Brankus

I am currently 26 years old and have been working for one of the big electricity distribution companies in the UK (SSE) for over a year in a trainee engineer position. My training will end in 2 years time and I will be authorised to work on up to 11kV and 33kV networks in switching, back feeding, fault finding, etc. I will then be working for the company for an additional 2 years after my training ends at which point, I will be at an SAP level as a team manager.

I am looking to move to Canada once I have built up enough transferable skills and experience, at this point, I will be 29-31 years old (I have heard that this can be an issue as Canada prefers 20-30).

Admittedly, I haven't investigated the immigration procedure or even the possibilities of finding work in the Electricity utilities and DNO field as a Brit, especially as I have been trained up on the British network and not with the Canadian standards and conventions.

I should probably note as well for part of the trainee engineer programme at SSE I have studied for a Foundation degree at an IET accredited University (Birmingham University), the degree is a Level 5 in the framework for higher education qualifications, below a bachelor's degree at level 6. (I was wondering if this is recognised in Canada or not or would I have to spend a year outside of work to top up to a bachelor’s degree)

Could anybody shed any light on their experiences or even have some advice/information it would really be appreciated.

Kentonmag

I work, in Canada, for one of the two biggest manufactures of turbine generators in the western world. I can honestly say that over the years we have hired Engineers from China, India, Romania, Germany and the UK. My job takes me to many power plants in every Canadian province and there seems to always be a multinational workforce, including the Engineers, wherever I go.
In answer to a couple of questions your experience in the industry would be a greater benefit than whether one of your grades was an exact match to a Canadian equivalency. I'm probably 80% sure your qualifications would be recognized anyway.
Your age as far as I'm concerned would not be a handicap, in fact within our own Company we find the older employees to be more loyal and find many the kids coming from university and colleges using us as a stepping stone, until they figure out their calling in life.
I have included a list of Canadian utilities to research, Good luck. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...tric_utilities

getoutofbritainquick

I work for BC Hydro as a Station Manager currently in Victoria, BC. I previously worked for NG in the UK and have extensive experience in managing cities including London (UK), Surrey, Vancouver and now Victoria in BC. Your training will probably be far superior than that in Canada. But you would need to qualify as a P.Eng to practice as an Engineer in Canada. The culture here will be somewhat different to what you are used to in the UK. If you require any specific information PM me.

Siouxie

Thanks for sharing! If possible please keep any discussions on the board as it helps others who may be looking for information in the future - and also helps reduce any chance of incorrect information being given (particularly to do with immigration, which changes so quickly)

Danii_i

Hello
Very interesting to know that there are readers of this forum that work in the renewable energy sector in Canada.
I have worked both selling and buying wind turbines in a position of a contract manager and have been trying to find a similar jobin Canada (pref Ontario or Alberta). I have searched LinkedIn and Indeed for the last couple months (on and off, depending how busy life gets) and have not come across any job offer that would be either for a company manufacturing or procuring wind turbines.
Is the turbines market quite busy? Is there demand for people with my experience? Are there any specific websites where I can search for wind energy jobs?
Would be great if I could get the answers.

Siouxie

'
These might be of use

https://jobs.gecareers.com/
http://www.surespanwind.com
https://canwea.ca/


http://energy.sourceguides.com/busin...acturers.shtml
http://energy.sourceguides.com/busin...dturbine.shtml

https://www.solacity.com
https://rematek-energie.com
https://www.solarwholesaler.ca
https://www.google.ca/search?q=wind+...cr%3DcountryCA

Kentonmag

My Company were heavily into the wind turbine market in Canada up until 2 year ago then sold off and closed the turbine blade manufacturing facility in Ontario. People finally woke up to the fact that renewable energy was a major part of the reason that their electricity bills had gone up 400% during the last 12 years of a Liberal government who were paying farmers and landowners massive subsidies and ongoing fees to have the wind turbines on their land. Finally the subsidies were cut to cap the spiraling electricity bills, however to late for the Wynn Liberal government.
I'm sure there are other companies out there selling the wind turbines (not to much in Ontario at present) but I'm not sure who they are. Saying that since you are into power generation then you will be marketable in many other forms of power generation, on gas, steam and biomass powered turbines. There are many other avenues into the sector as listed above.

Danii_i

Many thanks for the two of you

Engineer_abroad

The usually minimum qualifications to do this though are a bachelors degree in engineering plus 4 years post graduate experience. I am not sure a foundation degree accredited for IET will be sufficient without further study/exams.

Edo

I currently work in the Power industry and having worked all my career in various Engineering firms, I fully agree with Kentonmag that the industry is full of workers who have foreign degrees/qualifications. Thankfully it seems like Canada has moved on from the whole "Canadian experience" thing which is a great thing for newcomers as long a they have the right credentials.

BananaMonarchy

[QUOTE=getoutofbritainquick;12611833] But you would need to qualify as a P.Eng to practice as an Engineer in Canada.

Hi Brankus. Apologies for not replying to your questions earlier, this is because I am new to this forum.

I am in a similar position as yourself except that I am a Canadian citizen. As part of the Engineering Training Program with National Grid I completed a Foundation degree in Power Systems Management. I am also looking to move to Canada.

Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) would not accept my Foundation degree because it is only 2 year qualification. They informed me that the minimum qualification, even with a set of comprehensive set of their examinations, is a 3 year technology diploma.

I don’t think that any Canadian Engineering Licensing Association would accept the top-up bachelor’s degree that you referred to, because it is a distance learning program and also part time. I can confirm that Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (EGBC) only accept full time degrees.

Be careful which Province you apply for your licence from. PEO look down on all foreign degrees and experience and will assign you with many exams. Remember that you can apply for registration to any provincial association regardless of which province you live in.

Also the Manitoba regulator does not accept British BEng degrees. They only accept UK MSc or MEng degrees under the Washington Accord. Their regulations regarding Engineering degrees from the UK start on Page 18 of their manual of admissions. (This can be found on their website) They only accept a BEng degree if the applicant is a CEng.

I do not know if the other provinces accept BEng degrees under the Washington Accord.

The Association of Professional Engineers and Geo-Scientists of Saskatchewan (APEGS) state that even if they determine that the content of your UK degree program is equivalent to a Canadian 4 year degree program, they will still assign you confirmation exams.

I had to return to full time study to complete a 4 year degree in Electrical Engineering, which was immediately accepted by EGBC for my Engineer in Training Status.

Also, PEO informed me that they only credit experience gained after graduation towards the 4 years experience required for a PEng licence. (They may accept up to 12 months of experience acquired pre-graduation, however) So our experience gained until now will not count towards a licence.

I attempted to include URLs that prove what I wrote above is true, but as a new forum member I am not allowed to do this.

My question to other members of this forum is; will our experience be accepted by Canadian employers, despite not being accepted by the Professional Engineering Associations?

Engineer_abroad

BananaMonarchy

I think they only assess your undergraduate degree when you apply for a PEng licence. PEO state on their website that they may waive confirmation exams if you have successfully completed Canadian post graduate studies in the same discipline as your undergraduate foreign degree.

Engineer_abroad

BananaMonarchy

If I understand correctly, if you are registered as an Engineer in Training (EIT) in one province, but working in another (or even abroad), your experience would still be credited toward your PEng when your supervisor validates it using the online reporting system. When you receive your PEng, you can transfer it to the other province.