Immigration myths
 

1) Buying a house will make you more attractive to employers ...
... utter nonsense ... you'll just burn money on a property that could eventually be out of your budget

2) Take the job on low money now and they'll give you a huge payrise later ...
... only if you work for the Fairy Godmother ... you run the risk of being laid off when you ask for that payrise

Any others?

Re: Immigration myths
 

Canadian winters are painful.

True they are a lot longer but I actually find them a lot more painless than UK winters. Give me the clear blue skies and the snow over the grey ones with drizzle and rain any day.

Re: Immigration myths
 

My sister in law came over to see us in the Uk a couple of winters ago. At first she was boasting about the extreem temperatures she was used to - after about 3 weeks the winter here was getting to her. She said she had never expeirienced such horrible damp cold conditions and looked forward to the crisp dry cold winters of London Ontario

Re: Immigration myths
 

Agreed.

I can't totally agree with you on that one - although it depends on the employer. After you have proved yourself to any employer in Canada, it is not unresonable to ask what pay increases you can expect in the future. As far as I'm concerned, any company that would laid you off because you made such an enquiry, that company is being run by an asshole.

Here's myth #3: Canadian employers will be utterly impressed and totally blown away by qualifications and experience obtained in Europe.

Re: Immigration myths
 

Or alternatively, Canadian employers will be totally non plussed by European qualifications and experience. (its not quite as grim as it is made out to be here sometimes)

Myth #4 Legal protection for canadian employees and workers rights are as strong in Canada as they are in the UK.

The reality is you can be fired at any time without warning, with no explanation. "Temporary" lay offs are unfortunately pretty common too.

Re: Immigration myths
 

Of course, that's not the case if you are a member of a union. If you are not in a union, yes, an employer can fire you, but doing that can have fairly severe consequences for the employer if done improperly. The employer had better not violate human rights (or they will run in trouble with human rights commissions). If you are a manager (depending on the province) and are fired without "just cause" (eg. criminal activity) the employer may have to pay a year of severance. If none of these cases applies to you, then sure, an employer can give you a few weeks notice (or a few weeks pay in lieu of that) and tell you "you're fired". Then of course, you can sue without warning for improper dismissal. Whether you have a case, well that depends.

Re: Immigration myths
 

I tend to agree more with iaink.

Canadian labour laws are a pathetic joke.

Re: Immigration myths
 

So tell me - how do things differ in the UK? I always hear about how things are better but I'd be interested in how they are better.

Re: Immigration myths
 

You daren't fire anyone in the UK ... that's why UK businesses carry quite so much dead weight.

Re: Immigration myths
 

The UK armed forces call their weapon (The SA-80) the "civil servant"

It dosen't work and you can't fire it.

Re: Immigration myths
 

UK law protects workers by requiring writen notice of disciplinary action, and writen warnings that performance in specific areas needs to improve before termination occurs. None of this happens in Canada (Ontario) and it is almost impossible to prove improper dismissal here.

Employees have more rights under the law in the UK, and the canadian labour code is laughably weak. Only recently has it become a criminal offence for managers to continually overlook requests for safety action to be taken, before this years the worst that could happen was a fine, now at least some prison time is on the cards. Took a lot of dead miners out East to get that far!

Re: Immigration myths
 

Unions are very weak here, as is also true in the UK now. Law is generally stacked in the employers favour. Perhaps the only exception is the CAW. Labour law does not really touch on human rights. I was fired because "it wasnt working out" after more than two years in a job, and positive work reviews. 6 months later a colleage suffered the same fate. Started to see a pattern at that point and didnt wqorry about it so much. It was just politics, a new manager bringing in his cronies and shaking things up. Absolutely nothing I could do. Employment lawyer confirmed as much. But that would have never stood up in the UK, with no warnings. Fortunatly the company paid in excess of the legal minimuim compensation of one weeks pay for each year served!!! Also fortunately I walked back into my old job, so not too much harm done financially, but your confidendce takes a beating when it happens out of the blue.

Re: Immigration myths
 

I got that too ... enough of a pay-off to almost keep me until I got another job.

Your confidence in the Canadian way of doing things really takes a beating when you're on the sharp end of something like that.

Re: Immigration myths
 

Myth # 5

Women are more promiscuous in Canada.

Re: Immigration myths
 

A slight improvement on the Churchill Vs Ghandi trash talk quote from yesterday.

How about?

Myth #6
Our neighbours to the south, the citizens of the US aren't troublemakers and have the best interests of the global community at heart.

Re: Immigration myths
 

I won't disagree with you that it's harder to fire someone in the UK than in Canada. Nor will I disagree that labor laws in Canada tend to be employer friendly. However, I will disagree with you that unions here - in general - don't (or can't) enhance worker rights. I will also strongly disagree with your implication that employee rights are not enhanced by human rights legislation in Canada. More importantly, the Supreme Court of Canada disagrees with your view. Here's one example:

http://www.lancasterhouse.com/suprem..._B%2CC%2CD.asp

Although I forget the exact details, I remember a human rights case in Alberta several years ago. Basically, the employer was a retailer whose most important sales period was during the Christmas season. The employee refused to work during the Christmas season because it was against his religious beliefs. Of course he was fired for insubordination. However, the employee complained to the Human Rights Commission and won his case!

Re: Immigration myths
 

:D I was a civil servant until yesterday. I am now unemployed. :)

Re: Immigration myths
 

It should not be necessary to use human rights legislation to protect workers from unfair dismissal, that should be covered by labour laws. The comparison here was between the UK and Canada. If you havent experienced the situation in both places, its hard to know just how different the situation is between them. Job security in canada compared to the UK is extremely tenuous.

Re: Immigration myths
 

I think it's not really a Canada vs. the UK issue (i.e. differences in labor laws). It's more a North America vs. Europe issue. In North America, it's easier to fire someone than in Europe. Partly as a consequence, North American employers are not as reluctant to hire in the first place because they are given greater flexibility to manage their workforce. This gives workers more opportunities to obtain employment, but they can lose their job more easily too.

Your case really sucks, but there are good and bad employers everywhere. The North American business culture and laws, don't give you as much protection as you would have had in Europe.

I remember a news report regarding Europe (I think it was from Spain) that mentioned business was extremely reluctant to hire - despite a need - because once they hired someone, it was so expensive to ever lay them off or fire them. Whereas, in N.A., business would have gone on a hiring binge.

Re: Immigration myths
 

You got that right!!!!!

Re: Immigration myths
 

NA employers are very much into "employee loyalty", all the while knowing that they can fire you at the drop of a hat ... "loyal employers" are nice to find.

Re: Immigration myths
 

I have one as a friend. When he operated his company (with a partner) one of their top managers was given a $500,000 retirement bonus - when they didn't have to give the guy a thing.