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Hi guys!
I am a 35 yr old supermarket refrigeration engineer with 17 years experience, currently on around 43k gbp per year, would I be better off in Canada? And what would the quality of life be like compared to the uk? Any advice would be greatly received! Eg average annual salaries, cost of living, tax rates etc
Many thanks in advance
mr cool
The quality of life and standard of living would be much better than over here. Their wages work out higher than ours, and they can earn almost $100000.00 CA; before they pay super tax. So you have more chance of paying off your mortgage sooner rather than later. There are 2 kinds of tax whenever you buy anything from a shop or use a service, that's similar to VAT. Every Province is different regards work, but there is a general higher, em fire'em attitude approach, and they tend to be heavily unionised and would go on strike at the drop of a hat. In Alberta the oil sands are the highest paid wages but when the short term projects are finished, so are you until they hire again for the next project.
I was told by quite a few that you need to accept that you will be out of work for almost 3 months a year. Aircon only tends to be popular in commercial sites as it does over here, but some of the more wealthier homes have aircon and heat pumps for the long winters. They are very organised in winter and not getting into work because of bad weather is almost unheard of. The houses are very pretty and functional, but most are wooden framed and basically are over priced glorified garden sheds, but are very comfortable never the less. The average prices in built up areas where there is work are about $300000.00- $400000.00.
If you do manage to get there you will have to sit and challenge the Inter Provincial Red Seal examination to obtain a licence to work with refrigeration and air con. Every Canadian has to do this in all trades and proffessions, as it is the minimal standard only accepted across the Provinces. You will need to prove around 5000 hours of experience in your chosen trade, and your UK qualifications will need to be assessed by the Provincial trade/proffession organisations, and you will be allowed to work in your trade for 6 months, in which time you will have 2 attempts to pass the IP red seal. If you fail, you usually have to work as a final year apprentice until you passs it.
The biggest nightmare will be dealing with the most stupid, pedantic, deaf, dumb, and blind beauracratic organisation in the world... The Canadian Immigration Service.
I applied a couple of years ago under the federal skilled worker programme under the electrician NOC category, and despite taking an English test, spending a fortune getting qualifications and other documents notarised. They wrote back to me about 2 months after rejecting me and stating that they wasn't convinced I was an electrician industrial or commercial? After bombarding them with emails and phone calls asking them what they were playing at, I finally got a response. They told me that I hadn't supplied enough evidence that I had worked as an electrician for 12 months in the last 10 years, despite sending them copies of 8 tears of self employed tax returns and business accounts, along with qualifications that in turn had been notarised, again as requested.
They endevoured to inform me that I needed a letter from a past employer stating my duties as an electrician, and in the case of self employment, a letter from a customer stating my duties? How a customer knows what I was doing on top of a machine or under a floor is beyond me, but that's what kind of people you will be dealing with.
You're younger than me and you might be able to stomach their methods, whereas I'm too long in the tooth to be getting stressed with such people. Anyway I hope you get there and pursue your dreams.
Good luck and all the best.
Odd, I was hoping to come to work in the UK.......things are slowing down a bit where I am.
Whereabouts are you hoping to work?
Hoping to work for Monkey Spanners and be a big video starrrrrrrr
Just kidding. The problem with most places in Canada is that it takes a lot of hours just get anywhere that looks different. There are exceptions but the city of Toronto is 50km x 30 km and if you go for an hour in most directions it is more of the same. No demarkation or green space between cities, just more sprawl.
AND, the UK is caravan king and I would like to get out sight seeing in the LT. Metric tonnes of history.
Also, the going rate for non union electricians is about $30/hr (give or take some), same with most trades unless you start your own company but you have to work a lot of hours to hit $100,000 a year.
Yes I know that the rate varies in Canada as well the UK, my friend recently packed in a job at a dealership in Red Deer AB as a motor mechanic on £38.00 per hour for a fourty hour week and one Saturday a month. And now works as a fire fighter equipment tech on $35.00 per hour, and gets to see and work both sides of the CA and US border.
When I was looking for work there almost 3 years ago, most of the firms were sending people home as they had no work. But most of the sparks I spoke to seemed to average above $30.00 per hour for a journey man electrician but the overtime rate was only flat time. And it was nearly double that in the oil sands. I did notice though, that they used powered conduit benders and probably got through more bundles per man a day than over here. I also noticed that accessories were cheaper especially GFCIs/RCDs.
I know what you mean about the country looking the same though, When we was there two years ago we drove from one of my friends in Cleveland Ohio, up to his house near Red Deer, and the countryside up to about as far as South Wisconsin was quite picturesque. But from there up through Minnesota we crossed over at Esteven and the land looked exactly the same all the way from through Saskatchewan right into Alberta. Then we could see the Rockies on the horizon which made a difference.
I've heard that Northern Ontario is as nice as Western AB and BC? But I've never been any further up than Toronto. And I've also heard that Newfie and Lab are almost the same as the more hill filled counties as the UK and Ireland, and the roads justify manual transmission?
Anyway I hope the other poster pursues his dreams and kicks down every door that the Canadian immigration have locked, and he keeps away from the immigration specialists professing to get you in to Canada and elsewhere for a fee.
if you move to the uk and tour in a caravan you will become one of two things. firstly a holidaymaker with a caravan who is shot on sight for clogging the roads while other people need to use them. or a Gypsy who clog the roads and steal things on a professional basis. either way my country is full beyond capacity. why not try new zealand or poland ( hitler did it in less than 24 hours, so it must be worthwhile )Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeHolm
Let me get this straight, you don't want tourism....even if we know how to drive?Quote:
Originally Posted by slingblade
Hi Slingblade. I cannot recall from history that hitler invaded NZ, would have been a hell of a drive in a Panzer to get here. Although a few of his mates dropped truck loads on mines around the coast, really pizzed off the locals. There is some advantages of living on the bottom of the world.
How is a move to another country to seek employment within the refrigeration service industry tourism?Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeHolm
I wanted to do both...but mostly the tourism
Don't worry, I won't come and take your job.....
No offence to NZ. i just used it as an example. my reference was to poland vis a vis german invasion. I draw massive resprct to the allies on the 70th birthday of D day. And fair play to the germans, they are now forgiven and got their arses kicked at the time. Dont do it again fritz, you have been warned.Quote:
Originally Posted by Magoo
Mike. You would have to learn to sit in the right hand side of a vehicle to drive on the left side of the roads.
Your left hand is for the stick shift, leaving one knee to steer while your right hand performs sign language.
Quite right, i run my own company. So you will never take my job. The point is, dont bother with the UK. We are bankrupt and full of Irish gypsies parking caravans eveywhere and stealing everything not nailed down. England is not the land of opportunity it used to be. You will find work hard to come by, even as a timeserved good engineer.Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeHolm
EASY. ive been doing that for over 20 years. it is natural to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeref