Do you really only get 2 weeks holiday when working in Canada????????

Is this the norm??

This would put me off as I currently get 8 weeks with the good old NHS!!!

Louise x

Do you suspect an elaborate conspiracy to misinform perhaps

10 days is the normal starting point for negotiations in many jobs, but in the case of (many) heathcare workers I believe they get something more civilised, but not 8 weeks I suspect. It really varies by indusrtry and seniority to some extent. Manufacturing for example is usually pretty "old school", with minimal allowance and little flexibility, and limited time off in the first year.

Ive long since come to accept it, for me my lifestyle here is such that I dont have the same need to escape it for weeks at a time that I used to have. But of course YMMV

FWIW after 10+ years here I am up to 4 weeks But I'm not saying if they offered me more I would turn it down!

No you don't, it depends on your employer.............personally I get 4 weeks and I can bank overtime to take off as additional, at present I hae 56 hours stored up

Yes sadly this is the norm even if you have many years experience in the industry. Saying that though, it would depend on your position. Managers may get 4 weeks. Where I work I'll get 4 weeks of vacation after 17 years of service!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Two weeks is absolutely nothing

Hi Louise

Curious, did you have 8 weeks off when you started with the company? If so, you may not duplicate that in Canada.

I've never started a job with less than 3 weeks - the last job I had took 8 years to get to 4 weeks off. As well as stat holidays & unpaid leave allowances, I also had every second Friday off, which helped. I'll agree though, that more holiday time would be welcomed by most of us!!

I've also found that while negotiating the terms of a new job, the amount of vacation time can be factored in.

This would put me off as I currently get 8 weeks with the good old NHS!!!

Well, I guess you're put off.

Vacation allowance is often determined by seniority or importance to the organization. An executive in a large corporation can often negotiate longer vacations because such personnel often work 70-80 hours per week. For peons in an organization, vacation allowance is usually in written policy and non-negotiable.

Completely see your point. OH and I are currently writing a pro and con list about whether to move or not and losing our 27 days annual leave and 2 flexi days a month is a major con. However based on what we have read and researched quality of life is much improved living in Canada. I guess you have to decide what's most important to you. And if you do go you make the most of the weekends.

It depends what you do, in general I think North Americans have fewer holidays than Europeans.
Personally I have about 18 weeks I can take off but I tend to do extra work for four of those.

Very true......I used to get 28 days in the UK which would have gone over 30 this year however I used to travel for an hour and a half each way to work, work 45-50 hours per week so I feel I earned the extensive holiday.

Here in Canada I still do 40-45 hours per week but I'm a 5 minute drive to work which is a major help. Plus it doesn't take 2 hours to drive 70 miles............Calgary to Banff is about an hour and its 130kms. Imagine driving that sort of distance to a mssive tourist spot in the UK and how long it would take on a bank holiday?

Think it all depends as other have said.

The vacation culture here I have found is very different, where I have just started working most people I work with carried over vacation from last year I never saw that in the UK. Everyone lives/works for their holidays in the UK. Here you make the most of your weekends and the days seem to be shorter for a lot of people with travelling time etc.

I managed to start on 4 weeks vacation and 7 balance days a year, ie 5 weeks 2 days, so cant complain

I get 15 days, plus 3 personal days. Plus, there are more bank holidays here.
I had 24 days in the UK, so all in, I'm worse off.

Whilst 10 does seem low, if your holiday entitlement is going to make or break you coming to Canada, perhaps you should re-assess why you want to immigrate in the first place. Number of holidays was never a consideration for me personally.

I also get these weird holidays called 'family days'. wtf is that all about - why not just say you get xx days holiday and be done with it.

Anyway, the biggest difference I've found between working in Canada and the UK isn't the holiday, but job security. I used to have to be given three months notice in the UK, now I've got 2 weeks (this is the same employer too)

8 WEEKS!!! 12 months pay for 10 months work? No wonder the tax burden is so high.

I started on 15days in Canada (I gave up 23 in the UK).

I think it depends on the employer, my OH worked for the NHS in the UK & for Vancouver Island Health Authority here ... he gets 4 weeks vacation plus 10EDO's a year (earned days off)

I had 6 weeks in the UK plus flexi time.
I get 52 weeks here. I put some of the money from the house sale into buying a rental property to provide an income. Sometimes that can help with going part time so you don't need to work full time, or help with a pension if you take early retirement.

Whatever, it can offer more options so that annual leave is less or no consideration.