Tableland

Ignoring an applicant after an unsuccessful interview is something that can be enjoyed only in a place with relatively high unemployment. Alberta has a pretty high unemployment rate of 4.8%, which although lower than Canada's 7.4% (or 6.8% according to CIA world factbook) national unemployment rate is still quite high. In this kind of environment employers can behave as rudely as they like and pass it off as a cultural norm. But the Alberta rate of unemployment is forecast to fall to 4.1% by 2007, so maybe then when there are fewer applicants on the market they might start treating them with some respect. But then again, keeping people uninformed for long periods of time seems to be the Mode A La Canadienne, if their immigration system and employment etiquette are anything to go by.

In terms of context alongside the Canadian national unemployment rate of 7.4% (information from Alberta Government website), the United States national unemployment rate is 5.1%, Australia's is 5.1% and the UK's is 4.7% (information from CIA world factbook, which places Canadian unemployment at 6.8%, so whether you go with this or the 7.4% depends on whether you believe the US or Canadian government more).

Ruby Murray

I'm sorry, but there isn't a high unemployment rate where I am......yes, a lot of the vacancies on show are predominantly retail, hotel and food service industries, but I can assure you, there are still many, many more employers of different trades crying out for workers here

or4ngecrush

Just wanted to ask is $10 and hour decent wages or not? Can you make a reasonable living on them?

Butch Cassidy

Its twice the minimum rate In Alberta (I believe) but less than half the average household income (also) in Alberta

Judy in Calgary

For rough calculation purposes, you can double the hourly wage and multiply it by 10,000 to calculate your annual earnings if you were working at a given rate full-time. So $10/hour would translate roughly into $20,000/year.

If a couple were earning $40,000 between them, they’d be able to afford the basics – an apartment, food, utilities, basic clothing.

They’d be hard pressed to run a car on those kinds of wages. Overseas trips would be out of the question. Even luxuries like movies would be few and far between.

Several people whom I know who earn those kinds of wages have two jobs. The cashier at the cafeteria in my downtown office works in the cafeteria from 5.00 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. She then looks after a special needs child till 7.00 p.m.

The people around me who seem to do well financially are:

Government employees, while they typically earn less money than their counterparts in private industry, typically receive very good benefits (better than average vacation leave and all kinds of insurance – medical, dental, life, disability). But not all government jobs are available to non-citizens, and besides that there is a queue of people waiting to get government jobs, which tend to be sought after. For example, if you want to be a teacher in Calgary, you usually have to get a job as a supply teacher to start with, and then you gradually work your way up the ladder to a full-time position.

The benefits that government employees receive brings me to another point. A permanent, full-time position with benefits counts for a lot in private industry too. The rule of thumb is that having a job with benefits is equivalent to earning 27% more than your salary. So, if you have a job that nominally pays $20,000/year, but if that job comes with benefits, it’s effectively worth $25,400/year. The problem is that many jobs that pay $10/hour are hourly jobs with no benefits.

The cost of living does vary from one part of Canada to another. Perhaps $10/hour would be an okay income in some places. In Calgary it would cover the basics, but it would cover little in the way of luxuries.

Ruby Murray

It's not a fantastic hourly rate, but definitely better than earning less than $8.10 in a store. As my OH is a fully skilled Aircraft Painter, he earns a decent enough wage for us to live off and what I earned just added to that amount. As an office temp, I'm on $12 an hour which is much better. We've managed, and each own a vehicle, enjoy a drink some evenings and have just splashed out on a 50" telly (not my idea, the OH wanted it for the World Cup )

or4ngecrush

Well it's just that I know childcare is poorly paid, but it is poorly paid here too but I dont earn enough to live on in Edinburgh. I am getting £12,000 a year (which just covers my mortgage, don't even mention the bills) but I have seen childcare jobs in Halifax for $10 and hour and wasn't sure where I would be better off in my field of work.

jandro

Living on $10/hr in a large Canadian city living on your own would be very difficult. It would only cover the basics and you would probably be living paycheck to paycheck.

Tableland

It is hard to get reliable figures from the Canadian authorities, as they currently are quoting 3.9%, 4%, 4.2% and 4.8% for the unemployment rate in Alberta for 2005.

These rates are pretty much the lowest in Canada, but are entirely dependent on US trade, and dropped to these levels only when the US/Canada border was reopened for cattle trade. Either way, there are about 71,700 officially unemployed people in Alberta.

Specifically, the unemployment rate for the eight main regions of Alberta range quite a lot, from 3.1% in Athabasca-Grande, to 4.5% in Edmonton. For context, Red Deer is 3.3% and Calgary is 3.9%. Youth unemployment for the province is 7.3%, another good rate in a national context.

These are good "local" rates, but I was trying to explain the general rudeness and lack of courtesy in Canadian professional culture by attributing it to the high unemployment. As this rudeness and cold attitude has been reported from all over Canada, it was necessary to look at the national rates, which are just under 7%. Of course, linking Canada's high unemployment to the lack of courtesy in interview etiquette was only a theory. As mentioned in my previous post, the Canadian immigration system has the same culture at a time when Canada badly needs more people, so on reflection I would attribute the lack of interest and rudeness to something deeper than mere unemployment statistics.

I have considered that the problem is to do with the poor annual leave in Canada. My logic is that because you only get 10 days off a year in Canada, and because it takes so long to work up to 15 days off, people are reluctant to change jobs because they don't want to work for a decade to get 15 days off a year, and then get busted back down to 10. Although it is possible to negotiate 15 days off at the start of the new job, it is not the standard practice, and for this reason the working environment could become stagnant and inflexible with people staying on in job they don't really want just so they don't lose 25% or 50% of their annual leave at a stroke.

However, All the Canadians I have ever met have always been really friendly, but having said that they were all either family or in service roles (restaurants, etc.) so it's hard to say. My professional dealings with Canadians are limited, but I must say generally they are friendly, if a little distant. Either way, I don't think I'd be too happy putting up with being ignored after interviews, etc.

Anyway, with the US and Australia unemployent rates at 5.1%, the United Kingdom at 4.7% and New Zealand at 4%, the Canadian rate of 6.8% is the highest unemployment rate in the English-speaking world.

Ruby Murray

Just an update on my job situ.......turned up (on spec) at Westridge Cabinets here in Red Deer, filled out an application, had interview, shown around the workshop, "when can you start?"....."Tomorrow? Great!".....shake hands, job sorted!!


So that's all my B.E. time out the window from now on.....I'll never get my reputation stars up now

Piff Poff

I beleve the minimum wage in Alberta is $7.25 per hour. I also know that most places (here in Red Deer) pay over that - maybe not much but they do as there just aren't the people for the jobs! As an example (and I belive this is just the start) KFC is closing at 7:30pm 3 nights a week due to staff shortages. My hubbies work advertised for a Service Writer - Ford Dealership(fairly well paid job - not service industry as such), not a single applicant. Where I work - they don't even bother putting an add in the paper as it costs too much for no return, if someonw walks through the door with a resume - they get interviewed than and there and I've not seen one not get the job so far and thats crappy pay - they move on pretty quick though for better pay.

or4ngecrush

Well just another comment my friend who lives in Nova Scotia tells me it's more expensive the futher west you go in Canada i.e. big cities, cost of living etc... and if you get $10 per hour you probably would be able to afford a comfortable living if you lived further east i.e. Nova Scotia Does anyone agree/disagree?

Tableland

Partly I agree. The further west you go gets more expensive all round, but the wages generally rise in relation to this. You can buy property in NS for what (to us) looks like joke money, but there are reasons for this. Firstly, half the year your house will be underneath a snowdrift, and also there are limited job opportunities in the east and relatively lower wages.

In the west, there are more jobs and better pay, but frankly many house prices are (like Australia) approaching UK levels. I mean by this that the prices are the same, so the mortgage is the same. However, you do get a bit more property for your money (for now, at least). But although you might get an extra bedroom and a bigger garden for your money, you still have to pay back the same amount of cash to a bank every month.

The familiar line "I bought my house outright and now don't have a mortgage" is all well and good, but this only illustrates that a British person selling a house in the UK can have a skip a few years' mortgage payments in Canada. For a real understanding of life in Canada, as a Canadian, imagine going there with $$$ of debt like the average college graduate from Ontario, etc.

If I were going to live in Canada my location would depend on my job, and I would co-ordinate the highest paid job with the lowest cost of living area as best as I could. The problem for me remains one of quantity of jobs. These talkboards are replete with sorry tales of "I can't get work" and "my hubby's been looking for a job for months" and "they won't even look at my CV" and so on. Seriously, Canada seems an unnecessarily tough place for immigrants, especially ones who have patiently waited nearly half a decade to get there.

or4ngecrush

Maybe if it would help if I told you that here I'm earning about just slightly over £6 per hour here, with no option in my career to ever move up the company, I'm in a dead end job. I live in one of the most expensive places in Scotland. I live in a tiny one bedroom flat (which is actually worth £95,000, to some people that doesnt seem loads but for me I just have enough disposable income after I have paid the mortgage, bills etc..) with my partner we will never ever in the next few years be able to buy a house, which means for me no kids. I've been living in a one bedroom flat for 8 years now (which I detest) and still can't upgrade to anything bigger than a shoebox. My partner works in retail so for him it's relatively low wages too.

I know my wages would be low in Canada and I will probably be having the same amount of despoable income in Canada as I would here but for me it's the whole point of getting more for your money. Does that make sense?

Open to any sugestions good/or bad I appreciate all comments need a drink now he he

or4ngecrush

Well I come from Scotland were the weather isn't snow but it isn't great either. If you also are in a country where it snows at the winter time, people seem to carry on like normal as in Scotland if we get vast amounts of snow the country stops because we are not used to it as must. Get ma drift? haha


My current wages situation doesnt reflect how much we have to spend in Edinburgh to live a normal life, Unless I was a lawyer or something, (hmm maybe I should have listened to my schools career advisor)



Maybe if it would help if I told you that here I'm earning about just slightly over £6 per hour here, with no option in my career to ever move up the company, I'm in a dead end job. I live in one of the most expensive places in Scotland. I live in a tiny one bedroom flat (which is actually worth £95,000, to some people that doesnt seem loads but for me I just have enough disposable income after I have paid the mortgage, bills etc..) with my partner we will never ever in the next few years be able to buy a house, which means for me no kids. I've been living in a one bedroom flat for 8 years now (which I detest) and still can't upgrade to anything bigger than a shoebox. My partner works in retail so for him it's relatively low wages too.[/QUOTE]

I know my wages would be low in Canada and I will probably be having the same amount of despoable income in Canada as I would here but for me it's the whole point of getting more for your money. Does that make sense?


I do appreciate your comments.


Open to any sugestions good/or bad I appreciate all comments need a drink now he he