Up sticks to Canada

Fed up Brits are being told to pack up and emigrate to Canada

Canada is putting skilled British workers on a fast track for immigration visas to exploit our soaring cost of living.

Its officials believe superior public services and the ability to weather economic turmoil will lure Britons fed up with fuel and food prices and with the state of schools and hospitals.

Alberta's employment minister Hector Goudreau has been sent to this country to 'target' those tempted by a new life overseas.

It is one of the most audacious recruitment raids since Australia poached a million Britons - known as the Ten Pound Poms after the ship fare they paid - in the 1950s and 60s.

Employment drive

The Canadians want GPs, teachers, nurses, electricians, carpenters, engineers, construction workers, management consultants, and cardiac and diabetic specialists.

Anyone of any age can apply, although workers who fit skills and experience criteria will be fast-tracked for visas.

Yesterday (July 1st) on Canada Day, Canada's national celebration - there were fears that the scheme will deepen the crisis in the NHS and other services struggling with severe staff shortages.

Mr Goudreau, who has been in Britain for a week, said: 'Somebody from London might be able to sell their small flat and come to Alberta where they can buy a detached house with a huge back yard and huge front yard for the same amount.

'The cost of living is considerably less than in the UK. Our salaries are comparable or even higher, so anyone who moves over would be able to make money and set some aside.'

Mr Goudreau added that the economy in Alberta - which is founded on oil reserves - was constantly growing, and has remained steady despite the global credit crunch.

He went on: 'We are looking at attracting 50,000 foreign workers within the next year alone.

'There is beautiful scenery, the health care system is second to none in the world and our educational system is second to none in the world. We have some of the lowest business taxes, there is no province sales tax on goods.'

Quality of life

• The province covers a large chunk of prairie and Rocky Mountains and its major cities are Edmonton and Calgary.
• Its population is 3.4million - less than half London's - and it covers an area twice as big as Japan.
• The average annual salary in Alberta for civil engineers last year was £44,428.
• And while income tax is higher in Canada (top rate 46 percent), the living costs are much cheaper.
• You can buy a three bedroomed house for, on average, £156,000, £60,000 cheaper than in the UK.
• Unleaded petrol is 58p a litre compared with around £1.20p
• It's the 11th most obese country in the world, Britain in the 3rd.
• In 2006, a record 207,000 British citizens left this country. A third went to Australia or New Zealand, more than a quarter to Spain or France, and one in 12 to the United States.