sugarthief

Hi! After months and months of my husband telling me we should move to canada, and me completely writing off the possibility, I have now come around to his way of thinking and have agreed to look into it.
I have been reading up on all the useful info on here (thanks btw!) I just don't know where to start really... have saved as much info in my head as possible, how did you all make your start?
Do you decide where you would like to live first and then go from there? I am having trouble taking in the best places to live (trying to weigh up climates,jobs,housing etc) and i am up to my neck in info! lol
My husband is a qualified mechanic, and also has his hgv license and was also formally in the army he is 29 and we have 5 children, the eldest being 9, I am a full time mum.
I completed an initial questionaire to see if we would be accepted over there and it resulted in a positive outcome so theres a start i suppose!
I just wondered if anyone can give me a brief itinery of steps to take in order of importance so i don't overlook anything in getting info and building up some progress to us making a start!
I am under no illusions... i know its a long process and not anything to rush into.. i just want to feel like i am getting somewhere! lol
I hope someone can give me some useful advice.. i am getting overwhelmed! lol

many thanks! xxx

Judy in Calgary

Hello, sugarthief, and welcome to the BE forum.

The self-assessment test you did is practically useless. It's only applicable to a skilled worker application, and those are taking five years to be processed, with a prediction that the processing time will rise to seven and even ten years.

You need to find a part of Canada in which there is a shortage of people in your husband's occupation. That would enable your husband to get a job that would get him into Canada on a temporary work permit or through a Provincial Nominee Program. My guess would be British Columbia or Alberta. Please read the Wiki article called Labour Shortages.

Next, read Beginner's Guide to Canadian Immigration. That article has links to other articles about job hunting in Canada. It is critical to take the information in those articles on board.

Hope that helps.

Coffeepot

Hi and welcome there is lots of help on here and yes it is all a bit overwhelming, my head is all over the place so much to do, it gets worse, but thats a good thing, Its like most things in life it helps you prepare for whats ahead,
Like Judy said read the WIKI and you will find lots of answers, then i would organise a trip out there and have a really good look around, theres nothing like a visit to inspire and to push you on.
5 kids i thought i had a hand full with 4 lucky you
good luck and stay in touch

shazza151

Hi Sugarthief,
Welcome to the site.
Alberta is short of truck drivers and a number of companies can offer you work as a truck driver through the PNP process if you fit the criteria, and you will not need to pay 1000's to immigration agency's for this. If you come through the PNP process you can apply for Permenant Residency whilst here in Canada, its the quickest way into Canada, as skilled applications can take upto 5 years.
good luck in what you decide to do!!

Judy in Calgary

Getting a work permit as a mechanic would be another avenue to consider. In most cases it wouldn't involve being away from home. It would involve an exam, though. See the Wiki on Skilled Trades.

With your husband having been in the army, sugarthief, I'm wondering if he's a regular mechanic or a heavy-duty equipment mechanic as well. The reason I ask is that regular mechanics (called automotive service technicians in Canada) are listed amongst the Occupations Under Pressure in Alberta, and that would make it a little easier to get a work permit. However, heavy-duty equipment mechanics qualify for the Expedited Labour Market Opinion Pilot Project for Alberta and British Columbia. That means that a prospective employer who has registered with the program could get a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) within 5 working days. An LMO, in turn, enables a prospective employee to apply for a temporary work permit (TWP). Qualifying for an Expedited LMO (E-LMO) can really speed up a person's entry to Canada.

sugarthief

wow! thanks for all your replies! all the advice is much appreciated! thankyou!

coffeepot: Thanks! We are looking into a trip over there.. not sure exactly where yet.. obviously the most useful trip would be to where you are planning on wanting to move, so must do some deciding!
Yes! i am very lucky having 5 kids! lol I think most people think its normal to have 2,3 and even 4 kids.. but that one extra seems to make alot of people gasp: "oh my goodness!" lol i love my big family though!

Judy: thanks! I have been reading the wiki topics, they are very useful! Hubby has a couple of work avenues to explore really.. mechanics being his first love after the trucks - He is a qualified mechanic, he is currently self employed and has a limited company and has been contracting himself out in the rail industry, fitting and refurbishing disel locomotive engines, so yes he has had a few years heavy duty mechanics experience, he also does general car mechanics in his time off, and had started to build a little business up in premises, so either avenue of mechanics he could look into i think.
the Expedited Labour Market Opinion Pilot Project sounds very interesting! we will be looking into that! thanks so much!

Shazza: Thanks! my hubbys friend has a couple of friends who did this with Yanke i believe. Hubby loved his truck driving days but I am a bit worried about him being away for so long at a time - thats the only downside to that one - me and 5 kids in a new country and him away so much.. still weighing it all up so nothing ruled out yet! thanks!

thanks so much for all your help! We have alot to look into i think and many decisions to make!

Alberta_Rose

Welcome ..... I was the middle of 5 children. When we all went out together people thought we were some sort of bus party!

Coffeepot

My sister in law is one of 14, she stuck at 2

sugarthief

morwenna: The bus party sounds very familiar!!! lol some old gent said to me the other day when i was out on an afternoon trip to the park with my little line of children trailing beside me, (i had 6 little ones with me that day though, we aquired one of my daughters friends!) "ahhh! are you on a class trip?" LOL!! I am not sure if he actually realised that nowadays there are alot more than 6 to a class!!! lol
But I do love it... I could not imagine ever have stopping at 1 or 2!

Coffeepot: my goodness!!! 14???!!! now thats ermmm... a bit too many for me! i won't be getting to 14 in a hurry!!! lol

sugarthief

I have been looking at the Expedited Labour Market Opinion Pilot Project.. how do I find firms that would take part in this? is there such a list or anything? I really don't know where to start looking for jobs for my husband.
Is there a place where they are on one site or have I got to find companies and just email them with enquiries first?
Husband has already found out rail firms and sent off some emails to get any info, only had one reply so far and they said they do not get involved with procuring a work permit.
We are a bit lost as to how to find places of work, we are wanting to research normal car mechanic jobs and heavy duty mechanics jobs for now to just to see whats about but we are struggling. Googling comes up with lots of jobs listed but almost all say in the adverts that they would not support a work permit for the positions... does this mean they only want canadians? i am sooo confused with all this!

any advice very very welcome! x

shazza151

Hi sugar thief,
As far as i know there is no list!!!! I have tried looking for one too, but you could try emigration trade fairs in london, belfast etc they are on a couple of times a year in the UK or trade magazines, because some Canadian companies advertise in these, offering jobs through the PNP process.
GOOD LUCK

Piff Poff

Alberta has a shortage of mechanics as well as truckers. Email/phone dealerships and talk to the service manager to see if they are hiring and if they would be willing to do an LMO for you and stuff. Better still come out on a reccy and show your face/C.V. etc. Heavy Duty truck mechanics earn more per hour than car mechanics.

Welcome to the forum too (life will never be the same again)

Judy in Calgary

Sugarthief, please do read all the Wiki articles about job hunting in Canada.

At this stage of the game, the job hunting article that might be most useful to you is Finding Job Opportunities.

Then, once you've identified companies, phone them.

How do you find companies? Well, you do a search for your industry on the Canadian Company Capabilities website (there is a link in the Finding Job Opportunities wiki), on the Chamber of Commerce websites of relevant cities, on the trade, industry, business, commerce, etc., websites of the relevant provinces, and so on.

Just a plain Google search for HEAVY DUTY MECHANIC + EDMONTON, for example, brought up this website.

There I found that the following organizations were looking for heavy duty mechanics:

• The City of Edmonton
  
• Ocean Trailer
  
• Diversified Staffing - This won't help you because it's an agency.
  
• Terra Firma Equipment Sales & Rentals Inc.
  
• Edmonton Kenworth - A Google search reveals this is a truck dealership. They sell and service trucks (lorries).

There are lots of confidential listings (where the employer's name is not mentioned) and agency listings.

However, even after those useless listings are stripped away, you're left with three organizations that you can contact : The City of Edmonton, Terra Firma, and Edmonton Kenworth.

If you were looking for openings for automotive service technicians (car mechanics), the same website mentioned several other employers.

Okay, so now you pick up the phone and you talk to people at those organizations. Ask them what they're looking for in a heavy duty mechanic (or automotive service technician, as the case may be). Ask them what qualifications and experience they require. Ask them if they ever sponsor foreign workers to come to the Edmonton area on temporary work permits or sponsor them via Alberta's Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). Ask them to give you names of other companies in the Edmonton area that use the services of heavy duty equipment mechanics. Ask them if, in addition to company names, they have names of people who work at those companies.

Then pick up the phone again and talk to a person at one of the companies whose name you obtained from the first round of conversations. When the person answers his/her phone, say, "Hello, this is Joe Blogs. I'm phoning from England (or Scotland, or whatever the case may be). John Smith at XYZ Oilfield Services suggested I call you."

When you phone, remember the time difference between the UK and the Canadian province that you're calling. This should work in your favour, as you can call in the evening in the UK, while it's still the working day in Canada.

Then, if the people with whom you speak are agreeable, email your resume (Canadian version of CV) to them, along with a covering letter.

It would be very helpful to your efforts if you did a recce trip and, as Piff Poff said, showed your face.

By the way, I've used Alberta just for the purposes of illustration. Heavy-duty equipment mechanics also are in great demand in British Columbia, according to the E-LMO website, so you could repeat the research exercise for BC.

sugarthief

Oh Thanks so much Judy! I feel pretty useless having to ask for help, but the info you have given is going to be alot of use!
I need a kick up the bum and a step by step guide with things sometimes as I get a bit lost!
Thanks so much again!!! soooo apreciate it!!!!!

Piff poff: thanks for the tips! and thanks for the welcome! My life is already not the same... All I can think about is moving to canada now.. any time i get to have a bit of computer time now, and I find myself using it to gain more info! can't be a bad thing though... i am so excited and really hope we can get somewhere with this whole thing!

thanks again!!! xx