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Canada .... Stay or go ?

2

Comments

  • #32
    Digital Society
    Registered Users Posts: 972 ✭✭✭Digital Society


    salamanca22 wrote: »
    There is a reason some of those jobs pay so much. You will be away for weeks at a time working and sleeping in camps with the other workers. There is no social life except for maybe a few bars. A lot of the workers end up gambling to pass the time and lose a lot of the money they earn anyway.

    It's grand doing those type of jobs if you are on your own but with a family I would say it's a non starter. Maybe move over yourself op for a while and earn the cash and then after a few months move the family over. It will be a lot tougher than most people will tell you.

    Thats only in the camp work. Not all work is camp work. You can work in the cities no problem and have a good social life.

    Camp work is 3 weeks on and then the rest of month off and pays $10k a month. Nice to have that option if your over there by yourself before bringing the family over.


  • #33
    Harryeve
    Registered Users Posts: 15 ✭Harryeve


    mickell wrote: »
    Hi Harryeve, how is going for you over there , are you long in Calgary? thanks for your post, do you mind me asking , works a regular days work like ? start time , finish-time etc ..... Is it just yourself or family ? I'd imagine if I did jump, my wage would have to support the family for first 6 months till wife and youngest gets sorted for childcare etc, is that do-able , a carpenters wage to pay for house rent, all bills and feed family.
    I do have a degree in Construction Management and spend a few years as a self-employed carpenter ..... would I be considered for a type of assistant site manager role .... or is that fairly unlikely without the experience ?
    I think your the first trades man to post on this, so I'd appreciate all info you can provide

    Hi I'm here about 5 months I'm a plumber I'm getting $39 an hour working 40 hours a week 8.00 to 4.30 the company I work for don't allow us to do any overtime because they don't want to pay any overtime rates. I know my trade is one of the best for having constant work in the winter time because of service work like frozen pipes a lot of other trades get laid off during the bad weather. I came over with my girlfriend she works in finance she's only getting $23 an hour it just gets her by each week pay rent bills and food. A carpenters wage would be similar to a plumber but they might start u off on $25-$30 for the first month or 2. If I was in your position I'd come over in May just as the weather gets a bit better come over on your own for the first 2 months and get set up u won't support a family over here on 1 wage. We live in a tiny 1 bed apartment $1400 a month tv and Internet $100 a month shopping $200 a week a few drinks at the weekend $200
    Between $7-$9 a pint and then you have to tip 15% on food,drink, taxis, haircuts, pretty much every service u get.


  • #34
    ustari
    Registered Users Posts: 504 ✭✭✭ustari


    To be fair, your girlfriends wage is better than you make out, especially considering the money you are on.

    You are bringing in over 100k Net each year if I've calculated correctly.


  • #35
    Harryeve
    Registered Users Posts: 15 ✭Harryeve


    ustari wrote: »
    To be fair, your girlfriends wage is better than you make out, especially considering the money you are on.

    You are bringing in over 100k Net each year if I've calculated correctly.

    I earn $1200= €824 a week after tax
    She earns $700=€481 a week after tax
    You have to pay into a pension fund each week as well as your taxes I lose around $400 a week on taxes and pension.
    Rent is $1400 a month for a tiny unfurnished 1 bed apartment your looking at $2000 for a 2 bed apartment. The wages look okay but with the cost of living over here compared to home it's hard to save any money.
    The basics are expensive
    Milk 2 litre $5
    Bread $5
    4 chicken breasts $20
    Mince meat 1kg $15
    Fruit and veg is expensive too.
    Beer $8 a pint +15% tip

    I'm not advising anyone not to give it a go over here I'm just giving my honest opinion on it we both have decent jobs and are still finding it hard to save money. If someone with no trade or skills came here they would really struggle. I lived in Australia for 3 years I thought that was expensive as well but not as bad as Canada some things are just way over priced $30 to get my hair cut and that's the basic rate €10 at home the little bit extra that u make here is gone very quickly.


  • #36
    ustari
    Registered Users Posts: 504 ✭✭✭ustari


    I'm in Vancouver. While I agree that groceries are more expensive they can still be gotten a lot cheaper than the prices you are quoting.

    I find quite a bit on par with Dublin in terms of cost actually, I would be paying the equivalent rent for an equivalent place in Dublin. I'm based in downtown Vancouver and there is a place up the street that does 16 dollar hair cuts.

    The tipping culture is very annoying, especially when they haven't done anything bar the basic service expected. Got a wrap from a deli the other day and when I put my card in to the pay the first thing that greeted me was how much I wanted to tip (15, 20 or 25 as preset choices), I have other and selected none.

    I'm not wishing to pick holes in your statements, I just wanted people to hear the otherside of things on here. I know I was very worried coming over from reading some of the posts on this forum. Personally I am getting paid more than I would be at home and am experiencing a better lifestyle thus far.


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  • #37
    Harryeve
    Registered Users Posts: 15 ✭Harryeve


    ustari wrote: »
    I'm in Vancouver. While I agree that groceries are more expensive they can still be gotten a lot cheaper than the prices you are quoting.

    I find quite a bit on par with Dublin in terms of cost actually, I would be paying the equivalent rent for an equivalent place in Dublin. I'm based in downtown Vancouver and there is a place up the street that does 16 dollar hair cuts.

    The tipping culture is very annoying, especially when they haven't done anything bar the basic service expected. Got a wrap from a deli the other day and when I put my card in to the pay the first thing that greeted me was how much I wanted to tip (15, 20 or 25 as preset choices), I have other and selected none.

    I'm not wishing to pick holes in your statements, I just wanted people to hear the otherside of things on here. I know I was very worried coming over from reading some of the posts on this forum. Personally I am getting paid more than I would be at home and am experiencing a better lifestyle thus far.

    Your in a different state I'm in Alberta that's how much things cost in Calgary meat is very expensive I've shopped in Walmart, Safeway, Canadian superstore, co op, and cosco they are all the same each shop has there own little deals each week but even doing a small shop for 2 for the week is easily at least $200. As for $16 hair cut I'd guess that's some student training to be a barber.

    Maybe because Alberta is booming the prices are going up. Unless you are going to earn between $30 ~ $40 a hour you will struggle in this city.


  • #38
    mickell
    Registered Users Posts: 44 ✭mickell


    Crap ! if a 2 bed apartment is going for €2000, how much are you looking at for a 3/4 bed house with a garden , in Alberta (just using Alberta as an example as it keeps coming back on results for trades etc.)


  • #39
    Harryeve
    Registered Users Posts: 15 ✭Harryeve


    mickell wrote: »
    Crap ! if a 2 bed apartment is going for €2000, how much are you looking at for a 3/4 bed house with a garden , in Alberta (just using Alberta as an example as it keeps coming back on results for trades etc.)
    It all depends what part of town u live in the south west and northwest are nice areas stay away from the northeast. Try rentfaster.com that's the best place to get an idea of what u will pay try find a place near the train line as well because some of the suburbs have nothing in them no shops u might have a 20-30 drive to a shopping centre. If your on Facebook join the Irish in Calgary page loads of info and help on it.


  • #40
    Harryeve
    Registered Users Posts: 15 ✭Harryeve


    Harryeve wrote: »
    It all depends what part of town u live in the south west and northwest are nice areas stay away from the northeast. Try rentfaster.com that's the best place to get an idea of what u will pay try find a place near the train line as well because some of the suburbs have nothing in them no shops u might have a 20-30 drive to a shopping centre. If your on Facebook join the Irish in Calgary page loads of info and help on it.

    3 bed $2800-$3500 in the southwest/southeast of the city a month it's and the market for rental is fast property's don't stay available at all the day someone moves out they have someone lined up straight away. They also rent most property's unfurnished and rent them on the first of each month so near impossible to get a place in the middle of a month. You also have to pay a bond and first months rent in advance so if u find a place for $3k it's $6k up front before u move in


  • #41
    Crann na Beatha
    Registered Users Posts: 11,763 ✭✭✭✭Crann na Beatha


    This post has been deleted.


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  • #42
    Harryeve
    Registered Users Posts: 15 ✭Harryeve


    Phoenix wrote: »
    This stay away from the NE lark is very unfair not all of it is a kip,sure there are dodgy areas but dont forget the NW,SE and SW have those kinda areas too

    That's what I've been told since I got here to stay away from the ne I've worked in it a lot I wouldn't live there homeless and scumbags seem to be a common site. I've seen none of that in the sw apart from the homeless going through the bins collecting cans. For a family definitely live in the sw or nw


  • #43
    Crann na Beatha
    Registered Users Posts: 11,763 ✭✭✭✭Crann na Beatha


    This post has been deleted.


  • #44
    Harryeve
    Registered Users Posts: 15 ✭Harryeve


    Harryeve wrote: »
    That's what I've been told since I got here to stay away from the ne I've worked in it a lot I wouldn't live there homeless and scumbags seem to be a common site. I've seen none of that in the sw apart from the homeless going through the bins collecting cans. For a family definitely live in the sw or nw
    Fair enough if your happy there good for you I've only seen small parts of it so I'm going from that and what the locals and Irish have told me so far. I'm sure the might be some decent parts of it but in general the sw is a better part of the city


  • #45
    Crann na Beatha
    Registered Users Posts: 11,763 ✭✭✭✭Crann na Beatha


    This post has been deleted.


  • #46
    TechnoPool
    Registered Users Posts: 1,675 ✭✭✭TechnoPool


    Harryeve wrote: »
    3 bed $2800-$3500 in the southwest/southeast of the city a month it's and the market for rental is fast property's don't stay available at all the day someone moves out they have someone lined up straight away. They also rent most property's unfurnished and rent them on the first of each month so near impossible to get a place in the middle of a month. You also have to pay a bond and first months rent in advance so if u find a place for $3k it's $6k up front before u move in

    Where the hell are you looking?

    this is completely blown out of proportion. A quick look on rentfaster and there are pages of 3 bed rooms houses for 2200-3000.


  • #47
    ustari
    Registered Users Posts: 504 ✭✭✭ustari


    That's the problem with a lot of these threads, I think they are quite negative and I am just trying to give the other side of it that I have had so far.


  • #48
    evo2000
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,728 ✭✭✭evo2000


    Big gamble id reckon, ive heard alot of people that went to the promised land Oz, canada ect end up coming back worse off than when they went the grass isnt always greener on the other side as they say!

    You d def want to plan it out well, have alot of back up money, have a job ready to go ect another thing would be child care, if things go sour over there you ll have no where near the support you d have back home,

    Ireland isnt all that bad of a place to live..i think people are awful quick to take for granted what they have, you say you re only surviving here, dont be under any illusions that you ll land over to canada and be doing anything different, but anyway

    Its a tough call but if it were me id want the odds to be heavily in my favor before id even consider it,


  • #49
    Long Gone
    Registered Users Posts: 771 ✭✭✭Long Gone


    evo2000 wrote: »
    Big gamble id reckon, ive heard alot of people that went to the promised land Oz, canada ect end up coming back worse off than when they went the grass isnt always greener on the other side as they say!

    I don't know of any Irish emigrants who go around on a daily basis bemoaning the fact that they left Ireland - Quite the contrary in fact. Not a day goes by that most of us don't thank God that we had the courage and sense to get out of Ireland when we did. Anyone who is successful in Ireland is being taxed, stealth taxed and levied to within an inch of their lives. The country has been destroyed economically and socially by a bunch of corrupt crooks - and the bill for the damage which has been foisted onto the Irish taxpayers will take decades to repay.....

    Nothing ventured nothing gained - Fortune always favours the brave.


  • #50
    evo2000
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,728 ✭✭✭evo2000


    Long Gone wrote: »
    I don't know of any Irish emigrants who go around on a daily basis bemoaning the fact that they left Ireland - Quite the contrary in fact. Not a day goes by that most of us don't thank God that we had the courage and sense to get out of Ireland when we did. Anyone who is successful in Ireland is being taxed, stealth taxed and levied to within an inch of their lives. The country has been destroyed economically and socially by a bunch of corrupt crooks - and the bill for the damage which has been foisted onto the Irish taxpayers will take decades to repay.....

    Nothing ventured nothing gained - Fortune always favours the brave.

    Easy there rambo

    Nothing ventured nothing gained - Fortune always favours the brave
    Its easy to go by that when youre not bringing 2 kids over with yeah,


  • #51
    krudler
    Registered Users Posts: 34,788 ✭✭✭✭krudler


    Everyone has their own experience here, I came over not wanting anything more than dragging myself out of a job rut back home, trying something totally different and giving myself opportunities I don't have back home and to at least say I tried something in life and wouldnt regret not coming.
    Yeah it gets lonely and Canadians are quite hard to make friends with, they're friendly and polite, but very cliquey but there's loads of Irish here.
    I have my own plan and idea of what I want here and a list of stuff I wanted to do, after that who knows, I might stay I might not.


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  • #52
    Long Gone
    Registered Users Posts: 771 ✭✭✭Long Gone


    evo2000 wrote: »
    Easy there rambo,

    What an incisive and detailed response to the points that I made in my post. Bravo ! - Boards.ie is the better for your intellect ! .:rolleyes:
    evo2000 wrote: »
    Nothing ventured nothing gained - Fortune always favours the brave
    Its easy to go by that when youre not bringing 2 kids over with yeah,

    The alternative view on life is to do absolutely nothing because doing anything is too risky - Stay stuck in a rut, do nothing, show no initiative or enterprise whatsoever to improve your life (and the future lives of children).

    That is not and has never been a view that I subscribe to. You might recommend it and live your life accordingly (social Darwinism in action), I do not.


  • #53
    Harryeve
    Registered Users Posts: 15 ✭Harryeve


    TechnoPool wrote: »
    Where the hell are you looking?

    this is completely blown out of proportion. A quick look on rentfaster and there are pages of 3 bed rooms houses for 2200-3000.

    That price range isn't that fair off what I was saying it all depends what part of the city you live in, I live in mission you won't find a 3 bed place in your price range here. Just say this lad gets a 3 bed for $2500 he's the only one in a family of 4 that's going to be working for the first few months until they get settled, he's a carpenter say he earns $1200 a week that's half his months wages gone on rent straight away do you think he will have much left at the end of the month feeding a family of 4 and pay bills.
    What happens in the winter when some weeks he has no work because of the weather, a lot of carpenters work is outdoors over here building timber framed houses most of the studs are steel frame in side the apartments so they don't have enough work to keep the full crew on.


  • #54
    Priv98
    Registered Users Posts: 7 ✭Priv98


    Harryeve wrote: »
    Hi I'm here about 5 months I'm a plumber I'm getting $39 an hour working 40 hours a week 8.00 to 4.30 the company I work for don't allow us to do any overtime because they don't want to pay any overtime rates. I know my trade is one of the best for having constant work in the winter time because of service work like frozen pipes a lot of other trades get laid off during the bad weather. I came over with my girlfriend she works in finance she's only getting $23 an hour it just gets her by each week pay rent bills and food. A carpenters wage would be similar to a plumber but they might start u off on $25-$30 for the first month or 2. If I was in your position I'd come over in May just as the weather gets a bit better come over on your own for the first 2 months and get set up u won't support a family over here on 1 wage. We live in a tiny 1 bed apartment $1400 a month tv and Internet $100 a month shopping $200 a week a few drinks at the weekend $200
    Between $7-$9 a pint and then you have to tip 15% on food,drink, taxis, haircuts, pretty much every service u get.

    Hi Harryeve

    Do you by any chance know of plumbing companies that are hiring? My husband is a plumber and he is looking for a job. We need LMO/LMIA to get work permits. Any tips/advice will be much appreciated.


  • #55
    sashafierce
    Registered Users Posts: 3,599 ✭✭✭sashafierce


    This post has been deleted.


  • #56
    Faith
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 30,654 Mod ✭✭✭✭Faith


    sashafierce wrote: »
    This post has been deleted.

    You're constantly giving out about your low wages, so why don't you do something about it?!

    Vancouver has the lowest wages in Canada. At $15/hr, I'd expect you were, at most, entry level admin with very little prior experience. At $12 an hour, I'd expect it to be a server in a decent restaurant.

    My OH took a total entry level job to get his foot in the door of his field, and he's getting paid $17/hr. That would be $20/hr in any other city. The most junior positions in my field, usually open to people currently completely their undergraduate degree, begin at $20/hr in Vancouver.

    If you do temp work here, you can expect to earn between $16 to $22/hr, depending on where you're working. So if you and your boyfriend are earning so significantly below what you could be earning, I'd be thinking you both need a change of jobs.


  • #57
    sashafierce
    Registered Users Posts: 3,599 ✭✭✭sashafierce


    This post has been deleted.


  • #58
    retalivity
    Registered Users Posts: 13,989 ✭✭✭✭retalivity


    I don't think its fair to say van has the lowest wages in Canada at $15.
    Before I left last year, entry-level/admin jobs would have been $10.25-$12.50/hr, whereas servers would have been minimum wage, or less if they served alcohol ($10.25 and $8.50 in Ontario)

    I think the minimum wage has gone up since but its still only marginal, a lot of the factory/general labour/entry level work would have struggled to pay near $15/hr


  • #59
    Faith
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 30,654 Mod ✭✭✭✭Faith


    There was a full stop that you missed, relativity. Vancouver has the lowest average wages in Canada, was what the sentence said. Minimum wage is indeed about $10.25/ hr.


  • #60
    pilgrim pat
    Registered Users Posts: 89 ✭✭pilgrim pat


    i have been looking into getting into Canada for a couple of years now i am a carpenter to its hard to get a job offer from here so sad the iec age is 36 i just missed out on it i relay think its daft having an age limit like that its not like they are going to kick you out when you get a few years older ,, any way in the new year the are starting express entry it will work along with the provincial nominee programs and the new lmo ,but the good thing is that you will be able to post your resume on job bank for potential employers to look at fingers crossed. you lads in the roi automatically have your fetec 6 in carpentry recognized ,i am from the north and the nvq is not recognized its so stupid ,then you have to swear an oath to the queen of england when you pet your permanent residency ,get onto face book there is a page for most big cities as far as i can tell the building in alberta is all because of oil so the boom bust thing is not the same as ireland,if you can do framing and shuttering there is loads of work out west but if you do finish carpentry the toronto has loads more of those jobs look at job bank ,,,, its going to take a long time for construction to improve in the northwest of Ireland what ever side of the border you live on things are still really bad around here people say its improving but that is bull**** all the sites that where on the go for years long before any boom still have grass growing out of them so sad ,,,,,,,Canada is looking to triple its population by the end of the century that's a long way of


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  • #61
    Harryeve
    Registered Users Posts: 15 ✭Harryeve


    Priv98 wrote: »
    Hi Harryeve

    Do you by any chance know of plumbing companies that are hiring? My husband is a plumber and he is looking for a job. We need LMO/LMIA to get work permits. Any tips/advice will be much appreciated.
    bekmar.ca/about_us/
    mrrooter.ca/edmonton


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