Shakyuk

I've been looking at emigrating to Canada for awhile but have had things in the UK I need to do before I commit to a move.

With the down turn in the oil and gas sector and mining, can anyone tell me what the state of engineering is in Canada now? I'm a chartered mechanical engineer, my experience is in the nuclear sector but mainly machinery design and so my skills are quite transferable. I'm just not sure if mechanical engineers are even in demand anymore?

not2old

a few comments to your post...

That each year Canadian universities pump out Mechanical engineering graduates who need to find work. That there are skilled, seasoned qualified home grown unemployed engineers who compete for jobs. Against that, what chance does a foreign engineer have?

That a foreign qualified engineer still needs to be licensed to practice engineering in Canada and to call themselves an 'engineer' .

That there are a few Brit engineers on this forum who have had issues with getting jobs as well as getting that Professional Engineer (P.Eng) designation

Shakyuk

So in summary there is no demand.

Former Lancastrian

Limited demand in limited areas of expertise. Some UK engineers have found work and others find it hard. In some areas it might be a fly in fly out camp setting and those with families might find it hard to adjust or cannot stand living in a camp setting i.e. shared trailer literally in the middle of nowhere.
Some might find the salaries not as good or other benefits etc etc.
Are all engineers equal? Is a UK degree in engineering better than a Brazilian one?

Pizzawheel

As far as degrees go some can be purchased/ fabricated. I've no idea whether that applies to Brazil or not.

CEng carries no weight in Ontario but BC and Alberta do seem to recognise the Washington Accord (the international mobility agreement for engineers).

A friend of mine in the nuclear field was made redundant two years back and is now thriving in the middle east.

The IMechE has a good group in Ontario, I'd STRONGLY recommend reaching out through the institute to them to get some "on-ground" advice. (I do them same for members of my institute).

not2old

continue on to what was covered in the above...

At one time way back when (before any Washington accord) at the time that I came to Canada, I would have figured the UK trained & educated engineers had an edge , especially in comparison to other foreign engineers. I figured English speaking, familiar levels, terminology & the fact that there were other Brits here - it wasn't so, as I found out to my surprise

Today its worse, worse in the sense as Pizzawheel eluded to is that being a Brit Engineer doesn't get you much through the door as would it if you were German, French, Australian or wherever. Its my opinion that when a degreed, institution credentialed engineer gets to Canada - everyone is at the same starting point.

Other than the skill set, personality & fit, IMO it's luck that plays a part in getting employed, together with knowing someone. Of course when one has a specialization in a particular field where there are openings, this my give one an edge, but you know what .... there are so many local qualified, trained & experienced engineers looking for work. how does that outsider compete - ever?

On the flip side, take a Canadian Engineer P.Eng with 5-10 years experience (or any foreign engineer) going to the UK would have the same issues, as would a returning Brit expat that has been away for several years saying 'I'm home, I'm an Engineer, employ me'!

not2old

worth a read

Why the world’s best and brightest struggle to find jobs in Canada - Macleans.ca

Canada Immigration: Foreign Skilled Workers Struggle To Find Jobs In Their Professions

HGerchikov

Although I agree it may not be as easy as you would think, British trained engineers can get their Ontario P.Eng designation a lot easier than people trained in some other countries. My background is also the nuclear industry, transferring from a large UK nuclear corporation to a smaller consultancy in Toronto 11 years ago. My husband transferred too, I do not have an engineering degree (mine is geophysics) so I didn't try to get my P.Eng, however my husband does have an engineering degree from a top Moscow University, to get P.Eng he has to take a phenomenal amount of additional technical exams, whereas the British trained engineers just have to demonstrate their work experience and take the ethics exam.

not2old

its not always the case either & sometimes not so straightforward in Ontario, as noted by another BE member that started a similar thread last year, The discussion on that thread might help the OP

http://britishexpats.com/forum/canad.../#post11444127

HGerchikov

I remember that thread too and the gist seemed to be that the ease of getting the designation seemed to depend on the specific engineering qualification and work experience. As my recent experience is in the nuclear industry, the same as the OP I thought it was worth commenting that it is most definitely possible that his route to P.Eng will not be so difficult. Obviously none of us can say for sure without knowing the exact details of his degree and extent of work experience.

not2old

For the OP - one other point [in Ontario] is that not all those with the P.Eng designation have undergrad degrees, some with lesser qualifications [such as a technologist] or non accredited degrees that have to go the exam route to meet the academic requirements.

There are others with only a graduate degree, that do not have an undergrad degree, who may have gone an exam route, possibly a technologist or mature engineering background that entered a graduate program (which is possible to do in the UK & other countries).
.

Engineer_abroad

As someone currently doing my ICE training agreement here in the UK and having looked into getting P.Eng in BC, I certainly know which seems to be the easiest.

Pizzawheel

That's simply not true for Ontario, although it does appear to hold for BC and Alberta. PEO openly states it does not recognise the Washington Accord signed on it's behalf by Engineers Canada, and there's a history on this going back to the seventies. Someone seriously pee'd on someone's chips back in the day...

This is true, for the record in my comment above I'm not referring to the non-degree qualified British engineers either. As the cost/ time demands of the non-degree route aren't that different from getting a degree I suspect this category will die out through natural wastage anyhow.

HGerchikov

Its certainly true for the people working in the company I used to work for in Ontario. I know people that have done it, it may be a function of the particular branch of engineering.

Pizzawheel

The only tendency I've noticed is those that apply "fresh off the boat" have trouble, those that leave it and get round to it after a couple of years seem to be a shoe in.