VishUK2Canada

Hi All,

I am new on here and was hoping to get some advice from some of you who have been in a similar situation. I am a Project Manager with a variety of experience (11 yrs) in the UK within the private/public sector in Civils, Infrastructure, Water and Highways, my wife is a Phlebotomist and working in a local GP surgery. We both are 36 and are contemplating to move to Canada for good.

I have below queries if someone can kindly shed some light, please.

· We have recently secured permanent residency and will be doing a soft landing in Feb, can I do goods to follow on my second visit and not first visit? This is because I haven’t secured any employment yet and will have to return to the UK to finalise a lot of things.

· Once the PR card is applied, I am in no position to wait as they arrive after 40-60 days (only staying for 12 days in Canada), can local friends courier it through via DHL?

· Has anyone managed to secure a job from the UK without being internally transferred from the company. If so, what did you do to secure a place? E.g. training, certification (P.Eng), Linkedin etc

· Also, if the job was secured, did the employer assist in the move etc

· Is P.Eng a must for Project Managers? If so, can I remotely start undertaking courses to work towards P.Eng

· If it is next to impossible to secure a job whilst in the UK, Does anyone have a good recruitment consultancy contacts who recruit for candidates from the UK for nationwide vacancies within Canada?

· Is it easy to transfer UK driving license into a Canadian one and can the no claims discount be also transferred over?

· Any thoughts about areas near Edmonton?

I appreciate, the above is a lot of queries but would greatly appreciate any suggestions, sharing of experiences.

Thanks and Regards,

Vish

Hurlabrick

Yes. Suggest you read the wiki section on this as this provides a detailed explanation together with official links. See: http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Landin...oods_to_Follow


As long as you give CBSA a Canadian residential address when you land and declare PR, they will start the process for your PR Card and deliver it to that address. Your friend can then DHL it over to you (we did this). Do note that it normally take quite a bit longer than the time given on the official website (add say a month).


No such thing as a 'Canadian' licence. Licences are specific to each province in Canada. But yes, it is pretty easy. Have a read of the wiki here:

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Driver%27s_Licence-Canada


No, not at all easy! You need specific letters from every UK insurance company that has insured you confirming the dates of insurance and confirming that there were no claims made either by you or against you in the period. Canadian companies do not recognise 'no claims' years as these can be insured against, they need specific letters fro each company and even then, only some companies may grant a form of recognition. See the wiki for Alberta here:

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Vehicle_Insurance-Alberta



As regards the questions I have not answered it is because I do not know, others may well comment.

VishUK2Canada

Thanks a lot for yr detailed response back hurlabrick. This is so useful.

Forum members please can I request you to come forward and share yr experiences regarding job hunting whilst in the UK. I am particularly keen to understand without internal company transfer. I would also be grateful if you could kindly address the unanswered queries pls.

Thanks all

Siouxie

Welcome to BE!


I strongly suggest you read our wiki about job hunting - and for a list of recruitment agencies and about things like P.eng.


https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Categ...Hunting-Canada
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Categ...ineeringCanada
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Quick...uctions-Canada

VishUK2Canada

Engineer_abroad

cheeky_monkey

you did not say why Edmonton?

Phaedru5

· Once the PR card is applied, I am in no position to wait as they arrive after 40-60 days (only staying for 12 days in Canada), can local friends courier it through via DHL?

As already answered above, yes, we did this had it mailed to a friend and they forwarded it on.

· Has anyone managed to secure a job from the UK without being internally transferred from the company. If so, what did you do to secure a place? E.g. training, certification (P.Eng), Linkedin etc

Yes. Just keeping an eye on indeed.ca and other such job boards and applying to everything that was a close fit in my industry. I had a graphic artist help with my CV to make it really stand out, especially as a project manager make some kind of timeline or project programme style list of your experience. I also made a small basic website about me so you can do a simple and eye catching one page CV and then at the bottom I just had a line that said if you want to learn more about me why not check out www.<insert your name here>.com.

· Also, if the job was secured, did the employer assist in the move etc

I got bonus gauranteed for the first 6 months and a small single lump sum to assist in accomodation for the first month but only because they wanted me to start sooner than I was ready to come so had a month overlap with me here and the family still in the UK.

· Is P.Eng a must for Project Managers? If so, can I remotely start undertaking courses to work towards P.Eng

I believe you have to work under a P.Eng for at least a year regardless of experience or qualifications in the UK for them to assess you before you can then apply for P.Eng. I dont know for sure but all I remember when looking into it was that even as a C.Eng in the UK it was very hard to transfer to P.Eng to the point if it almost not being worth it if you can get away without it.

· If it is next to impossible to secure a job whilst in the UK, Does anyone have a good recruitment consultancy contacts who recruit for candidates from the UK for nationwide vacancies within Canada?

I highly recommend doing the legwork yourself. Make yourself known to the companies, send a decent resume prospectively to any companies you are interested in even if not advertising for jobs, make phone calls, offer yourself for skype meetings/interviews .... its a lot of hard work but if you want it enough that wont bother you. Also read up on canadian job application processes, you will find it takes a lot longer to even get a response than in the UK. I first contacted the company I now work for in march or april, offering to meet them in July when I visited - they called me in August, we talked and skyped until December when I got my job offer and started the job in the following February.

· Is it easy to transfer UK driving license into a Canadian one and can the no claims discount be also transferred over?

You just swap your license, easy. But read up on the requirements for your chosen province of what you need to get insurance discount. ICBC (in BC) are incredibly strict with the letters they require, I did manage to get 5 years discount and my wife got the full 8 (maximum in BC) but getting the letters from the insurance companies was like pulling teeth, in one case it took 3 attempts to get the right letter from one of them. Another I had to speak to a senior manager and literally offer myself to come into their office and work for a day so he could spare some time to write the damn letter, I offered him money over the phone just to stress the importance of needing this letter, as not having it would have cost me an extra $1000 in insurance - by the end of the call I told him he could have written, signed and posted the letter by now, it was insane - this was my most recent insurer and hence crucial to count the other ones consecutively!!

VishUK2Canada

Engineer_abroad - appreciate your response and clarity.

Yes, I am already studying for PMP and hoping to clear this very soon.

There are a lot of PM roles in Edmonton/Calgary area but they all request for P.Eng so I was wondering, what I can do to start working towards it but I think there is some insight in the following responses.

This is a fantastic forum, where people are genuinely helping each other out, I truly appreciate everyone's response and input

VishUK2Canada

little research what I have done for PM roles, Edmonton stands out in every aspect. It seems, there are regular requirements of PM role and also we have some friends in the area.

However, I haven't decided on the areas within Edmonton yet, any insight in the areas within Edmonton would be greatly appreciated

cheeky_monkey

2019 will be a tough year for construction in Edmonton ..what with the downturn in oil prices (again) and the hold on capital projects due to the upcoming elections

VishUK2Canada

I wouldn't have a clue for my entire 10 yrs worth of no claims discount, I would have details for 5-6 yrs but not the entire 10 yrs, I am so glad you mentioned this and the others. I'll start digging into my old records.

I am so grateful to you all for your responses

VishUK2Canada

thanks for the heads-up Cheeky_monkey, Edmonton is a preferred location but I think I have no choice but to keep myself open to wherever I can secure a job.

Obviously, I would love to narrow down the location but given that I do not have a job security yet, I'll try and keep the options open regarding location.

Phaedru5

Do a google image search of 'project manager graphic resume' for some ideas

Siouxie

https://www.google.ca/search?q=proje...h=678&dpr=1.25