Hi
@trumprefugee and
@moose17! Our application actually just got approved this Friday, which is very exciting (and stress relieving) for us. COPR should be here on Monday (per FedEx).
On why we're immigrating, we're on the same boat really. My wife has always wanted to live abroad. Kind of a "life goal" for both of us, but not really in the cards due to life in general. However, after the election my BIL applied for a job in Canada both out of frustration from the election (the old "we're moving to Canada!" joke) as well as a kind of bad situation at his workplace. It turns out the employers took the application very seriously and jumped at the chance to bring him in. A few months later and he's now very happily relocated in Canada with his young children.
That pushed us to do the same. Because of the same reasons, really: healthcare, education (college costs), mass murders happening almost every week, guns everywhere, crazy ultra-conservative politics, Trump's daily barrage of crazy... the list is fairly big.
One big thing for us, my wife and her family are all legal Hispanic immigrants (naturalized US citizens) who grew up in the States. My sister-in-law is a very recent immigrant from another Hispanic country (now also a US citizen). I'm as Puerto Rican as you can get, so a multi-generational American citizen (but still obviously Latino). Why that's relevant is that everything that happened during the election related to immigrants and Hispanics in particular felt to my wife and her family like a very personal and very hurtful repudiation of who they are. It opened up our eyes to a lot of things we used to take for granted or ignore before. I sadly I don't think a lot Americans will ever be able to understand (or care) about that.
On the subject of jobs, my wife (primary breadwinner now) has been networking for the whole year with folks in her field in BC. She actually already had a very good offer, but it was for a temporary 1 year contract and we had to decline. We're hopeful once PR goes through it gets us over one of the biggest hurdles for getting her employed, outside of lack of open positions in her field. As for me, I'm a stay-at-home dad as of December (when I finally quit my job), but I plan to hopefully get another job once my wife finds a good job there. Networking seems to be the key, and starting as soon as you can is best. We've been lucky enough to travel to Canada a few times this year, and she's prioritized networking with folks in her field every time.
On the issue of family, that's a toughie. It's a very unique situation for everyone, I'm guessing. I still haven't told my side of the family. Most of them (all of the ones in TX) are hardcore irrational Trump supporters, especially my parents. We get along great, and love each other very much, but holy moley no one can ever bring up politics when we're together. And if anyone does, I shoot them down fast. Oil and water. My dad's so stubborn he puts entire packs of mules to shame.
Bottom line is that the move isn't really about politics. It's about trying to give your nuclear family the best opportunity you believe they can have. If we had to move to another state due to work, would that be any different? It's my own personal opinion that if they take it badly, that's more their problem than ours. In our particular situation, we almost already broke relations with them after the election. They decided to issue an ultimatum that they never, ever wanted to see my wife's family (who live in the same town), again because they felt insulted by something my BIL posted in FB. That just about broke us. They're lucky my wife forgave them, but that does not mean we will ever forget.
Ultimately, and this may sound somewhat selfish, we have to do what's best for us and our daughters. And if that's moving to Canada, that's what it is. My family will always be welcome in our house, be it here (about 1.5 - 2 hours away) or in Canada. And it's not like they (retired and financially doing well) can't visit. Regardless, I'll still wait until things are settled and we're definitely moving. I don't want to stir up drama while we're still here when things may not happen (no job for wife, no move). Not much more I think I can do other than that.
