If you think packing is hard, imagine doing it when you're eight months pregnant and have a 19-month-old scurrying around your ankles. That's what Jacki McGowan, 33, went through when she and her husband, Colin, moved from Burnaby, B.C., to Whitehorse. While they were ready for a professional move – Jacki is a biochemist, and Colin is a researcher/fish hatchery manager – more than anything they wanted a nice little house in a smaller city for their daughter, Madeline, 3, and their son, Johah, now 16 months, who was born a week after they arrived in Whitehorse. Jacki and Colin had a month to plan their move and no support from a relocation agency. Here's what she learned.
• If you'll be working when you arrive at your destination, get your kids on day-care lists as soon as you commit to a new place. "You can check them out in detail once you get there, but at least you've optimized your position on the waiting lists," says Jacki.
• Press your current family doctor to hook you up with a GP and book your first appointment for you because doctors have an easier time getting new patients in than patients do. "And take all medical records with you, if you can." Ditto for your driving record from the provincial government as well as home and car insurance records.
• Hire a cleaning service to take care of the place you're leaving, whether it's rented or not. "It was the best $120 I spent in my life, because I walked out of that town house and didn't even sweep the floor," says Jacki.
Change your address
• Canada Post: go to www.canadapost.ca and click on Change My Address (you'll also find a thorough moving checklist in the same spot) or visit your local postal outlet.
• Canada Revenue Agency: call the Individual Income Tax Enquiries telephone service at 1-800-959-8281.
• Alert credit card companies, your bank, magazine subscriptions, etc., of your new address and send change-of-address cards to all your friends and family about a month before you move.
What parents want
If you're considering a move and can choose where to re-establish your family's roots, ask yourself how much thought you have given to those intangible benefits that make a neighbourhood a truly great place to raise a family. Vital Communities, Vital Support, a recent national survey of parents by Invest in Kids, shows that those unseen traits, such as friendly neighbours, as well as attitudes and beliefs, are just as important to Canadian parents as the tangible programs and services (the French immersion school two blocks away, the awesome park, etc.) that we often focus on when picking a new place to live.
The survey found that moms and dads want to be recognized, valued and supported in their role as parents by the community in which they live. We desire diverse and accepting neighbours who care about and help one another. Interestingly, the study's authors say: "What emerged from the very culturally diverse focus groups [was]…near complete agreement on what [parents] wanted and needed now. It mattered little whether they came from First Nations in Canada, Europe, Africa, South America or other places. For all parents, the similarities outweighed the differences."
- by Kathryn Dorrell
Read more:
Help kids adjust to a new school
How to get a better mortgage
30 simple ways to improve your finances
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