Engineer_abroad

Hi all,

I have recently been offered the opportunity to relocate to Vancouver with my current employer and me and my wife have decided to take the plunge.

I work as a geotechnical engineer in the mining industry so the chance to leave the UK with its non-existent mining industry to a country with a thriving, well it comes and goes, will make a huge difference to my career as well as enjoy the outdoor life.

My wife is also from Washington state so a move to Van works out for her being closer to her family whilst keeping them across a busy international border for me

I am just starting to get into researching all the aspects of living in Canada and B.C. (luckily immigration will be handled by the company). So you may be seeing a lot of threads from me in the coming weeks and months.

After spending some time out there we have resolved to live outside of Van to get more for our money so are looking to the cities such a Burnaby, Coquilum, New West and Surrey. However I would be interested to hear from others on the forum of places to avoid, I've heard Surrey isn't great, or other places to consider. I will not be looking to buy a car for at least a year so good access to Skytrain is a must although happy to bike either side if a long way (the companies office is right next to Renfrew station). We are looking for something reasonable modern but happy to consider all types of accommodation (i.e. house, condo, duplex, apartment etc.) and ideally no more than around $CAD 1,600 a month.

Any ideas on this and other aspects would be greatly appreciated.

Also if there is anyone from an engineering background on here who knows the process to obtain P.Eng status in Canada (I am not C.Eng in the UK but would be going from professional review early next year) would love to hear from you.

Thanks all

Martyn

Pizzawheel

Here's the wiki page:

Category:EngineeringCanada : British Expat Wiki

Quite a few discussions on this, bottom line is it does depend on province and BC seems to be reasonably open to foreign qualifications.

Engineer_abroad

Thanks Pizzawheel, both the UK and Canada are signatories to the Washington Accord which means degrees in both countries are considered equivalent, odd seeing as it takes 4 years for a bachelors in Canada and 3 years in the UK.

My concern was more with the on-the-job training aspect and wether any of this training is transferable. Unfortunately the article you link to is Mechanical Engineering where as geotechnics is an offshoot of Civils.

Cheers

Oakvillian

...in which case your first point of reference would be https://www.apeg.bc.ca/Home - you probably already knew this. Engineering is provincially licensed, as Pizzawheel said; you'd need to go through APEGBC's process to achieve P.Eng status there.

Pizzawheel

And there's the kicker- Engineers Canada is the signatory to the WA- not the provincial licensing bodies. PEO (Ontario) openly states they do not follow the WA, and good luck to anyone trying to force their hand.
APEGBC has a much more open process. Quebec openly accepts all European degrees right of the bat- WA or not- but you have to speak French.

That article was written by a chartered mechanical engineer for sure, but one who has extensive experience with provincial applications as a member of PEO's admissions body, and as such it is applicable all CEng-PEng equivalency issues. If there is an bias it is that it is written for applications in Ontario rather than nationally and there are differences,.

JonboyE

Parts of each of these cities have good places to live and parts that are not. For example, South Surrey is amongst the most desirable places to live in the Lower Mainland (if you measure desirability by price). Unfortunately, it's nowhere near the Skytrain. The parts of Surrey that are near the Skytrain are less salubrious. It is the same for the other cities. All have some great and some not so great residential areas. Footwork is required and I don't recommend trying to secure long-term accommodation before you arrive and have a look around.

$1,600 a month gets a nice apartment or a townhouse. I would be suspicious of anyone offering a detached home for that rental.

withabix

You will almost certainly find that you will want or need to buy a car almost straight away for most things outside of work, in my opinion.

Engineer_abroad

Thanks everyone I have checked the APEG BC website and seems pretty easy, seems. I still need 12 months of Canadian experience but other than that should be ok. Now I need to convince my university to send the transcript directly to them.

Cheers

bigshark

Does the name of company you will be (or already) working for start with G?? If I had to pick one of the 4 area you mentioned I would probably go with Burnaby. Seems to be a lot going on in that area in terms of construction, so it is mean to be very 'up and coming'. Only twice have we ventured out to as far as Coquilum and there doesnt seem to be a lot going. Plus living in Burnaby means that you will be closer to Vancity,and as a newcomer im sure you'll like to explore what the city got to offer, so it'll be easier in terms of logistics etc.

Engineer_abroad

It does indeed start with a G. I already work for them in the UK but am hoping that a transfer may be possible, fingers crossed.

With regards Burnaby which of the 4 main town areas would you recommend? We spent a little time at Metrotown ( yes at metropolis) last time we were there but apart from a reverse ride round the millennium line I.e. To waterfront going east, didn't see a lot else.

bc2015

Also take a look at North Vancouver around Lynn Valley area. That's not too far away from Renfrew and is not as expensive to rent as Vancouver itself and (imo) is nicer than Burnaby especially if into outdoors.