It was my wife, myself, together with our four children, aged seven to fourteen years old. "Yes"we were a family of six.

What the hell were we thinking!
Leaving the family (Mother Father, Brother, Sisters ) was the most difficult decision I had ever made.

I know some of our friends and family had their own thoughts and reservations but didn't voice them openly. They just wished us the best.

"Why did you leave the UK and move to Canada?" This is a question we are asked often!!

Let me share some of our thoughts at the time and what helped us make the decision.

The Uk was in a social and economic decline, and the future did not look promising for our chidren.
The population of Canada at the time was about 30 million (which to us represented opportunity)
We loved the vast open space and the general cleanliness of the Country.
Passport rules allowed us to keep our British passports and still hold Canadian citizenship.
Living in Canada would give us easy Personal and Business access to the United States, Central and South America, and our favorite places the Carribean Islands, in particular Grenada.
Direct flights from London to Toronto made it easy for family visits.

Finally; We made the application and were successful.

How would we feel in the future if we didn't take this opportunity?

Nothing is guaranteed in life, but the pain of regret is worse.

Let's Do This!!!

Employment:

Finding employment was a challenge, this was before email and social media , I used to make regular visits to the Canadian high commision in central london and search through the Toronto Yellow pages (remember those!) and look for companies in my field of work. I sent my CV/Resume and a letter of introduction to a few and was offered informal interviews,with no obilgation implied. Any employment offered would be on the condition that I could to obtain Permanent Residence (PR) independently this, was at a time when sending letters by mail was the standard form of communication.

On arrival in Canada I attended a number of interviews within a few weeks I had accepted an offer and started work. The position involved working with a range of businesses across the province of Ontario to design and install Electronic control systems. I travelled extensivley throughtout the province and discovered some beautful places some, we would later visit on day trips.

Loosing my Job.

One Friday morning at 10:00 AM, after approximately two years of employment.

I received a request to attend a meeting in the Managers office, this was not unusal as we had meetings often to discuss progress on various projects.

On arrival, sitting there was my boss and the Head person from HR "A witness"

Their expressions told me all I needed know. It went something like this "Michael you have been a great asset to the company in your time here however, things are a little slow so we have decided to go in a different direction" For those of you reading this who don't know. it's a nice way of saying "You're Fired"

I left the office that morning without any animosity, the people at this company had been great to

Work with. I was fortunate to have had the opportunity.

However, thinking "What do we do now?" It was the end of November, and less than

4 weeks to Christmas. My grandmother had just arrived to stay with us for 6 months.

This was going to be our first BIG challenge!

The Drive Home:

I don't remember much about the drive home. I was on autopilot.

Thinking about how to tell Yvonne (my wife) that I was now unemployed.

Well, we're still married!! It was initially stressful, as it's so easy to focus on the negative and start thinking about the worst outcomes. It was about 3:30pm and the children had arrived home from school.

They thought I was home early from a job, which sometimes happened.

So Yvonne and I had a discussion in another room.

My wife was very worried which was more concerning, but understandable.

With Christmas being so near, we decided not to tell the children or my grandmother we didn't want to spoil it for them.

We were not going to give up at the first challenge, and decided that returning to the UK was not an option. We would find a way to make this work!!

Going into Business:

We had a business in the UK and planned to start another one in five years, after we were more settled.

This, whilst keeping my present job. This event had brought the timeline forward, so now was as good a time as any to start.

I suppose the universe was trying to tell me something.

I had built some good relationships with many of the businesses I had worked with.

I spent the rest of that Friday making phones calls to some of those contacts.

They were surprised at what had happened and receptive to my new ideas.

By the end of that day I had two projects lined up to start on the Monday.

I had been raised to believe that when one door closes another opens."God is good"

Within two weeks I had spoken to an accountant and registered the new business.

Also, within 6 months my previous employer called me to ask if I was interested in working for them as a subcontrator on new projects and customers I was already familiar with.

I was also able to negotiate a much higher hourly rate, than when employed.

A Win-Win for everyone..

The Second Business:

Shortly after arriving in Canada a financial advisor at the bank had convinced us to invest in RRSP's (Registered Retirement Savings Plan). Something which was very new to us.

A few years went by and the returns were not as we had expected (a story for another time)

In the meantime we had developed an interest in real estate investment and decided to purchase

our first rental property.

I was so excited to buy our first investment property, and on inspection soon realised there was lots of work to be done. It was the worst house on the best street. It was hard finding the time repairing the plumbing, electrical, drywall. I also had tenants in revolt and threatening to leave because the previous landlord had not kept up with regular maintenance. It seemed like I just created another job. Oh Sh..t!!

The Newcomer Housing Challenge.

When moving to Canada you will need somewhere to live in the short term.

Before Airbnb and VRBO, the only option for short-term rentals was traditional hotels.

At $170.00 a night and more, it can get expensive quickly.

A situation that still exists today, especially in the summer when demand is high.

When you arrive in canada most unfurnised long term rentals may not be available to you.

This is because you have no employment or established credit in Canada. (Something we cover in our teaching programs)

Note: Established credit ouside of Canada does not count.

Our Journey into Short-Term Rentals:

About 17 years ago we started hosting short term rentals and first signed up with VRBO.

and most recently Airbnb.

Through this, we met many new Canadians and saw them struggle to settle.

Presently, very little has changed finding suitable long-term housing is still a challenge.

It's understandable to feel anxious, when moving to a new country.

The process of settling can lead to feelings of frustration, stress and "Yes" Tears.

Let Us Help You:

We started by providing information and advice to our guests and spent a lot of time speaking with families on how to best get started.

We soon realised that there were more people that needed help than we could assist individually.

Now you can catch up on all of our online programs or come along for live events.

Best of luck to you.

Michael & Yvonne