Hello everyone. I came upon this fabulous site when I was reading
other trucking posts on a different site.
My intention is to come to BC later on in the year, currently waiting for police cert. Are there many driving jobs based in Vancouver and heading south to the states ?, its just that everyone seems to head to Sechatewan, and Manatoba for jobs.
Is this because BC dont offer the PNP for drivers ?

keep up the good work

Hi Hoopaloop,
Welcome to BE, here are the links below from the job bank
on truck drivers positions in BC and the lower mainland areas.
BC does not have PNP for truck drivers.

http://www.jobbank.gc.ca/JobResult_e...t=No&PageNum=1

http://www.jobbank.gc.ca/JobResult_e...ent&Student=No
Good luck.
Yoong

Thanks for the info Yoong. There seems to plenty of driving jobs in BC.
And because it doesn't do the PNP that explains why no one ever seems to
mention driving jobs there. I have applied for the BUNAC 1 year non student visa, so hope to check it out for a year, and see how it goes.
Just have to get my cdl or BC semi truck equivalent.
Thanks again

Hoop

I'm also new to this site,so hope I'm doing this right. In reply to your question about why more people seem to go to Saskatchewan and Manitoba, I suspect that finances have a lot to do with that. The average house price in the whole of BC has recenlty been quoted at $450,000 (which of course includes Vancouver and also the really remote areas). In Vancouver, a relatively ordinary house in a nice area will be $1 million+. You could probably buy an equivalent house in Regina or Saskatoon for $250,000. There may be some difference in salaries, but not sufficient to compensate for the cost of living. I'm from Vancouver, and it really is God's country, and I would not ever want to move away, however, we've been here for 30 years and bought before house prices skyrocketed. When my kids are ready to buy, they will likely have to move to the suburbs (or further) as, although they both have good jobs, they'll never be able to afford a house in Vancouver.

We came over on the one-year BUNAC visa Sept 06, and both got jobs in our respective careers.

Now with feet firmly under desks, companies have got good case for keeping us on. We're just waiting for PNP to come back, and if that doesn't work then going old fashioned longer route of LMO. 1) No-one else has applied for our jobs. 2) We have one year of experience in Vancouver and also bring experience from the UK.

We're in Vancouver and totally love it. Everyone here moans about the cost of living and yes, housing especially is not cheap, but my God compared to London its at least affordable especially if you are selling property in the UK. If we stayed in the UK then it looked like a move to London was the only option for my career, which would have probably meant OH half and I moving back to my parents in suberbia - yuck.

We've kept our house in Manchester and are renting it out. Once it's confirmed we're staying we'll look to buying something here.

http://www.neptunefoodservice.com/co...eryServRep.pdf
Saw the above ad. yesterday. They are willing to train you if you
did not have class1 Licence. Also check out the upcoming job fair
in Surrey,BC.Below are the websites of participating companies.
http://www.pics.bc.ca/ExhibitorsInvited.htm
Good luck,
Yoong

very interesting indeed.
How did you find it in September live to ski, was it a particularly cold winter ?
Also I am interested to know did you apply for jobs before you got there, or just when you got there ?
I am living in Dublin presently and the price of living here is prity exorbitant.
I spent a year in Australia (way too hot for me) on a 1 year visa and 5 different stints driving trucks in America on 6 month visas, which I loved so I'm hoping Canada is the place for me. Just thought I'd like Vancouver cause Portland and Seattle were my favourite cities in America and I basically like cold weather, though I realise Canada's cold is different from what I'm acustomed to.

Thanks a lot for the information

Hoopalop, you had better like Rain in those cities, West Coasters don't Tan, they Rust.

I would think Alberta would offer you more opportunities,and if you like cold, you will LOVE Edmonton.

Ha ha 10.4 Howard 1944
I hear what your saying. I'm travelling alone so very flexible re location
with the torrential rain we've been having here for the last 2 months I reckon I'll feel right at home on the west coast.

Agree with this - Alberta along with Saskatewan are both crying out for truckers.

One of the members on here Koog works out of Sask and does journeys down into the states - he is his blog for you to take a look at

Good Luck

Gaynor

Hi Hoopaloop,

Check out http://www.theweathernetwork.com/ for both current and historic details of weather in N.America.

Vancouver was going through an Indian Summer type heat wave when we arrived in Sept 06. Autumn was VERY wet, winter not as cold as we were expecting - in fact when we had 2cm of snow downtown, everywhere came to a stand still just like London. Now having summer heat wave.

OH having trouble sleeping cos it's so hot.

So basically weather like UK just a little more extreme, so slightly hotter in summer, slightly colder in winter.

Most homeless people in Canada come to Vancouver or Victoria in the winter as they have the warmest winters, and hence are least likely to freeze to death on the streets here.

Agree that Portland and Seattle are the best places in USA.

If you want cold, check out the east or north, but then generally they have hotter summers, but we have the West Coast lifestyle!!!!

Sorry, forgot to mention about jobs.

I think it was loads easier applying for jobs with a visa already rahter than having to ask potential employers to go through the hassle of organising your visa for you.

OH and I in same industry. I did a lot of research into companies in Vancouver before we came out and found about 20 suitable ones. I split them by which sounded better for each of other and sent off speculative applications for both of us.

I had a job lined up for when we arrived (I was still jet-lagged when I started!) but that is a perk for being female in a male dominated industry that wants some positive discrimination to get their number of female employees up!

OH had interviews lined up, and got a job relatively quickly.

Now with feet under desks and having proved ourselves worthly, our respective employers are more than happy to go through WP and PR with us through PNP rather than an unknown quantity in the UK.