I would like to add my comments for those still in the UK thinking of coming to Alberta. I am sorry to be the prophet of doom. There will be many more instances of contract reneging as has happened in a previous post. Employers in Alberta have no hesitation in letting anyone go when times get tough and especially those on work permits – you will be the first. Contracts will be null and void. It has happened before and sadly looks like happening again. If Canadians are losing their jobs they will have no hesitation in casting you adrift - there is no safety net here.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be aware that things in Alberta are turning and not for the good. The problems in Ottawa and the likelihood (OK put on hold for now) of a coalition government with no representation in Alberta are really not helping. I have stated before that companies are looking to BC and Sask to invest now. Even that could be coming to an end.

I know I will be shouted down as usual by some (funnily enough in the East) but I can only tell you what is going on Downtown Calgary. My usually very upbeat boss of my little oil and gas company is so down today and I think he and the rest of the guys feel completely betrayed. The thing I cannot forgive those bozos in Ottawa for is that they never – not one of them – put their country first. Power was all they were interested in and we are now suffering because of it. The antics of Ottawa have done more damage to this great country than any terrorist ever could.

I just think of the lovely folk in the UK with their dreams of a new life but who could be risking so much. So please think very carefully before you sell your houses and uproot your children, etc.

Great post, great reality check.

Prospective migrants, this is must-read.

ps no point investing in BC, it's going down the pan too.

R.

So Alberta has cowboy employers, no news there. They renege on contracts when times are tough, no news there. What has Ottawa got to do with it?

Are you for real?

Seemed a valid question to me. What should Ottawa have done differently to avert a global economic meltdown?

They had strong regulation of the banks which protected them from the worst of the credit cruch, but with the US economy in the crapper there is no demand for canadian resources. Hardly the governments fault.

I know I will be shouted down as usual by some (funnily enough in the East) but I can only tell you what is going on Downtown Calgary.

I rest my case.

jancal

This happen 10 years ago to us when we moved to Calgary from the UK. Oil hit a low of US $11/barrel. Jobs just went overnight or were not there when I was looking for work. We back in the UK and feel safer here on the job front.

We liked Calgary as city, but we realised its a hard place to live as an immigrant when time get bad.

We have issues in the UK with ecomomy etc and hopefully those in the UK realise from your post they could become worse off in the current global market if the move overseas.

Good post.

Hudd

I appreciate what you have to say about Calgary, I dont doubt hard times are coming. I just dont understand the rant about Ottawa, and you havent explained.

My location has nothing to do with it, and if you had done your citizenship test, you would know Ontario is "Central" Canada

Perhaps I should qualify that to those not in the West then. And I did pass my citizenship test thanks.

I can't be arsed to explain my rant about Ottawa - I guess you have to be in Alberta to appreciate it - but I felt my comments might help some who are thinking of making a move here. The opportunities are drying up fast.

It would be helpful if you could - just to help those of us still in the UK understand the reasons behind your post a little better. Thank you.

I am in Southern Alberta and from the job which are being advertised in our area I cannot see a slump in the job market.

Gay

It's a hollow whine. Alberta has a resource based boom and bust economy. When times are good it's due to rugged and resourceful western individuals, when times are bad it's due to Ottawa.

Certainly it's a useful warning about the nature of the Alberta economy. Also any -stan and any -ia. That's digging and drilling for you.

It's a free market, you have to take the ups with the downs.

Ottawa has no part in job losses related to the oil and gas industry.

I will have to get back later and try and explain a little better - at work right now so no time.

There maybe someone out there who can add comments in the meantime.

Up to this point in time that has been true but the uncertainty in Ottawa is not helping the economy in general thus it also affects Alberta.

However not any more than any other province and there is no real reason to blame Ottawa for Alberta's current woes.

I would hope that the OP's "boss and the rest of the guys" are feeling equally betrayed by Stephen Harper and the Conservatives who started this whole constitutional mess.