Before You Buy Land in Canada

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Check the soil before buying a piece of land. PHOTO: FOTOLIA/VIBE IMAGES

Sharon Woolley tries to move to Canada and experiences some obstacles with the Canadian Consulate, passing immigration and a shared homestead. In spite of these troubles, she settles happily on a new homestead with her family in Alberta Canada. 

I'd like to tell MOTHER EARTH NEWS and her friends the whole sweet-sour story of our back-to-the-land move from the U.S. to Canada.

It all started in the spring of '73 when we (my husband, myself and our two children) met some people through a P & S in the magazine. They were living in Alberta and looking for folks to share land expenses and labor. We were looking for a way out of North Dakota and our more or less routine life.

We corresponded with our newfound friends and even drove 2,600 miles (round trip) to meet them, look at their land and decide if we could all make it together. My husband and I had reservations. (We should've taken the advice in some of your articles, MOTHER EARTH NEWS, and at least talked to the neighbors to get a better idea of what was going on.) If we had been true to ourselves we probably would have called the whole thing off right then and there anyway. We didn't, though, and went ahead with our plans to emigrate.

I don't know if the process we went through would be the same in all regions, but here's how it was for us: The nearest Canadian Consulate was in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I wrote and got application forms in October of 1973. We filled 'em out in triplicate and passport photos of each of us except the baby (under 18 months) had to be included. We sent the papers back and waited for a reply.

Know what the answer was? "Forget it. You can't immigrate. We don't need teachers" (my husband's occupation). Of course, they hadn't bothered to notice that I'm a nurse. I knew they needed nurses!

I was angry and persistent and sent a barrage of protesting letters to the Canadian authorities. We eventually got another reply. They would consider our case if we could show them a written job offer. That meant taking another trip to Canada . . . more time, more money and more hassle. We did it, though, and got the job offer.

(A note: Last week on the news I heard that a new policy automatically deducts 10 points from the 50 points you need to pass immigration if you do not have proof of employment.)