Job prospects in Alberta
 

As a family we are seriously considering moving to Canada within the next few years. Im a former languages teacher (French and Spanish) now involved in sales of IT within the education market in the UK. My wife is currently six months pregnant with our second child and will be returning to work in about a year (nine months after giving birth). My wife works with Guide Dogs and is very qualified with visual impairment and is hoping to stay in that same field and has already begun contacting prospective future employers in and around Alberta in her field of work.

I would like to know, if anyone is able to help, what are the job prospects like for someone like myself? I am qualified to degree level with an International Business Degree as well as French, I have previous teaching experience, but since leaving teaching have been very successful in sales, and ideally, I would like to pursue sales as a future career in Canada. I would consider doing most jobs in order to gain PR into Canada. My wage expectations aren't so high - enough for me to sustain a 'reasonable' standard of living for my family.

Any help or advice would be really appreciated...

Re: Job prospects in Alberta
 

first question: do you have a visa or can you get a visa? Or are you planning on getting an employer to sponsor you?

Re: Job prospects in Alberta
 

Hi,

I do not have a visa and to be honest Im not sure if I can get a visa, as I have only just begun to get the ball moving. I would certainly hope so with my work experience to date and my academic background.

I am planning to get an employer to sponsor me as this would be the best option with my family, but if this is the case I would try to find suitable work upon arrival in Canada.

Can you offer any advice?

Re: Job prospects in Alberta
 

Yes, stay in the UK. Your plan is very unlikely to work.

Re: Job prospects in Alberta
 

Blunt, but probably true. Why do you want to give up what appears to be a satisfactory lifestyle in the UK? What is it about Canada that's attracting you? It would be a massive upheaval and a risky, expensive venture. You should only go forward after doing lots of research and arranging pre-employment at a good income level

Re: Job prospects in Alberta
 

^^^ What they said, but hey, you'll do what you want.

Re: Job prospects in Alberta
 

Very blunt indeed. Im interested to know why you are adamant that I should stay in the UK and not try for Canada....Is this because of my lack of knowledge/ skills or is this based on your own experience?

Re: Job prospects in Alberta
 

Possibly because from what you've said you'll need a job offer to get a visa. This visa would then tie you to that one employer and is only temporary until you can try and upgrade it to PR - so a risky strategy with a family.

But also, to get that visa, you first need a job offer, then your employer has to apply for something called a Labour Market Opinion. For this, they have to prove that they've advertised the job across Canada and been unable to find a Canadian willing, or able to do the job. As you can imagine, this is incredibly hard at the moment with so many Canadians out of work, so unless you have specialist skills it could be very tricky. Plus an employer has to want you badly enough to go through the above process.

Depends on how much you want it of course, if you're prepared to spend a year or two attempting to find a job, flying to Canada to job hunt in person (read the Job Hunting section of the Wiki - on blue bar at top of page - to understand why this is important), and are prepared to go over on a temp work permit, then go for it.

Alternatively, you may need to 'think outside the box' (sorry, I hate that expression!) if you really want to go to Canada. Perhaps something like a study permit for one of you (then the other gets an open work permit, but depends if you can rely on only one salary), or forget Alberta and consider the Nova Scotia Community Identified Stream?

Also, I don't know what kind of funds you have, but many provinces have business programs if you have $300k+ to invest.

Good luck.

Re: Job prospects in Alberta
 

We are ready to give up a satisfactory lifestyle in the UK to pursue our dream in search of something better and through knowing Canadians and through our research so far, Canada, it would seem has a lot more to offer us a family. I know the old cliche, 'The Grass is not always greener' and all that, but we have decided that we do not want to spend the remainder of our lives in the UK - the country is in a complete mess financially, we have no faith in the political system, it is massively over-populated for such a small island and I do not see the situation improving. Both myself and my wife don't want this for our family - Why not try for a better quality of life, whilst as a family we still can.

Canada appeals for a number of reasons - It is a beautiful, clean country with stunning landscapes and scenery, houses are more affordable, schooling from what we gather seems to be very good, as does the healthcare system, it is English speaking (but French also handy, which I am fluent) and again, from what I have read on BE, there seems to be a better culture and environment for bringing up a family, as the family unit is regarded as the backbone of society, unlike in the UK.

So, we are basing our decision on those reasons. I know that this is a very risky venture - thats why we are heading over to alberta in the Summer next year for a 3 week reccie, to really get a feel for it and make up our minds then. I would really hope to have some pre-employment arranged before making that final jump.

Re: Job prospects in Alberta
 

Thanks for your honest and informed response and advice. Unfortunately, we do not fit into the category of having $300K to invest, we would have more like $75000 with the present exchange rate, if we decided to sell up our house and cash in all of our equity.

Having to support a family, I am aware of the importance of having a job offer, therefore am willing to do all it takes and will start looking at options now, using the WIKI section here as a starting point. Being a linguist with a university business degree and having a strong sales experience would make me I would hope quite attractive to potential future employers? That was my inital query when I posted this thread.

From reading quite a few posts on here, it would seem that there a number of young (and adventurous) families who are accepted into Canada and hence go out to live in Canada without formal job offers with families to support and they begin their job search once they have found somewhere to live and have got settled. In my opinion this is not a good strategy and therefore I would need to be very confident of gaining employment in the area/ region where we as a family choose to live.

Re: Job prospects in Alberta
 

No. The advice is based on your lack of legal ability to work. You do not have a permanent resident visa, nor do you have a work permit. Without these you will not be able to work. Apply from the UK and, once you have a legal right to work, you can then come over.

I came to Canada without having secured employment first. So my post above was not intended to imply that it is not possible to obtain work, it was intended to point out to you that you do not have the ability to work even if you find an employer that is willing to employ you (at least until that employer has obtained a LMO as has been explained above).

Re: Job prospects in Alberta
 

That may be the most rose tinted paragraph I've read here. Some images and descriptions of parts of this "beautiful, clean country with stunning landscapes and scenery" follow.

http://www.rapingmothernature.com/20...ney-tar-ponds/

"The revolting brown, crumbling mass of factories, slag heaps, and smog..."

http://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...n%2C%20Ontario

http://ostseis.anl.gov/guide/tarsands/index.cfm

Re: Job prospects in Alberta
 

:thumbup: Bloody single mothers. Also nice to able to move somewhere with less immigrants.

Re: Job prospects in Alberta
 

some of those links are :rofl:

Anyhoo.

Carry on.

Re: Job prospects in Alberta
 

Bountiful BC springs to mind.