andy050

I am currently serving in the British army and am looking to move to Nova Scotia/New Brunswick in the next year.

Looking for advice for the move and on employment, I have my HGV licenses but not much civilian truck driving experience.

any information would help.

christmasoompa

Hi, and welcome to BE.

Do you already have a visa, or do you need a job offer to get one?

Might be worth asking about your chances in the trucking forum, I thought you needed a few years experience but could well be wrong.

And this Wiki article may be useful reading - http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Truck_Driving_in_Canada

HTH, good luck.

andy050

i am applying for permanent residency at the moment. have applied for a pardon a drink driving conviction from nearly 10 years ago.
i have experience driving all types of vehicles in the job i do, just not for civilian companies, thanks for the link

christmasoompa

Ah, ok. If you've got PR then that will make it easier. Which visa route are you going down, is it the NS PNP?

Looking at the trucking forum it seems NB has job opportunities for truckers if you'd consider the neighbouring province and wouldn't be tied to NS?

Best of luck.

andy050

I have not got it yet, just started the process. i am looking at NB as well. Reading the trucking forum it is going to be very hard for me to find a job with limited experience.

christmasoompa

That's for people to be sponsored for a TWP though, if you've got PR there might not be the same requirements.

How are you applying for PR?

andy050

Do you meen Permanent Residency?

christmasoompa

Yes, by which visa route? Do you have a Canadian spouse sponsoring you, or the Provincial Nominee Program etc?

andy050

spoke to a few immigration companies, not sure weather to try the skilled worker route im also a mechanic. my wife is english but my sister in law lives in nova scotia.

Former Lancastrian

Sister in law over here wont help. I highly doubt a general mechanic will make the FSW list of occupations. The ones who have got jobs truck driving have either been recruited under a PNP programme or secured an LMO.
Several of the big trucking companies did send reps to job fairs in the UK.

christmasoompa

What kind of mechanic? As FL has said, you cannot apply as a Skilled Worker at the moment unless you have a job offer approved by HRSDC, which doesn't appear to be the case? Or did you mean the Skilled Trade program?

Sorry, when you said you were 'applying for permanent residency at the moment' I thought it was already underway or about to be.

First thing you need to do then is see if you are actually eligible for PR, but even if you are right now it'll be a couple of months before you're applying by the time you've taken your IELTS and gathered your paperwork. Then about another 12-18 months to get PR, so hopefully plenty of time to figure out the truck driver side of things and find a job.

chrissyb

You will need to re take your truck license (as it is not transferable) unless its different in each province. We moved to BC and other half needs re take class 1 license and you also have to re take your "mechanics test". Basically its the test they give apprentices here at the end of their apprenticeship. This is for HGV not sure if you are a car mechanic.

andy050

I am going through an immigration company at the minuit, they mentioned the Skilled Worker. quals i have are vehicle mechanic, diesel fitter, HGV mechanic/driver. i am the very start of the process.

andy050

as far as i aware you can transfer your license in new brunswick/ NS

andy050

I lived in alberta for 2 years as well and the wife just transfered hers.