Derek M

Hi too all,
My family and i are planning on moving to Nova Scotia next summer with myself hopefully earning a living as a joiner, so what i'd like to know from the learned people of these forums is , is there much difference working as a joiner in Canada than in the Uk? i currently work in a workshop using antiquated machines and at a slow pace!! ( not my choice, its full of old timers who tell me not to go too fast!)
Will i need different skills or tools? are there different terminologies for things that i should be aware of?? what are the average wages and working hours in Nova Scotia? oh, and whilst i'm at it if somebody knows somebody who needs somebody like me a job wouldn't go amiss either!! however i'm not at the stage of a Reccie trip yet so i'm probably being a little premature!!
I've thousands of other questions so if somebody wants to start talking you've been warned!!
Thanks
Derek

woodworm

my OH is a self employed NS-trained cabinet maker with 25 years of work experience in NS, but he wouldn't be able to make a living on building furniture alone, so he also does house renovations and carpentry work (we are in the country, not in Halifax)
If you look at the Job Bank for NS, you will see that there are only 2 job offers for cabinetmakers, however there are some job offers for carpenters. A job search for cabinet maker in all of Canada brings up the following>
http://www.jobbank.gc.ca/JobResult_e...ment&Student=N
most of the jobs are in the West, obviously..

Here in NS, if you are self employed you can charge 35-45 $ per hour, depending on the job you are doing, if you are employed you might get 15-20$ / hour
hope this helps...

JonboyE

I am way out west so my information may not be too relevant to you.

Here in BC there is a huge demand for qualified cabinetmakers/joiners. British and European trained people are considered as highly skilled with good work practices (see other thread). Pay rates for qualified employees range from about $20 in the lower end shops to $35 (though you need to be exceptionally good and quick to earn that). Most jobs are in the $24 to $27 range.

As for equipment, this just depends on the type of shop you work for. Most kitchen manufacturers use CNC routers to cut sheets for the boxes. Then there are the old time shops like the one where you work where the table saw they bought in 1987 is still considered as daringly modern. There is everything in between.

In a standard commercial shop you would expect a panel saw, table saw, bandsaw and possibly a breakout/rip saw, thickness planers and sanders, jointers and shapers, and possible a veneer press. Stepping up a grade you would find edge banders and dovetailers. Because of the shortage of skilled labour many shops are experimenting with CNC machines of various kinds.

Derek M

Thanks for the information!
My hearts set on Nova Scotia though so it looks like i'll be enduring the elements outside as well!
It does seem like all the machines are similar though so i should be ok.
I suppoose though for the first year i'll have to stay with an employer who gives me the job in the first place otherwise it upsets my permanent residency application. Is that right?
Anyway, more questions... when were at the stage of buying a house whats the best heating? we've seen open fire, forced air ,baseboard heating, the list goes on... is there any in particular we should avoid?
And when a house says 'year round access' i assume that means a snow plough goes past your front door! is that right?
Questions questions!!
Derek

Souvenir

I think quite a few cabinetmakers also do work for insurance companies.

We've just had some new cabinets in the kitchen, as the result of a water leak. The guy who built and installed them (including the plumbing) is a cabinetmaker. He also put up the new drywall ceiling in the basement laundry room.

Derek M

I suppose they would work hand in hand really.
But i imagine i'll have to work for a year before i can become self employed and do that. It all seems quite confusing at the moment, i fully appreciate theres posts and threads linking me to career paths and things like that but until you've experienced these things first hand its quite bewildering!!

lof

i'm a cabinet maker - out in the west on vancouver island. i can't really help with the terminology: i'm not british, (canadian) english is my third language - so i'm not really aware of differences between british joiner's english and canadian cabinet maker's english .

back in europe i worked as a cnc machinist in a shop with 8 cabinet makers plus 2 guys in the office doing all the planning / drafting (administration / customer relations was with the boss and his wife). we did kitchens, built-in units, furniture, sometimes interior finishing like wall and ceilings paneling, doors.
about four years ago i came to a similar sized shop here (without the planning guys though). exept for the more european stile interior finishing (most houses here are just drywalled) and the doors we do the same kinds of higher end custom built jobs.

principally the machinery is the same. a good shaper, a sanding master and cnc machinery (we used all three of them quite a lot in the shop i worked before) will be something i'm probably not going to see in this shop though. the boss has only a couple years left until he wants to enjoy his retirement (and no offspring who wants to take over), the building and the inventory is basically paid for, the shop runs well - investing in expensive machinery looks like an unnecessary risk to him, with the current clouds on the economic sky even more so.

a difference i found (which might be something particular to this shop though) is the lower level of thoroughness in planning and organising.
until four years ago i got more or less perfect drawings, sometimes backed up with blueprints, with all (well, most...) problems solved, all decisions about details, hardware and the like made, a detailed cutting list inclusive panel layout. and we worked mainly through one job, have everything ready for installing and be done with it.
here it's more "work in progress"... we get layouts for our kitchens with general hints about details all right, but that's about it. details are being solved on the go. a lot of things are unwritten know-how which has built up over the years - i didn't count the times my boss told me "do it the way we always do it".
after nearly four years i most of the time know what i'm doing and why without going back to the office every quarter of an hour or going around and asking my work mates if they could decode that problem for me - but the first year was a pain in that regard. i mean i've been a journeyman cabinet maker for 10 years before coming to canada, i'm sure i'm not the worst and laziest in my trade - but it felt like being an apprentice again.

in many regards of my professional life coming to canada was a "back to the roots" and i have to admit that it was only here that i thoroughly learned to improvise.
as i said - it's my personal experience. i'm working in one shop under thousands. and as jonboy pointed out - you'll find all levels of shops in canada. from the one building furniture with hand tools in the garden shed to the 100 000+ sqft shop with most modern technology.


good luck to you!

Homegrown

If you are an expert Joiner (cabinet maker in Canada) your best bet might be with a custom contract company. They usually do commercial work
or high end residential cabinetry and kitchens. If you can, contact some architectural firms because they are usually involved in the building of high end homes and always involved in large commercial products. They should be able to give you the best leads.

It's probable that the economic turmoil these days will be putting a damper on many real estate projects but you say you're not comming until next summer. Hopefully by that time things will be sorted out.

Good Luck.

Derek M

Thanks for all the info.
It pretty much seems the same over there as it is here so i should do ok!
In fact where i am now Lof, drawings are pretty scarce and working on your own initiative seems to be the norm.
But as you say when you first arrive at a company your not sure what is or isn't acceptable.
Incidentally things like making windows, doors and stairs are classed as a joiners job here, would that be the same in Canada? i do lots of that stuff as well, and it usually seems to be more in demand especially sliding sash windows which i've noticed are plentiful over there!
Thanks again
Derek

lof

i'm sure you are going to do very well over here, derek. you have a wide skill set which allows you to work wherever your hands are needed most.

see, that's what i mean with terminology... it starts with the jobtitle... (not that that would be any different in other languages and their dialects )
seriously. i think what you understand as joinery would be close to what canadians generally understand as finishing carpentry.
a quick look at the noc list showed that the term joinery is around in canada, but i think in 95 cases out of 100 you would earn a blank stare if you introduce yourself as a joiner.

Sutherlands

Sorry don`t know much about your trade, but what I can say is I wish I had your skill, the amount of furniture left out for the garbage, or for the passerby just blows my mind.

To think you could run your business by driving around picking up furniture left at the kurb and redo it up and resell it...

Sutherlands