Canilink Testimonials
If you are a past or current customer and wish to provide a testimonial or a personal experience you would like to share, please send it via our Contacts page.
Testimonial #1
Hi,
my name is Jackie and my husband is Chris. We came from Bedfordshire in
the UK. I am Canadian by birth so kept my Canadian passport and was
able to sponsor Chris and moved out in 8 months.
We have known Ian and Jayne for the last three years whilst researching Calgary. We have found Calgary to be the most beautiful place to live. It is prosperous, healthy and the people are just very warming.
Since landing this August 2007 Ian and Jayne were there to support us and to carry us through the hurdles, answer all the questions, and cushion our stay here whilst looking for our new home.
Finally, we did find our dream home and this was a done deal in a matter of two weeks. Yes, we are evidence of this being done so quickly. The expertise, efficiency and knowledge that Ian and Jayne displayed got us our dream home.
We have our new home, our jobs - me as a senior staff nurse (psychiatric) working at the Foothills, and Chris as a roof tiler - our happiness and we are where we want to be.
Ian and Jayne remain our contacts and friends for life here in Calgary, After all, we know that they will always be at the other end of the phone, day or night.
We commend them both for their hard work and friendship.
Chris & Jackie Hancock from the UK
Testimonial #2
Well where to begin! We arrived in
Calgary June 11th 2004, the we being myself (Jeani), my husband Billy
and 2 sons Jon-Paul 13 going on 20 and Elliot 8 going on 60. We come
from Skelmersdale and before everyone says where! its between Liverpool
and Wigan in the UK. We were met at the airport by the lovely Jayne and
whisked to a hotel where we stayed for 3 days. During that time Ian
took us to sort out medical insurance, Social Insurance Numbers, bank
accounts and even took us to sort out and pick up a rental car. Ian
incidentally is so laid back that he didn't appear at all fazed when he
had to give me quick instruction on how to operate an automatic car as
I had only ever driven one with gears. He was even brave enough to let
me follow him back to the hotel! After the short hotel stay we then
went on to stay in a fully furnished, self catering, basement suite
which had been arranged for us by Canilink Relocation (of which Ian
& Jayne are the owners). The basement suite that we stayed in
was not like you might expect coming from the UK (all dungeon like) but
better equipped than a lot of homes (well especially mine as my
furniture at the moment is doing a world tour and currently resides in
South Africa a slight error on my movers behalf - Canada and South
Africa are easily mistaken apparently! I have heard of a slow boat to
China but never mind I digress I will get to the point
eventually).
Ian, Jayne, Bethany, Michael, Max & Molly (the latter 2 are dogs by the way) not only welcomed us they treated us like friends (and still do surprisingly, even after getting to know us properly, well especially Billy!). They continue to help and support us, they pointed us in the right direction regarding buying a car and advised me about taking my driving test (which I am proud to say I have passed, well it would have been bad if I'd failed after driving 20 plus years!). As both Ian and Jayne are Realtors they found us the perfect house. We have decided that rather than pay rent (which in our opinion is dead money) we would buy straight away. As buying a house is so different here, who better to advise you than people you count as friends and who are so honest its ridiculous. I can honestly say we were gobsmacked at the speed in which things go here and the efficient way things are handled. All we had to do was agree on a house, set a price and Jayne did the rest, she negotiated a great price for us (well below what was asked - she's a tough little cookie). Jayne organised everything, all we did was sign papers and move - if only it was like that in the UK! The Realtor here really works for you even checking the property on the day you move in to make sure everything is perfect (and with sniffer dog Jayne on the case woe betide if it isn't!).
About the employment situation, well Billy got a job quite quickly but I am still looking (but to be fair I have only recently started searching as I had the move and the boys to sort out over the school summer holidays). Finally, from me and the rest of my tribe (Murphy included - he's our dog incidentally who came to Canada the week after us and Ian, bless him, picked him up from the airport and took him to a really great kennels which Murphy loved, nothing is to much trouble for Ian or Jayne, or at least it wasn't before The Morrow clan landed!). We would like to thank Ian & Jayne for making what could have been a hard experience easy, for the great advise, the ferrying round, and most of all their friendship (Oh yes, and obviously the airbeds as our beds are in South Africa!).
I would recommend Ian and Jayne to anyone, and if you want to contact me feel free to email me. I would also recommend Calgary as even when my things are in South Africa, that has not diminished our love of this place as we have gained so much since our arrival.
The Morrow Family-UK
Testimonial #3
We can't thank Canilink Relocation
enough for their help in our first few days in Canada and in the weeks
leading up to it.
Ian collected us from the airport in Calgary and delivered us to our hotel and arranged to meet us a couple of days later to do all our essential stuff - Social insurance numbers, healthcare, drivers license, buying, registering and insuring a car. He was fantastic running us around Calgary to the various places and letting us use his office to forward things on - this made the start to our new life so much less stressful than it could of been. We also know now, even though we live a long way apart, that he and the rest of the team at Canilink Relocation are at the end of the phone if we need any help with anything.
We are all settled now and doing fine, kids doing fantastically well at school gaining honor grades in a few of their subjects. We are both working and enjoying our jobs. We also love the community that we are living in, lovely people, nice place ? though it does get a bit annoying when you?re asked for the hundredth time ?do you get snow in Scotland?? and we have to explain that here in Drayton Valley we are actually further South than where we were in Scotland! Never mind though, we?ll educate them on the ways of Scotland just as they are educating us on the ways of Canada.
Thanks again for all your help, we enjoy passing on our knowledge through the message board on your website.
Simon, Fiona, Aaron & Coral Stevens from Aviemore, Scotland now in Drayton Valley, Alberta
Testimonial #4
We are the Vyas family from Leicester,
UK. We moved to Calgary on 19th June 2005, and in the process were very
impressed with the services of Ian and Jayne not once but twice.
Firstly when we came to Calgary for a research trip, Ian picked us up from the airport, took us to our hotel, which he had booked for us in advance. Early next morning he was there again. He took us to pick up a hire car, and then it was back to his place for a flying meeting with Jayne. Then it was off around various areas of the city to look at 6 houses of different types. This was to give us an idea as to what Calgary had to offer.
Then the second time when we ?landed?, he was there at the airport, a friendly face in a strange town. He made the process of settling in Calgary seem like a ?walk in the park?. Without him the process of obtaining SIN cards, Health cards, Driving license, bank accounts, school admissions and the rest would have taken us weeks at least.
Then when we decided to buy our own house rather than rent Jayne took over. She must have shown us at least 30 properties over the space of 2 weeks. We had given her a spec. of what we were looking for, and from that she would provide us with a list of properties that matched. From this list we would pick 5 or 6 we liked the most to view, and then Jayne would arrange the viewings all within a day. But the actual property we brought surprised us as well as Jayne, as it was quite a bit different to what we had asked her to show us. We only found it by chance as they had an open house sign outside when we drove past. And although we were on the way home after viewing 5 houses Jayne was quite happy to stop, and show us the house. We fell in love with the house and decided to put an offer in the same afternoon, so Jayne arranged for us to make an offer late that afternoon, and after a brief negotiation it was accepted. Three weeks later we took possession of the property, once again thanks to Ian and Jayne, the process had been completely trouble free.
Having been in our house two weeks, we decide to finish our basement, so the next time we are at Ian?s we talk to him about it. He immediately gave us the phone number for someone who we contacted straight away. So hopefully within a few months we will have a finished basement.
We highly recommend Ian and Jayne and Canilink to anyone who is thinking of moving to Canada. They are always ready to help with whatever questions you may have. So here?s a big thank you to them both, we don?t know what we?d have done without them.
The Vyas family from the UK
Testimonial #5
When we first contacted Canilink
Relocation, our main intention was to inquire about renting suitable
accommodation where we could spend our first six months in Calgary. Ian
and Jayne did much more for us; they helped in almost every aspect of
our settlement process and made us feel like very old friends who
happened to be back in the neighborhood after a long period of time
away.
Ian patiently waited at the airport and took us to the furnished house he rented on our behalf. The following morning, Ian and Jayne drove us around Calgary to register for health insurance, to get our SIN cards, and to set up a bank account. They even waited for us as we shopped for some groceries at the local store.
When we were ready, they helped us to look around and buy our new house. During this process, they provided valuable advice and introduced us to the right specialists who were able to speed the paperwork in a timely fashion. Ian and Jayne took away most of the stress of moving to an unknown environment with a different culture and language. We now live a very short distance from their house and look forward to being their friends in the years to come.
It has been a pleasure to write some lines about your invaluable help during our first days in Calgary. You deserve the best in your endeavours.
Telmo Olivos, Carmen Paredes & Karen Olivos from Peru
Testimonial #6
We first contacted Ian and Jayne around
February 2003 after seeing their ad in ?Canada News?. We were almost
through our immigration marathon by then and had been to Canada several
times but had not yet decided where we wanted to settle. We have
Friends in Manitoba and family in Ontario, and had visited both, but
thought that if we were making the leap to Canada, we would try to
relocate near the Rockies.
We received regular, and invaluable, newsletters via Canilink, and then in September 2003, we came to Calgary on a research trip. We met up with Ian and Jayne and soaked up loads of advice over a cup of tea, or 2! They gave up so much of their time to us, taking us to register for our SIN numbers and arranging for us to see several different types of house, to give us an idea of what we liked and could afford. We didn?t realize it at the time but we were to return just 3 months later!!
At short notice Ian arranged our rental apartment, Jayne met us at the airport and took us to our accommodation. Next day they took us to register for health insurance, set up bank accounts, introduced us to an insurance broker and register for our driving tests. They even gave us our driving test homework books! They helped with a rental car and introduced us to Clive who found us our car.
Now 3 months down the line we also have a beautiful house thanks to Jayne?s hard work. She has been wonderful, finding our new home; advising us all the way and not letting us buy anything we couldn?t afford!
I really can?t recommend Canilink highly enough. Ian and Jayne have treated us like lifelong friends even though we only met in September. I?d like to think they will be friends for many years to come and can?t wait for the Bar-B-Q season.
Dave & Wendy Wood (from the UK). Dave (far left) and Wendy (far right) standing on a lake with friends at Gimli, Manitoba.
Testimonial #7
It was after a fantastic holiday in
2000 visiting my cousin in Toronto with my wife Lynn and daughters
Karen and Caroline, that we had the idea of emigrating to Canada. We
first met Ian at the Immigration show at Sandown Park in 2001, when we
had really decided to ?give it a go? and apply to the Canadian High
Commission. Our initial destination was to have been Toronto to be near
my cousin but as my job is in the oil industry, it was suggested that
we put Calgary as the preffered destination. That was when we found the
Canilink stand and became ?hooked?!
We corresponded with both Jayne and Ian for the rest of the year and met Jayne and her daughter Bethany along with Ian in 2002 at Sandown, after we had applied. We finally received our visa in Jan 2003 and arranged a fact finding visit to Calgary over half term at the end of February. Jayne and Ian arranged accomodation in advance and me us at the airport at 10.30pm having spent a ?lovely day? delayed at Heathrow!
They showed us round Calgary and also houses as Jayne is a realtor, and couldn?t have been more helpful. Over a few coffees in their house, they told us about life in Calgary. We also rented a car with their help and toured around becoming convinced that Calgary was the right place.
After our return to the UK, we started the final countdown to our departure, and kept in touch with Jayne and Ian all the time, asking questions and receiving prompt replies. Jayne kept us informed on the housing market and sent us information so we had an idea of what might be available when we arrived. Along with the monthly Canilink Newsletters, we felt as well prepared as necessary for our move to Canada.
We finally arrived on 25th August, and were met by both Jayne and Ian who took us to our accomodation. The following day they took us to get our SIN card, Alberta Health Care and car hire, taking all the stress of being in a ?new? place away. Within a week we had arranged our daughters schooling and Jayne took us round numerous houses before we decided where we wanted to be. We then then decided that we would build and Jayne recommended a builder and before we knew it we had purchased our Lot and got things underway. Since then we have settled into our life in Calgary and feel really at home. The Canadians are really friendly and helpful. Karen and Caroline have settled into school without too much trauma. The country is beautiful and our trips to Banff and Lake Louise have whetted our appetite for further exploration over the coming years. We will feel fully settled when we move into our new house at the end of March.
We have become good friends with Jayne and Ian and they have been a real help in allowing us to settle in to our new life in Calgary. They have been an invaluable source of information and have given us contacts for buying cars, insurance and many other things that one needs to establish in a new country, as well as introducing us to new friends.
It is good to know that we had Jayne and Ian and their services through Canilink and as realtors, to help us through the stress of moving and settling in Canada, and we would heartily recommend them, both as friends and as thoroughtly Professional and Trustworthy business people who put their Clients and their needs at the top of the list.
Martin, Lynn, Karen and Caroline Dawe
Testimonial #8
We first found Canilink on the
Internet. We contacted Ian and Jayne, who answered all our questions.
Once we had our PR visas and our flights were booked, Ian arranged a furnished townhouse for us to rent and he collected us at the airport. After 36 hours of traveling we were so happy to see him waiting at the airport. We arrived safely minus our cases (the cases remained at Heathrow).
Ian dropped us at our rental. The next day Ian and Jayne collected us and took us to get all our documentation sorted out, SIN cards, Alberta Health etc. They helped us buy our car and arrange the insurance. Our cases did arrive the next day and were delivered to our house.
We set about finding employment and enrolling Tarryn at college. Tarryn is studying at Mount Royal College and both Derek and Barbara are now working. Derek started 10 days after we arrived. Shawn had spent 3 months working in Vancouver but arrives home on 12 December.
Jayne took us around to look at houses and we fell in love with one. Jayne was a great help and made this process easy. I must just mention the house we bought is right next door to Ian and Jayne.
We love Calgary and have settled so well. We would not have settled so quickly without the help of Canilink. We would recommend their services to all.
The Schonken family from South Africa
Testimonial #9
In May 2004 we took a research trip to
Alberta, left the two children at home as they were in the middle of a
school term. Arrived in Calgary and collected our rental car, the
following day we met Ian & Jayne who we met at an emigrate fair
in March of that year.
They spent the whole day with us and were a great source of information and we left with our minds full of good advice. After touring the province the following week we again met up with Ian who took us around and showed us the different styles of houses that are available. This was invaluable to us and helped us decide where we wanted to live.
August 8th 2004 arrived and it was emigration day. We arrived at Calgary airport feeling tired but excited, we were finally here!!!! Ian and Jayne met us at the airport and took us to our accommodation, which they arranged at a great price. We stayed at the temporary accommodation for 10 days until our rental house was available. The Ian and Jayne had arranged a long-term rental in our chosen community of Lake Chaparral and we moved in to a great house, which was only 9 months old. We are hoping to buy this place in 2005.
The first full day in Canada was very busy; Ian took us out and arranged our SIN applications (Social Insurance Numbers), healthcare, cell phones and the school registration. All this in one day!!!!!
Since then both Ian & Jayne have become good friends and we still bother them for advice from time to time, they are always cheerful and happy to help. Without them the research and actual move would have been a nightmare, at first I was cautious about this ?free service? they offered but now I can say that it is genuine and I can give nothing but praise to how they helped us and others who have arrived before and after us. For the peace of mind I am so glad we used Canilink Relocation and would recommend them to anyone thinking of moving here.
Paul, Paula, Katie & Matthew Toseland - From the UK
Testimonial #10
So there we were...........Elisa, a
Canadian and Clive, a Brit, just married and living in rainy old
England! That only lasted for 10 months as Elisa found that the cost of
living in the U.K. was a lot higher than what she was used to in
Canada. That called for a radical rethink and so we turned to plan B -
why don?t we both relocate to Canada? Where would we live? How about
our employment prospects? After a lot of discussion, we both agreed
that Calgary would be the best bet for both of us so Clive went about
applying for residence in Canada. The only worry at that time was if
Clive would be accepted seeing that he was diagnosed with M.S. a couple
of months earlier. Then there were other things to think about. Alberta
was different to what she was used to in Quebec so she was just as
oblivious to where we were going to as Clive was!
It was only by chance that while surfing the web we came across the Canilink website. We spent hours clicking away at all the different links and testimonies...we never thought for one minute that we'd be here writing one ourselves!! As requested, Ian sent us the info pack and on a couple of occasions Clive met with Ian in person at a couple of the Emigration exhibitions where he bought over a few real estate papers for us so we got a pretty good idea of what to look for.
And so to the big day. Clive had his papers and Elisa was relocating from Montreal to meet Clive at Calgary Airport where Jayne met us and took us to our accommodation that was arranged for us. After a good nights sleep, Ian picked us up in the morning to get a few things sorted out for Clive. This included a new Social Insurance number, registration for Alberta Healthcare, to pick up some cargo that Clive had shipped over and a hire car, which was well within the budget we expected to pay!! It seemed that everything was going perfectly!
Just four days later, Jayne picked us up and took us around a few properties that Canilink had brought to our attention while we were living in England. Jaynes guidance and advice was great!..............not what we'd expect from a Realtor in the U.K. We found the home we were looking for and within just two weeks we moved in to our new home in Sundance. Not for one minute have either of us regretted our move and would advise many others to do the same as we did. Thanks Canilink for all the work you did to make our lives so much sweeter!! Just one more thing.............now all the work is done and we're settled, Ian and Jayne are still friends to this day!!
Clive & Elisa Powell-UK
Testimonial #11
We would just like to express our
sincere thanks and appreciation to both Ian & Jayne for making
both our move to Calgary and our house purchase so much easier than we
ever imagined it would or could be. We originally contacted Ian at a
late stage in the immigration process just asking for some advice on a
couple of issue?s, we already had our visa?s in hand, car rental
organized, hotel booked and flights arranged so I didn?t think we would
get much help as we had already organized so much, but I am pleased to
say how wrong I was.
Ian responded very quickly to any emails we sent him and organized photos of some rented accommodation he knew would be available for the first six months after we arrived. From the photo?s and Ian?s description we agreed to rent the property and he then did all the organization of that for us to enable us to pick the keys up the day after we landed.
We went to Ian?s house the day after landing and it was so nice to be greeted by both Ian & Jayne happily waiting for us. We had coffee and a good chat and Ian showed us the rates he could have got for us on both car hire and hotel rooms, I so wish we had spoken to him earlier as we could have saved ourselves quite a bit of money. He took us around all that day arranging our social insurance numbers, Alberta health cards, cell phone and of course the keys to our rented home. The house fitted its description perfectly and we very much enjoyed living there.
After we had been in Calgary for four months we decided we would like to buy a property, we contacted Ian & Jayne and they discussed the sort of house and area available to us for our budget. We spent the day with Jayne viewing the houses and fell in love with one of them, so we decided to put an offer in on that house that same evening even though Jayne said we should think about it for a day or so. The offer was refused but Jayne negotiated on our behalf and before the night was out we had secured the house, even though the sellers were away on vacation Jayne still managed to get in touch with them to make sure nobody else could get the house first. Jayne then helped us through the paperwork etc and everything else involved over the following four weeks before we completed the purchase of our house, the sale went through without a hitch and we are now happily settled in our new home.
I cannot recommend Canilink Relocation enough to anybody, both Ian & Jayne have helped make the process of moving to Canada so much more trouble free than we ever imagined it could be and saved us an enormous amount of time and effort, since we have arrived they have worked hard to ensure that we are all settling in to our new lives as easily as possible. Thank you to you both.
The Mundin Family-UK
