Hi! Any structural engineers here?
 

Hi everyone,

My name is Bart and I 've just joined the forum. First of all I wanted to say you are great everyone. I found this forum very useful, no haters here, only good words. Well done.

I have an IEC visa to Canada with 1 year open work permit. I am a 26 years old Structural Engineer working in the UK with 4 years professional experience (and CEng designation). BSc in Structural Engineering and MSc in Construction Project Management earned in the UK, originally I was a bridge engineer although I started to work in building industry in the UK.

I just wanted to hear from any of you with similar qualifications. Any experience? Advices? I am not sure where to go, I was thinking about Calgary/Edmonton (anywhere in Alberta), any job related to structural engineering/construction industry would be appreciated but I am not sure what it is like in Canada. A friend of mine works in Calgary, he is an Electrical Construction Manager and he says that I shouldn't be struggling with getting a job, he's from UK as well. My missus fancies Toronto but she says she's flexible in terms of location ;)

Ideally we would like to stay there and get a PR visa. I was thinking about studying MEng in Structural Engineering there in Canada after my visa expires, it would be a 1 year course and I have some savings to pay for it (I have contacted Uni of Alberta, Ryerson Uni in Toronto and Uni of BC). After this I could easily get my P.Eng license there. The question is whether it would be worth doing this.

I have never had any problem with finding a job in the UK, usually the job finds me ;) I know I might need to make a step down to a technician level to gain Canadian experience and after this try to climb on the ladder, although it wouldn't be nice to leave the UK and be forced to work as a waiter etc...

Ps
I am Polish originally although I've been living here in the UK for a long time (too long actually). Just want to get a nice house in the middle of nowhere, go fishing every Sunday and forget about the world. That is why I want to give the Canada a chance.

regards,
Bart

Re: Hi! Any structural engineers here?
 

CEng isn't recognised here, you'll need to get your PEng license to practise, which does require a year "on ground" being supervised by a Canadian engineer. This is all do-able.

Note that the MEng is NOT considered as part of your PEng application, if there's issue with your UK degree you need a fresh bachelors from a Canadian university....

Of the issues british engineers have getting qualified over here, Ontario/ PEO is a common denominator, especially when compared to Alberta and BC.

Connect through the local IStructE branch for guidance!

cheers

Re: Hi! Any structural engineers here?
 

Many thanks @Pizzawheel for your quick reply. I didn't know the MEng is not recognised as a part of my PEng application, it's weird coz I sent all my papers to APEGA and they requested my British MSc diploma, dissertation & transcripts (and a contact to my supervisor).

btw APEGA seems to be pain in the neck, they requested for more documents, I replied that some of them cannot be sent in unopened envelope as they wanted, and I haven't heard from them since then... it's been 30 days now! with this tempo I will get my application completed in next 100 years...

PEO offer bridge courses at Uni of Toronto and Ryerson Uni. If there's something wrong with your BSc degree they indicate what should be improved and send you to a designated course at Uni for the same fee as local students. It seems to be fair.

As I said, I don't mind working as a technician as far as I know that some day I would get a chance to become a PEng in Canada.

Re: Hi! Any structural engineers here?
 

APEGA takes forever btw.

To become an EIT it took me 8 months.

To become a Peng it takes 8-12 months, my friend is waiting after 14 months....

I think if you study at a Canadian university there is potential to get a special work visa

Re: Hi! Any structural engineers here?
 

An MEng is considered as part of your application, the assessment is done on your bachelors first but if any deficiencies are found the masters can be used to fill the gap and hopefully waive exams. worst case would be a number of technical exams or do the 1 year top up bridging course, you do NOT need a fresh BSc.

http://www.apegs.ca/Portal/Sites-Man...014/pdf/1/1033

this is a link to an apegs flow chart apega may vary slightly but will basically be the same.

demands like the unopened envelopes etc are a pain but unfortunately you have to comply if they cannot get the information they have requested they may turn your application down. it took me months to get certain information that had been requested but without it the association has nothing to base an assessment on.

be prepared for this whole process to take months if not years to go from application to P.Eng.

Now for the good news, you can work as an engineer whilst all this is getting sorted out. You just cant call yourself an engineer and a P.Eng will stamp your work, which to be honest is not a problem as all work is checked by someone senior. it would most likely be a few years before you would need to fill the senior role.

i would also caution against trying to sell yourself as a technician. Roles between engineer and tech are a lot more defined in Canada than the UK. Experience gained in canada at the tech level may not be satisfactory to gain your P.Eng.

You are an Engineer apply for jobs as if you are an engineer the paperwork can catch up. you will notice a number of jobs say P.Eng or eligible within 1 year to account for new comers like yourself.

Re: Hi! Any structural engineers here?
 

Indeed, apega seem to take forever. They sent me an email 2 months after I had applied saying that "my application has been proceed". Wow. Good timing guys. Now I am awaiting their response since they requested my MSc documents in unopened envelope (wtf??)

Btw I am not sure if the Canadian MEng is not recognized. I have an email from U of Calgary saying that their MEng course is fully recognised by Canadian Engineers Association and that I would be eligible for PEng. The uni must recognise your BSc before they accept you to their MEng program. I'll double check anyway.

And yes, both Alberta and Ontario have a nomination programs for Canadian engineering graduates if they want to stay permanently. Furthermore I have checked another forum, guys who applied say that the application and nomination was done in a flash, they had their nomination accepted within 3 months.

Re: Hi! Any structural engineers here?
 

That's perfectly normal, and you'll need the same again when you come to apply for PR.

That must have been Ontario then, it certainly won't have been Alberta going on current processing times ('at least 25 months' for international graduates, just to get to nomination stage - AINP processing times | Alberta Canada - Alberta, Canada). Ontario you'd need a job offer for as well as being an international graduate irrc, but it would be much quicker, so I guess you'd have to decide which is a bigger pro or con.

Good luck.

Re: Hi! Any structural engineers here?
 

Alberta has a nomination program for engineers recognised by APEGA.

Looks like there's is a long way with plenty of obstacles waiting for me ;)

Re: Hi! Any structural engineers here?
 

You mean the Strategic Recruitment stream? As you mentioned graduate and doing your masters in Canada I assumed you were looking at the International Graduate Stream. Either way, it's a heck of a long wait for nomination so Ontario may be a much better option for you.

Re: Hi! Any structural engineers here?
 

I was going through regulations with APEGA and PEO and this is what I found:
(quote from PEO regarding additional examinations and bridge programs)

''Following the academic assessment by PEO, an applicant
may not be required to write examinations in the following
two cases:
â—† applicants who have successfully completed postgraduate
studies at a Canadian university in the same engineering
discipline as the applicant’s non-Canadian undergraduate
engineering degree; or [...] ''

looks like postgrad is recognised, at least in Ontario.

BTW thanks a lot for your answers all.

If I am already here I wanted to use your knowledge about canadian engineering:
- what software is the most popular? we have Tedds, Fastrak, Orion etc here in the UK. anything similar there? I had a look, they frequently ask for SAP2000 and S-frame, anything else?
- how about the units? imperial/metrical or do I have to be flexible? 10kN/m2 gives me an indication in my mind, but 10psi tells me nothing... Do I need to get used to imperial units as well?

Re: Hi! Any structural engineers here?
 

As an Engineer, the use of 'American' units drives me mad. Imperial units are just plain illogical, even though 'we' invented them. I was born in 1969 and have never used imperial except in shopping, clothes, weighing people and drinking beer.

The official units of measurement in Canada are SI Units, but unfortunately all the Specs we use tend to be written by American consultants such as CH2M etc, so they are full of Americanisms, not only from a technical perspective, but also language, spelling and naming conventions. Canadian English spellings are officially supposed to be English English, not American English.

Design drawings are usually metric, but forces and pressures are imperial. How does that make any sense at all?

Anything that comes from America however will be imperial and despite what any Specification or Order T&Cs might say, getting the Americans to provide metric drawings is harder than getting a f**k off the Pope, even when the 'thing' that has been drawn was clearly metric to start with and the dimensions have been converted back to imperial 'just because'.

Re: Hi! Any structural engineers here?
 

Lol so it looks like poor Canadians must be able to operate on imperial and metrical units... Interesting ;)

Any easy method of getting used to the imperial units?

Re: Hi! Any structural engineers here?
 

Google the conversion you need and a useful box usually comes up on the screen to do it for you...

Especially handy when you are presented with an 'easily' convertible or visualisable unit like ACRE FEET :confused: for volume....

Re: Hi! Any structural engineers here?
 

I asked PEO whether getting a masters would help (a years fulltime study seemed the easiest option at one stage) and they said no, it would not cover the specific deficiencies of my degree against the three possible disciplines I could be assessed in.

Remember you absolutely have to have 12 months experience on ground in any province, so 14 months wait isn't really any concern. To manage expectations I'd think getting the PEng two years after landing wouldn't be unreasonable. Our experience in Ontario (I chair one of the engineering institution chapters in Toronto and am in contact with the rest) is engineers who press for registration ASAP can run into more obstacles than those that land, work and get around to applying a couple of years in.

You should be able to get a sealed transcript mailed directly from your university/ college:- I managed it with both of mine to both APEGBC and PEO, and they sent me a copy albeit only to a UK address.

Lastly in terms of interaction with the organisation the only comparison I can make for PEO is the old legendary Chinese restaurant Wong Kei in London's Chinatown. If you'd ever been you'd know exactly what I mean. APEGBC by comparison were polite and fairly transparent, much like any other regulatory body/ institute in the western world.

Re: Hi! Any structural engineers here?
 

I made the move in 2012 as a struct Eng to Edmonton AB.
Please ask away, if you can successfully be recruited by an employer who has obtained an LMIA (not easy as it used to be) you can apply for express entry and have PR within 6 months.
Otherwise the AINP strategic nomination is taking 14 months at this time.
APEGA took me 14 months back in 2012, it will take longer now your Degree will need to be verified any you will need to sit a multiple choice Engineering Ethics Exam.
As for salary Engineers get paid better over here, cost of living is higher than the North of England prob similar to the South of England, APEGA publish a Salary survey on their website, take a look. There is a 'slow down' here at the minute until oil prices return to a higher level, Calgary affected more than Edmonton. BC seems busier at the minute but housing prices are crazy over there.