Up sticks and move to Canada

alan3t

Does anybody know anyone who has left AGS and moved to Canada to work as a police officer? Am considering the move at the moment and would love to hear from anyone who has already done it.

rollcall

Alan, would love to do the same myself and tried a few years back, could not get the necessary points, I was hoping that I could use my wife's occupation as a nurse to get into Canada and then try for the police, but was very difficult as you need to be a citizen or have permanent residency to join, and the points requirements change all the time. A friend of mine left the Met Police to join the Ontario Provincial Police a few years back and it worked out great for him. One useful thing might be to investigate if you can get an English passport. I know it might seem like treason, but if you were entitled to one through your parents or being born in the UK etc., it can be an advantage in trying to join a commonwealth police force. At this stage being an old geezer approaching retirement in AGS, I am checking into the possibility of retiring to Canada as they have different visas for that. Would love to hear what other posters think!

alan3t

Thanks for that, my mother is British so I will look into my elligability for passport. If it makes it easier to get a job over there that would be great. Prob have to start from scratch as cadet but I'm only 32 so can live with that.

FGR

There's great difficulty in trying to get into the Police in Canada now as opposed to a few years ago when they were actively canvassing Irish/British police officers to make the move.

Alas I was too young at the time to even consider such a thing..! Would love the opportunity though.

kub

Alan3t I wish you all the best. This thread just about sums up the mess that this country is in, when we now have full time Garda seriously considering emigrating to Canada.

An occupation which not so long ago was considered an excellent job. I hope it works out well for you.

alan3t

kub wrote: »

Alan3t I wish you all the best. This thread just about sums up the mess that this country is in, when we now have full time Garda seriously considering emigrating to Canada.

An occupation which not so long ago was considered an excellent job. I hope it works out well for you.

Thanks for that, I can assure you I am not the only one seriously considering emigration at the moment unfortunately.

rollcall

Interesting posts guys, I have been checking into emigration on retirement as I dont see the point in staying here if my 3 children end up in other countries to go to college or try and get a job. It is hard to see things getting any better in the forseeable future, and after almost 30 years service I can say that I have never seen morale so bad. When joined in the mid 80s there was a massive recession, but the job was a lot simpler. If we caught somebody he got arrested and charged, pretty simple and instantly effective. There was more respect from members of the public and you did not feel as much as today that the entire system was against you. Transport has always been an issue, in my first station we had a Renault 4 as a district patrol car, and that was replaced by an Austin Maestro! The loyalty I felt to my country when I joined has been replaced by anger and frustration that it has come to this stage. I dont want my grandchildren to be still paying for Anglo and Quinn when I am long dead, and the slowness and impotence in dealing with the people who caused this mess is shocking. But of course AGS get blamed for that too by Liveline listeners! Anyway lads, as an auld fella I am allowed to rant, apologies if I am going on, maybe I should keep it for my memoirs!

alan3t

rollcall wrote: »

It is hard to see things getting any better in the forseeable future, and after almost 30 years service I can say that I have never seen morale so bad. When joined in the mid 80s there was a massive recession, but the job was a lot simpler. If we caught somebody he got arrested and charged, pretty simple and instantly effective. There was more respect from members of the public and you did not feel as much as today that the entire system was against you. The loyalty I felt to my country when I joined has been replaced by anger and frustration that it has come to this stage.

Well said, you hit the nail on the head.

FGR

rollcall wrote: »

When joined in the mid 80s there was a massive recession, but the job was a lot simpler. If we caught somebody he got arrested and charged, pretty simple and instantly effective. There was more respect from members of the public and you did not feel as much as today that the entire system was against you.

This. The amount of times I've heard this from senior men/women is incredible. These are the people who are literally counting down the days/weeks/months until they can retire and it's a shame as the job is losing a lot of good people as a result of it.

maddragon

FGR wrote: »

This. The amount of times I've heard this from senior men/women is incredible. These are the people who are literally counting down the days/weeks/months until they can retire and it's a shame as the job is losing a lot of good people as a result of it.

Same story in the Defence Forces. I left last November and in recent weeks I've been getting call after call asking me about pension entitlements etc.
Challenging times!