Hemi Dave

What's your problem?

I read the forum rules, and it clearly states not to give immigration advice by private message. Instead, you should post your advice publically, so if it's wrong, or out of date, then someone else , with more up-to-date knowledge can correct you.

This is what I did.

However, instead of correcting me, you have chosen to belittle me, and my experience. Instead of starting petty fights, why not try to actually help people on the forum?

I will continue to offer help and advice on this forum, so please feel free to correct me when I'm wrong, in a mature manner.

Siouxie

Perhaps we could keep questions about immigration to the immigration forum and general questions in the Canada forum? Thanks.

It's always good to give official links for any immigration advice you give, where possible, so that people can check the information themselves.

BeenTrainingDogs

Hi Dave, maybe you can help me!

My girlfriend and I are moving to Toronto in January. She doesn't drive and I haven't driven in 10 years (we're both 28). It's going to be really uneconomical for us, particularly with insurance to drive but with my job I'm going to have to.

What can I do to try and reduce the cost of driving?

Thanks!

MarylandNed

Can you provide more info? Do you have a valid driving license in the UK? You haven't driven at all in 10 years? You don't currently have a car or insurance? When you say you'll have to drive in Canada, is that for commuting purposes or will driving actually be part of your job?

Hemi Dave

The bad news answer is "not a hellova lot" unfortunately.

We only had a trade policy in the UK, with three years NCB, and no-one was interested, so we had to bend over and take it.

We managed to get the insurance down a bit by bundling our home insurance with the same company, but it was still obscene.

And it didn't really matter what sort of vehicle we got. When I asked about the differences between getting a truck and getting a car, they told me the truck would be less as it's less likely to get mashed than a car, lol.

Unless anyone else has better knowledge, then I would be factoring in the costs to be high for the first couple of years.

Siouxie

There is a thread about insurance that was recent, you can find it here: http://britishexpats.com/forum/canad...ations-843872/

You should get your drivers extract if you can. (see wiki) Category:Car Insurance-Canada : British Expat Wiki
Make a copy of your paper licence as it will be taken when you exchange.
You may have difficulty exchanging your licence if you have no proof of having driven in the last 10 years.

You can read more about licence exchange here: Out of Country Drivers

BeenTrainingDogs

Sure:


Do you have a valid driving license in the UK? Yes.

You haven't driven at all in 10 years? I have two 2 hour refresher lessons later this month, aside from that no. (I've never needed to).

You don't currently have a car or insurance? I don't have a car or insurance.

When you say you'll have to drive in Canada, is that for commuting purposes or will driving actually be part of your job? Commuting. You aren't allowed to drive a personal car on company business in the company I work in. But there's no public transit to the place I'll be working. I've been told about SmartCommute which I need to look into as well.

Novocastrian

I don't think I'd mention the lack of recent driving experience when swapping your license.

DMV don't care if you've had recent insurance or not, and (ironically) to your advantage, most insurers don't recognize UK driving records anyway.

It'll be expensive but doable.

Bulletin25

Hi everyone!

I received my permanent residency recently, currently residing close to Barrie, Ontario. My wife and I really want to move to Hamilton and as such I've been applying to McMaster, Mohawk College and the Hamilton City Government.

My background is university work, 5 years as an administrator and 2 years in alumni relations and development (which involved event management, marketing, recruitment etc - you name it we did it! ).

Can anyone suggest any other employers in the Hamilton area that would be worthwhile me applying for? Any help would be greatly appreciated

Hemi Dave

Hey, congrats on getting PR!

Are you currently working in Barrie on a TWP, or is that just where you are holed-up at the moment?

I can't really help with your Job search, other than asking about in my new circle of friends.

Are you limited to Uni admin stuff, or could you look into other fields?

Bulletin25

Hi! Thanks for the congrats - much relief felt all round

I am volunteering at Lakehead University currently, I've been here for a few months as I figured it'd be better to get 'out there' rather than sitting and waiting on my visa to come in.

I'm pretty flexible with work, anything related to marketing, communications, admin, events, PR or any office related work I can do. Just thought I'd see if there were any obvious areas in Hamilton I was missing!

Siouxie

Congrats on getting PR, now the fun begins!

There are a few job websites you may not have come into contact with that may be worth your while registering with and some websites that have links to just about every type of employer around.

https://charityvillage.com/jobs/find-jobs.aspx
JobJunction.ca | Non-Profit Organizations
https://workingatmcmaster.hua.hrsmar...e&sort_trans=1
CareerBeacon.com
Settlement Services | YWCA Hamilton
Job Postings | OCASA/APACO
Canadian - Ontario College Jobs - Faculty, Staff and Student Positions at College Campuses in Ontario
Hamilton Health Sciences have several hospitals that there are often jobs available at: https://hhsc.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobsearch.ftl
Administrator Jobs in Hamilton, Ontario | Workopolis
Home - Job Bank
Job Search Canada | one search. all jobs. Indeed

You should also set up a LinkedIn page.

There are quite a few large companies and private colleges in Hamilton and it might also be worth your while talking with the HR department at the Uni you are at now, they may have contacts in the area.

Best of luck!

bgpz

Brock University also has a small site in Hamilton (it's on King St East, between the delta and Rosedale IIRC - I think it's mainly the Faculty of Education).

There's a new HR system about to go live at McMaster (part of an ongoing huge ERP system implementation) so you might want to keep in mind that some people may be holding fire on posting some jobs until the new year.

If you're in the alumni relations/development game, I believe the other key term used over here is "advancement".

Not sure if their jobs would be advertised as part of HHS, but there's a Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation which is some kind of charitable trust in their own right. Someone I used to work with got a job there doing something similar to what you're interested in. Health Sciences is huge in Hamilton, so there may be other foundations/trusts that aren't on the obvious radar, but worth researching...

Good luck!

Siouxie

http://hamiltonhealth.ca/ - but I couldn't see any job posting on it, however, it has contact details so may be worth sending an email - good thought bgpz!

Bulletin25

That's absolutely amazing advice - thank you so much everyone! I will look into the links and areas you've suggested, found one on Brock University suitable for me so popped in a cover letter and resume already

The search continues! Thank you again