sam/stu

I have been offered a work permit to work for a construction company in East GTA. My main concern is what happens in the winter months in the construction industry. Do guys get laid off then restart in the spring or is there still plenty of work. I don't want to drag the wife and kids over there and get them settled then find out that the work dries up. Help/advice please!!!

daisydoo

Hi my husband is a bricklayer and that was his concern. we moved here in june and he has been working like a dog all summer.
He asked his boss about winter work and they tend to do fireplaces and inside renovations, . he assured him they remain fairly busy. we are in Muskoka though which is 2 hours north of toronto and I think in the city you will be fine. My husband has a friend who is in construction in toronto and he works all year round, they have lock ins or something where industry closes for x amount of weeks for work to take place, hours are long but money is supposed to be good. If you have a permit though you can only work for that employer? right. Cant he let you know how much work he has, they will be getting all their winter contracts in now. Its not like you can work for someone else if this company has nothing. Are you a mason?

WorldWeary

Not all construction work is created equal. What I mean is that if you are being offered a job working on the construction of a major high rise office building for example, the work goes all year round. If it is a guy doing driveways on the other hand it's seasonal. A bit more info about the company and the job might help with opinions.

4 of a kind

Hi,

we will be going on a work permit also, and my husband is in the roofing/lead working part of construction, and is lucky to have a good position waiting for him. Last Jan/Feb he went over for a month to test run the job, work permit already granted, and found that a lot of the time he wasn't able to work, purely because of weather conditions, if it falls below -25 ish they are not allowed to work (health & safety) and although -25 sounds extreme, he assures me that compared with the damp cold we get, it was no prob. The problem is the wind chill factor, which unfortunately over the month he was there affected almost half of the working days. So, we conclude, that you work hard when you can, and make sure you have enough money to fall back onto in the Winter. This all said, we are eager to make the move, only thing slowing us down at the moment is the sale of our house! Good luck.

Souvenir

I didn't realise that there were any health & safety regulations for roofers here. Some of the things I have see have scared the hell out of me.

4 of a kind

I guess it depends on the company, his position is with a high calibre renovation company that is a 'unioned' company. Must say its a relief to me, they are so much more safety conscious than the work he currently does!

Hudman

Me too, I suspect it aint so much H&S for roofers, as to the fact that asphalt shingles can't be properly laid in winter months.
I hear from ex-pats in construction that there is a very healthy hire & fire attitude as jobs finish, and non-canadians are generally first to go.

sam/stu

We are in exactly the same position - waiting for our house to sell!!! I know that we can't wait the full 3 years for PR because we have a 14 year old and its not fair on him,but we are not going to stay here any longer than neccessary. We are going to take a gamble on the work permit and pray that it goes our way, if not then we are going to have to go to plan B - as yet undecided!!!!!!!!!! Let me know how you get on!!!

sam/stu

Just noticed that you are from Essex, where abouts?

iaink

Then report them to the Ministry of Labour and help put an end to bad work practices.

There are a ton of H&S regulations here, and the MoL is very serious about enforcing them.

4 of a kind

We're in mid/north Essex, not far from Braintree. What sort of construction work are you going to do? Hubby tells me that from what he's seen, if you're good at your trade you'll pretty much always find some work....

sam/stu

Although I am a City and Guilds carpenter/joiner I tend to be multi-trade due to the nature of work that is around. Most of the contracts are in north London (Stoke Newington/Highburyetc). I would class myself as a general buider because I do renovations/extensions/ refurbs etc. I do ground work, brickie, some electrical and plumbing, tiling, roofing and obviously all aspects of carpentry work etc. etc. The job I have been offered in Toronto is for a custom deck company although they do basements and refurbs as well. My main concern was obviously how the weather affects the outdoor work. The company have told me that they have been busy over the last few years during the winter months, but have given me the option to start in March if I want. I will probably go then because I am concerned that I am will be the first one out should the work dry up and as I am on a work permit things will be slightly more risky. I am taking the family with me so I have to look at how it will affect them too. I don't want to get the kids settled then find that I haven't any work. I have been told that I can approach other companies if they are prepared to endorse another work permit application but I am not sure how easy this would be in practice. Any suggestions?

4 of a kind

You certainly do sound in a similar spot to us, we have a son in yr 9 and another in yr 4 at school, and really would prefer to get them settled sooner than later! Have you already applied for PR? We haven't, and intend to do it once we are over there on the permits.

Reading about the type of work that you do, i doubt you will have too much trouble. Refurbing basements is big business, and as is common here to get a reliable good tradesman is such a bonus. So don't fret too much. My husband is also pretty multi skilled, and will turn his hand to most things. From people we've spoken to over there as long as you have a bit of money to fall back on initially, once you are 'known' as reliable etc., you should have no trouble.

How are your kid(s) coping with the idea of it all - are they looking forward to it?? Ours are, but like us, it just seems to be dragging on forever, you sure you don't want to buy a really nice house in mid Essex rather than Toronto??

steve of 5-0

Our experience of New Brunswick for example is -

You would within a year be your own boss, getting work just through referral!

By the thaw, all tradesmen are booked up for the six months.

Any one looking for a tradesman in the summer has missed the boat, they are in such demand!

You will soon see that a lot of tradesmen like to "get the hours in" during the summer, so they can claim dole during the snows.

Winter months cause a quiet period in your trade.

frankieforehead

Nope work goes on as long as there is some...just wrap up warm...they bring in heaters and cover must of the buildings...but I guess it might be different if you're a roofer....You are more likely to get laid off if the company you are working for gets out bid on a contract....obviously they won't pay you if they have no work...you've just got to keep your ears to the ground and find out what projects they have and how long they are for and who is going to be the crew etc....