Hi,

Myself, wife and my son would like to move to Canada. I'm a fully qualified electrician from the UK, I'm 30 and the wife is 31. After really looking forward to applying for visas, then we have hit a brick wall. Every site says we don't meet the required criteria as I don't have a job offer. But it seem's to be impossible to get a job offer from Canada when I'm still in the UK.

Any help please

Check the red seals website (google it).

You are in for a nightmare if you wish to pursue this but it is possible.

Once you get the red seal certification it becomes a matter of getting a job, again another nightmare but again it is possible.

It's not impossible to get a job offer from the UK, many of our forum members have done - have a read of the Job Hunting section of the Wiki for info on how to go about it.

Best of luck.

thanks, I'll have a look now

Networking followed by more networking is the key, try joining LinkedIn

If you're 30 then you're eligible to apply for the working holiday visa when it opens up in a few weeks. It's called "International Experience Canada." You're wife won't be eligible because of her age. However, it is widely expected that the criteria for the 2013 IEC may be changed in respect of the age limit, which could move from 31 to 35. Here is the link for the IEC: http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca...ex.aspx?view=d

I am not sure whether you are able to bring your family with you on your IEC visa. Good luck!

There is no such thing as 'Red Seal certification'. All certifications are issued by the provincial training or safety authority. Some trades are Red Seal endorsed. Red Seal is administered collectively the provincial authorities. The OP would need to get in touch with the training authority in their province of choice.

We applied through Federal Skilled worker route 1 which is without a job!
My husband the main applicant is an electrician with 20+ years experience.

We arrived October 28th and it took 5 weeks for him to find a job.

He too tried contacting employers from the UK but they didn't want to know, even when we came on a recce trip in June he chatted to a few sparkies but they all said the same thing....we need you now not in October!!

He is starting college next week and doing the Interprovincal qualifyers course at BCIT, which will enable him to write the Red Seal exam later this year.

It is all possible......Good Luck

Husband also 'challenged the trade'

He did this through ITA BC (industry training authority)

He did this in the UK and it took about 8 weeks but he could then put it on his resume that he could legally work as sparky in BC whilst awaiting to write Red Seal!!

Apparently in BC electricians are not regulated.

More information here: http://www.workingincanada.gc.ca/rep...atedOccupation

http://safetyauthority.ca/licences-c...-bc/electrical
http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bcl..._2004#section4

We have also hit a brick wall - my husband is a spark in Manchester with 25 years experience and after waiting to apply for FSW (I was pregnant, we decided to wait 'til baby arrived so we didn't have to re-submit application) we were finally due to apply for FSW in July, the rest is history.

Now we're getting very frustrated/anxious with the long delays as my hubby is 42 (I'm 36) and we're concerned that the new FSW age-related regs will lower our points and mean we can't emigrate.

Canadian Dreams - I've just looked up the ITA BC site to see about challenging the trade. Did your hubby have to do the challenge within 12 months of his Red Seal? Trying to see how my hubby could do it. I'm very heartened by your story, particularly as you have also moved to BC which is where we are heading if it all works out. At the moment it's feeling like it may never happen but I'm cheered to see it worked for you guys and glad to hear your husband got a job relatively quickly. Any info you can offer would help us massively :-)

What does he score under the new points test? And why couldn't he apply under the Skilled Trades program instead?

The Skilled Trades program requires applicants to:

"have an offer of full-time employment for a total period of at least one year** or a certificate of qualification in that skilled trade issued by a provincial or territorial body".

Electrical certification is via Red Seal, which you still need to be a Canadian resident to challenge, therefore catch 22. And he doesn't have a job offer yet (not for the want of trying!)

I know he could go to Alberta and do the labour camp route but we're trying to avoid that if we can.

Also - re the new points test, as they haven't released the selection criteria for the new FSW programme yet we cannot find out our eligibility. The new points system on CIC website is for Skilled Trades, unless I'm mistaken..? I hope I am mistaken otherwise it says we don't qualify, and under the FSW previously we had 72 points!!