Canada: Going it alone

IrishStew12

Irish Stew in Saskatoon is a group on Facebook where you can find info on moving, working and a bit of craic in Saskatoon.

I've lived in both Ireland and Saskatoon and there are great people on this site to offer a hand or put forth info to those moving over.

Hope to see ya there!
Tahnee

soap1978

Hello
Just like to know if their is much work in metal studding,drywall and metal/false ceilings over there and if so what kind of money thanks.

bucket and spade

johnkerry wrote: »

Hi,

Cost of living is pretty similar to home I think. To get those wages you have to have a Canadian journey man ticket. You will have to register as a fourth year apprentice here, work for a year before you sit the exam to become a journey man. http://www.saskapprenticeship.ca/WORKING_IN_SASKATCHEWAN/

I think it would be a good place for a family,as long as you can adapt to the cold in the Winter.

Have a look at Alliance Energy, I think they may have been trying to recruit Irish people. Other than that you could have a look at saskjobs.ca to see all the companies that are hiring.

The bcca is for British Columbia, Saskatoon is in Saskatchewan. Different provinces have different rules.

have you any idea of what kind of wage a 4th yr would be getting

ibh

bucket and spade wrote: »

have you any idea of what kind of wage a 4th yr would be getting

I'm not sure if Saskatchewan is the same as other parts of Canada, but in Alberta you can't register as an Apprentice unless you are a Permanent Resident.

You should look into this because in Alberta this means that the only way you can apply for Permanent Residency is if you have already become fully qualified in Ireland.

ciaran67

yosemite_sam wrote: »

I cannot see why some of you will not try and set up some sort of enterprise yourselves instead of heading for the hills.There is no other country in the world where their population has to leave like this

Sounds like you contradicting yourself there Sam?

bucket and spade

i am a fully qualified electrician in ireland, i was wondering if i got a job offer from a canadian employer what wages could i expect before i do the necessary exams to change over my qualification.

ibh

bucket and spade wrote: »

i am a fully qualified electrician in ireland, i was wondering if i got a job offer from a canadian employer what wages could i expect before i do the necessary exams to change over my qualification.

Yea I wasn't sure if you were an apprentice or if you were talking about being qualified but being paid as an apprentice.

In Calgary the 4th year rate would be anything from $27ish to $30ish per hour for a fourth year. This is kind of the ball park figure and would depend a lot on the employer,

bucket and spade

thanks, are you from calgary? do you know anyone that would hire an electrician from ireland? i have checked saskjobs and other websites for jobs but i need an employer who would give me a job offer and help with my visa application. the labour market oppinion i think its called.

ibh

bucket and spade wrote: »

thanks, are you from calgary? do you know anyone that would hire an electrician from ireland? i have checked saskjobs and other websites for jobs but i need an employer who would give me a job offer and help with my visa application. the labour market oppinion i think its called.

Yea, in calgary. I think at the minute you would have a better chance of getting a job / LMO in Saskatchewan. There are a lot of big projects coming to an end in Calgary so I would imagine there is a bit of a surplus of Electricians right now. This may not last long though if other big jobs get moving.

I am not an Electrician though so maybe there is a lot of demand in a certain area that I am not aware of.

I will try and give a few names of companies to try later in the week.

bucket and spade

thank you. if there is any irish electricians who have made the move i would be interested in talking to ye too. need as much info as i can get.

can sean

I am an irish electrician working with a company in red deer alberta, they are travelling to ireland in the next few weeks to fill an lmo of 100 between electricians and instrument techs for work in the oil sands in nothern alberta, they're are currently 15 irish with this company all on lmos and it is going good for all of us... they will be having a presentation in limerick galway cork and dublin.. i will post the venues and times in the next few days..

bucket and spade

cheers for the info. so if ye are up in the oil sands what way does it work, with days on and days off? is it a camp job? is the money good? im moving over with my partner and son so im not sure if camp would suit

can sean

im not actually in d oil sands, i work in our companies modular yard in red deer alberta its basically pre-making mods before they get hauled to d oil sands, all d other irish r on camp jobs and im nearly sure d 100 der lookin to hire will b for camp jobs, d current camp jobs rotation is 14 days on and 7 off or 9days on 5off.. d money is just over $40 an hour, time and a half after 40hrs. i havnt been up to camp yet, i came over with d view of goin to camp but got offered monday to fri work so i jumped at it but all d lads dat r up der seem to love it, der is 1fella der from dublin who has moved over wit his wife and kids he has been on a camp job since march and seems to b getn on good

bucket and spade

the woman would probably kill me if i left her alone for that long in a foreign country. i do want to live in Edmonton, i have friends and relations there. Is there many jobs for electricians house wiring or just new office buildings, commercial type work? i dont want to do maintainence. plus when jobs are advertised i see industrial electrician and construction electrician and electrician (except industrial) this confuses me, when i get my licence changed over what one will i be classed as coming from ireland?

ganger

Is the sponsorship programme a long process ?? Has anyone here been through this ???????

can sean

ya its hard for people wit families to make d changeover. i work wit a few canadians who came from a residential electrical background and d money for dat work is not near as good and it is also a very high pressure atmosphere due to d large number of residential contractors undercutting prices.. im not sure about d commercial scene, i work wit 1 person who did commercial for 15 yrs so il ask him on monday.. der r maintenance jobs wit d big contractors but dey r very hard to land.. if u r coming to canada on a lmo(sponsored), before u arrive ur company wil forward your papers to d apprenticeships board and dey wil verify your qualifications wit fetac and fas etc.. when u arrive u will start work as a journeymans helper but u will receive full journeyman rate, from d date u start work u hav 6months to pass d canadian red seal electrical exam, its basically d canadian electrical code and some electrical science.. der r plenty test papers and notes flyin around for it and even night courses to train people up for d test.. on passing dis test u will receive ur canadian electrical ticket and u will b a canadian electrical journeyman.. der r huge differences in canada between construction industrial and residential electricians, residential electricians wud amaze u how wel dey can wire places but really dont know much about d industrial side.. d industrial side is all fabrication trays ladder rack, heat trace, transformers motors panel wiring and plc and dey r very good at it but some of dem wudnt b able to wire 2way switching.. dats y dey ask for certain types of sparks because d trainin dey receive is so different even though it is all called d same trade.. i find dat d irish hav a fairly broad knowledge all sides

can sean

sponsorship is quick enough, before u go u send ur details off and wait for dem to b approved, once der approved u fill out a few forms and dats it really.. from ur initial job offer to arriving and startin work it wud take a month or small bit longer

bucket and spade

that is great info, thanks. its good to talk to an irish person who has done it already. are you long in alberta? what kind of work did you do before you left ireland. i know houses inside out, but i done loads of industrial work. i worked with kirby electrical for a few years and then my next employer done everything, we done alot of wiring temporary supplies to site compounds. i would like a job like i had with kirbys, wiring new office blocks, librarys. steel conduit was handy enough work.:)

m.j.w

bucket and spade wrote: »

that is great info, thanks. its good to talk to an irish person who has done it already. are you long in alberta? what kind of work did you do before you left ireland. i know houses inside out, but i done loads of industrial work. i worked with kirby electrical for a few years and then my next employer done everything, we done alot of wiring temporary supplies to site compounds. i would like a job like i had with kirbys, wiring new office blocks, librarys. steel conduit was handy enough work.:)

When are you thinking of heading over? im heading over in janurary but dont know where to yet. I was thinking of going to alberta but I seen to challange the red seal exam you need 9000 hours experience and 72 months work experience. Im only out of my apprenticeship in december an although I have the 9000 hours I dont have the 72 months. For sask and Brittish Colombia they only ask for the 9000 hours so will probably be heading to one of them areas!

bucket and spade

thats 9000 hours of hands on work, they take out your time for being at college.
at least show the 9000 hours, for 72 months - thats 6 years:eek: get your old boss to say you done 6 months probation work before u were registered or something, work up time that way.

can sean

im only working in alberta for 6wks now.. d first wk is a bit daunting cos d cable sizes r different d names for simple tings r all different so at d start u feel like uv just started d trade but after a couple of days u soon switch on to it.. i worked wit a company dat did industrial work in ireland.. its all d same work dat u wud hav done wit kirbys... ders very little wiring in d work i do its mostly mounting mccs, transformers lighting and heat trace.. its all pretty handy to b honest, its a totally different atmosphere dan in ireland like for example in ireland wit a big industrial company if a projects manager or superintendent comes on site d whole site trys to avoid dem and look as busy as possible where as here dey will stop u workin and hav a chat wit u.. der is no real pressure on d industrial work its all safety orientated... to challenge d red seal u need to fill out a form so they can verify u.. im not sure if d 72 months is dat important.. to verify u dey will ring ur previous employer(i dont know if dey really do as my previous and only employer went in2 liquidation and dont exist anymore) ur better off to bring as much information as u can to dem, ur original certificate, p60s, p45, any payslips dat u have.. d more information d betr as dey like to reject people cos everytime dey review ur paperwork dey charge $450 so ur betr off to give dey everythin so dey hav no choice but to accept u

bucket and spade

did they ask for the p45 or p60. i wouldnt have mine. but they should be able to contact my employers, got my card, need to find my cert.

can sean

dey dont ask for it but dey do ask for proof of employment so on dem forms it states ur pps number and how long u worked.. u wud b fine without dem id say, d main ting is to supply dem wit enough information so dey can accept u cos if dey fail u, u will have to pay d 450 again so its betr off to give dem too much information

can sean

d cert is important u wud need dat

bucket and spade

is it only the one exam you need to do to get your licence? and does that red seal you aswell or is there a seperate exam for the red seal? did you start any course to prepare for it yet?

can sean

ya d red seal is all u need once dat is passed u get ur ticket... d company i work 4 have got us old test papers and codebooks etc.. and dey organise a class for us every couple of weeks to go over stuff we dont understand so hopefully we will all get through it...

bucket and spade

best of luck. good its only d one exam. you still getting journeymans wages until then?

can sean

thanks, it looks very hard at d start but once u get a few classes in and get sumbody 2 show u how to navigate d code book properly it gets easier. yes u get journeyman rate on condition dat u pass d red seal exam within 6months of starting work

bucket and spade

that is just brilliant. how did you manage to get the job?just talking to a friend of mine in fort mckay he works for mac, he says things are great up there, where did u say your guys were in camp?

can sean

dey came to ireland last may to recruit 15 and i got taken over den.. dey r goin back sun wk lookin for electricians and instrument techs... d have picked up a huge amount of work in d last few months and dont have enough staff to keep up and cant find enough canadian electricians so dats y dey got approved for d 100 man lmo, our guys in camp r up round fort mac dey r on meg energy, firebag and husky projects