Hi, new to the forum so please excuse me for any breaches of etiquette.

I have long held a desire to emigrate to Canada (10+ years) i have recently attended a Canadian job fair in London and decided to proceed with my plans as of Jan 2014 when my funds will be in place after 20+ years in the British Army.

I am an electrician by trade but do not want to pursue this option (insufficient experience/lack of knowledge over past 10 years), currently studying a sports coaching degree and a qualified personal trainer.

The route i wish to pursue is that of a shotfirer in either the mining or quarrying sectors. I have 20+ years experience of military explosive engineering and looking to undertake my shot firing and shot firing supervisors courses in the UK Jan 2014, then undertake NORCAT's Common Core Training in Ontario next Summer to make myself as employable as possible.

I fully realise i lack commercial experience of these industries but am hoping a proven track record in leadership & management, problem solving and teamwork skills along with my military explosive engineering background and subsequent training above will get me "in the door".

I will be using an immigration lawyer (costly i know) as i don't want any hitches and to make the move as seamless as possible.

I am open to any advice to make the emigration process and subsequent employability from anyone on the site.

Thank you in advance for your advice.

Craig

You military experience along with civvy qualification should help a lot.

I would not (did not) waste money on a consultant. Unless you are a complete oaf at filling in forms (which I would guess not) then it is easy to do yourself. Even with a consultant you still do the leg work. An immigration lawyer/consultant won't make a difference to how seamless the move is, they will check your paperwork and send it off and lighten your wallet.

Also, make sure your TG is paid out and in your bank before you become a tax resident of Canada. It is not taxable in the UK, but would be in Canada.

Many thanks Aviator, i did think the consultants fee's excessive but assumed the process would be complicated....excuse my ignorance, TG? I will be in receipt of an Army pension is this what your referring to?

Terminal Grant.

Your pension will be taxable, but not much you can do about that. Unfortunately mine is worth 30% less than when we arrived in Canada.

If you are able, get yourself to the PDAC convention in Toronto in early March.

It is truly enormous and there is no better place to network in the mining industry. There are two bits to it: the investors exchange and the trade show. The latter is probably the best bit for you (it includes the service companies, including people who make things go bang) but you have to pay to get into it.

The website (pdac.ca) has good details on the convention, including exhibitor lists, by category. I think the website also has a jobs page.

Don't limit yourself to mining. A lot of the highways, at least in my neck of the woods, pass through rock. You can see the drill holes, so I guess there was blasting involved.

Many thanks for advice so far:

Aviator, already had my terminal grant paid out, but going through a divorce at present, so once that monkey is off my back I will know what $$ i have to play with in January. The "currency people" seem to sell hard, the theory seems sound, they buy currency and offer it to you at a fixed rate for a given period, thus avoiding exchange rate fluctuations....any thought on that one and is it better to pay tax in UK at source on my pension or in Canada?

Souvy, many thanks for that info, i will get onto the website now.

I wouldnt totally give up on Electrician, you could always apprentice here, The mining quarrying interest you are pursuing might take you to very remote parts of Canada- are you up for that?

Darren

Thanks Darren, it is not so much the employment once i am in the door, more getting in i am concerned about, but would they take a 43 year old apprentice on? I would be quite happy as a mate once in if truth be told.

However it is the shot firing i am concentrating and aware it will be in remote area's but quite used to it from my Military days and suits me at moment, as means less to spend my earnings on. Divorce is hitting me hard and i want to get as much saved as i can.

Yes, you could get hired, it is not uncommon for apprentices to be older here and most Electricans new to the country (even experienced ones) have a learning curve anyway, because methods are so different here.
Electricians are paid well, but the mining sector that you aim for is paid extremely well- but for good reason, its a tough life living in camps and easy to get into expensive habits (bad ones), if you are not careful!

Darren

Thanks again Darren, no chance of me falling into the habits i think your alluding to, looking at an initial 5 year plan, living like a pauper work,work,work to fund my eventual plans before i hit 50.

Finding it hard to find specific advice on the mining sector/shotfiring though, trawled google looking for forums etc, but going to rely on networking through the courses i'll eventually undertake as my main source i think.

What is shotfiring, anyway?

You don't have a choice of where you are taxed, you just don't get taxed twice. If you are a tax resident in Canada, you pay tax in Canada and get your pension paid gross or get a certificate of foreign tax paid and you pay any difference in Canada.

Follow the FX rates closely on Oanda, look at historical rates, set yourself a realistic target and exchange at that. You can also forward book at your rate, if it hits that the FX house will do the exchange. Any agreement you enter into with an FX house is likely a legally binding contract.

We do our FX contracts as required and watch the rate. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. Once you land in Canada as a tax resident, any capital gain on FX is taxable.

If you look to go as an electrician, if you have and can prove 9000 hours trade experience, you can challenge the exam without taking apprenticeship. A little study and you are a ticketed sparky. To do apprenticeship you would have to be PR or Canadian, it cannot be done on a TWP.

I would imagine jobs for a shot firer are harder to find, but would pay much (much) more. I would follow this route if you can.

http://www.infomine.com/careers/jobs...lled.jobs.aspx

You would likely have more chance coming here with a resume and showing up at different companies and asking for a job. Don't wait to find one advertised.

Souvy , a shotfirer (in very basic terms) drills the boreholes and calculates qty/places/detonates the explosives to blast rock etc.

Aviator, many thanks again, I am definitely going down the shotfirer route, already been in comms with Infomine and just starting to tweak my UK CV for the Canadian market.

Lots to think about, but a good start :-)

Thanks for the explanation. I work in the mining sector but on the analysis side. My knowledge of the nuts and bolts is limited. I've only ever been to one mine and that was the simplest open-pit operation imaginable. The kit being used would not have looked out of place on a residential building site.