marietuluse

Hello
I just wondered if anyone could give me an idea of the average salary of a plumber, gas fitter in Alberta, my husband has 27 years experience, fully qualified, with own business etc, we have looked at plumbing jobs in Canada and they don't seem to pay very well compared to UK.

ann m

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=537233


... and Google "Red Seal" for plumbing. Gaining recognition and equivalencies may prove challenging and time-consuming. And maybe worth it, depending on what you are seeking from a move here ...

Hopefully, some more answers will be forthcoming soon

pacepeter

gas plumbing is a lot different over here you get your b ticket when you pass your plumbing red seal and thet is very hard, money is $35 per hour whiich is about 24 pounds per hour + 10% holiday pay, pnp (provicial nomination program) is not much happening at the moment but things will soon pick up when they start building in oil sand and more demand for plumbers where i am working we are short of journymen but recruiting from canada, another thing is a lot of things are cheaper here gas electric and petrol, we are in calgary
peter the plumber

marietuluse

Thank you very much Peter for the info. It seems a very low wage for a plumber/gas fitter compared to England, but as you say if the cost of living is lower over there, then it evens itself out.
We have our permanent residencey visas and are planning a visit in June to get those stamped and then hopefully move over by the end of this year. We are looking to settle in the Red Deer area - possibly Sylvan Lake? any advice on that??
I wonder if you could explain a little more about the Red Seal examination ( our imigration consultants have told us not to worry about that at the moment until getting a job offer) but just wondered what the proceedure is with it?
Thanks again.....sorry so many questions

marietuluse

Thank you Ann

635675408

Im from Calgary area but know the province well. Cant speak of the plumbing conserns much, but as far as location i can add this. Red Deer is a great little city with a lot of upswing. Always seems to be busy with reasonable housing prices (mls.ca is a good site to scope what you can get). Sylvan Lake is a resort town with out of this world housing prices, shocking really. Very busy in the summer months (june-Sep) and a ghost town in the winter. Lots of people building cabins and resorts but the slight down turn in the economy may have slowed it down a little. I think as a new-comer Red Deer would be a safer bet. Sylvan lake is a short drive and you can scope it out from Red Deer. Sometimes small towns are harder to set up shop in as the locals already go with who they know. Good Luck Chris

Journeyman Electrician

Alberta (Calgary) construction is in recession non of the major players are busy layoffs are plenty full right now. The low margins that drove the last 18 months of false growth are now playing out with worker lay offs. Oil sands work is all that's really happening not sure if you are Residential/commercial or industrial.

If you know about boilers theres always demand with service companies.

Calgary cannot sustain a level growth pattern its either boom or bust and the same can be said for Edmonton. Something about diversity may be the answer rather than reliance on oil.

marietuluse

Thanks for that Chris
When you say 'out of this world house prices' in Sylvan Lake do you mean unusually high or low??? Although most house prices in Canada seem low compared to UK prices!

marietuluse

Thank you for the info, much appreciated

635675408

Sorry, I ment high prices..homes near the lake with set you back 1 million plus $can. The only houses that are affordible to most are far away from the lake in the new devolopments. which begs the question why live in Sylvan Lake when you cant even see it. Housing prices are low comepared to UK at least they were a few years ago..I understand Uk housing has dropped a bit in the past few years and the Canadian market has been stable after big rises in prices the last few years. But once again go to mls.ca....go to the map and zero in on any community in Canada and it will show you what to expect to pay....roughly....Again Best Wishes... Chris

christmasoompa

Might be worth doing a search of the forums for 'cost of living' to see other threads on the subject, there are loads including those where people have posted their exact outgoings which will give you a good idea of what to expect. General consensus is that the cost of living is about the same as in the UK (some things cheaper, some things more expensive so it evens out), but the threads will give you more detailed info so you can factor that in to your calculations.

marietuluse

Thanks for your help

marietuluse

When we stayed in Sylvan Lake last year, it was actually the new developments we looked at and they still seem reasonably priced now. We actually stayed at Chateau suites overlooking the lake, which was beautiful, but far too noisy for us to want to live that close to the 'town centre'
Red Deer seemed very busy, but that could be because we live in a quiet village in England. Luckily we haven't seen a dramatic change in house prices in our area, I suppose it's like anywhere, depends where you live?
Your information is much appreciated, thanks for taking the time to comment.

woodywoodside

Slightly different but we have just returned from Kelowna, My husband is a heating engineer (gas fitter) originally a plumber with all the relevant city and guilds and advanced craft domestic heating etc. We also had a good business. He challenged the red seal for Gas and passed so now has a canadian licence. The most he got offered pay wise was $24.00 We couldn't live on that no way.

R I C H

I'd say mid 20's per hour was about average for employees in trades for this region.