Vancouver boy heading to Manchester!

[barrieboy1]

Hey all you beautiful Canadians..!
I am 25 and just moved back to Vancouver B.C. After three months back, I am restless. I got the opportunity to spend a week in Manchester in the summer, and fell in love with it! I want to get a working tourist visa soon and see what happends in Manchester. If anyone can help me out with finding a place to stay or a job, that would be great.
Sometimes you gotta take a chance in life, even if you are broke in the end!
Cheers
Andrew
andiboy1@hotmail.com

[Susie D]

Hey Andrew! Good luck with your visa!

There are a few threads on this topic if you do a search. But briefly:

If you're not staying in Manchester proper, I'd advise avoiding many areas in North Manchester. South Manchester is convenient by bus to the centre - look in places like Didsbury, West Didsbury, and Fallowfield. Chorlton is nice. Avoid Moss Side as it's quite rough. Just do a search for flats to let in those neighbourhoods and you should get an idea what you can expect to pay. Here's the one I rented through for my studio flat in West Didsbury (a neighbourhood I love):

http://www.montroseproperties.co.uk/

As for jobs, you'll find it much easier to find work here than in Vancouver. Most people go through agencies, so if you just register at an agency or two, you should find work no problem. Trawl the internet a bit, keep your eyes open, bring your Canadian work ethic and you'll do great. I know I was so used to having to bend over backwards to get (and keep) a job, I found people were really pleased with how hard I worked here.

[sdsharp]

Good for you! Not sure if you have applied for your visa yet or not, but if not you should see if you qualify for the Ancestry Visa. Basically if you have a grandparent born in the UK then you get get a working visa for up to 4 years! That's what I did