Oh, sorry I may have been a little unclear, I have lived in Canada only as a child, and lived in The US for a long time as well. Served in the military and all that. I've worked in China for 6 years now. I'm a historian, so I thought what better place to see the other side of the world, and it's history. My wife and her son (ie. my stepson have never lived out of China). Just seemed BC the climate and the second-largest China Town is in Vancouver so they can keep some of their culture and language skills.
I'm a Canadian Citizen, But Never lived in Canada as an Adult, to add, I have a foreign Wife and Child as well.
- Thread starter Justin Dalley
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Truly, again, thank you for everyone's help. This is a lot of information, but I'll chunk it step by step and go through the programs.
You still have minimal ties to Canada and have spent substantial time in China which may lead to longer processing time. Hope you have quite a lot of money saved if moving to the Vancouver area.
Climate-wise, assume your wife, son and step son also lives (with you) in Guandong province, wouldn't Vancouver a bit cold for them? Wouldn't Houston or cities in California in the USA better suits them?
Please also note that there's no China Town in Vernon. It's a small town, by driving, it takes over 4 hours from metro Vancouver. I only travel there in the summer while driving to Calgary. For your info, there's also a Chinese Cultural Centre in Calgary. Lots of good dim sum restaurants nearby and some asian supermarkets in Calgary. Groceries might be more expensive than Vancouver but housing prices less expensive.
Good luck.
As for general comments about what might be best for you and processing time, there will of course be different opinions. It will depend on employment and other aspects we don't know about. My own two cents:
-You can certainly expect IRCC to come back with requests for more information/evidence of your 'intent to return.' Given your shorter history in Canada, that is. You can't fully fix that now - prioritize getting your app in (and provide what you can now).
-After you submit, continue to prepare and collect any and all evidence of your preps. Moving arrnagements, schooling, vaccinations, whatever - even correspondence.
-We submitted correspondence from family and friends about the long-term discussions we'd been having about returning. Just short factual letters.
As for place you choose to live:
-What you indicate on the form does not have to be where you end up - BUT Quebec special in this regard. Perhaps it will make more indicate to target being closer to your family. If you have to change it during the process, no formal notification required (except Quebec - don't do it) - but if you do so with good reason (eg employment) then documentation all the better.
-Would highly recommend you at least visit Canada during the process. It's also evidence of your seriousness.
-Location might ultimately be driven by employment and - as hinted by others - monetary concerns. Employment will likely drive the monetary - for most anyway.
-As for the cultural/language elements - most big cities have substantial Chinese communities, and many mid-sized ones do, too. Including multiple languages (Cantonese of course but more, Hakka, etc), multiple countries of origin (HK but also just about any other country where there are 'overseas Chinese').
That's not attempting to draw a conclusion for you but that realistic options may be wider than you expect that would be manageable for your family. With internet and satellite tv and options like that, communications issues less critical. YMMV of course. (Or maybe they won't be bothered or interested at all after a year or two - happens to many).
Each of the many topics like schooling and health insurance and pets etc have lots of details.
Have you tried Indian Hakka food in Toronto? It doesn't look like Chinese food. Also different restaurants in Canada have their own variations of Dan Dan noodles.
Yes, and I know some straight up Hakka personally. Most I can say about that is - Hakka I think has more variety (between 'Hakka' places) because ... so many Hakkaended up outside China. (I know some who came via India/Singapore and still speak Bengali). I like the variety but it's harder to know if it's a type you like (or possibly my tastes have changed).
A Chinese-Canadian friend used to claim that Chinese food was better in Canada - better ingredients. I'd guess that's changed as China has gotten more wealthy.
"Chinese food" in general has the problem that you don't know what they mean - China's a big place with a lot more diversity than many realize and when you add the overseas variants... And many restaurants don't get into the details of what variant is their specialty - Chinese food is easier for marketing (people don't search as readily for some obscure type).
You look further in the menu or specialties to understand that it's actually for example ... Malaysian basically (owners behind it or those who designed menu), Chinese food yes but specialties are Malaysian. I pretty much look further in the menu to try and figure out what the real deal is (to the extent I can guess).
But that's not a new thing in Toronto. When you look carefully at most of the Sushi places - Koreans. Someone told me years ago most of the Italian places were run by Greeks (Greek immigrants used to 'specialize' in restaurant business - but we don't have many greek immigrants anymore). There have never been that many Thai immigrants to Canada - so doesn't take long to figure out that very few of the Thai restaurants are run by Thais.
Last ten years or so the joke is that whatever restaurant type you go in - French, Italian, Fusion, haute cuisine, bistro-and gastro-pubs, Thai, you name it - it's Tamils in the kitchen. (That's not an insult, just a work niche that they've specialized in lately, in Toronto anyway). I've seen some Tamils working in kosher restaurants.
Well, each generation these things switch up.
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