THE BEGINNING OF THE MAPLE SYRUP MOVEMENT

Hey everyone!!!!!!!!!

I have some big and very exciting news for all of us. Alex, Nolan and I have decided to immigrate to Canada.

There are a number of different reasons, and I want you all to be a part of this wonderful development. I love you all so much, and in the course of my life I have made a lot of mistakes for acting too quickly, thinking I know everything, and all sorts of things I won’t say here but I’m sure you guys know about… hahaha! I think you guys can agree that this is a very obtainable goal, and I hope you will all share it with us.

Alex and I want to move to Canada. It’s a beautiful place with wonderful people and lots of career opportunities for all of us. I want you all to come and be able to visit me, and we want to eventually apply for permanent resident status there. The specifics of how we are going to get there are still being decided and we are VERY open to suggestions.

We will be moving to Ontario; somewhere around Toronto and Ottawa. We are also considering Vancounver, over in British Columbia, the problem being it’s kind of far from Niagra Falls, it’s expensive, and it’s less populated, but it is close to all the Buttenhoffs !

We want to drive there. In the next month and a half we will be getting our driver’s licenses, and maybe with the help of mom (and possibly dad, if he’s in the position to, as it was mom’s suggestion) and Alex’s parents; we want to get a reliable, car with good gas milage and drive to Canada. (We want a small car or truck, or best case scenario, it would be a hybrid to be earth friendly and stuff!) This way we can take the small number of possessions we want to, not have to board Nolan on a plane, and take a relaxed trip across the United States. Before we more, we’ll sell our furniture, pack out bags, and begin the biggest road trip of our lives. :)

We have already began saving money for this move at the Arizona Credit Union. I have $100 saved, and we’re going to keep putting $100 in every month, and more if we can spare it, so that we can live comfortably and put down a security deposit on housing. We will start looking for jobs in December, and our eyes are already out for them now. I’m working part time as a graphic designer and already making a fair amount of money, and that’s online, so we can do that from anywhere. Alex has been going to school for bookkeeping and wants to become a Certified Public Accountant. Alex should finish school in spring of 2013, maybe a little later, which gives us plenty of time to do this all. We want to stop by the Grand Canyon to say goodbye to Arizona, and stop by Niagra Falls to greet Canada. 

To get an immigration visa, we will need either family in Canada, or a permanent job offer. If we have any family, however distant, in Canada, they could REALLY really help us make this move, and if you know of Canadian companies willing to sponsor us, we would be willing to work our BUTTS OFF to make this dream a reality.

It will take 3 years for us to gain permanent resident status in Canada. I will outline some details to show you that we have done our research.

• Skilled workers and professionals: For people who want to settle and work in Canada (outside of Quebec)
• Quebec-selected skilled workers: For people selected by the Quebec government to settle and work in Quebec
• Canadian Experience Class: For people who have recent Canadian work experience or have graduated and recently worked in Canada
• Investors, entrepreneurs and self-employed people: For people who want to start a business in Canada
• Provincial nominees: One of Canada’s provinces or territories can nominate you to settle and work there
• Sponsoring your family: How to sponsor a family member to join you here if you are a permanent resident or a Canadian citizen

We would fall under these categories:

Skilled workers and professionals, Investors, entrepreneurs and self-employed people,

….and possibly, by a long shot, sponsoring your family if we have relatives in Canada. I won’t go over that, because it’s also a long process, and I think we may qualify for the first category anyway.

Skilled workers and Profressionals - Requirements

• have a valid offer of arranged employment, OR
• be an international student enrolled in a PhD program in Canada (or graduated from a Canadian PhDprogram within the past 12 months) and meet certain criteria.

There are six criteria after we meet one of these two requirements:

• your education
• your abilities in English and/or French, Canada’s two official languages
• your work experience
• your age
• whether you have arranged employment in Canada, and
• your adaptability.

The application fee is roughly 485 CAD and a processing fee.

When we arrive, these are the criteria:

• Your valid passport and/or travel documents. Your passport must be a regular, private passport. You cannot immigrate to Canada with a diplomatic, government service or public affairs passport.
• Your valid permanent resident visa, and your Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR). The officer will make sure you are entering Canada before or on the expiry date shown on your permanent resident visa. Please note that this document cannot be extended, therefore you should make sure to use it before it expires.
• Proof that you have sufficient funds to support yourself and your family after you arrive in Canada.

Investors, entrepreneurs and self-employed people seeks to attract applicants who intend and are able to become self-employed in Canada. Self-employed persons must have either:

• relevant experience that will make a significant contribution to the cultural or athletic life of Canada or
• experience in farm management and the intention and ability to purchase and manage a farm in Canada.

Which MAY include my art, and my second idea:

I want to make a documentary about our immigration. We’re two people (and a dog), average, middle-class,  with self-made opportunities (especially since dad’s financial situation isn’t great) putting ourselves through school who want to make the world a better place. We’re documenting our move to show how important it is to work hard, be determined, and how you can do anything when you put your mind to it. Nobody’s too poor or lacks oppourtunities to immigrate to a new country from any country, and make a comfortable life for themselves.

We’re going to document learning french, because people in Canada are mostly bilingual and it’s a beautiful language. We’re going to show how different people make the world go round and how even though we’re all different, we can help each other make everybody’s lives beautiful and find art and love in all things.

We want to document our love for each other, our family, friends, art, culture, Earth, and all humans and animals together.

Alex’s parents were British immigrants. Alex comes from a life of hardship, and my life wasn’t the easiest either, but we love each other, and we have an awesome support net of you guys to make this happen! :)

I want to start hosting this on Kickstarter in the next month or so. We’re going to document our progress on twitter and tumblr.

We’ve named it the Maple Syrup Movement. I would be so so happy if you guys were a part of this with me. We can interview you guys on skype and you can tell embarrassing stories about us and it’ll be beautiful, because life is beautiful. The date is still TBA :D please stay tuned with us to find out more when we get closer!!!

(information taken from http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/index.asp)

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