Genevra Willcox - now of Ontario, Canada

After a lifelong dream, Genevra Willcox and her family arrived in Ontario mid- 2003.

Genevra had always dreamed of living in Canada and says “When I met my husband, Glen, I only agreed to marry him if he would consider emigrating to Canada”. Neither had been to Canada before so they decided to visit the country for their honeymoon and once they arrived they both felt very much at home.

Once they arrived back in the UK, Genevra was pregnant with their first daughter, Madaleine so they decided to put their plans on hold. However, after the birth of their second daughter, Miranda, the research began. They visited Emigrate 2000, a show held at Sandown every year providing a wide range of information and services for intending migrants. After leaving the show on a high reality set in back home as they realised that it was not financially viable to move at that time.

However, by September 2001 they were ready to start the application process but as the Canadian immigration requirements were being reviewed they were unsure as to how their application would be affected. After a few months they were asked to provide further documentation and then the waiting game began. Genevra says, “We sat back and waited, and waited. This was probably the most stressful part for us” After over eight months of waiting the letter was waiting for them after a family holiday in Euro-Disney. "I can’t describe the feeling of opening the envelope and seeing what we wanted. It was 11.00pm and I think we woke our neighbours with our screams of delight", comments Genevra.

Genevra and Glen had sorted out short-term accommodation prior to their arrival in Barrie and began the process of settling in. Luckily, Glen found a job within two weeks as he had a contact from England and came highly recommended from his previous employer. When they arrived in Ontario they found that they could only drive on their UK licence for 2 months (regulations have now changed) but the waiting list was 9 months long! They had no choice but to sit in the examination centre and hope that there was a cancellation. As Glen works in Toronto, one hour away, it was essential that he got his licence sooner rather than later and eventually they were both successful. Just one of the hurdles to get over when moving to a new country!

They settled in well but Genevra says,"Our new friendships were tested to the limit when we all contracted salmonella and both Glen and I were admitted to hospital six times between us. Everyone rallied around to help take of the children but Mum had to fly out to take over as I had become so weak. This experience highlighted how vulnerable you can be in a new country without family around".

They are all really enjoying their life and spend their time skiing and ice-skating when it snows and in the summer enjoying the many parks and beaches. Both children have settled into school and Genevra has started college continuing the studies she began in the UK. They love Barrie as it is has all the amenities of a big city with a small town feel and it suits the whole family perfectly. “We just knew it would suit us perfectly - and it has” comments Genevra. Glen, Madaleine and Miranda outside their new home in Barrie.