Alan2005

You've rumbled us. We just tell you that it's not as easy as it sounds for the lulz.

Seriously, though, if we were being honest with you we'd tell you to get an opinion from an agent who will only get your cash if they tell you how great it is. Now obviously, the more you spend the better and as £6500 really expensive, their opinion must be super factual.

christmasoompa

Do I win a prize?! Clearly 3 years working in immigration and being a mod on this forum (having seen numerous threads from trades who have been let go) have made me somewhat cynical.

Although I do hope that amount is a typo, given its more than twice what other consultants charge.

Former Lancastrian

Now according to this article there are currently about 55,000 unfilled private sector jobs just in Alberta.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/stor...-shortage.html

Im betting most provinces have job vacancies but why arent these jobs being filled is the question to ask.
Are these jobs full time or part time?
Where are they located?
Why are numerous LMOs being refused by HRSDC?
Why wont Canadians do these jobs?
There is no simple answer but yes jobs are available and consultants and others will continue to say we have a labour shortage and need foreign workers.

JonboyE

I think there has been a lot of honest advice in this thread. But, don't forget how huge Canada is. For most things it is meaningless to talk of a Canadian economy or a Canadian job market because the availability of jobs in, say, Alberta has very little relationship to the availability of jobs in Nova Scotia. Even within a single province there can be marked differences.

I am in the Lower Mainland of BC and the majority of my clients are speciality contractors and subtrades. Things here are OKish. The good people get work. They still find that the lack of skilled workers is a contrstaint on their growth. The less good contractors are struggling. Overall probably a third are at or near capacity, a third getting by and and third likely to go out of business in the next year or two.

In nothern BC they are literally crying out for skilled trades like Carpenters. They are actively recruiting overseas to fill these vacancies. I think there is opportunity for the future people are comming up for retirement and there is not a generation of trades to replace them. I think there will be a lot of businesses for sale quite cheaply as 50 and 60 year olds suddenly realize they should have started their succession plan 20 years ago.

That said, the north is not for everyone. It is remote, the climate is harsh, and it is much more of a frontier land than the inhabited parts of Canada.

I wish you had not paid so much money to your agent. She is right that there is plenty of work for trades in Canada. However, she was misleading in missing out "some parts of" before Canada. It is not true of the country as a whole. If you are prepared to follow the work why not explore your options further and good luck to you.

Alan2005

The upcoming HST transition isn't helping. There was a puff piece on the news about how waiting for the PST might be a false economy and that you shouldn't wait. It was clearly a press release from some contractors organization and they didn't give any numbers.

And doctors too. Problem is anything requiring certification can have a massive disconnect between what Canada says it 'needs' and what it is willing to do to get those people.

£6500 is a crazy amount. Far too much.

And in the OP's situation: Family of 7 + pets + no equity. That's a lot of money in set up costs and a lot of kids who'll hardly ever see their grandparents. I wouldn't up and move to some frozen northern hell-hole full of drug dealers and drunk natives in their position.

JonboyE

Anyome who is registered should be buying any capital assets they are likely to need in the future before March 31, 2012. They will all go up 7% afterwards.


Agreed. No doubt it can be done, but it is going to be hard at best and very risky.

dbd33

A chance missed, I fear.

JonboyE

OK, 2013 then.

Shard

Official statistics are always a risky thing to rely upon. 400,000 plus job vacancies in the UK and 2.7MN unemployed. Go figure.

Atlantic Xpat

The thought that members here spend all their time on the internet merely to quash the dreams of the unwary is as foolish as spending GBP6500 on a snake oil doctor immigration agent who promises the moon.

There is trades work to be found in areas of Canada where there is demand. Given the pace of home construction in St. John's for example, I imagine a carpenter could get work here. Whether that work would fund a family of 7 immigrating is another matter. But as with all things related to Canada, the generalisation that "Canada is crying out for trades" is largely wrong. Moving, or attempting to move to an area where that crying out is not happening will only end in disappointment and financial hardship. If a bunch of people on the internet can help prevent that happen, well thats a good thing isn't it?

rivingtonpike

AS has already been noted - Canada is a big place. What happens in Nova Scotia has little bearing on the day to day economy on Vancouver Island. Speaking from my personal experience, having spent the last 18 months setting up and equiping a small factory, I have had many dealings with "the trades". The general consensus is that there isn't really enough work to go around. Many jobs here are picked up by personal recommendation.Your reputation seems to grow with time, assuming the quality of your work is good and your prices competitive. One or two of the contractors we used 18 months ago have left the business though lack of work (I personally think their unreliability will have played a part in their lack of success too). The good ones seem to be doing OK and they have no doubt picked up more work on the back of recommendations I have made to other people I know based on the work they have done for me.

The bottom line is that being good at what you do as a trade isn't necessarily enough. You have to build a network of contacts; there has to be the work there in the first place; you also have to understand the "culture" of where you settle (may well be harder than one might imagine).

All this is not to say it isn't possible to move, settle and be successful. I would just question whether it would be financially sensible with a large family, little or no equity and few savings. Our own experience was that it was a very expensive exercise. From our perspective it was more than worth it and we haven't really looked back; but all I would say is do your sums and research before spending any more money. Paying £6,500 to a "Consultant" seems frankly crazy to me!

jossie

There is a hint of truth in what the agent said although I don't expect many will agree on this site. In my opinion I wouldn't use an agent for anything you can do yourself and if you decide to proceed you far better use the money towards the move. Again in my opinion there are lots of jobs in the trades in Canada. I have attended meetings with the local government trying to address the labour shortage and the bottom line is that they are relying heavily on immigration to address the labour shortage in all sectors, especially trades. I manage a long term care facility and it is a constant struggle to fulfill staffing requirements so much so that I rely on immigrant workers. My husband is in management in the manufacturing/engineering sector and is currently organising LMOs to fulfill the staffing shortages of skilled workers at the corporation where he works. Our friends who are in the trades have always been able to pick and choose jobs. Of the many Brits I have met since moving out they are all gainfully employed and with a good british work ethic it isn't difficult to progress in your career.

huddm

I had problems hiring for engineers for training roles in the UK. It will have taken a year to fill of the post we have. Why? Highly skilled professionals are still in demand in the UK. Unskilled workers tend to struggle to find work. Many top UK companies have hundreds of professional vacancies on the books in the UK.

A few weeks ago I was on a course and was noted that the UK is producing 1 new engineer for 15 roles available today. Both of my sons are going to do engineering based degrees, so have good job prospects.

From my own experience in moving to Canada, I would not rely on a immigration consultant again( only spent few hundred pounds). I was told that I should make similar monies to my UK income in 1997. My UK income then was £45K and told to expect $70- $80K living in Calgary. I ended up on $40K( no Canadian experience/network). We used most of our saving to cover our shortfall in income for 2 years.

You also need a lot of assets for a family to move overseas. It cost us £30K to repatriate back to the UK, so I bet you could spend similar amount moving to Canada again.

Hudd

Shard

Hudd, did you just stay two years, then pack it in because of the wage mismatch. I would have thought there would be high demand for engineers in Calgary, especially once you had spent a year there?

Why did repatriation cost so much?

Steve_

I don't agree on this point, it is easier to find work in Alberta than the UK at the moment (especially in construction) and the cost of living in Alberta is lower than the UK. Had this discussion here many times before, taxes here are way lower than in the UK, the only thing that really costs significantly more is dental care, prescriptions and car insurance for the average person (and maybe TV because if you use "freeview" in the UK you get more channels than OTA here, but if you're using cable or satellite, not much difference). I can think of various people I know in the UK who are scratching around for a decent job at the moment and they'd have no problem finding one if they lived in Alberta. If you're talking about Canada generally then yes I am more inclined to agree with you.

The OP has lots of kids which means they need to look for an employer who has a decent group healthcare plan.

I did pick up on the comment about soccer. Soccer is sort of a kid's sport in Canada, definitely nowhere near as popular as the UK.