aledscave

Am deciding on whether to apply to Australia or Canada for permanent residency (hopefully one of them will take me). I have read several sources lately that the majority of Canadian workers only receive 2 weeks annual paid holiday leave. Can anyone confirm this. It may seem a trivial issue for some, but with a young son, this would really sway my decision towards Australia.

Thanks in advance.

Aled.

Airseir

That is true.

iaink

Yes, there is still only 2 weeks basic vacation, but as life here is generally pleasant and stress free, (and I like my job), it never really bothered me once I got here. With any luck the nature of life here and the way weekends are utilised will more than make up for it.

Rich_007

Public sector in Canada seems to get parity or near as dammit to UK.

Rich

Interested

Yes it is true...

Alot of companies are a bit more leniant, I get 3 weeks for example. Even so, it's not much is it!? Infact I think it's a good reason to move back to the U.K!!

flashj

Its all true, Have been with the same company for 14 years, received 2 weeks paid for 8 years, then after the eigth year employees receive a 3rd payed week. Problem is I would go back to 2 weeks paid rather than move back to the uk, if ya want tons of paid vacation become a teacher they get 2 weeks at xmas, 9 weeks in the summer, a week at march break etc, etc. This should start a new I'm a downtrodden uderpaid 10 month contract whiner teacher thread for sure!!

Steve_P

I'm not a teacher. OK that's out of the way.

Walk a mile in their shoes before you critcize.

That goes for any profession or job.

R2D2

You might be able to negotiate for more. Hubby got 3 weeks per year.....Wow I hear you say. We just make the most of weekends and every long weekend we make sure we do something nice like a mini holiday really. And there are quite a lot of long weekends. It doesn't seem too bad ...................YET.
Also, the way his company works, is that if you don't take the hols during the financial year you can just carry them over, and let them build up. You don't lose them if you don't take them.

finallygotout

We both get 2 weeks as well, and one of the ladies I work with, gets 6 weeks a year now, she has been with the company 7yrs. I am looking forward to a week xtra next year.

Like someone said above though, you make most of the weekend with the family, by doing things together.

GillyC

Yup 2 weeks is the standard but these days it really seems to depend on the company. My humble opinion about hols here is that they're seen more as a 'benefit' to working at a company rather than a fundamental right as part of general working conditions in the country i.e. companies advertise the number of weeks they offer to new workers as a bit of a selling point and it's definitely an area for negotiation during contract agreement between employer and employee. That negotiation depends on how much leverage you have of course!

It is a BIG pain in the ass as far as I'm concerned as even 3 weeks aren't enough. Of course enjoying your work and making the most of your leisure time helps to alleviate this but I personally find 3 weeks a year just do not suffice in the over all scheme of things. And yes, you can build up those weeks based on length of service but in Canada, as in the UK, it is far less common for people to work in the same company for a great number of years in order to build up that time. Therefore when you move company you're right back to where you started. I worked with a woman who had worked for Safeway here [I think] for 20 years, she had built up 6 weeks a year based on her service. She moved to the company I worked at and went back down to 2 weeks a year. She seemed ok about it but that really scared me!

I've been here 3 years and in that time I've left the country once to go home to visit family and friends - (not a bind for me) and I definitely feel like I travel way less than I used to. This is mostly due to the lack of time off to travel to the places I'd like to go. I do feel quite isolated from the rest of the world at times.

One of the benefits of living in the UK is the proximity to Europe and many different cultures. I thought nothing of flying off to Barcelona, Dublin, Amsterdam or wherever with my mates for weekend breaks when I lived in Scotland. Now a long weekend in Tofino makes me positively dizzy with excitement! Don't get me wrong I love BC for it's scenery and islands etc but I'd like to be able to have the freedom to go much further afield and I don't mean Cancun or Hawaii (not my kind of hols). If I'm honest it is the one of the major areas that would encourage me to go home at some point, unless I can find a work around!

I reckon its time for Federal and Provincial overhauls in this area! No wonder govt people stay put!

dbd33

This week I was in an office where someone was entering his 25th year with the company. That year, and that year only, he was to get a bonus fourth week of vacation. The question at issue was whether or not to take it, most people take the cash equivalent even though most of that goes in tax. This guy was in the typical position of people in our industry, he already has several years worth of vacation stacked up but there's never a time when he can take it. I would say that at most of the firms I visit, taking all of one's vacation is a career limiting move, as it shows a lack of commitment.

Then, at the other extreme, there are government departments and quangos. I was at the quango today, we were walking to a meeting when my doppelganger spat in the recycling bin. "Can you recycle spit?" I asked. "Huh, man?" he responded. "That's a recycling bin" I explained "I should know the goddam bins? All look same to me". I'd say this is typical of the working practises in government departments, it's too much trouble to learn which bins to spit in. Employees sit at their desks for around four hours a day and, by combining excess flex hours with vacation, are able to take several weeks off each year. The only downside seems to be that the contractors hired to do your work mock you to your face. None of this should be news to immigrants, of course, how else can one drag out the processing of a simple application for years on end?

GillyC

The guy 'spat' in a recycling bin? I had to read that a few times before it sank in! That fact that he's spitting in any sort of bin, especially in the work place is beyond me. If I saw someone at work doing that I'd report them! It's downright offensive.

If that's how govt depts. operate and those are the types of individuals working for them then I guess I'll be waiting a while for vacation entitlement laws to change!

The guy who worked for 25 years to get a one time bonus of an extra week off is very sad. Life is for living NOW - not to be saved up for retirement! That's one of the reasons I emigrated was that rather than think 'what if' 20 years later, I wanted to give it a go and make the move. Well I'm doing ok so far but there's NO WAY I'm going to be a slave to any sort of corporate grinding machine. I wasn't in the UK and I'm not doing it here. If I gave in to it I'd be compromising myself and my values.

Cowtown

There is also the option not to take a full time job.

Depends on what you're coming to Canada for - if you want a six figure income, two houses and a bunch of expensive toys, you won't get that working part time - but if you're coming for quality of life, that's another matter ...

Last time I worked in a job in the UK with 5 weeks vacation, I could only afford to go anywhere nice for two of them.

GillyC

It all depends on what your experience is as to how you compare I suppose. I'm not at all interested in a 6 figure income, or even one big house or fancy car neither in Canada nor when I was in the UK. I'm not after the material dream, more quality of life for sure. I had about 6 weeks holiday in the UK and managed to spend time away from the UK, 3 weeks in Canada every year and short breaks in Europe or in the North West Highlands and I wasn't on mega bucks that's for sure. I did have a good quality of life in Scotland and got good financial compensation for what I did for a living. But then again I didn't come to Canada for either of those reasons i.e. improvement to quality of life (I had it pretty good in Scotland) or big bucks job (I think I'm probably in the wrong country for that!).

Even if I had 4-5 weeks off here I wouldn't necessarily always travel but it would be nice to take a week off and enjoy just living in the city I'm in. Instead what I've done is quit my job 2 months ago so I could have a breather and get my bearings. Since I started working in quite a high pressure job very shortly after arriving in Van. I felt it was time to take some time out and simply enjoy being here and the new home we're building. I was doing 50+ hours a week and getting knackered and very despondent doing it. Anyway that's another story!!

Steve_P

You know this is getting tiresome. This may be your experience in your area of expertise but to spin it into all government departments is way over the top.

I was one of those government employees for 25 years (Air Traffic Control) before being privatized and what you are describing is certainly not the norm in my experience.

What you are describing would be disgusting in any work place and should be reported and dealt with, but don't try to tar all government employees with the same brush.