Marky6336

Hi everybody,
I'm a gas engineer working in the U.K wanting to move to vancouver Canada, I'm looking to come over in mid february to look for prospective employers.

Q. Is it best to call companies before heading over to line up informal or formal meetings?

Any advise is greatly received
Regards
Mark

dreadsoc

Hi Mark

First of all welcome to BE

We have a frum dedicated to Canada which I recommend you check out as it is full of useful information about visas and immigration, and on there you can chat with other Brits who are already living and working in Canada, so they will be only too happy to offer you some useful tips and advice to help the move process go more smoothly. Not only that you can start making friends before you even get there.
You will find th Canada forum by clicking the 'forum index' button on the top left of this page, scroll down the listed countries, double click on Cnada and you're in.

In the meantime all the very best with your plans

Dread - x

Rosemary

Hello and a big welcome to BE.

Excellent information can be found in the BE Wiki, not forgetting the Living and Moving Abroad forum that will help you, another set of great help is the permanent threads at the TOP of each forum, they are very pertinent to that particular forum and makes sensible reading.

Moderators deal with any problems that arise such as inappropriate posts, spammers etc, you will find their names at the bottom right hand side of each forum's index in bold font.

Please contact me if I can give you any further help.

Rosemary

Marky6336

Thanks guys, & thanks for the welcome, I will have a look around,
Mark

marika g

Hi Mark,

I know you mentioned that you want to move to BC but if you would ever consider moving to Alberta then I think your trade would get you a job pretty quickly! You could probably get a job quickly in Van too but I live in Calgary, Alberta and there is a HUGE demand within the oil and gas industry....very good pay etc.

You could check out the Alberta governmet website and check out the Alberta works section to just take a look and see what you think? Of course it depends on what you're looking for!

Just thought I'd let you know!

Marky6336

Hello mariKa g,
Thank you for the information I will look in to it ASAP
Regards
Mark

christmasoompa

Hi Mark, and welcome to BE.

In answer to your question, YES!!! In fact, it's pretty much essential if you want to find a job offer from an employer prepared to go through the hassle/paperwork/wait of employing you and applying for the LMO (that's assuming you don't already have a visa of course, but even so phoning first is still preferable).

Have a read of the Job Hunting section of the Canada Wiki which has loads of useful info and tips in, best of luck and hope to see you in the Canada forum sometime soon.

Marky6336

Hi Mirika, when I say I'm in the gas industry I'm a gas engineer/plumber my work in the uk is repairing and installing domestic central heating systems and appliances, I work for one of Europes largest engery companies as a senior technical engineer, is this what you had envisedged when I said I was in the gas industry? Calgary looks lovely, I had a conversation with an owner of a company in van who didn't seem very positive about the prospects of finding work. But it hasn't damped my spirits and apreciate all new leads
Kind regards
Mark.

marika g

Hi Mark

I wasn't sure what I envisaged when you mentioned you work in the gas field but still there are LOTS of 'trades' jobs here in Alberta or maybe I should say Calgary? I see lots of jobs all the time being advertised and to be honest have met quite a few people who have actually left BC (as beautiful as it is!) to come to Calgary to find work because as I understand it there are just more jobs available here. Cagary is an 'oil and gas city' and that has a knock on effect with the construction and trades guys because the city is growing all the time..there are lots of 'new buils' going up especially in the south of the city as it grows. Also you dont have to pay some other taxes here like you do in BC. Not sure if you've checked already but the 'tradesecret' website should give you some good info and also I would definately look into having your credentials translated or find out what their equivalency would be....most trades here (in Alberta and I think most provinces) require you to get your 'Red Seal' certificate (basically proves you are competent in your trade) otherwise not many people will hire you.
It is also worth bearing in mind that although you may be in a senior position in the U.K you may find that you have to start in a lower level position to start...there seems to be a 'seniority' system here (which I think is BS!) but unfortunately that seems to be the way it is. So basically the job that you are more than qualified for will go to the next guy just because he's been there 1 week longer than you..even though he's not qualified for it. Now I'm not sure if that's just jobs where you have affiliation with a union or ALL jobs.

Anyway I don't want to keep going on so I guess you should just check out the tradesecret website and also check out he Service Canada website...thats a useful tool but also Alberta government website because they will be asking for different criteria than the BC website and so on....

Good luck!

Marky6336

Thank you so much for your time in replying, you have been a great help,
Thanks again,
Mark.