My wife and I have been considering moving to Fredericton for several years now. During this time we've been holding off our decision primarily because my Mum who lived on her own had been ill. Last September we were shocked and devastated when she passed away. It has taken us a while to come to terms with this but we are now ready to make a commitment to a move to Canada.

We've already had a reccie to Fredericton in 2008 and we were both very impressed with it. We loved the small city feel and the people we met. My wife in particular took to it. Now she has had a change of heart for two reasons. There are no longer direct flights from the UK to Fredericton which would mean an extra transfer for her own aging parents. The second reason is that she wants to work part time there but fears that as she has little French language skills, work would be hard to come by. She now prefers a move to Calgary where she believes she'll have a better chance of finding work. I too like Calgary but prefer the better value, lifestyle/quality of life we'll be able to achieve in Fredericton, especially considering the recent demise in Sterling.

Work should not be a problem for me anywhere in Canada. I am a Canadian citizen and I have many years in the IT industry in which I believe opportunities are not too scarce in Fredericton.

Can anyone who has experience living in Fredericton advise, confirm or reassure us on my wife's concerns, particularly in the chances of her finding regular part time work there? She has a UK HNC in Business and Finance and is experienced in office and administration work with local government.

Thank you.

Fredericton is an english speaking town. If your wife is just looking for part time work for spending cash, she should have no trouble picking up a job.

+1 What LV said.

French language skills mostly focused on for Executive Assistants or government jobs.

IT demand is around depends on your speciality. I think RIM , Radian6, plus Q1 Labs are all expanding their workforce.

Q1 Labs is not the place for me.

"We're building a great organization with dedicated employees who wake up energized and ready to help the company, our customers, and partners all be successful."

I guess you wont be moving to Fredericton then

That's good to know, thanks. I guess I need to start putting myself about a bit to find out the potential. Interested to understand what dbd33 meant about Q1 Labs though. I did notice that they appear to constantly advertise for the same type of job. Does this mean they have a high turnover or attrition rate.

Hi Welshmountie

Have a look at Job Bank website. www.jobbank.gc.ca/Intro-eng.aspx

You will be able to search for Fredericton area and the job fields your wife wants to work in. There will be some current job posting which you can check the langauage requirements...you will be suprised that not every government job requires French....there is also non-government jobs on there.

For some government jobs there might be a requirement for either Enhanced Reliability status or Security Clearance (level II).....these are achievable by non-Canadians but it takes time, dont listen to anyone who says she cant get them or has to live in Canada for 5 or 10 years...the exception here is level III.

Hopefully this will also give you some company names or agency details that would be a good starting point once you are over here.

One more thing, consider getting her HNC qualification assessed for it's Canadian equivalent. I did this by International Crediential Assessment Service of Canada, but there a few organisations which will do this.

JB

Level I is Confidential, Level II Secret...not quite as you explained.

http://www.csis-scrs.gc.ca/prrts/scrtscrnng-eng.asp

"There are three levels of security clearance as defined by the GSP: Confidential (Level I), Secret (Level II) and Top Secret (Level III).

The level of security clearance required is determined by the need for access to classified information or assets in the performance of duties associated with an individual's employment.

Level I and II security clearances involve checking CSIS databanks.

Level III security clearances require a full field investigation, which involves checking CSIS records; interviewing friends, neighbours and employers; consulting with local police; and, possibly interviewing the applicant."

I think you miss the point, you will find very little jobs, if none, asking for level I security cleaance but you find lots asking for Enhanced Reliability Status which is the lowest level asked for many in government jobs. The Status is not a level of Security clearance...it is similar to Basic Check back home (I base this on the level of background checking they are doing)..... I am going through Enhanced and Level II checking at the moment.

I did not want to mention Confidential (Level I) nor did I want to mention Top Secret (level III).....I was only using the terminology most common they will see in the job descriptions on job bank.

The point I was trying to make about level III is it is only available to Canadian citizens.....I think you comment about possible interviewing the applicant shows you have not got this level of clearance....you will be interviewed.

Thanks to both JB0591 and airbornesapper for their input. I am familiar with UK security clearances so this insight into Canadian levels is of interest and likely to be helpful to me.

You have lost me....I just clarified what you posted.

The text I put up was taken from the link provided....And as for my level of clearance...nothing at all to do with you.

I have spoken to someone locally who works for them (a Brit) and he said they are growing so fast!

I'm a public servant, security cleared at Secret level. And am also not sure what you mean by levels II/III?

By the way, Secret can be extremely difficult for those new in the country to get. I got mine, but it was not at all straightforward, and I'd been here 2.5 years at the time.

Might be different if you're in the military of course, I wouldn't know about that.

Issue tends to be:
- what data they have on you - i.e. not much if you haven't been here long
- your 'attachment to Canada' - i.e. can you be trusted not sell off secrets to the Burmese or something. If you haven't been here long, how much loyalty do you really have to Canada.

Secret doesn't get you to see anything interesting anyhow. I understand that all begins at Top Secret and above...

Well....if you dont get the Level I/II/III i'd have a look at the link that airbornesapper provided.

The reliability status information can be found here..http://ssi-iss.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/msi...g.html#ch2-200

Clearances are about having a verifable history in terms of residence and work. Just because you have not lived in Canada long does not mean you dont have a verifable history....depending on where you have lived before Canada will depend on how difficult it is to get clearance. There is bi-lateral agreements between certain countries to exchange information on citizens to allow them to get security clearances in each other countries.

The delay in getting a clearance for a non-Canadian is more normally to do with the exchange of information between countries/governments and the time it takes to do the background checking.

You had me chuckling at your last sentance. :-)