maxine989

Hi there

I am pretty new here... just finding my feet.... reading LOADS.

Anyone have any idea what the demand is like for flat roofers in BC. I've seen a few adds on the net... just kinda testing the water about roofing in BC... maybe Vancouver Island? I know roofing is one of the trades that has a shortage of workers, but wasn't sure if this was so all over Canada or just in particular areas.

I know there has been roofing adds in UK papers (the Sun - not that I read it but my o/h picked it up at work and was forced to read it... honest...) in relation the Olympic Village 2010.. but that would mean going for it now (as the work is underway now) and that is way too soon for us. We are in the middle of an extension on the house at the moment!!! yikes!! :curse: We are only just dipping our toe in and hoping to make the big splash in the not so distant future.

My o/h is a roofer... flat felt roofing mainly. I recently joined here to get some info and I have certainly found loads of brilliant informative threads and been given some good advice already (thanks). My mind has been frazzled most nights. I am enjoying learning all about the process, meeting people and informing myself on life in BC. The reason we are heading to BC is we have some connections there (friends of family)... and it just looks and sounds ideal for us. We are planning a reckie (or whatever you call it) visit in the new year.

I am a primary school (infants and juniors) teacher... and fully understand that getting to Canada on a skilled worker visa (sorry folks - am not too familiar with all the abbreviations for things yet) would probably take a decade!!! Teacher's aren't in demand... boo hoo! Never mind... I can still look into it in the future I suppose. I am quite happy to work doing something else... after-all I am a multi-tasking miracle of nature as are most working moms and wives, ha!

So... my other half Chris... is going to be the one scouting about for jobs over the next year or so. Of course, he is doing the typical bloke thing (sorry guys) and leaving it all to me to explore avenue and find out info. I don't mind though... we each have a roles that we enjoy. His role is making me a wicked bacon sandwich in the morning... as we are both at home tomorrow.

Sooo anyway... sorry for rambling... (I do that sometimes). Thanks in advance to any comments any of you may have.

Cheers,
Maxine

Rich_007

Be wary of that, for here be lying some vile beasties. There are many things relating to migration of which people end up saying "I wish we'd known that". Some of them in isolation are quite minor, but aggregated, they can cause a whole load of headaches. Added to a major event like job loss, cash forecast not as expected, social worries/loneliness/homesickness, bad things can come out on top of those events to cause problems. The only reason we mitigated most of that stuff, is that we researched jointly, understood things jointly, and made our mistakes as a team, not as individuals, hence it was easier to heal any hassles, minor misunderstandings, etc.

Migration, and carrying a relationship through that process, can be tough. Be sure that him what is less research inclined is made aware of everything potentially bad/negative/less positive/risky that you come across through your research. You don't want that "you never told me that would happen" syndrome to occur.

Just my 2c.

R.

maxine989

Hiya R

Thanks for the advice, but it's not the case at all... I might be the one at the stage sitting up on the computer at night reading tons of stuff and looking various websites etc, but he (o/h) gets to know about everything (whether he likes it or not... ha!). He is interested and inquisitive about it all (except when match of the Day is on )... but he isn't one of those people who get get their teeth into properly researching stuff. When I get into something I run with it full steam ahead... and he knows that. So, he is putting the food on the table and getting stuff done in the house while I am finding out all the info... which I then later relay back to him.

I am, however, trying to encourage him to begin reading up and informing himself when he can, as I know it is important for him to have as much of an understanding of it all as me.... and for him to take some ownership of the plans and decisions.

I will definitely bare in mind what you have said... thanks!!

maxine989

bump

Getting There

Hi Maxine,

It's me again!

This doesn't really address the sort of feedback you're after - that's not something I can help with. But just came across another resource that might be of some value...this website...

http://www.dreamroofs.com/en/04/p_04...FSkViQod9SsvQw

From within this, you can select "BP Certified Contractors" (whatever that means) by province/city. When you enter Vancouver, maybe 12 roofing firms come up, all but one with websites with "contact us" pages. Nothing came up when I entered Vancouver Island as a search string, likewise Victoria.

If there's a dearth of folk on Expats that have roofing knowledge in BC, then you might need to figure out the state of the industry by approaching some of these firms directly and just getting their view.

Kind regards,

Eamonn

maxine989

Cheers...

Yeah I was thinking of doing that... collating a lists of firms and contacting them...probably the best option to find out the demand for roofers.