Frank & Mari

It was just by sheer luck that we ended up in Rossland! A couple of years ago Frank was working for Qfinsoft in South Africa. Qfinsoft is a software development business which was looking to establish a presence in North American. Jan Visser is President of Qfinsoft and married to Elsabe who happens to be a radiologist. Elsabe accepted a job at the Trail hospital and since Qfinsoft could operate from any town with internet access the company was established in Rossland.

Frank and Mari immediately fell in love with the area -the tremendous people, the phenomenal recreational opportunities, not to mention the incredible scenery! Now, after 2 yrs, it still feels like we’re on holiday, especially coming from a big city. Life in Rossland is just so effortless and so much fun! All the recent developments in Rossland's also been very exciting -it’s great to see an entire town energized and feel the buzz in the air!

From very early on we met some really cool, interesting, down to earth people. We love to golf, ski and are just now really getting into mountain biking. This year we’re planning to really tackle tree skiing (we've never skied before arriving in Rossland). So much to do, so little time...

Shortly after our arrival we started a  web log . It has definitely been a good idea to keep our friends and family up to date with life in Canada and it's been fun to pass on our experiences. Before we moved, we did a lot of internet research and highly recommend this to anyone thinking of immigrating to Canada. People in the Kootenays are very welcoming, helpful and friendly, but they may not always be aware of all the little details.

We checked out house prices, investigated insurance costs and leased a car from Summit Suburu over the internet. When we arrived, we also met a fabulous lady at Scotia Bank who gave us excellent service and helped us arrange credit quickly. If you can get in contact with the right person, it just becomes so much easier –so keep trying– people in the Kootenays are very willing to help.

We did have a tough time trying to get permanent residency (we spent the first couple of years here on a work permit). It was stressful, sometimes the immigration sites were hard to navigate and everything took a lot longer than expected. It’s nice to see a local group like Community Futures and the South Kootenay region playing a more active role in assisting immigrants in the area.

When Jan Visser first came over to investigate business opportunities he met with all the local business groups. He had a very positive response from the Economic Development Officer, Marten Kruysse, Bruce Harding, the Business Development people, and Cary Fisher from Community Futures. There seems to be more business opportunities in the area than work opportunities, so it can be tough on spouses and partners to find work unless they have a job offer before moving to the Kootenays. This was true for Frank and Mari as well. It was more difficult for Mari to start working. She was able to start doing some web development working from home, but it did take several years in the area before more opportunities began to appear.

Qfinsoft just bought a building in Rossland and we're hoping to have the renovations finished by spring 2005. With high speed internet Frank's been working from home, but it’ll be nice to be in the new office. The only slight disadvantage is travelling from Rossland on business. It's very important to have a backup plan when flying out of Castlegar (only 25 minutes away). A major all weather airport is only three hours away.