lucas

Hi ,are there any plumbers on the site who can give me any info ,on working in canada, wages ,self employed ,paye , red seal exam or conversion exams , etc thanks guy.

poll72000

Hi Lucas,

You can expect to be payed anything from $20- $35 per Hr depending on your qualifications. To get your gas ticket you can pay up to $1600 for the course, books, exams fees.
Working here can be difficult at times because of the terminology and the way they install water and drain lines, being here for nearly 4 yrs i still sometimes get caught out.

Phil

McNicoll family

My husbands a gas service engineer here at the moment, and was hoping to get a gas fitters job but there doesn't seem to be many about so I was wondering if anyone knows if his experience in the gas field would be able to be counted for a plumbing job or pipe fitter?

And, I have looked and looked but just can't find where he would need to go to get all the books etc to do his exams? and where he needs to go to do the exam? can anyone point me in the right direction, I have looked at the red seal site but can't seem to see what I need!

We are hoping to move to Alberta by the way.

thanks!!

gibbos1

Hi Lucas,

I am planning to go over and start a plumbing job around Sept/Oct. I have arranged to start as a apprentice and go through the levels and then take exams and hopefully become a journeyman.
When we started looking into emigrating to Canada, I just emailed a few companies in Calgary asking for a meeting , with the chance of them taking me on. Well the out come was brilliant, went to interviews and ending up getting 4 offers and decided to go with the on that was more to my liking. I a

I'm not actually plumbing here in the UK, working and trying my hardest to get out of LandRover. I have passed my level 2 plumbing certificate and have been trying to get as much experience as poss at weekend, hols, etc. This didn't seem to matter to the companies I went to see and they all offered to put me through the apprenticeship program. There is loads of work happening in Calgary, Alberta at the moment and I asked how long they think it will last. The company that I fancied working for, mentioned they had work until 2012-2015, so should be ok to see me through my apprenticeship and beyond.

I am pretty sure you have to have 9000 hours (proved hours) to go for the red seal exam and then I think you are invited by the AAIT to sit the exam. they give you about six months to sit it.

I know a couple of plumbers living and working in Calgary, so if you don't have any joy off the forum, PM me and I will send you there contact details. They will tell you what you need to know. Mind you they both are employed by larger plumbing companies, so are not self employed.

The one has been in Calgary for about 20 months now and loves it, he told me he was called to one side by one of his gaffers and was asked to slow down, because he was showing up the other journeyman. He sat his red seal and failed, but he hasn't been pressured to resit it yet and they kept him on journeymans wages, pretty good of them I think.

Hope this info is some help, let us know where you are heading.

Good luck mucker,
Carl

gibbos1

Hi mcnicoll family,

Where abouts you heading in Alberta? has your OH had any job offers?

I got my information and modules and some books from SAIT in Calgary. We went over in April and I had arranged to go into SAIT and collect the first two years worth of modules. I pretty sure if you email SAIT, they will help you out.

The other site to look at is Trade Secrets, loads of info, you just have to search. Again they will help if you explain in an email.


Cheers,
Carl

lucas

hi phil , thanks for reply , i am corgi registered over here and a commercial plumber by trade , taking partner and our 2 little ones to vancouver in october to check out , thanks, , guy.

lucas

hi carl , thanks for the reply , i appreciate the offer of the contacts in calgary and may need them at some point. hopefully with my experience and quals i should be able to get in as a tradesman and take it from there , a good friend of mine is a pipe fitting gaffer up in fort mcmurray and he said theres plenty of work about too, thanks again .

McNicoll family

Hi Gibbo's, thanks for that, I will email them, am up against it as have a young one in hospital at the moment so head all over the place!!

No job offer yet, thinking possibly Okotoks, but see that gas fitters are in demand in BC so may have to think about there!

and sorry for the blatant hijack of this thread!

gibbos1

hi all,

no probs with info. I don't think you will have much trouble finding work and any province of Canada. If you have over 9000hrs experience that even better.
Good luck with your move and if you need those contacts, just PM me.

Cheers for now,
Carl

gibbos1

Hi McNicoll's

oh dear, hope he is ok and recovering.

We to are settling in Okotoks, brother in law there already. lovely place, very friendly, schools are brill. Loads of work in Calgary, new projects all the time.

If you need any information about Okotoks, give me a shout.

Good luck and keep in touch,
regards,
Carl, Tracey, Emily and James