Hi,
Im in the planning stages of immigrating to Canada from the UK, I had hoped to move in about a year but with the pandemic it may now be a bit longer. My first step is going to be a holiday / explore of a few places and then I will start the rather complicated looking immigration process.
I wondered if I could please ask you guys some questions?
Is coal / coke easy to get hold of? And the same with metal stock, the UK is such a densely populated area that I have about 50 suppliers to choose from, do you have much choice? I intend to be in a rural area with access to nature ( one of my main reasons for moving ) but within an hour of a substantial population centre, how far out will people deliver things like propane, fuel, metal?
Are there any laws concerning noise / smoke that effect blacksmiths?
Is there much of a blacksmithing community?
Is blacksmithing viewed favourably? Is hand wrought iron valued over mass produced products and will people pay a premium for them?
One of the main reasons im moving is since I now sell online half of my sails are to the USA, the shipping cost is often almost half of the product cost so im hoping that I can attract way more customers by drastically reducing the postage price. I was wondering what your experience of the Canadian postal service was, is it reliable? Does it cost substantially more to send items to the USA than internally?
Anyone have any recommendation of where to live? Everywhere looks beautiful so im having trouble narrowing down my search. Regional immigration variances may make the decision for me but I hope to get a work visa as a self employed craftsmen, failing that I will try to find a job working for someone else. On that note, is there anyone thinking about taking on an employee in the future?
Thank you!
Andy
