THESPIDER

Canada will be easier for me to get over to.

Well my stituation Is Im 25 years old and from N.Ireland.
I Have a UK HGV Class 1 and 2 for 5 years or so dont have any expereince with the class 1 but plenty in driving class 2's.

Im currently on jobseekers allowance i had an interview with them last week he mentioned about canada and how i could do this but at thetime i wasnt interested, hopefully they could pay my flights etc.

Anyway wat do i start off doing?

I like he look of nova scotia to live much work here?

kb33

Find a company that will employ you without any Class One experience.

Virtually impossible

Gremmie

You start of with tons of research on here.. just plough through as many of the threads as possible to get some knowledge then ask your questions,

THESPIDER

Will I not have to do a different test anyway when im over there so arent most people completetley new to there means and ways that come from tha u.k?

How much money could i make and what sort of hours would be reasonable? im single with no kids?

Gremmie

Yes all have to do the Class 1 again here, but we all have umpteen years of experience under our belts,,, unless of course you are Big Truck who just has years of talk

kb33

Probably between $50 and $80 k all though might be less in the Maritime s (PEI Nova Scotia New Brunswick etc as cost of living is cheaper but so are wages )

Hours are up to 70 in seven days or more if you are good at creative logging

But all this info is useless as you have no Class One experience.

....

THESPIDER

Well If your learning there way from the start how hard can It be??

Could I not just say ive got 5 years experience? cause I did pass the test 5 years ago.

Oh yea Ive also got a HAZMATT certificate for carrying exlosives and the like, i suppose this also has to be redone?

kb33

Its not me you will have to convince

But lying on your CV isn't a very good idea as you have to have the experience to qualify for PNP nomination as well as a job offer .

Dangerous Goods certification will be done by your prospective employer and paid by them.

THESPIDER

Ok so is there any companies that will train you up? sponsor you? and give you full time work?

This is all new to me so im on an info hunt.

kb33

Not without Class One experience.

THESPIDER

Well ive drove tipper lorrys with trailors before that is class 1 isnt it?

kb33

CurtNIR

I've only ever seen a couple of companies over there that take on ''rooky drivers'', and pay them at a lower rate until they're fully trained. They are around, just not that often.

For you it would be difficult to get a work permit, as this usually requires getting an offer of employment and applying for a labour market opinion. The LMO could be hard to get with no experience, unless the employer can prove youre the only person to apply for the job lol.

Saskatchewan only requires 9 months class 1 experience (on a work permit) to apply for their Provincial Nominee Programme. Keep that in mind.

DHL are looking class 1 drivers over here, in culcavy. Yes they are sh*tty wee semi auto's pulling single axle trailers but the money is good and it would get you experience. Also try Montgomery's in Ballyearl. They might be able to get you holiday cover class 1 driving.

You need to go to the WIki in the blue bar at the top of this website, and look for truck driving canada. And read lots of old posts here for info.

Gremmie

I played with rockets as a kid does that make me an astronaut.

The companies and government will want bona fide proof of your experience.

wire

I don't think that any of the guys mean any disrespect Spider but the point of the immigration schemes that you refer to is not to help drivers move to Canada in order to get trained. They were created because a few years ago Canada was suffering from a chronic skills shortage and trucking companies found it impossible to recruit the right calibre of experienced long haul drivers in the domestic labour market so they started to look overseas, namely the UK. One of the criteria's that a company had to meet in order to be able to take part in the scheme was that they had to prove that it was impossible to find any Canadian citizens who might fit the bill. To recruit and import INEXPERIENCED drivers would defeat the whole object of the scheme. They already have enough of those.
To lie about your experience would be very foolish as long haul trucking over here is very hard and even the guys who have the correct credentials and have come over and made it have all faced a steep learning curve despite having years of UK/European experience to fall back on. To try to bluff it is almost certain to end in humiliating failure.
Besides which, all previous work records are required to be proved by means of references, etc.
You might notice that i am referring to the PNP/work permits in the past tense and this is because since the global economic slowdown has been with us just getting your foot in the door has been a whole lot harder regardless of relevant experience and skills.
You sound enthusiastic and whilst i would not want to put a dampener on your ambitions i would seriously recommend that you get at least a few years experience at class one driving on as long distance work as possible and then see what the world economy looks like regarding immigration after that.