Ontario In June
 

Hi Just come across BE :) I wish i had found it 4 years ago, we are now at the end ( Hopefully ) of our move to Canada.

We went to Fernie BC on a snowboard trip for our 25th wed anv and we just fell in love with the place, we returned in the sep of the same year to see what it was like in te summer :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: it has everything we would ever wish for snowboarding MTBing fishing golf everything ... so we started the process............. 4 years later and lots of trips back and to to Canada.

Hubby Alan is a plumber and we have had our our business here in the uk for the last 20 years doing home refurbs , getting a job in Fernie as a immigrant was not going to happen this is a small mountain town and they just was not interested, they just said get over here with your PRV ( permanent residency visa ) and there is plenty of work .

So we tried for Calgary we had 11 interviews in 4 days and he could have had 14 jobs :thumbsup: everything was looking just great except Alan had to pass the challenge exam, if there is any one out there that is thinking of taking this exam Study Study and then Study some more you only get 3 goes at it and two of these goes we wasted not having the right information , last time we just messed up the paper ( long story) :curse: and you only get 3 goes at it and you can not take it again we have been told .

But we have managed to get a job though our consultants in Hamilton Ontario and with out the challenge exam Ontario has a different rule as they are desperate for plumbers and because no one can pass this exam :confused:they have relaxed the ruling for plumbers from the UK i have been told Vancouver has done the same and they are giving out 3 year temp visas, we have been told that once we are there and working our PRV will be fast tracked and we should get it by the end of this year ( we have been waiting 2 years so far ) once we have this we can then go back to Calgary or even Fernie and work were ever we can get a job , as every employer we met said they did not need us to have the challenge exam to get the job, it was service Canada that want it .

So Hamilton it is would love to talk to any one who is there or knows the place as we know nothing about it at all, and this has happened all in the last 2 months so i am trying to get lots of info and hook up with people.
Debbie :D

Re: Ontario In June
 

Hello Debbie, Long post got through it in the end.

Welcome and glad you found BE

Re: Ontario In June
 

Hi Debbie

Welcome to BE & don't worry about the lenght of your post;)

We're not in Ontario but there are plenty on here that are, i'm sure someone can help. We've only been to Ontario in the Autumn (which was lovely, btw) so not much help there either, sorry.

I know what you mean about taking exams though, Alberta is a bugger for that. They're desparate for workers and then make it so hard for you. Both my DH & i have over 20 years experince in our trades, but that & our paperwork isn't recognised here. His employer has given him 2nd year apprentice status, he's a 42 year old apprentice!!! We think you're treated a bit like idiots here which gets up my nose a bit, but then we new this would happen when we came.
Only problem is his company base his wages on his status and not experience so his company are really getting their monies worth from him.

Not much help I know, just know how frutrating all this exam business is.

We quite like Ontario and have still not ruled it out as a place to settle.

Jo xx

Re: Ontario In June
 

Hi Debbie

Good luck and welcome to BE. Hope your venture works out for you. I love Ontario at anytime of year.

Good luck:thumbsup:

Re: Ontario In June
 

Hi,

We live around 20min from Hamilton. It is a big city with lots to do. Everyone I meet says Ancaster is the place to live. It is joined on to Hamilton, almost like a burb. Hamilton airport (JC munro)is a lot less congested than Pearsons & there are direct flights to there from the UK (Globespan). It has great shops, awesome bands & events. Hope this helps.:cool::cool:

Re: Ontario In June
 

Hi Debbie,
We are also hoping to go to Ontario, still trying to look for work. Hopefully going out to look around in June. Good luck with your plans!
Les

Re: Ontario In June
 

If you are looking for work in the plumbing trade Hamilton is the place to be; It's nickname is Steel Town there are numerous huge companies there PPG(procter and gamble) Westinghouse(not toasters or washing machines!) but turbine plants. I used to drive an artic there. You will have to join the union which may come with the job but if you are going to work with a sub contractor dunno. Check out those two companies with google. Hint if you are looking for places to stay ask if it is "on the mountain" on the mountain is the good side of the tracks!
Good luck :thumbup:

Re: Ontario In June
 

Hi Debbie
I'm currently not far from you at Cheshire Oaks, E.Port. We flew to Hamilton last summer with Globespan (airport small and staff v. friendly - airline not so good as we had 29 hour delay outbound!) Countryside around there looks great. There are lots of new developments about. Also, met a woman on return flight who was happy living in one of the old downtown communities too. We are looking to settle around Oakville..not too far away! Have you got PR status now?

Re: Ontario In June
 

Hi Debbie,

This whole exam thing seems like a real pain in the butt. Makes me always think of "who tests the testers!" Good luck with all your plans. Ontario is a lovely place to live.

Check out these links to get you started:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton,_Ontario
http://wikitravel.org/en/Hamilton_(Ontario)