Marieke & Bas(38)

Bas worked as a project manager at the Port of Rotterdam and I was a nurse. We had a comfortable life, but we wanted more for our children — Sem aged 8 and Lotte aged 5. More nature, more space, more adventure. Vancouver had been on our dream list for years: mountains, ocean and one of the most livable cities in the world.

The immigration process started with a work permit. Bas had received a job offer through his employer at a Canadian port company in Vancouver. With a positive LMIA (Labour Market Impact Assessment), he could apply for a work permit, and the children and I came along as dependents. The entire process took nine months — longer than hoped, but IRCC is thorough.

The first weeks in Vancouver were a mix of euphoria and chaos. We temporarily rented an apartment in Burnaby while looking for a house. The children had to be enrolled in a local public school. The Canadian school system differs from the Netherlands: classes are smaller, there is more attention for individual students and the school year runs from September to June. Sem received ESL support (English as a Second Language) and within six months he was fluent.

Health insurance was a crucial point. British Columbia has MSP (Medical Services Plan) — comparable to our basic insurance. After a three-month waiting period we were covered. In the meantime we had private bridge insurance. GP care is good, but wait times for specialists are longer than in the Netherlands. That was an adjustment.

What surprised us most is how welcome we felt. Canadians are incredibly friendly — and that's not a cliche. The neighbors brought cake, the school organized a welcome meeting and Lotte's classmates invited her for playdates before she even spoke English properly. The multicultural society in Vancouver makes it easy to feel at home.

Now, two years later, the children attend school in North Vancouver, Bas works at the port and I obtained my Canadian nursing registration through NNAS (National Nursing Assessment Service). We hike on Grouse Mountain on weekends, the children ski in winter and we picnic on the beach in summer. Life here is better than we ever dared to dream.