Too young to immigrate?
 

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

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

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

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

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.

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

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

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

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.

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

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.

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

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.

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

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!

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

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.

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

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.

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

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. :)

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

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

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

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.

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

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.

:)

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

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

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

You are very welcome :)

You might want to look into the ship building industry too - there were a fair few jobs going a while back.

Your g/f could come with you as a visitor (if she didn't apply for her own IEC) and then get a work permit once you had a permanent job offer (provided it was classed as skilled), by the way.

:)

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

I woukd advise the OP to apply for IEC first otherwise it's a lot more money for PR and you may end up not liking Canada. It has happened before.

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

If I came on an IEC would I still have to do the English test and the skills test? Or are those solely for residency

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

The English test you would only need for residency; the skills test you would probably want to get to be able to get a job in your field, though it's not required for an IEC which is an open work permit.

Check out the requirement for the InterProvincial certification (or if you know which Province you are most likely going to work in, check that Province's certification program).

:)

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

Oh and one more thing, we have 2 dogs are we allowed to bring them on a work visa? Just thought that might seem like we're planning to come and stay for good and end up being declined

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

Yes, no problem at all.

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

I just noticed you said 'we'. One thing to note would be that if you do go down the IEC route your partner would either need to apply for an IEC or would not be able to work until you had obtained a skilled job and could apply for an open work permit for them. If using IEC your partner would initially need to enter as a visitor if they didn't have their own IEC work permit.

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

They would have to get their own though, look for K9.8.D form.

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

See post 16 :)

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

:o doh!

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

so to sum up, the best choice is for me to apply for an IEC and do a trade exam so I can apply for jobs in canada which covers me for 2 years. i get myself a job as a welder which would class me as skilled (i assume?) we do the big move and she applies for an open work permit allowing her to work in any job she manages to get in canada and if we decide to stay I go for PR. Can she apply for PR too if I get it or could she only apply for PR down the spousal route meaning we would need to get married. Not that that's a problem at all

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

You would apply for PR as the principal applicant and then include her. As you say you are not married you would need to prove you are common law i.e. have been living together in marriage like relationship. Altertivily as you state you could get married before the PR application and list her as your spouse.

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

Almost, except you say 'I get myself a job as a welder and we do the big move', but you'll be unlikely to get a job from outside Canada, so be prepared to move first and then job hunt whilst there (i.e. take enough cash to live off until you can find work and she can get her work permit and also find a job).

As Engineer has said, assuming you're in a common-law relationship (i.e having been living as husband and wife for a year or more and can prove it), then you would both get PR from the same application, she'd just be a dependent on your application.

I know you said above that you score enough on the CRS to get PR, so perhaps you could apply for PR as well as trying to get an IEC, and have both running alongside each other? That would be fine, and then that way if you miss out on the IEC visas for this year (as so few are left), at least you'd get PR and be able to move anyway.

Best of luck.

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

On the age thing, I have wanted to try Canada for years but didn't make the move as I wanted to gain more experience in engineering then I had something to offer. However in retrospect I now wish I'd just gone for it. If you can and want to then I think you should. But I've read enough on the boards to know that you should think temporary move which may end up permanent and not cut all UK ties. Plenty seem to feel Canada isn't for them and return home, I know when I try it I'll be keeping my UK house just in case.

Irvine Ship building in Nova Scotia was advertising in the UK for welders awhile back.

I think with the increase in oil price recently they're approaching the break even point for production in Alberta but it has been an extremely volatile rise and so I would be surprised if investment begins again for awhile. I'm watching Alberta's economy and unfortunately it doesn't look good.

I'd imagine if you're based in a manufacturing environment then the level of skill you'll have will be sufficient to get a job site welding on either an oil project or mining or other capital investment project.

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

Where do the Jobs come up? Worth going to international job fairs or do they tend to just advertise online?

I weld and fabricate parts for planes and space rockets so skills wise I don't see myself struggling to find atleast interviews

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

Neither! Have a read of the Job Hunting section of the Wiki to understand how different the hiring culture in Canada is, that will give you a good strategy.

Good luck.

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

There aren't very many space rocket and plane manufacturers in Canada. Since you're in the industry you can probably make a complete list; CAE, Bombardier and the arm people spring to mind. I'd try those firms first. If they say no try and get them to tell you which firms supply them, they'll be your second list.

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

I seen the jobs on this site:

https://workingin-events.com/events/...arch-2016/#s=1

I've been to both 'workingin' and 'CanadaLive' events twice. Don't bother, all you'll see at workingin are these jobs printed on paper, nobody to talk to about them. CanadaLive is similar, but worse. Both are terrible, I complained and got a refund.

From research and reading the Wiki, you really need to be in Canada to get a job unless you're super qualified and exactly what they want or you get an intra-company transfer. The Irving Shipbuilding one Irving Shipbuilding: Home was pretty unique as they were struggling for people so started looking in the UK... but by started looking I mean they just posted the job on workingin so you'd have to contact them.

The type of welding you do is similar to the level possessed by people in the organisation I'm currently contracted to. I'm sure you'd be able to turn your hand to any industry.

Good luck, keep us informed how you get on :)

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

I'll keep an eye on that page, been trawling the internet looking for places that specifically advertise for overseas but pretty hard to come by.

It would be much easier to get to Canada then find a job but the uncertainty scares me. We could save up hard for a while to cover while I'm over there but if I don't find anything after a few months it's back to square one and I'd have to find work when I got back. Unfortunately the gf doesn't make enough to sustain us both. I'll keep looking though, sending emails and waiting. There will be a time when there aren't enough welders anywhere, not just in Canada. I can see it happening already our firm are struggling to find people but that's probably down to the awful pay

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

Nobody is suggesting that you move out there for a few months, just a 2 week job hunting trip should do it, so not giving up your UK job etc. There's info in the Wiki about how to plan a trip to meet potential employers, that should help.

Good luck.

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

SeaSpan in North Vancouver has got another part of the ship building government contract that Irving is doing, and is supposed to be expanding its work force.

Be warned though .......... I understand that one part of those contracts is that Canadians (citizens and residents) should be hired first.

I don't know whether they would be willing to go through the process of proving there are not enough welders or whatever here in order to hire someone from overseas.

That's why it's easier to get jobs from inside Canada

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

Do you have an idea of where in Canada you want to go (sorry if you have said this and missed it)? The reasons I ask is that with an open work permit (via IEC)you could work anywhere so could get a job unrelated to your skills initially whilst you find something better. Locations is important as Vancouver and Toronto are more geared towards this due to the tourist market.

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

Somewhere out in the sticks! I'm not a city person or even a big town person really but ultimately it will be wherever there is plenty of good welding fabrication work. Good idea on getting any old job to start, even if I went to a city where it's easier to get any type of work and then I can move to wherever if I got a job offer.

I think I'm going to wait for a bit until work picks up then go on an open visa and will have a pretty sizable lump in savings

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

https://www.sitecproject.com/

This is rural, I'd imagine there must be plenty of site fabrication required.

Re: Too young to immigrate?
 

if the actually work goes ahead. I believe the province has only announced consultant level work at this stage and there is some huge opposition by NGO's to the Site C project.