happydance

Hi
So my husband got a potential offer to go working on camp neart fort mc and i want to know the truths - ive been hearing different things , so we have discussed he will work 24 days on and 4 days off ..
I have heard that it is expensive up there so I am trying to decide where to live myself as we are new to calgary.
I also want to know what life is like having a partner in one of these camps ... so many horrid stories between drugs / prostitutes etc .. not sure what to think - need some reassurance !!!
Thanks !

Almost Canadian

I have never been there so weight this as you feel appropriate but ...

I am confident there will be drugs there, I am confident that there will be prostitutes there too.

I have many clients that work there, most of whom allege they are drug tested regularly.

Is your husband likely to indulge in such things while away for 24 days? I doubt the work there is any different to the same work in Calgary, except that the winter there lasts a far bit longer than it does in Calgary. Plumbers plumb, electricians do electrical things, mechanics repair/maintain vehicles.

iaink

24 on 4 off is a bit steep!

presumably that was 4 on 4 off 12hr continental shift. Its not for everyone.. screws up weekends but lots of time off. If traveling to the site from afar its probably not the best as half your time off is spent in the air or on the road so more days in a row is maybe prefereable?


Ft McMurray is very expensive, my bosses kid works camps but he flys in and out of Ontario on a 14 day shift (IIRC) rather than live there. Frequent drug testing too.

There are drugs and prostitutes everywhere arent there if you go look for them?

The truth seems to be that its very good money earned under taxing circumstances, and its no place to raise a family. Go for the money, stay on camp, set up home elsewhere and travel.

happydance

Yes 24 0n 4 off then 24 on and then 21 days off ...

Yes I have heard mixed reviews and yes indeed you are correct drugs and prostitutes are every if searched !

I can only imagine how expensive it is, but i am trying to decide where to live myself :-/ ... I wonder are there any jobs for women in camps at all ?

iaink

excluding prostitution presumably

Novocastrian

You've already mentioned the most established one.

happydance

Seriously ? --- I came on in the hopes of getting some mature advice ...

Novocastrian

Oh, I see. I apologize for being immature. Just possibly I'm slightly naive as well.

iaink

Sense of humour failure?

WOmen do work the oilsands, generally in the more qualified roles where expertise and experience rather than brute force is required. They are however extremely heavily outnumbered 1:4 seems about average on the big sites, but the camps will be a lot more one sided, so dealing with crude male humour is probably a job requirement to survive the long shifts and cramped living conditions.

I read male/female ratios are 79 to 21 per cent for geoscientists and 96 to 4 per cent for trades.

cbrown89

Depends if he is working inside one of the camps i.e. Horizon. There you stay on site in nice accommodation. I'd prefer to work offshore but thats just me.

People say Fort Mac is no place to raise a family but they are wrong, I know lots of people who enjoy living it Fort Mac it just depends what you are used to.

The rotation sounds pretty bad.

Drugs and prostitutes are not a Fort Mac problem they are a worldwide problem, personally they have been everywhere that I have lived and never bother me a) because I don't do drugs b) because I don't do prostitutes (knowingly).

woodworm

I know a few women who work in camps, they are all bus drivers and another one who drives the big loaders, she started off as kitchen staff but the pay wasn't ok, so she went to do the course to be a heavy equipment operator, which pays much better.. but's from what I hear, it's a rather tough situation, I couldn't do it... I'd rather work as a driver for the polar bear expeditions in Churchill instead.

gryphea

Think the shift rotation is tough. Assume it includes the flights back to Calgary or Edmonton? (if not its not much good as flights are really really epxensive.

I don't particularly like the camps; to me they look from the outside like slightly modified prisoner of war camps, think loads of portacabins (albeit upmarket ones) behind a fence, but some people quite like them and adapt their lives accordingly (I think the ones who do it for years secretly like being away from their partners). Most offer some sort of fitness etc. Most offer large meals and I know a few who put on weight in camp. Meals are canteen style in large portacabins. I think working on site in fort mac is the new asbestos. Summer is dry, dusty dustbowl and can stink of bitumen depending on the site. Can't think its particularly healthy.

Don't really think there are drugs and prostitution in the camps; that's Fort Mac itself that people are talking about, plus everyone is on 12 hr shifts. Prostitutes just couldn't get into camp; its only for bonefide workers that have passed through site security and in addition need id to get into camp Drug control can be quite tight- the last flight I was on had sniffer dogs and there is quite a lot of drug testing. I think its off shift when people have loads of money that the trouble occurs.

There are plenty of jobs for women up there. I see heavy equipment drivers , technical specialists etc, but a lot of women are in admin roles, gate control, cleanings, cooking, bus drivers etc roles.

I wouldn't have thought you would want a job in camp too; I would find that depressing and your shifts may not coincide or your flights paid.

mandymoochops

Theres been ads on the raadio recently for women to go and work up in Fort Mac. I jokingly said to my hubby "I should do that!".He unjokingly replied "NO"

Make of that what you will!!!!

christmasoompa

It's a forum for British expats, therefore expect sarcasm, and banter, in bucket loads.

You will get good advice amongst the banter though, and if you search the forum you'll find loads of threads on Fort Mac that would be well worth a read.

HTH.

MillieF

I recently carried out a survey for Fredericton airport....finding out where travellers were going, for how long and how they bought their tickets. I asked every flight going out over a two week period. Good fun it was too.

There were quite a lot of women going to Fort Mac, in a variety of roles (nobody mentioned prostitution) Lots of big fit boys with few skills too. A number of men and women mentioned that they were being paid $20 an hour for work that they would be paid $12 an hour for in Fredericton, in general labour, cleaning etc. Lots of engineers of both sexes going too.

I have never worked in a Canadian camp, but I have worked both offshore and in camps in other countries (I met my husband in one) and there are all sorts of good, fun and then again entirely unsavoury activities going on and you get involved in what you want.

Your husband's schedule sounds dire. Do you have kids? If you don't why don't you just go with him and give it a punt? You can always leave. I would well imagine that if it's like any of the areas I've been to previously that if you turn up willing and able, you would find a job of some sort in no time....possibly not the job of your dreams, but work neverthess. Best of luck.