carlyhemsworth

Hello,

Can anyone share their experiences of emigrating from UK as an arborist? My husband is an arborist. Is the work seasonal or will he be able to work all year. I am a teacher and will use this to gain PR and know I will be unable to work in that field once landed and want to re-train after the kids have grown a bit. So he will be the main earner for a while so will need to work all year round. Any advice or experience would be great. We do have a pot of savings and no debts and know it wont be easy but worth exploring.

Thanks

Novocastrian

It's seasonal but the duration of the season will depend strongly on where in Canada we're referring to.

carlyhemsworth

We are thinking Alberta or Ontario. But are open to other suggestions to research

dbd33

There are tree farms around here in underground bunkers (trees intended to continue growing after sale, not just grow ops). Presumably one can work there year round though, if the appeal of the job is being outside, that'll be compromised.

carlyhemsworth

Oh OK! Thanks for that. He likes being outside, however, as long as he isn't sat at a desk he would be willing to compromise!

Novocastrian

OK. I didn't know that. It sounds fun. A bit like Yorkshire Tea plantations?

@OP My eldest son's best mate is an arborist in Ontario (GTA): he now owns his own business and his season is roughly April - October/early November depending on the weather.

When he was younger (and working for someone else) he could claim EI (dole roughly) for the winter months. But now he's a bit senior, he teaches arborist trainees at a local Community College in the off-season.

Almost Canadian

We live on an acreage and use a local person to cut what needs to be cut each year. The amount they charge is a fair amount but the job I do prevents me from being too critical about their fees.

From what they have told me, they do work during the winter too but, I assume, that they would likely have another seasonal job (snow clearing springs to mind) as well.

dbd33

We once had a tree taken down and it could only be done when the ground was frozen, why escapes me now. I'm trying to find contact information for the underground tree place. I'm told there's a sociable Australian who works there. He might know about being a foreign tree person. It's all weirdly secretive though; you can't just google map the place and read the phone number off a sign.

carlyhemsworth

Ok so can I assume that jobs advertised as being permanent are seasonal? Thanks

Aviator

I have a friend who is a UK trained arborist, he did it for years and quit in frustration. He now builds British style pubs for peoples basements, with the odd bit of tree work as needed. Many people here 'prune' their own trees. How hard can it be, all you need is a chain saw!

Trees don't get the care they do in the UK. My buddy used to work 6 months in Canada and then go to the UK and work 6 months, when he did trees for a living. By and large, pay is not that great. Landscapers get more work and are paid more.

More work in the larger cities and with municipalities when you can get it.

Atlantic Xpat

Be aware that - barring any unique combination of experience/opportunity - your chances of getting PR on the basis of being a teacher are slim to none. Teaching is well paid in Canada, competition for jobs is intense with supply of locally trained teachers far outstripping demand. It is also a unionised profession where seniority counts for everything. The wiki: Teaching in Canada : British Expat Wiki has more, although it was written several years ago its still pretty valid.

Almost Canadian

I have to pay around $2,000 a year for the various trimmings that are "needed."

It takes them a single day a year. They then mulch everything they have cut down which means we never have to pay for such stuff.

christmasoompa

If the OP is scoring enough on the CRS, they won't need a job offer to get a visa, so would get PR even though their occupation isn't in demand.

OP - have you checked in to wages and cost of living etc? It seems that the median hourly wage for an Arborist is $22.50, assuming a working week of 40 hours then that's approx $46,000 a year (£28k ish).

Not sure how big your family is but as you mention children I'm assuming there's at least 4 of you. If you're not working and you're relying on that wage, that's going to be pretty tough, particularly if the job does end up being seasonal.

Welcome to BE by the way!

carlyhemsworth

Hello

Thanks. As stated I am not looking for a teaching job. I know that it pretty much impossible and I am willing to retrain after a year or so of being there. I have looked at median wage and thats more than he earns here. There are 5 of us. I am planning on working just know it wont prob wont be as much as I earn here as a part time teacher as it will be a survival job prob at entry level etc.

Atlantic Xpat

With respect - if you are working as a teacher in the uk and even if your husband is not making much as an arborist then you are still better off that you will be in Canada. Even if he gets a decent year round arborist job and let's say you pick up something minimum wage while you retrain that's going to be a struggle for a family if 5. Canada is not a cheap place to live nor emigrate to!