Hi everyone,

New to the site and wanted to ask a few questions on jobs/qualifications in Canada?

I know its a long-winded story here but if you can stay with me and I will try not vere off track....lol

We are a family originally from Glasgow and moved to Perth, Western Australia about 18 months ago. We came here on a permanant visa based on my plumbing and gasfitting skills. Having to jump through hoops back in the UK with getting my trade certificates recognised and doing the IELTS, I thought that coming to oz would be simple with getting my plumbing/gas license and starting work but this proves not to be the case and an endless money pit when you look into it. All in, I would prob be about $10,000 down to get all the licenses I had in Scotland and for not a very good wage as the plumbing companies want to use you along the way. You have to do a hand skills assessment to prove you are a plumber ( $450 ), then you can enroll on the migrant gap plumbing course ( $2500 ) but you can only do this course if you are employed with a licensed plumbing company!! Then the rest of the outlay for doing your gas course and the endless books to buy plus a few other first aid courses along the way amounts up to a heavy $$. I wasn't lucky, or stupid enough, to get a job with a plumbing company. Did get offered one at $16 ph but financially I was not in a position to work for this amount. This was from an ex UK bloke too who thought he was doing me a favour!! haha.

Anyways, to get to my question in hand. lol. We are now stuck in australia, I am doing a job outwith my trade for nothing like I should be earning. The cost of living is going crazy over here and I just can't see how things will get better. Every way we turn, there is another closed door.

Does Canadian provincies accept UK or scottish plumbing qualifications ( NVQ/SVQ ) and does this let you work as a plumber? If not, what are the courses and rough costs does anyone know?

Sorry for going off track alot, just venting my anger of this hyped up country and their red tape on about everything.

Hope someone can answer my question as I'm running out of ways to look?

Thanks

Or8 mate, just landed here myself, our plumbing quals count over here, you will be a journeyman, you can obtain the application from tradesecrets web site, its called application qualififcation work experience, fill it out and when you land with 450$ they ring your old bosses.. not so much in Calgary and will eventually ask for a letter from your company saying your up to scratch, most companies do this after 3 months, I recomened getting in touch Trotter and Morton, I will ask the engineer who got me on if I can forward your email.

Look at MCK global recruiting no fees required and they nearly got me work with DMT mechanical in Lethbridge, also R&D plumbing in Lloydminster, journeyman money is decent but the $450 you paid also includes the price of a test when you choose to take it for your redseal (a national ticket to print money).

on the tradesecrets website is a guide to help you fill out a form, if any of the companies you talk too can get you an LMO your quids in they will help you through the immigration process, I will PM you an email you can contact straight away they are doing LMO's now to bring people in for plumbing work.

All the best

wardy

The short answer is no. Foreign certifcation is not recognized, but work experience is.

For plumbing:

ITABC http://www.itabc.ca/program/plumber

Course info for BC
http://www.icba.bc.ca/courses_events...ration_004.pdf

Not mandatory though.

If you have documentary proof of 9000 hours (varies slightly by trade, but not a lot) you can challenge the exam
http://www.itabc.ca/sites/default/fi...ne-2013_56.pdf

Some prep is worthwhile though.

Gas Fitting
BC Safety Authority license gas fitters.
http://safetyauthority.ca/licences-c...working-bc/gas

Each province has their own training authority, with slightly different requirements. There is no national authority, this is where the inter provincial Red Seal standards come in. You train or qualify in one province and you can get the required certificates in another province to do the job based on your Red Seal trade.

Thanks Wardy_1990, some decent info there mate...I have emailed ITABC and redseal. Red Seal got back with a page of links to look at but it ties you up in knots with jargon...lol

I will take a look at they companies and see what they say on my quals.
Thanks again

not at all mate, remember you are already a journeyman, you just need to fill the application out, am on journeyman at mo $37 an hour, if you explain to them you will eventually sit the redseal it makes you more attractive but if you stay in your chosen province say alberta you can stay a journeyman, but PR will go through quicker if you have redseal

good luck

BE karma to you Wardy.

haha definitely BEVS, my brother is now making the move to NZ he's project manager with his GF, I can see how people get into there chosen country and neglect BE, there is always a lot on my plate but I would never have made it without advice from here so seems fair to offer it back, plus plumber or pipefitters seem none existent when I was looking for advice.

I read some early posts and agree your qualifications do not work here ,,,
federal government accept qualifications but at provisional level they don't.,
You need to go to ITA (industry training authority) and you can pay to challenge your plumbing ticket...
I sat the test myself and was short on he mark for passing..
Plumbing here is quite different and the questions they ask in the tests are not easy...
in the UK I had a advanced plumbing ticket and also both gas tickets,,,oil ,,high pressure hot water ,,,backflow ,,,water regs and energy conversion...
so I know exactly where your coming from..
I started off on $14 an hour as a helper until I went back to school in my own time at my own cost ,,,a Gas B ticket cost me almost $1500 for the course and the test ,,and 14 Saturdays in school,,
I am now in a decent job paying good money but the road was not easy,,
finding work is very hard especially while there is not much work around..
My advice is check out all avenues before jumping one sinking ship to another,,,
By the Way I am in BC and talking about British Columbia ,,,cant speak for the other provinces.

loads o work in Alberta, from what I hear Canada is far from a sinking ship compared to Oz