What hole? I have a job waiting for me in Manchester and I can't wait frankly. Sorry but Canada cannot compare to Britain in any way shape or form, in terms of history or culture. I was extremely happy in Britain and shall be again. I'm happy.

Fair enough no need to apologise, that's your opinion and you're entitled to it. It doesn't compare FOR YOU and YOUR LIFE.

Anyway, it's been fun chatting but I have to get some sleep as my job requires more than just posing the question "Would you like fries with that?"

How utterly droll.... and predictable....
Again, it proves you cannot make any criticism of Canada whatsoever without some cretin making cheap personal remarks.
For your information my job offer is 35k running the IT dept for an architects office and my present job, poorly paid it may be is somewhat more high brow than fast food. Sorry to dissapoint.

Absolutely, and if you're happy hanging about a load of slackjawed hicks for the rest of your life, good luck to you!

That's sort of true but I think the Pacific Rim ecomony is a factor, especially in IT. A good friend of mine in Vancouver develops software and has just one BC-based employee, the rest are in Taiwan and China. They cost him about half the money for equal or better skills and have the benefit of being able to help develop products for not just Western, but SE Asian markets. This is not uncommon in Vancouver (and somewhat Victoria) BC.

[QUOTE=Yasmina2005]Why have skilled worker immigrant category in the 1st place. Why make people immigrate.QUOTE]

Exactly who makes them immigrate ? Their own dreams, their buy-in to slick immigration consultants selling them dreams-in-a-PR-visa ? Do they undertake research and find out that they can't just sell up and drop their 'old' UK life down in Canada and have a hell of a fine time of it ? No-one makes 'em.

Some people want an easy life, some are greedy and see $ signs when they look at 'cheap' property prices, but they think little of the long term implications. I would bet that very few actually think what they want to offer Canada. Many (and many of those that fail in the PR application) will be greed-driven dreamers who you know just won't last the course. Off home, when the money starts to dry up.

Dreamers they are, Yoda listen to they should. Not shiny-suited snake oil salesmen.

Rich.

Is Calgary really like Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi ? Urk, guess I missed the swamps and gators when we were there last

Looked more like Texas to me with those cowboy boots and hats, all those good 'ol Texan boy oil barons wheeling and dealing and fine-dining on expense accounts in Hy's (??) steakhouse. Great fun having one's conversation overshadowed by bawling loudmouths berating the poor Quebecois waiter (who was very polite, helpful and conversational with us) for not having a bottle of a specific Portugese red, of which they would probably have absolutely no appreciation for anyway, oh and choking on the smoke from a foot-long ceegar. Subtle, they don't do.

Rich

Its what you make it!

Think crap = makes it crap
Look crap = it will be crap
Think positive = is good
Think negative - is crap



Life is played out 90% in the mind and 10% on the street.
That's why the power of positive thinking is so influential.
Think + live longer be healthier wealthier happier more friends beter relationship.
Think - have crap life live shorter be ill poor unhappy lonely.
Make it what you want it to be.
Live for today and for tomorrow or regret yesterday.

Rich.

Hang on...you're saying that you have a job waiting for you in Manchester 8 MONTHS in advance??? What? What kind of company agrees to hire someone that far in advance? And what requires 8 more months in a country you can't stand to be in? You can sell a house/car/assets etc. a heck of a lot sooner than that.

Maybe your problenm with getting a job might have something to do with attitude!

I can see seacreature's problem as I have lived it. I left a $60K US job as a system admin to come up here and met the same total lack of jobs and disinterest in my credentials. Yes, they don't like US degrees and experience any more than UK although they could easily check out your references via the phone. Heck, most of the companies here do business with the US daily! It is very frustrating to be made to feel that all your years of experience and education are worthless just because you crossed the border going north.

I never was willing to accept defeat and take an $8/hour crap job though, instead I decided to make my own job and be self employed. It took a bit over 3 years to get to the point where I was making decent money, but now I have been able to buy a house and things seem to be going well. Next week I even get to take my citizenship oath and become a dual US/CAN citizen. It took a long time, but I did it on my own and I have the satisfaction of choosing my own hours and being my own boss.

I would never say that Canada has no culture, but I came up from Alabama so just about anything seems better than there. :-) While I came under the skilled worker program, I moved up here because my fiance (now husband) lives here so I did have more incentive to stay than some. Yes, the violence in the streets seems to be increasing but consider that the city I moved from had a rate of 13 murders per 100,000 people per year and Toronto only has a rate of 1.8 murders per 100,000! Drive-by shootings into people's houses was almost a nightly occurrence there and I had the pleasure of having both my house and my car being broken into. I actually feel safer here.

To quote my old Gran (bless her) - "absolute cod's wallop"

I suggest prsopective immigrants ignore all the above comments. I'm in Ontario, High Tech, no A's, Only 1 degree (to my shame) and am doing very nicely thankyou. The company I work for is constantly hiring (and not firing) and although other companies like Nortel have had lay-offs in the past, things are starting to change. Ottwawa is based on High-Tech, drive around the city and take a look at the properties, cars etc, etc. I personally have never seen the "Canadian Experience requirement" since I've been here and have hired several people myself - mainly immigrants. Word of advice to hi-tech people, Canadian grads are told to over sell themselves on their resumes, you have to compete with this but keep it true, if you are telecom, make sure you put other experience in too to make you look like you have a broader experience base. Seacreature has obviously had a bad time of it here for whatever reason - and consequently opinions are jaded.

I'd be interested to know what A+ is.

It is a certification that you get by taking a test that proves you know how to repair and troubleshoot PCs.
http://www.a-plus-certification-training-hott.com/