Auld Yin

You must be a sweet talking barsteward. Some day your time will come. I just hope you don't take out some innocent bystander.

Auld Yin

So, what's the fine for that?

dbd33

Dunno. It hasn't come to court. A couple of hundred Canadian, I imagine.

Lorry1

Yeah because it's so difficult to drive here, just point the car and go!
It's getting use to the incompetence of most drivers here that people have to experience!



again driving at 120ish is breaking the speed limit (which I never do, BTW )! People should use the outer lane to overtake only and then pull back in to the right lane.

Broadway

Just joined the Brit Expats website (nearing retirement now)....and I gotta say:

I have been in the Toronto area since 1982.....AND LOVE THIS COUNTRY!

minxymel

Hi,

We have been here 3 years, June 30.

My wife secured a job quickly on arrival, I got a job also but was moved from Toronto to Calgary ( so I resigned), much to my regret.

I have applied to more jobs than I care to remember, without success. My transition to a new life here in Canada has been slow, frustrating and a test on my tolerance.

There are many thing I compare to the UK, but I remind myself of the reasons why we wanted to come here from the UK.

I hope that our persistence provides the wants and dreams we aim for. If we focus on the negative we will only see the bad, so I continue with the positive and march on.

cheeky_monkey

what were those things?..im sure being out of work long term was not one of them?

orly

"30-49 km/h The amount of km over times $6.00 = fine"

Guts of 300 plus some demerit points?

dbd33

Honestly can't recall, there have been a couple since then. It can't have been a startling amount or involved a ban or I would have remembered.

rugbymum

Dear Pawan,

I am a UK Qualified RN, although (after I sat my Canadian Nurse Exam) I have been able to get employment as a nurse. I can completely understand your experience. I have 20 yrs UK nursing experience in London teaching 7hospitals and then a regional ICU. 7 as a Sister but over here I have to compete with new grads. My previous experience genuinely accounts for nothing here. I have had my post "eliminated" due to cuts then I was displaced by another(Canadian) employee (the system here allows employees who have lost their job due to cuts or elimination of posts - to take the the job of anyone less senior in TIME, but experience is NOT taken into the equation unless you both have the same time!! this is complete madness, especially as I was one of the nurses recruited from the UK during a time of shortage). I know readers will not believe that this is the absolute 100% truth but it is - it has happened to me twice already in a period of 3 months. My husband also thought I was joking as did many Canadian friends but sadly I am facing this prospect this week.

As for those who have been unkind to the poster suggesting that they should have done this research - I challenge anyone to have found out this little gem of info using research. You have to be here to actually understand the levels of discrimination towards foreign healthcare workers due to "seniority in Canada". I came over at a time of shortage, the immigration minister Jason Kenny was actually interviewed on UK TV appealing for experienced UK health professionals to move to Canada & I for one did my research and all was certainly painted as rosy in the garden for those with qualifications and experience. However in fact it could not (for me at least) have been further from the truth.

A my South African GP has said that she has several UK nurses suffering in the same way as myself, none of these are inexperienced a all - one is even a midwife (a profession that doesn't even appear to exist here) but none can get employment commensurate with their experience or qualifications. It is a truly sad state of affairs and I know it doesn't help Parwan, but remember you are not in the wrong, it is the system. Stay strong and true to yourself.

Hope something has already worked out for you.

Take care

Rugbymum.

Atlantic Xpat

And there's the nub of it. Seniority. It's rotten heart of unionised professions such as healthcare and teaching. Both, of course where you really want someone who has lots of time served, rather than neccessarily the best qualified/experienced/capable person looking after you, don't you? ('Cos time served, doesn't neccessarily make you the best at what you do).

I can see how someone moving over from the UK would fail to appreciate the seniority thing. I just don't think the same rules apply back in UK. It was a shock to me for the Mrs as a teacher (& a Canadian at that) as to how long it took to get a permanent job. Add the "being an immigrant" thing on top & one might be forgiven for thinking that you'll never get a decent job.

Can't offer any concrete advice, but can offer sympathies and understanding.

AX

Jeraboam

I have lived in Toronto for more than 50 years and understand why it is consistently designated by international organizations as one of the best 10-15 cities in the world in which to live. Maybe not the greatest tourist destination but a wonderful place to live and raise a family.

Jeraboam

Within ten minutes of my home are a number of medical clinics and a major general hospital employing thousands of medical professionals; a large community college, high schools, elementary schools employing hundreds of educators. Among them one can hear every language on Earth;see every racial, linguistic and cultural group on the planet. They did not all get hired because they had "Canadian Experience" or know someone at the top. They received their training in a multitude of countries and universities including Canada and were well-prepared, fortunate, persevering, flexible, or whatever other attributes were necessary to be hired, retained, promoted,...

This is a difficult time in most countries as we allow our politicians to drag us down to the lowest common denominator with their "global economy" rant and good, permanent jobs are becoming even harder to find and keep in our country for Canadian born and immigrant workers.

I hope you persevere and find success in finding work in Toronto or elsewhere in Canada as, despite its flaws and frustrations, it still remains one of the best places in the world to live.

Jeraboam

The "rotten heart" of our society is more in the non-unionised corporate world where employees can be mistreated with relative impunity. Seniority is a reasonable and fair way of respecting workers; competence is the fair way of deciding if one keeps a job and is respected by unions when fairly implemented. I suspect that the UK has similar rules for treating workers fairly and not discriminating on the basis of age.

With declining school populations in most parts of Canada, getting into teacher training, finding a post-graduation job and reaching permanent contract status are all extremely difficult.

christmasoompa

Jeraboam, for future ref there's a multi-quote function.

Hit the square button next to quote on the right hand side of each post you'd like to respond to, then press quote.

HTH.