Hi everyone, Currently a skilled roofer based in the west mids, Uk and myself and my partner have just been offered a 2 years skilled works visa via a company who was advertising in the sun newspaper: the offer i have recieved is to workin in Burnaby, Vancouver, the visa, plus the company are willing to sponsor us with PR after 6 months etc...

I received the offer a week ago and i am going through the finer details now with the pay and the cost of living : to paint the picture a little wider i have been in the roofing industry for the past 8 years, and being relatively new in a forever changing industry, i was brought on as an a apprentice and have working my way up specialising ina number of valid skills including, roof sheeting & cladding, built up felt roofing and also hold an articulated platforms certificate and scaffold inspctor certified and a valid member of the NFRC..

My offer stipulates that i will be on an hourly rate of $24 cad, now to mean that does not seem a great lot compared to the cost of living : i have been doing research looking at condo's, apartments and houses in an around the area of Vancouver and its looking pretty pricey at that sort of wage and not only that, i have been reading threads noting that Car Insurance for people under the age of 25 is bloody extortionate!!

I guess what i am really looking for is advice on if the pay i am being offered is inline with what roofers should get in Canada? can you get more, are we worth more, do i need to aim higher??????

If anyone is in the same boat as me with a trade, please get in touch-Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Hi and welcome to BE. Dont think the company sound completely genuine as a company cannot determine how long a visa will be issued for but the Immigration Officer will determine this at your Port of Entry to Canada. Again a company cannot get you PR after 6 months, so be careful. The pay doesnt sound very good IMO for cost of living in Vancouver.

Through the WIKI button at the top of the page you will find loads of information to help you find out about work, cost of living , salaries etc or follow this link http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Career_%28Canada%29

There is no reason why you cannot try to secure a job yourself, without paying a company thousands of pounds - we did it and from starting to talk about immigrating to flying out only took us 9 months Check out the other Provinces too - I cant talk for the rest of them but I know your sort of trade is on high demand in Saskatchewan where we live.

Also the people on this forum are very helpful - but really, start with the WIKI or the forums search button.

Ditto exactly what Alvic has said! Sounds a bit dodgy to me - i.e. no company can 'sponsor' you for PR (as far as I know, only close relatives can sponsor people for PR). Unless they're talking about PNP? PR is something you could apply for yourself very easily once working in Canada on a TWP anyway (and why the six month wait they mention? very odd when you can apply for PR immediately normally).

From what I understand, roofers are in demand in Canada and you'd probably get a much better deal doing it alone. Do a search of the other threads as
I know there have been other threads about these kind of agencies recently (and the general advice/feedback wasn't great). It may well be worth looking in to trying to go it alone if you can but research as much as poss and hopefully you can then decide what is right for you. Best of luck.

I assume the OP means that the employer will sponsor him for PR after 6 months - like a probation period.

This will be through the Provincial Nominee Program. The employer sponsors the employee for nomination, and if the PNP people approve then CIC processes the application for PR on a priority basis. PNP approval takes 2-3 months and CIC about 6-9 months. You still have to meet CIC's requirements so the employer cannot GUARANTEE you will get PR, but it is very likely.

PNPs work differently in other provinces so i guess that is why the two posters above have given you the wrong advice for BC.

Sorry but just to take offence that I've given the 'wrong advice' - I did mention PNP in my original post and said that was perhaps what the 'sponsoring' was about!!!

I think you have to look at $24 as a starting wage. It is fair for a journeyman in many trades, but construction workers are in short supply right now and I would expect a skilled and experienced worker in your trade to be earning over $30 an hour. Maybe quite a bit more.

Of course, by skilled and experienced I mean skilled an experienced in the Canadian way. You will have a period of learning, though I expect this will be quite short. If you are good at your job I believe you will be able to increase your earning power quite significantly in a short period of time.

This is where you need to think about your job offer. If you come on a TWP you will be tied to your employer. They want to wait 6 months before applying to the PNP so it could be almost 18 months before you become a PR and have an unrestricted right to live and work anywhere you please. A bad employer could use this to pay you below market rate for this time, knowing you will be in a tough spot if you quit. A good employer will recognize your skills and, knowing how difficult it is to get good people in your trade, will make sure you are treated fairly.

Housing is expensive in the Vancouver area. I can't make that go away. However, once you have PR you are not tied to Vancouver. Consider renting while you see how the land lies.

As for car insurance, age makes no difference. Your premium is raised or lowered according to your driving record. Yes, it is expensive, but it is not crippling.

I didn't mean to cause offense. I apologize. I just wanted to be sure the OP understood his situation as your reference to the PNP was in the middle of the paragraph.

No probs. Hopefully the OP will research it all and read the Wiki until s/he feels as if their head will explode to get all the info necessary!

Guys thank you all so much for your advice- i guess there are lots of questions we need be asking next week at the seminar we are attending- any other advice much appreciated, thanks again and please keep in touch.

Matt

Just to clarify with the OP, what I said in my post applies to ALL the Provinces and is not wrong advice for BC as it was nothing to do with BC, but I was warning the OP about agencies and pointing out to him/her that an agency cannot determine the length of a visa nor get you PR after 6 months, which is what the OP stated in their thread. They never actually mentioned PNP.

In fact we had an LMO which lasted for two years but the IO at Calgary refused us a two yr TWP and give us it for one year and said if we had not gained PR within this time, we simply got the TWP extended.

Slightly offended Alvic

Sorry, I didn't mean to slightly offend anyone either.

I thought it was important to clarify your post because, in BC, an employer can sponsor an employee for PNP and hence PR. You correctly say that in the end PR is still CIC's decision. I thought it important to make this distinction because the OP's potential employer can do this - it doesn't make them a dodgy company for suggesting it.

I also agree with you about being wary of agencies that charge lots of money for a promise of a job and PR, but the OP did not mention an agency charging money. Or at least I don't think (s)he did.

Ack I wasn't really offended. Perhaps though I took company to mean a job recruiting company - dont know why actually SK employers can sponsor via PNP route too as my OH is on it at the mo

Hi Matt

Did you take the job and if so how are you getting on?

Maxine :-)