Hi Ok, OH and I are now asking ourselves all of the big questions with a view to emigrating to Canada. OH mentioned Vancouver.

Wanted to ask a general q about Vancouver (and Canada in general) and wondered if anybody may be able to help? Any tips appreciated!

Wanted to know which areas of Canada are good places for anyone looking for job in the arts and in museums/heritage management? We are both professionals and seem to be in pretty good shape on the points front and all that (and willing to work at pretty much anything if need be) but it would be good to know of any areas that are particularly 'arts /heritage friendly' from a jobs and also a socialising front... any suggestions?! All pointers greatly appreciated and Thankyou in advance

Before worrying about where to live, you really first need to look at visas. You've mentioned the 'points front', but unless you've got experience in one of the 29 eligible occupations for Skilled Worker visas, this isn't relevant to you anyway.

The majority of people need a job offer to get a visa for Canada, so you may just have to go wherever you can find work and not get much of a choice in location. So figure out the visa side of things first, and then you can worry about where to live.

Thankyou That's very helpful. I shall check that out. I'd be interested in knowing which areas would be a better bet on the arts/heritage front as it would have some bearing on where we may want to look for employment (even if not at all related to our work fields over here in the UK , and that is most likely scenario anyway I know)and live. Any other info appreciated, thanks

Depends what you call 'arts and heritage' means many things to many people.

If you are looking for work not related to what you have experience in, that may be a significant barrier to immigration unless you are legible for Bunac.

Most people move to where the work is, then settle down, then move as experience and opportunity permits. If your occupation is on the list of 29 (with relevant experience) you don't need a job offer, otherwise you would in all likelihood require a job offer to be able to live and work in Canada.

My daughter is at UVic in Victoria and hopes to go to work in museum field eventually. Her attempts to get work over the summer in Vancouver may help you. She had four different places which had potential placements for summer students. These included the Police museum (Langley), West Vancouver archives, somewhere in Maple Ridge and I forget the last place. She didn't get any of them and ended up working in the Old Spagetti Factory (not really old enough to count as heritage!).

A search for museums in the major centres may help you get an answer to your question. Vancouver and Victoria would be the best bets in BC.

My daughter might well be interested in anything you find out!

Warmly,

Frank

The national museums are in the capital, Ottawa.

We have discussed the arts and culture scene in Vancouver on these boards quite recently and some posters have dismissed it as wanting. I don't think this is entirely fair as the comparison has been with London. A modern provincial city is never going to compare with an ancient capital city.

An example of the is the Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG)http://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/. This seems small and disappointing to someone used to visiting the great European capitals. It is probably only worth visiting to see some of the work of Emily Carr - probably BC's most famous artist in the European tradition - and the occasional touring show.

There is an ongoing discussion about how to use VAG's funding over the next few years. Does it go into the market and buy works from famous artists, or does it spend the money to acquire space to show its collection of Canadian and local painters? Apparently only 3% of the collection is on display. IMO the latter is the way to go and it should also create more jobs.

There are other museums in Vancouver, but it is not a great museum centre.
http://www.hellobc.com/en-CA/SightsA.../Vancouver.htm

There is a lot of interest in heritage and preserving evidence of the past since contact (when the white man arrived). This is only a history of 150 years and there is ongoing conflict between the desire to preserve and the needs of developers. These heritage sites are operated by local municipalities. E.g. Burnaby Village Museum http://www.burnabyvillagemuseum.ca/ or, near my home, the Stewart Farm http://www.surrey.ca/culture-recreation/2331.aspx.

Parks Canada operate two heritage sites/museums: the Gulf of Georgia Cannery http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/bc/georgia/index.aspx and Fort Langley http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/bc/langley/index.aspx

First Nations art and culture are an important part of the province. The major showcase is the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. http://www.moa.ubc.ca/. There are many commercial galleries selling modern pieces. Many First Nations have their own museums and cultural centres on their lands.

The Royal BC Museum in Victoria is pretty good. http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/MainSite/default.aspx

Overall I think this will be a difficult sector to find employment. There are a multitude of potential employers: the federal government, provincial government, various municipalities, universities, and (possibly) First Nations. All rely on some sort of public funding which is always being squeezed. There are not many votes in "culture". I think there are plenty of people who want to work in these institutions and consequently jobs are hard to find and not particularly well paid.

Networking is going to be even more important for you than most people. Through networking you might find out about jobs before they are advertised though recruitment in this sector tends to be more transparent than in business. More important you will find out about skills and experience needed so you can fine tune your resumes and interviews.

I don't think yours is an impossible task, but it might not be that easy. Good luck.