Re: UK to Canadian Electricians the Transformation Registration
 

:thumbsup:
Any good web sites for tools/work clothing. destination Vancouver chaz

Re: UK to Canadian Electricians the Transformation Registration
 

First my background is industrial maintenance in factories, confident with PLC's and drives etc. and a good all round knowledge in maintenance and some construction experience, including project management and supervision.

I had applied for skilled worker and received my AOR in Jan 05. I have a wife and 2 boys.

Ok, please realise that this was in 05, policies on how foreign tradesmen are handled might have changed, plus this is for Manitoba- all provinces vary.

I emailed 150 employers in Winnipeg, anyone that sounded like they employed Electricians.
My email (with attached resume) requested a meeting with the employer during the time of my planned recce trip and the possibilities of work via the Provincial Nominee program.
Of the 150 emails, 3 were positive replies in that they were willing to meet up.

During my recce trip (Feb 05):
I was able to meet with the Manitoba apprentice branch with all my qualifications and proof of experience prepared in advance. I then received a letter of intent from them that I could show employers, stating that I was eligible to challenge the exam for Electrician and in the meantime work as a helper. I then had the 3 meetings with employers:

Meeting 1: with a construction and industrial controls firm, they forgot my interview and kept me waiting only to postpone, I saw the guy 2 days later, and it was short and to the point in that he was looking for computer programmers and did not need to hire outside of Canada for trades.

Meeting 2: with a truck, generator dealership, looking for an electrical/ electronics specialist- very positive interview but on my return to UK, they told me that there company was being put up for sale and they weren't hiring.

Meeting 3: A building controls company that were very interested in hiring me but more as a technician and not an electrician. This eventually became my employer- read on!

All the employers I met had no idea of how foreigners can work in Canada- assuming it must be easy for an Englishman as we are part of the commonwealth- how wrong!
In the 2 meetings that were positive, I went to great lengths to coach them through the hiring process, giving up on PNP as it sounded far too complicated and concentrating on how they could hire me on a work permit.

So, on my return to UK from a 2 week recce trip, I kept the correspondence going for the one interested company. They verbally expressed an interest in me and we played email tennis for the next 3 months while they were going through the HRDC process, it was a very fragile time where I was fully expectant for them to lose interest in the whole process, they had to jump through a few hoops to get the acceptance from HRDC including formally advertising for my position in the press and I later found out, heavily exaggerate my skills in a particular electrical speciality! This is where the company first needs to apply to the HRDC to ask to employ a foreigner for a job that they have not been able to fill by a Canadian.

The final stage was a formal job offer- remember, I am an Electrician, my job offer was for a Senior Technical Specialist and the rate was $39,500 pa.

I accepted, although fully aware that the rate was a long way off Electrician wages, but I was in no haggling position- bear in mind, this is an opportunity to get to Canada now and not wait the ridiculous time for Skilled Worker- also there was always talk of the pass mark being raised.

The final stage after accepting the offer, was to wait for the HRDC to approve it- sometime in May 05, the employer contacted me with the monumental news that it had gone through and the work permit was available- when can I start, there was still a lot of loose ends to tie up in UK so I agreed on August 1st start date!!!

To be continued......

Re: UK to Canadian Electricians the Transformation Registration
 

Darren

Its all about how much you want it, we made many sacrifices in order to get this far. We did it for the future of our children, as we saw no real future in the UK.
First time around in Ontario we were let down by an employer in 2002 and ended up living off our savings for seven months whilst I knocked on doors looking for employment. 200 plus resumes and nothing back we ended up back in the UK. For a year or so we turned our back on Canada, but the dream resurfaced in 2005 and we have been here now since August 2006. This time well grounded and ready for what may confront us.

Thomas

Looking forward to your next post

Re: UK to Canadian Electricians the Transformation Registration
 

.....Continued

So now my family and I are about to embark on the biggest gamble of our life, but also our dream.
The house was not sold, the housing market was starting to peak in my area, I was leaving with no where fixed to stay - selling everything I owned and we left the UK on July 22 with 8 suitcases and a dog!

Note from Part 1 that I am an Electrician and I accepted a job as a Technician, the only way I could work in my trade (indirectly). In the UK, this would normally be a promotion, but in Canada it is not the case, a Tech here is a geek who has attended a 2 year course and will usually commission the software and controls equipment that the Electricians have wired, they have a lot of responsibility and I now have a whole lot ot of respect for them, but pity also, I was on $19 an hour when the electrician at the time was earning $28.65.

At the time, I was sure that I was on a junior wage, but it turns out that I was on above average salary and I would never be anywhere near the rate of a Journeyman Electrician. I have sinced realised that rates here are driven by unions, Techs are few in numbers and do not have the strength of collective bargaining, also, a lot of them tend to be younger and more naive- give them a laptop and make them feel important!!
So I embarked on my new career as a Tech, whilst fully intending to get my Journeyman ticket so I could earn a decent wage....but, this was my fastrack way into Canada.

So my first job was programming a Siemens industrial PLC for a special project that the firm had embarked on, that was not in their field of expertise, but a new avenue for the company to explore.
I was very much out of my comfort zone as I never claimed to be a designer or programmer (they assumed I was clever cos of my accent!!). I was very dissillusioned knowing that the same role in the UK and probably most places in Canada would be VERY well paid. But being on a work permit, I could not protest or leave, I just had to 'wing it'!!
I managed to 'survive' this project, a most stressful period.
This project ended and I was then able to work alongside the technicians and electricians back in there primary business of Building Controls. Also gaining Canadian practical experience- the methods are so different from UK.

The pressure was off slightly now and I was able to concentrate on getting my Journeyman ticket.
I was recognised as an Industrial Electrician by the Manitoba Apprenticeship branch. There are more Construction Electricians than Industrial Electricians here in Winnipeg, so the study resource for Industrial, I found to be very vague- what do I study? There were 5 text books recommended, 2 of which were unobtainable? I briefly looked through them in preparation for my exam sitting, semi confident that my experience would get me through- after all it is multiple choice!

I failed- I got 63% with a pass mark of 70%. This had a demoralizing effect as a lot of the questions that came up were not in the books and were hard to research- on top of this, money was tight at home on $19 ph and every month we were dipping into our savings.
Positives that kept us going at this time were that the house in UK had sold and we had a lovely home here now. Shortly after this, our Permanent Residence came through, ending my work permit status- I was fastracked by proving adaptability.

So for the retake about 6 weeks later, I immersed myself in study every evening, locked away from my family- we felt our survival depended on this exam.
I passed! A result as eagerly received as landing in Canada in the first place.

I then met with my employer and asked to move over to the Electricians from being a Tech. They were not happy by this but agreed as I compromised to work on 4th Level Apprentice rate ($23.80) for 3 months, acknowledging my Canadian 'inexperience'.

Although I sensed stigma by some of my co workers as I had an Industrial, not a Construction ticket , some even said I should not be working in Construction (luckily this was cleared by the apprentice branch plus my firm was non union) I was able to gain valuable Canadian Experience in construction.
...And that was my first year in Canada.

I have since moved on and I am now working for the Royal Canadian Mint, not in construction any more but back in Industrial Maintenance, this was a fantastic opportunity with both security and stability, now the roles have reversed in that most of the manufacturing equipment here is European and I am very much at ease- again!!

To summarise, I owe my whole future in Canada to the one firm that hired me on a work permit. I gave them a full year but have moved onto better things. I honestly feel the president of the small company who hired me in 05 was morally, a fantastic guy, he gave me a break and I am sure it helped his ego and image by hiring an Englishman! He was also a very good businessman and exploited my situation accordingly. I paid my dues.

We had a hell of a lot of luck, we jumped the hurdles and I think in our case....our new life in Canada- was meant to be.

Thanks for listening!
Darren

Re: UK to Canadian Electricians the Transformation Registration
 

:D
Hi Darren nice story but i only wanted to know if there's Any good web sites for electrician's tools and work clothing. destination Vancouver chaz

Re: UK to Canadian Electricians the Transformation Registration
 

A quick search on google brought the answers back
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=...cr%3DcountryCA



By the way darren great story, got OH to read it this morning :thumbsup:

Gill :wub:

Re: UK to Canadian Electricians the Transformation Registration
 

:thumbsup:
Thanks for that Gill chaz

Re: UK to Canadian Electricians the Transformation Registration
 

I brought my own tools, in one of my 8 suitcases. Air Canada give you a 32kg allowance per case.

For tools search Canadian sites Klein, Greenlee or Home Depot.

For workclothing search ToughDuck, Dickies and Carharts

For macho truck, search Dodge.

Darren

Re: UK to Canadian Electricians the Transformation Registration
 

:thumbsup:
Thanks Darren chaz

Re: UK to Canadian Electricians the Transformation Registration
 

Hi

You can add me to that list, leaving UK for Toronto mid March.

Hope to get established as Construction Electrician but I can see that It will probably be a struggle.

However, If you dont try!!

Gary;)

Re: UK to Canadian Electricians the Transformation Registration
 

Help I need at present is to do with the RESUME that I will need to type up.

From what I have read on the Wiki, my current CV will not be much different that that of the Resume. I suppose I'll need to change words into Canadian terminology, raceway's etc.

Can anyone give pointers on what it should be laid out like. I have been in my current job for nearly seven years now as a spark and have about nine others on my CV. The joy's of Contracting.

Do you think a potential employer in Canada would recognize my current CV enough to give them an idea of my experience.

Gary

Re: UK to Canadian Electricians the Transformation Registration
 

Hi PM me your email address, I will send you a copy of my resume, which you could compare the template. For what its worth, send me yours and I can give you some input, hopefully others on this group can volunteer the same, especially any construction electricians.

Darren

Re: UK to Canadian Electricians the Transformation Registration
 

Darren

I've sent you an e-mail, let me know if you didn't receive it.

Gary

Re: UK to Canadian Electricians the Transformation Registration
 

I would recommend that you send resume with a cover letter explaining your intentions on seeking work in Canada. Also the terminology is a little different for example:
Conduit, Tube is Pipe
Gutter, Splitter is Trunking
Cord is Flex
Flex is Flexible Conduit
etc,etc
I had my CV professionally altered to Canadian style, to be honest it looked terrible and unorganized. Best stick to the UK format, but change the terminology to make it easier to understand.

Re: UK to Canadian Electricians the Transformation Registration
 

Hi

Only just joined BE so this is all new to me. Please add me to your list - I need all the help I can get!

I am skilled industrial electrician of 30 years and have applied for PR under Skilled Worker, AOR Oct 07 and hope to settle in Alberta, but would like to get to Canada quicker than the 3/4 year wait so seeking employment. Could someone please tell me, who do I contact first to arrange to sit the trade exams and what is the procedure - just don't know where to begin?
:confused:

Paul