timd927

I’m looking at moving to Edmonton within two years and I’m looking at potential jobs
Currently in the UK I’m working as a Project manager with my NVQ Level 6 diploma in construction I also have Prince 2, IOSH,SMSTS
my question is , will all my qualifications be relevant in Canada ? If I have to undertake a course to prove my competence I would be more than will to do so
many thanks in advance

wardy_1990

I'm pretty sure it's degree or nothing, HND and HNC if I remember right don't count for much, if you did your extra year and topped up to foundation degree or a full 2 and came with a degree the world's your oyster for construction.

someone else with more experience may know better I'm a level 4 but considered topping up to see if it would help and I think I recall it didn't.

experience can count at times and your prince 2 could help with that but you would need a company to give you a start maybe look at project coordinator and work up from there.

also I think Murphys were looking at expanding to Canada with UK lads. maybe try Keller construction they have a fair few Irish lads working for them.

Siouxie

Some of the info on these pages may be of use
PRINCE2 appears to be recognised in Alberta

https://alis.alberta.ca/occinfo/occupations-in-alberta/occupation-profiles/project-management-professional/ (you'll need to pan down to 'other' at the bottom for some of it)
https://www.alberta.ca/safety-certification.aspx
also IOSH Alberta Association - IOSH Alberta

timd927

many thanks! I have now sent my certificates off to WES so let’s hope the level 6 and prince 2 is actually worth something

that being said, could I not get my PR with the bricklaying NVQ ?

Siouxie

WES is for evaluation of education - and generally they don't evaluate trade qualifications, only academic...
https://www.wes.org/ca/eca/
You won't necessarily 'qualify' for PR due to a UK trade certificate - but you can qualify to apply for Federal Skilled Worker (Trades) route if you can obtain your Certificate of Qualification from the Province of choice.. if you have enough experience (documented and provable) you may be able to challenge based on that, or by getting a qualified job offer.
https://tradesecrets.alberta.ca/experiencedworkers/
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...ed-trades.html

timd927

But the level 6 is classed as diploma, if that’s the case how would I gain entry?
apologies for all the questions .....

Siouxie

Getting your education (training) assessed for Education Equivalency is completely different to obtaining a Provincial certificate of qualification enabling you to work.

If you applied under Express Entry Federal Skilled Worker TRADES (per the link I gave earlier) you don't even need to get your education assessed, you just need a Provincial Certificate of Qualification OR a qualifying job offer. ...please have a read through the links given for more information.

timd927

apologies I missed that , I’ve read about the skilled worker route and I’ve got two questions that hopefully you can help me with 😄
1) if I get the skilled trader access do I have to work as a bricklayer while in Canada ? Could I not jump into project management as soon as I get there
2)I haven’t worked as a bricklayer for over 5 years , does this rule out this option?

again thank you so much for your help I really appreciate it !
regards
Tim

christmasoompa

Afraid so. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...ed-trades.html

So you can still look to see if you're eligible for Express Entry and if you're scoring enough, you just aren't likely to get the education points you were hoping for - Prince2 won't be worth any points as it's a professional qualification rather than academic, but you may find you get lucky with your NVQ Level 6 depending on the exact subject studied and how much was classroom based.

Good luck.

timd927

thank you very much for your help I appreciate it
I’ve had looked at the scoring system and if you rule out the qualification I would be only at 403!!
but if my qualifications are counted and I went with “Two or more certificates “ I would score 458
I supposes my only option is to wait to hear back from WES (Fingers crossed)

again thank you all for your time

christmasoompa

OK, so even with the 458 you're borderline (last time it went that low was over a year ago IIRC). I guess all you can do is wait and see what WES come back with, but you may need to find a way to get your points up anyway even if you do get it assessed as two or more certs.

Personal question I know but how old are you?

timd927

thats my thoughts...I don’t really want to undertake a degree now , I was under the impression (stupidly) I could utilise my bricklaying qualifications

I’m 32

christmasoompa

OK, so you'll lose points when you turn 33 as well. You don't by any chance have Irish citizenship or a route to it do you?

You wouldn't need to get a degree to get your points up, a job offer would hopefully be a heck of a lot quicker than that! Or other ways, for example getting higher IELTS scores or provincial nomination. But best thing to do is wait and see what WES come back with and then once you know your score for sure we can help you figure out a Plan B if needed. When you have that, post a full breakdown of your score and we'll try and help.

Best of luck.

timd927

no my family is Irish but not me personally

I’ve looked at getting a job offer but from all my research a Canadian company won’t even look at my CV as I’m still based in the UK

that would be fantastic, we submitted my certificates this week so as soon as I hear back from Wes I will give you all the breakdown

hopefully it’s good news!!!!

christmasoompa

If all your family is Irish then do you have any route to Irish citizenship - Irish grandparent etc?

A Canadian company won't look at your CV, you're quite right, that's not how things are done in Canada. You'd have to get out there and knock on doors to be in with a chance of finding a job offer from a sponsoring employer - the Job Hunting section of the Wiki will give you a completely overview of how to do it.

Good luck.