Mordko

The title “Professional Engineer” is legally protected in N America. Means you have to be certified in a given jurisdiction and you are breaking the law if you are offering services as one without a licence. “Engineer” is just a word.

domainnamesandwich

Good to know!

As mentioned - I don't personally see myself as an "Engineer". This has just been my title in the 5+ years experience I have in IT.

A much better suited title, would be systems administrator/server admin etc. But those have not been my titles and I can't exactly change them, nor can I change my NOC code definition, which is "Computer Engineer".

But I fully take on-board what people are saying - be careful with the title "Engineer" in NA.

domainnamesandwich

Unless I am mistaken, contracting work does not classify as "Canadian Experience" as you are technically self employed.

This would mean I couldn't apply for PR under EE CEC, which would be my goal is I wanted to remain in Canada after my IEC.

dbd33

Ah yes, you're correct, contracting doesn't count.

domainnamesandwich

Yeah sadly so, otherwise that could have been a good option for me! I did send you a PM FYI

I was also wondering what areas outside Toronto / Vancouver are good places to look into for IT work.

Also good news today - from next week the IEC is opening back up to vaccinate people in the pool. So some good news!

Mordko

Just to be clear: you are fine using ‘Computer Engineer’, ‘Software Engineer’, ‘Engineer’, etc. Its only the ‘Professional Engineer’ designation that requires caution. Sorry if I confused you.

dbd33

I saw your PM but, by the time I got to it, you'd published the essence of it here. I've worked in most of the States but hardly anywhere in Canada so I let others have a go at the idea that there are computers outside the GTA.

Siouxie

I understand that the Atlantic Provinces often have a lot of IT opportunities.

bryndog1950

Other tech cities in Canada include Ottawa, Kitchener/Waterloo, and Montreal.

domainnamesandwich

No that's absolutely fine! I have heard about this designation of the title "Engineer" in NA, so its good you've made sure I'm further aware of this. As I mentioned, I personally don't think of be myself as an "Engineer", but it's just been in every title I've had since starting in the industry.

Thanks very much for your input - it's duly noted to make sure I use the correct terminology.

domainnamesandwich

Awesome, thank you I will have a research of this.

domainnamesandwich

I'm assuming the lack of French ability would be an issue in Montreal?

bryndog1950

I don’t have any direct experience, but from what I’ve read, it is possible to live and work in English quite successfully in the IT field in Montreal. It’s also cheaper to live in Montreal than in Vancouver or Toronto.

dbd33

In a previous life I wrote a software product and sold it, with personal installation, all around the world. One client was in Montreal, in the aerospace business, the working language was English. That said, I think it would not work well to live in Montreal without speaking French, obviously people do it but they can't participate in the social life of the city.

I don't know that geography is important directly in terms of work, if you're supporting cloud based technology it'll be running in a datacenter in Montreal but will appear to be wherever you are. What matters, I think, in the circumstances, is finding a place where there's an on-site presence, you likely want to meet people, be headhunted, be engaged with the corporate culture. As long as you're using Teams all day you may as well be in Basingstoke.

I think you're looking for an old fashioned, non-virtual, organization in a fun place. K-W has plenty of old fashioned companies but, fun? Pull the other one. Ditto Ottawa. I don't know that there are computers in the Atlantic Provinces, if there's a cluster of computing firms, "Silicon Former Fishery" or whatever, that'd be better. Same with BC, you'll be poor but might be scenically poor.

domainnamesandwich

Yeah indeed. I mean there's no point moving to Canada to sit in a likely shared apartment working from home. Perhaps when settled and if I do want to make Canada my forever place.. but that's obviously some ways off.


Ultimately, the main focus though is securing that job as quickly as possible. I want to find the best that I can, with a great organisation and a Town/City that has things going on - but there’s also no point in coming to Canada if the opportunities aren’t there either, as that’s not good in any aspect.


That’s the balance that I’m trying to discover in terms of location. Obviously Toronto (like London - England London) is your obvious first thought. It’s the tech centre of Canada, it’s the biggest city, it’s got the most going on etc. But from my research and just from imagination, that also probably has draw-backs like silly housing costs and costs of living, cost of transport etc.
What would be great is if I could attempt to find Canada’s other smaller tech hubs. I guess you could say an equivalent would be “The M4 Corridor” or the Northern Powers. Still not packing the bunch of London, but exciting developments and an emerging city.


I do appreciate we’re talking about completely different geographical layouts here.