Hi everyone,

Im looking for an in road to the oil sector. I have PR. I have entry level certs such as First aid,CSTS,Fall Arrest, WHiMiS, HS2 Alive.

My original endeavour to Canada was back in 2007. We all made the plunge , wife kids and myself believing the life change we were about to embark on was a dream come true, in some respects it was.

To cut a 3.5 year immigration nightmare short.

First the company that i went out to work for failed the governments requirements to employ me. They only told me this( immigration Canada) after 8 months of working for this particular firm in Calgary.

Then a period of not allowed to work due to my implied status of 6 months .
I found two companies with pre approved LMOs. I took the Special Projects Superintendent position. This lasted for just over a year till the recession called for no further special projects!! At last PR came through after nearly two years , by which time our bank account and home equity had been seriously diminished. Self employment was the only alternative , nobody was hiring.
For over 12 months I was knocking on doors of the oil sector with the intention of changing my career as I was and still disillusioned with construction work in Canada. I remember running an add on the free listings offering $1000 to anybody that could line me up for successful employment with an Oil Company as an entry level rig worker or any such appointment. I would take the challenge from there to progress and train to become a knowledgeable , valuable member of a hard working team. I ran the add for several months. Not one reply!

We haemorrhaged money for several years hoping the next would pick up and life would level off and we could actually begin building a future in our new home.

After a further 1.5 years of struggle to make ends meet on one income I decided enough was enough and headed back to the UK to pick up where i left off. Sold the home in Canada before we drifted into negative equity and all landed back in the Uk. Into rental land. Any credit you have before leaving is wiped after 3 years so we were the Nobody family from nowhere. After two years of being back in the UK we have decided to give Canada another go before our PR expires. Our kids miss the place so much it hurts. The wife and I also miss many aspects of such a wonderful country.

Much knowledge has been gained through our trials and much money spent on school fees!!etc.

With the Canadian economy on the upswing and Oil & Gas also opening up again ,now is the time to re settle in Alberta.

If anyone out there can throw any leads my way it would be very much appreciated. MWD would be ideal but i do need some training of course. I would be happy to take a back breaking labouring position just to get in on the sector.
I am happy to re locate for work or travel to most any destination camp or otherwise.

Drop me a line and I can give all details necessary.

Thanks, S

Checkout the Calgary Catholic Immigration society. They offer training in Oil and Gas, to all immigrants. You dont have to be Catholic either. Lol


http://www.ccis-calgary.ab.ca/index....d=36&Itemid=45

Hope this helps, and welcome back home, to Calgary.

Regards. Steve

Not sure if oil & gas is exactly booming.......

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/stor...-job-cuts.html

It sounds like quite an upheaval. Where were you living last time you were in Canada, any contacts there? Could you go out on a networking trip?

what position are you hoping to get into what degree do you have is it of any use to the oil/gas industry? if you are looking for a starter position now you will have some trouble it seems as all the rigs are closing early this year due to bad prices i am going to Calgary in a few weeks looking for a start on the rigs. but i would imagine i wont get it till September/octuber as this is when the rig company's start hiring again

Why don't you do an apprenticeship the pay would be brilliant and since your Pr you are eligible to take part in one i no if i had PR that's what i would be doing

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the link, I did start the application back in 2010 but as I was not totally unemployed others got the places before me. Its pretty tricky to be able to take so much time away from any paid work to train when you have a family to pay for. Short courses would be fine say week blocks but 8-38 weeks of no income would put most folks on the street. Its a good scheme though if you are on benefits which I think is the people it is really designed for.

Hi , im booked to go with the family 13 June. I have a couple of leads to follow up. My experience of networking in Canada is lots of talk about the spring and the large amounts of work coming up. I listened to that for 3 years. Not one of the contractors ever came up with a single days work!

My best results have been through advertising my services to residential clients which was going well until the dreaded recession hit.

Anyhow full of positive energy and ready to give it another go this time for good. Nothing at all to loose this time.

The UK construction sector is on its knees. Its got to be better in Alberta. Contacts there tell me everyone is busy so, that is a big improvement on my last experience.

If you have no tangible experience in the sector, I have to say I think you're putting your heart well before your head here. It cost you dearly last time you tried, and nothing has changed that much since then.

Chasing dreams is all very well, but I can only see this ending in tears.

Hi , nothing to lose this time around. Every dollar earned is a dollar profit .

I am willing to re train to get in to the sector. Doesnt need to be rig work. I could get in on camp set up, site construction. I have 20 years site management and trade skills, plus college diploma etc.

Perhaps an oil service related position. There are so many avenues.
We shall see. Dont plan on giving up!

Whats your experience ?

Thats news to me. How much could I expect to be paid on an apprenticeship ?
I would be up for that if its enough to support a family of four in rental accommodation and run a car.

If you've got 20+ years experience in construction, why are you looking for an entry level position on a rig? As you know, most of the work in the sites at Fort McMurray is construction work - if you have already been here you'll know that all the main players in general construction are very busy up here... PCL, Keiwit, HCBI, Pacer, Bird, Clark, Ledcor to name just a few.

As a PR, I'm sure you'd find a better chance of better paid employment as a supervisor with the likes of them than trying to compete with Newfies for seasonal labouring work on rigs.

I worked for PCL as a special projects superintendent for a year. Until they ran out of work on those projects. They let 500 european workers go two weeks before xmas of 2009 with only 2 wks notice. Very nice firm! I was lucky and moved to major projects for a couple of months but that was also ending.

I would work for them again with PR or canadian citizenship. Ill figure a way forward . Flights are booked for 13 June . Wife kids cat and a dog. Camp to start and see where we go from there.

But that's what it's like here. I don't 'understand why you think being the lowest of the low on a rig would give you any more job security?

If you can't handle the insecurity boom/bust of Alberta why not another province?