toshamov

Probably sounds a bit stupid but am I too young and inexperienced to move to Canada? I'm 23, been a welder for 3 years in motorsport and aerospace. The UK welding industry is an absolute joke now with companies asking for fully coded super skilled welders to work for under £30K which, in the south is just nowhere near enough with rental prices being pretty daft and don't even mention house prices!

My friend's wife is Canadian and her dad said there is masses of work over there for welders and they pay mega money. I would love to get paid a decent wage and live somewhere which isn't densely populated.

I was thinking of going ahead and doing a celpip and a red seal exam but I've only been welding for 3 years so am "inexperienced" but also I'm not sure if that's even enough hours.

I was looking at express entry through the federal skills programme.

Is it worth pursuing now or wait until I have more time under my belt?

Thanks

dbd33

I often see signs advertising "welders wanted" so that bit sounds right.

Aviator

To challenge the inter provincial exam you would need around 7000 hours work experience. This is around 4 years full time employment. Hours need to be proven to apply to challenge the trade exam.

Re the work situation and it paying mega bucks, you may want t come to Canada and meet employers and do your own research. I would not base such a decision on a girlfriends fathers say so unless he is a welder with recent Canadian experience or the job market.

Employment situations change, as does remuneration. With a down turn in resource activities, lots of trades have been laid off and taking jobs elsewhere. The 'mega' bucks are usually work in mining, oil and gas, often camp living and those are harder to get right now.

toshamov

Does the 7000 hours include time spent as an apprentice?

Also when you say to challenge the trade exam, does that mean if I have the hours I can possibly get away with not sitting a red seal? Which would in turn mean if I don't have the hours I can sit the test and if I pass I don't have to prove the hours? Or have I got that completely wrong.

I am planning to come over soon to see what it's like and scope the job market a bit before doing anything obviously just wasn't sure if it's worth because if I have no chance of qualifying I'm better off waiting

Juggernaut1064

I work for a trucking outfit that does or did use to haul for the oil patch but not exclusively, Huge slowdown and the work your looking for isnt as common as it was. It does pay big bucks and you will as Aviator said have to live in a camp
https://www.google.ca/search?q=oil+p...il+patch+camp+

for weeks at a time at least. All facilities are generally free though.
As far as the slow down goes the price of a barrel is creeping up slowly, will it go back to where it was is anyone's guess and it would be a guess. Right now my company is being audited by most of the bigger oil patch outfits, its anyone's guess if that means work is coming or just a "make work" exercise for the safety depts. But i have noticed loads of pipe starting to move up to the Fort Mac/Four Hills area so something is happening up there.
I wouldn't think theres any chance of that this year, if i where you i would fly out here if you can afford it and take a look around before you just book a one way ticket, Canada isn't for everyone.

Aviator

Time on the job as an apprentice counts, time in a classroom does not.

There is no 'Red Seal' exam, it is a provincial exam, with a Red Seal endorsement. Many (incorrectly) call the trade exam the 'Red Seal Exam'. You need to challenge the exam to get a journeyman qualification and you need the hours to be able to sit the exam.

christmasoompa

Celpip can only be sat in Canada, so that's fine if you're over there anyway, but if you want to take the English test in the UK then there's also the IELTS exam which does the same thing.

Just double check you score enough - you'll need to be above approx 450-480 on the CRS to be in with a chance of being invited to apply for PR.

HTH, good luck.

toshamov

I did a score test last year and had more than enough so unless it's changed I should be OK.

Thanks for all the info that's helped alot!

christmasoompa

That's good, just no point in paying for IELTS etc unless you do definitely score enough.

I don't think the scoring has changed, you can double check it here though - Express Entry – Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) Criteria

HTH, best of luck.

Photoplex

I haven't seen the useful advice here that's usually mentioned. You can come over on the IEC (working holiday visa) for up to 2 years (1 year at a time). I came over that way, and within a few years became a citizen.

christmasoompa

I didn't mention it purely because the OP seems to have sorted out the visa side of things, so if he's scoring enough on the CRS and wants to go straight to PR, that does make sense. IEC is a great option for those that don't qualify for PR and/or only want to go temporarily though.

P.S. It's just a 2 year visa now, not 2 x 1 year.

Photoplex

Good points. Didn't realize it was 2 years straight now - they keep changing it

HGerchikov

I second this. I talk to a guy sometimes who is a welder and his take is that much of the simpler welds can now be done by machine so the requirement for an actual person is significantly reduced and then is limited to the more experienced guys who can do the complicated welds. Again note this is just based on what someone told me in a informal situation and is not based on my personal knowledge, but it does reinforce the comment above about making sure you get information on the current situation, not what it was a few years ago.

Siouxie

Welders and Related Machine Operators (NOC 7265-B) - jobs (national) - Job Bank will give you an idea of what jobs are available and the wages.

toshamov

That's an awesome site, thanks for that! Gives me an idea of where to look to move too. Oil pipelines are a different ballgame to what I do so it's unlikely that I'd get in on an oil boom, need a shop based job really but hopefully oil wages will pull people out to the fields leaving the shops struggling giving me a window.

I thought about going on a work visa for a while as a trial but would mean leaving my girlfriend to hold down the fort in the UK and we'll be paying for 2 places would ideally be a permanent move where we go together