is it worth leaving wife in ireland to work in canada

deniseob

My husband received a call from a recruiting agency about possibly going to work in Canada 15/2 and 13/7 flyin fly out. Food and board for him with his work visa paid for. We are trying to decide if it is worth been away from one another. At moment he is working 60hr week for 600 euro. If he goes to Ca it'll work out twice that. I am off work sick at the moment so havent my income. I am wondering if anyone else has had this situation how they got on??

montreal2011

There are numerous factors to take into account. Some which spring to mind are:

Exchange rates have changed a lot over the last few years.

On August 14th, 2012, €600 would have gotten you CAD$732. €1 = CAD$1.22.

On March 19th, 2014, €600 would have gotten you CAD$930. €1 = CAD$1.55.

Today, €600 is equal to about CAD$840. €1 = CAD$1.39.

FlyIn - FlyOut

I'm not sure how the patterns work; I'll guess that 15/2 means work 15 days straight and get 2 weeks off and that 13/7 means works 13 days straight and get 7 days off. I believe that work days can be 12 hours in duration.

I think that the company will pay to fly the worker in and out, but I think it would make a big difference for you guys if this means within Canada only, or worldwide.

I expect that Alberta will be the the location, and Fort McMurray is the most likely location in Alberta. From Fort McMurray there are flights to Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto. Aer Lingus do direct flights to Toronto from Dublin. I think it's about a 4 hour flight from Fort McMurray to Toronto, and 7 hours from Toronto to Dublin. There may also be a flight or a long travel from the work site to Fort McMurray.

Life on site

I have heard both good and bad. I think that camps can vary greatly, so I'd advice your husband to do some research and get as much info as possible on the potential work site and living quarters. A nice work / living environment will make all the difference.

deniseob

thanks for the respnse...we are thinking its a great opportunity. we've been to vancouver 2/3 times and loved it. i might even try move to vancouver as my aunts are there then its only an hour or two in a plane. I am thinking holiday hen look into getting working visa for me if it works out ok with alan.

thanks for the tip about checking out the camp facilities, alan only received word today and he was led to believe the work is 15 days with 2 days off and the 13 days with 7 off...he'll need to check that out.

circular flexing

Just be careful it's not a scam. If it is the oil fields around Alberta, I'd be very wary. The falling price of oil has hit the Alberta economy hard and there's loads of people being laid off around the camps at the moment.

http://globalnews.ca/news/1782479/albertas-oilpatch-feeling-the-ripple-effect-from-low-crude-prices/

EI-DOR

I second what CF said above. Also regarding the camps, it isn't pick and choose where you want to go. If a certain company is offering camp then it's up to them what camp their employees go into. The likes of Suncor owns a few camps so if the work is on a Suncor site then the contractor company will make arrangements with Suncor to use their camp for example.

Saying that most of the camps are pretty new and very nice!

blinding

What kind of work does your husband do and where did you hear about the opportunity.

deniseob

blinding wrote: »

What kind of work does your husband do and where did you hear about the opportunity.

My husband is a welder...I had sent cv's away for him to different agencies and one of them called yesterday. I think the biggest issue for us is the time apart.

Good advice from all thanks!! we are trying to decide if it is worth been apart for almost a month..every month until I get a visa.

montreal2011

I don't know the in's and out's, but I think that since ye are married that you will almost automatically qualify for a (working) visa.

I know of a couple (not married but qualified as common-law partners due to living together for over 12 months) who moved from England as he has obtained a research job in Canada.

She came with him and I think she was ok to stay (and work) as long as he was here. I'm not sure what the process is, but I think you can get a visa easily enough if your husband has one.

johnjones1234

hi there, what agencies did you apply to. thanks in advance

m.j.w

Hi Denise,

Have to agree with the lads above, the way things are here at the minute I would be very surprised if any companys are flying lads over from Ireland and paying for flights when there are so many workers being laid of here. Sounds like its a scam or they are not giving you all the details? Is the shift 15 days on 2 days off and then 13 days on and then fly back to Ireland for 7 days?

Kev_2012

Denise, I will give you one word of warning, a long distance relationship is an absolute nightmare and definitely do not recommend it. If I were in your shoes, I'd go somewhere together.

problum8

Hi there.. Sorry to hijack this thread but I am considering moving to Canada for a year too. I would be going on my own and although I am a teacher I have worked in construction for a while too. I have relations in Edmonton. I was hoping to work hard for 6 months and make some money possibly in fort mcmurray and then travel a bit. Would the pay be poor for just labouring and would it be worth my while doing a course in something like tig welding to have a chance of getting a better job? Thanks in advance.

swimming in a sea

I've been possibly offered a job in Canada, the office is around Toronto. What is peoples opinion of a wage that I should seek as in €50k wage living in Dublin what do I need to match that in Toronto current ex rate is $70k Canadian, but does that get you the same purchasing power?

I've been to Toronto and as a tourist I found it expensive so I would say you need a much higher wage than you get in Dublin.

Kev_2012

swimming in a sea wrote: »

I've been possibly offered a job in Canada, the office is around Toronto. What is peoples opinion of a wage that I should seek as in €50k wage living in Dublin what do I need to match that in Toronto current ex rate is $70k Canadian, but does that get you the same purchasing power?

I've been to Toronto and as a tourist I found it expensive so I would say you need a much higher wage than you get in Dublin.

Toronto and Dublin would be neck and neck in terms of cost of living I'd say. Public transport is much cheaper in Canada. Well, Vancouver is anyway.

el diablo

m.j.w wrote: »

Hi Denise,

Have to agree with the lads above, the way things are here at the minute I would be very surprised if any companys are flying lads over from Ireland and paying for flights when there are so many workers being laid of here. Sounds like its a scam or they are not giving you all the details? Is the shift 15 days on 2 days off and then 13 days on and then fly back to Ireland for 7 days?

Have to agree with this. It's true that a lot of welders have been laid off on the oil patch recently. Sounds like an unusual shift too.

cavan mom

My husband was offered the same type of work in Canada (in fact it sound like the exact same job /company as that ladies ) ..but I not sure. He will be flying out for 5 weeks..home to Ireland for 1 week. We have 4 young children and are going to go for it.. We are eager to move their as a family but I am not clear of what exact visa this company provides is; skilled work visa.... TFW visa ??? So we are eager to find out ..the sooner the better ....we are really struggling here for work...head above water barely. Anyone know what visa he may be on ? Long shot. But worth a try asking...thanks.

deniseob

Kev_2012 wrote: »

Denise, I will give you one word of warning, a long distance relationship is an absolute nightmare and definitely do not recommend it. If I were in your shoes, I'd go somewhere together.

Hiya sorry ive been off boards for ages. Yes we decided to leave it we didnt want to be apart that long every month :-)

deniseob

m.j.w wrote: »

Hi Denise,

Have to agree with the lads above, the way things are here at the minute I would be very surprised if any companys are flying lads over from Ireland and paying for flights when there are so many workers being laid of here. Sounds like its a scam or they are not giving you all the details? Is the shift 15 days on 2 days off and then 13 days on and then fly back to Ireland for 7 days?

Sorry took so long to get back was off boards. We've decided its not worth it. I thought the shift was a bit dodgy and have read things about the campsites that we didn't like sound of. Although we love Canada vancouver in particular we will juat continue to holiday there when we can.

Long Gone

deniseob wrote: »

Hiya sorry ive been off boards for ages. Yes we decided to leave it we didnt want to be apart that long every month :-)

Ah shure your husband would have been grand - He could have got himself down to The Tilted Kilt or Hooters if he was ever feelin' a bit lonely......:D

deniseob

Long Gone wrote: »

Ah shure your husband would have been grand - He could have got himself down to The Tilted Kilt or Hooters if he was ever feelin' a bit lonely......:D

Lol yeah sure that would have been an option althou divorce with a side order of knee in the balls would be his reward!

el diablo

deniseob wrote: »

Lol yeah sure that would have been an option althou divorce with a side order of knee in the balls would be his reward!

Whoa, you have the poor fecker on a short leash.