Canada2Australia

That data is a few years old already. The Filipino population is higher than that now, based on city and provincial data from 2014 (this data is more reliable for local population stats than national data anyways). Woomba corrected me that the total percentages I used for cities we representative of ethnic minority populations which are still significant. For instance, Winnipeg's total non-Hispanic white population is now down to 67%, and had been falling for over a decade now. As for the Icelandic population, Gimli Manitoba (on the west shores of Lake Winnipeg) technically has the largest Icelandic population outside of Iceland.

And it was Canadians that made that possible! Canada; bringing winter sports to the rest of the world :wink:

That's a shame. I wish there were more Canadians there to help make hockey, and skating in general, more popular. I will definitely miss it when I move there. There are rinks in the other major Australian cities and I believe there are casual rec leagues in a few of them. This *may* be a deciding factor on how long I end up staying in Darwin. Although I guess I shouldn't be too surprised to find that there are no rinks in a city in the tropics haha

Hey all: I'm just wondering if anyone knows of any rec/beer leagues that get together casually to play a few games. I'm not looking for any competitive leagues; just wanting to get together once in awhile to blast a few pucks around the rink. Also, do they sell any hockey equipment in the Darwin area? I guess I'm asking if any of this is possible?? Thanks,

Well, perhaps not Asian, but 50% of the city is made up of visible minorities. The black population is substantial in Toronto.

Many foreigners don't realize how multicultural and cosmopolitan Winnipeg actually is. We are one of the most multicultural cities in the country; we even have the largest multicultural festival in the WORLD; Folklorama, my absolute favorite festival. Two weeks of endulging in ethnic food, drink and entertainment. This has been made even more prominent over the last decade thanks to the Provincial Nominee Program (the largest in the country), allowing up to 20,000 immigrants settle in the province per year. When I moved back to Winnipeg a few years ago, I barely recognized the city anymore; I felt like I was in a much larger city. Canada is slated to take in 25,000 Syrian refugees over the next few months (Manitoba will get 2,000 of those), but I've heard reports that number could go as high as 100,000 over the next year if the government gets it's way in Parliament. If that is the case, Manitoba may get as many as 5,000-10,000 Syrians settlers.

Canada's top four out of five immigrant source countries are from Asia; China, India and the Philippines. The US is number five or six I believe. The numbers from the UK have been falling for over a decade now. From what I understand, and I don't know if this is true or not, but with the exception of the US, Canada has made it very difficult for those from other english-speaking countries to be granted visas into Canada. We seem to be targeting Asian countries and even other french-speaking countries. I don't quite understand the rational for this. In my city, Winnipeg, we have the largest per-capita Filipino population in the country (11% of the city is Filipino) continuing to grow every year, and our city is now almost 25-30% Asian. Vancouver and Toronto are now over 50% Asian. I would't be surprise if Vancouver is now 60-70% Asian.

I didn't have a chance to check out any of the areas by the river unfortunately; only had a limited amount of time. I'll definitely be back to check it out. We have an office there and I'll likely have an opportunity to travel for work to the region. I loved Cairns as well; being a smaller town it's harder to get away from the tourists that flock there. As such, it's just a bit too touristy for my likes. I'm from Winnipeg, born and raised. I lived in Alberta for 12 years after I left home. Then the economic crash happened, lost my job, and came back home for a new job. Now I have accepted a transfer to Australia and am really looking forward to it! (pending visa approval, of course). Ah Burlington (Hamilton); the Golden Horseshoe area of Ontario. I haven't been there in almost 25 years. I'll visit again one day.

What about us Canucks?

Ah, gotcha. I checked and it's actually available in Canada as well, but only in the decaffinated form. Funny that I've never seen or heard of it before as I'm a huge fan of pop.

Pardon my non-Pommy ignorance, but what in the hell is an "irn bru"????? It sounds like some sort of ancient Celtic Stonehedge moonshine or evil witch spell

I had passed through Townsville back in February. I was only there for a day, and it definitely was not a mega tourist destination from what I could gather. However, I really liked it. I had a middle-class, blue-collar feel to it. A place where you weren't surrounded by tourists; I personally hate that. It was place where I could strike up a conversation with like-minded Australians about anything. The people there reminded me of my home city; not plastic and phony, but just your average hard-working joe, and I rather enjoyed it. I was secretly hoping my company would consider transferring me to our Townsville, even though I knew the chances of that were slim.

Okay, thanks. I've now been linked to my application and can see it for myself. Thanks! Cheers

G'day all: I've been told that my employer, who lodged my 457 a few weeks ago, has the ability to add my Immuaccount to the application so that I can see the status of my application as well. However, they are telling they don't know how to do it. Can someone share with me how this is done? You can PM me if you like; I just need to know what to tell them so that they can link my account up ASAP. Thanks!

Well, I'm not there yet, but I'm hoping to be by February as soon as my visa is granted. I'm 35, single and also looking to meet new people. Perhaps we can rally up a bunch to go for some cold ones when the time comes PS, I'm not a Pommy, but I am Canadian, the friendliest bunch of folks on the planet :cool:

Nice. I have Aussie-born cousins in the Mount Waverley and Cranbourne areas of Melly. They are my support system in the country; making my transition to life down under a lot easier and more reassuring.

Hmm, I didn't know that was an option. I will ask to see if that is possible. I'm currently on an 8 week holiday, and it would be nice to keep tabs on this myself. Thanks for the tip! Out of curiosity, were do you plan to set up shop in OZ? I'll be heading to Darwin myself.

Sweet. Since we are both from low-risk countries (I'm assuming you are from the UK ) then both of us should have fairly quick turnaround processing times. The crazy thing is that our offices in Australia are closed from Dec. 24 to Jan. 7, and the HR person who lodged my application (and the only person who has access to checking on it's processing status) is on an additional weeks holiday, starting December 16, so that is 3 weeks that I'm left in limbo, wondering what the heck is going on; I'm likely going to drive myself insane during that time haha. Hopefully we both get the best Christmas gift ever!!!

I was wanting to move to the US, specifically Arizona, for the last few years. However, I've seen the progression of that country go down the pooper in so many regards that now I would never consider moving to that country; ever. I've turned down several job offers. Apparently they treat you like underpaid slaves there, and that is something I am not interested in whatsoever. I'll take Canada and/or Australia over the USA any day, thanks!

My company has lodge my 457 visa and nomination applications on November 26th, lodged in Sydney (I'm assuming, since that is where their corporate office is). They have already been approved as a sponsor long ago. I'm slated to start working in February, pending the grant of my visa. I'm praying that it will be granted prior to Christmas. Just curious to know if anyone else is on a similar situation as myself and what kinds of timelines you are experiencing.

I was told there were two ways my company could proceed with this; apply for a "new hire" 457 visa or an "internal transfer" 457 visa. Since I'm currently employed with the company, obviously they chose the "internal transfer" method. Just to clarify, are you saying that it would be okay for me to be employed in another country while still technically being employed with my company while waiting for an outcome decision on my visa applicaiton?

Thanks for the responses and advice. My company is surprisingly giving me a lot of freedom and are encouraging of my decisions. I just don't want to ruin any chances I have with a misunderstanding of what I can/can't do while waiting for the decision on my visa application.

Hello everyone: I am new to this forum so please excuse me if I seem ignorant in the way I am asking this question. My company is transferring me to our Darwin Office from Canada. My company lodged the 457 Visa and the Nomination application on November 26th but we still haven't heard anything regarding this yet. Part of the condition of this application is that since this is an "internal transfer" application, I must remain employed with the company until the visa is approved, then I can proceed to move to Australia. I'm currently being permitted to take 8 weeks off (I have 8 weeks worth of Vacation and banked time to use up anyways). Once those 8 weeks are up, I'm being told I will be given a leave of absence in order to remain employed with the company. They are doing this because they are predicting there will be next to no work waiting for me to come back to, so this way I don't have to quit and still keep all my benefits. Now, before I even got a transfer proposed to me and approved, I had been approved for a WHV in New Zealand, incase I decided to leave my position. So I was thinking, if by the time my holiday and banked time run out and my visa is still not approved, I would hope on over to NZ and hang out there for awhile, perhaps take up some work while I await for a verdict on my visa application. My query is this: can I work and/or travel in another country while I'm waiting for my Australian 457 visa to be approved? If anyone can help me figure this one out it would be much appreciate. Cheers

Awesome. I was afraid it might turn into a Sydney-type nightmare for me, but I've heard from a few others, including yourself now, that I should be more than okay, which gives me confidence that my finances will be okay Thanks BeckiBoo!