HELLo All
I am new to this so any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Is there any expat plumbers in the forum currently working in Canada?if so, what is the situation with work over there.
Does anyone know the process required and what is involved with getting registered in Canada. Was thinking of going to BC.
Cheers

Hi Daniel

Welcome to BE. First thing to do - take a look at the Wiki in the blue bar at the top of the page - this should answer a lot of your initial questions.

Lucky for you Plumbers are on the new list of occupations eligible to apply under the Federal Skilled Worker Program. Take a look at www.cic.gc.ca to double check that you tick all the boxes to apply. You will also find lots of info here on how to go about applying.

Anymore questions - ask away!

Hey Daniel, I am a plumber from Calgary who is on a 2 year visa living with my gf near Leeds. I am currently in the process of having my qualifications assessed by NARIC then I need a CSCS card. But, having met a few British tradespeople living in Canada, they have always said they simply had to take an equivalency test, which is really easy. But, depending on your situation you could try for a BUNAC visa and then see if you like it there and during that time, you can possibly have an employer sponsor you.

Hi Dan
Welcome to the forum & all the best with your future visa plans

My OH is a plumber and we have applied for PR through his trade. Look up redseal, that has to be done within 6 months of working in Canada I believe. Can't speak for BC but hubbie has been offered jobs each time we have been over, just a case of asking around and making sure you talk to whoever you can. We just need visas to be able to take one of the jobs!

Good luck with getting your visa

If you are looking at BC go to:

http://www.itabc.ca
http://www.itabc.ca/Page674.aspx
This will tell you everything you need to know about becoming a Plumber.

You will need to prove 8430 hours of experience and then you have to apply for a Certificate of Qualification. Once this is passed you will be able to work as a Plumber.
HTH
Linz

ps - Once you have posted 3 times, PM me your email address and i will forward you all the correspondence we have had with ITA.

Thanks very much for all your advice.Been looking on some of the sites suggested and they are realy helpfull. We will be booking a bit of a recce trip at the end of this month to BC.I read on CIC website that only 1000 visas per year per trade catagory will be issued, so i figured instead of rushing through this year will wait and apply for next years alloted visas.Gives a bit more time to decide what to do.
Trip will Proberbly be for March time next year.Not sure what to expect weather wise though? Any advice on places to go off the tourist tracks, so we can see the real canadian way of life, towns, villages...not sure if Canada has any villages.Also where to look for contact details of canadian plumbing firms, so i can put my feelers out job wise.
Many thanks again for all the help

Honestly the best way is to get out there and just talk to people. I can only speak for Ontario but most seem to know someone who knows someone! Couple of examples for us are we were in a restaurant and got talking to the waitress, her boyfriends dad owned a plumbing firm who needed people, we talked to him and bingo job offer. We also went looking at houses and the guy showing us round offered Hubbie a job on the spot. Oh and me a job too!

Hope someone will jump in with information on this, as I am not sure. How will CIC deal with applications that go over a 1,000. Would those applications be rejected or will they be moved to next years allocation?

If they are moved to next years allocation, waiting wont be good, as you will be pushed back further.

Ray

Thanks
Think that will best option,just ask around when we get there.
Hopefully i wont get pushed back when we apply because of backlog, its a good point though,it doesnt say anything on the CIC website???

We think that they will just return packs, once they have reached the 1000 applications in each NOC code - otherwise it means they have to stockpile applications, dank drafts will become out of date etc and it will just be a pain for CIC.