Moving to Canada
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Moving to Canada
I am considering moving the family to Canada to live and work. I have spent 20+ years in the RAF (16 yrs on large transport AC) Fixing aircraft/engines, Maintenance Planning & Teaching (engine systems) and have a degree in Aircraft Engineering
My questions are:
- where s the best place to start looking for jobs in the aviation sector - Airline/ manufacturing / maintenance?
- What are the employment prospects like? - now / future
- What are the wages like?
All answers are gratefully received, but I would like some serious ones as well.
Regards Sumps
My questions are:
- where s the best place to start looking for jobs in the aviation sector - Airline/ manufacturing / maintenance?
- What are the employment prospects like? - now / future
- What are the wages like?
All answers are gratefully received, but I would like some serious ones as well.
Regards Sumps
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Canada
Job prospects within aviation are now pretty good Canada wide. I moved form the UK to Calgary about 10 yrs ago. Most of the companies are hiring big and small.
Try AVCANADA where job postings are plentiful, try Westjet, Air Transat and the Air Canada sites. Try and make a decision on which province appeals to you, I am sure there are also lots of work in Vancouver. If I can be of any further assistance let me know.
Try AVCANADA where job postings are plentiful, try Westjet, Air Transat and the Air Canada sites. Try and make a decision on which province appeals to you, I am sure there are also lots of work in Vancouver. If I can be of any further assistance let me know.
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I can't help you on the specifics of the job, other than to point you at www.monster.ca where you can search by job and location.
On the more general theme of moving to Canada though, there's lots to tell! First of all, visit every province and city you're thinking of and try to get a feel for the place. Some people can't handle the BIG sky of the prairies, which rules out anywhere from Edmonton to Winnipeg. House prices are a hot topic right now, with Alberta soaring. In Edmonton, prices rose 40% in the last year and a decent family home is getting mightly close to $500,000. Winnipeg isn't there yet but the price rises are heading east (Saskatoon and Regina recording double-digit increases) so Manitoba may be a wise move if the trend continues. Vancouver and Toronto have smaller increases but prices were already high to start with. Right now, you can get a bigger house for less money in somewhere like Brampton or Milton, ON (not far from YYZ) than in nice areas of Edmonton or Calgary. In the Maritimes meanwhile, a really nice house can be had for not much more than $200,000.
Climate can be an issue - dry winters on the prairies play havoc with skin more used to wetter weather. Some people prefer -40 on the prairies to -20 in ON or the Maritimes, because it doesn't hit as hard without the humidity. Also in the Prairies, the snow is generally dryer and thinner than in the east, but it sticks around for 5 months a year (maybe 4 months in the east, so still a LOT of the time). Then again, coastal BC has weather that Brits wil find quite familiar. Heating can cost a fortune in Alberta, and a/c can cost a fortune in Ontario. You pays yer money...
I took a pay cut of about 30% when I first moved to Canada, and had a better standard of living than in the UK. Now that house prices are so much higher in some areas of Canada, it's doubtful that would still hold but in general you need less money than in the UK. Cars and gas are cheaper, electronics are generally a bit less, beer is about the same except it's normal to tip which bumps up the price (and really, you don't want to have a cheap limey reputation, so tip 15%!), eating out is way less expensive.
Other useful stuff? Check out the requirements for things like drivers' licenses. In Alberta for instance, you would get a graduated licence with strict rules even with 20 years driving in the UK, and that's AFTER doing a written and practical test. Sign up for a social insurance number and provincial health care as soon as you can. Check out the websites for Telus and Rogers and know what you want in a cell phone package so you can hit the ground running, etc etc.
Useful websites...
www.mls.ca - realtors listings with a useful search function - keep clicking on the map to refine the search rather than ticking the boxes, and ask around for which areas to search in each city.
www.rogers.com - cellphone and tv company
www.telus.ca - cell and landline phones
www.shaw.ca - if you're moving to Alberta like everyone else, Shaw is the default cable tv and internet supplier. Get HDTV! There are also satellite companies.
www.futureshop.ca - you may as well find out how much the fancy LCD HDTV is going to cost, and they also sell cable and satellite boxes.
www.autotrader.ca - you can search by province for used cars, and it also has some new car info. There are also some local sites like www.emdacars.com for Edmonton which has an extensive dealer inventory section. Don't forget that as a new resident, that big truck will cost you a lot to insure! Depending on your UK claims history and how much credence it gets in Canada (not much...), budget anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000 for car insurance in the first year, depending on location.
http://www.ey.com/GLOBAL/content.nsf...ors_-_Overview
That one, you'd better copy and paste! It shows you how much of a tax hit you'll take in each province, as a guide. In general, anyone with a family will have some deductions which will help, and most people I know get a refund cheque every year. You DO have to fill in a tax return every year but you'll know when it's tax time - people at work will stop talking about hockey for 5 minutes. The easiest thing is to use a tax preparation service like H&R Block who'll charge relatively little (and it's a deduction!) and give you an instant refund if one is due. A local accountant may get you a better refund for less cost, but you'll have to wait for Canada Revenue Agency to issue the cheque. Again, you pays yer money... Also note that the provinces set their own sales taxes. Alberta has none, just the federal 6% goods and services tax, while ON has 8% PST, and NS, NF and NB have "harmonised" sales tax (federal and provincial in one hit) of 14%. PEI is worst of all, at 10% PST plus 6% GST, but that's still lower than UK VAT! And at least you know what the tax hit is straight away in Canada.
Talking of tax, don't forget that it won't be quoted on new car prices, etc. New houses have GST added at a reduced rate, so check if it's included in any houses you're looking at. Also, most provinces have a land transfer tax similar to stamp duty.
For anything else, drop me a PM!
On the more general theme of moving to Canada though, there's lots to tell! First of all, visit every province and city you're thinking of and try to get a feel for the place. Some people can't handle the BIG sky of the prairies, which rules out anywhere from Edmonton to Winnipeg. House prices are a hot topic right now, with Alberta soaring. In Edmonton, prices rose 40% in the last year and a decent family home is getting mightly close to $500,000. Winnipeg isn't there yet but the price rises are heading east (Saskatoon and Regina recording double-digit increases) so Manitoba may be a wise move if the trend continues. Vancouver and Toronto have smaller increases but prices were already high to start with. Right now, you can get a bigger house for less money in somewhere like Brampton or Milton, ON (not far from YYZ) than in nice areas of Edmonton or Calgary. In the Maritimes meanwhile, a really nice house can be had for not much more than $200,000.
Climate can be an issue - dry winters on the prairies play havoc with skin more used to wetter weather. Some people prefer -40 on the prairies to -20 in ON or the Maritimes, because it doesn't hit as hard without the humidity. Also in the Prairies, the snow is generally dryer and thinner than in the east, but it sticks around for 5 months a year (maybe 4 months in the east, so still a LOT of the time). Then again, coastal BC has weather that Brits wil find quite familiar. Heating can cost a fortune in Alberta, and a/c can cost a fortune in Ontario. You pays yer money...
I took a pay cut of about 30% when I first moved to Canada, and had a better standard of living than in the UK. Now that house prices are so much higher in some areas of Canada, it's doubtful that would still hold but in general you need less money than in the UK. Cars and gas are cheaper, electronics are generally a bit less, beer is about the same except it's normal to tip which bumps up the price (and really, you don't want to have a cheap limey reputation, so tip 15%!), eating out is way less expensive.
Other useful stuff? Check out the requirements for things like drivers' licenses. In Alberta for instance, you would get a graduated licence with strict rules even with 20 years driving in the UK, and that's AFTER doing a written and practical test. Sign up for a social insurance number and provincial health care as soon as you can. Check out the websites for Telus and Rogers and know what you want in a cell phone package so you can hit the ground running, etc etc.
Useful websites...
www.mls.ca - realtors listings with a useful search function - keep clicking on the map to refine the search rather than ticking the boxes, and ask around for which areas to search in each city.
www.rogers.com - cellphone and tv company
www.telus.ca - cell and landline phones
www.shaw.ca - if you're moving to Alberta like everyone else, Shaw is the default cable tv and internet supplier. Get HDTV! There are also satellite companies.
www.futureshop.ca - you may as well find out how much the fancy LCD HDTV is going to cost, and they also sell cable and satellite boxes.
www.autotrader.ca - you can search by province for used cars, and it also has some new car info. There are also some local sites like www.emdacars.com for Edmonton which has an extensive dealer inventory section. Don't forget that as a new resident, that big truck will cost you a lot to insure! Depending on your UK claims history and how much credence it gets in Canada (not much...), budget anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000 for car insurance in the first year, depending on location.
http://www.ey.com/GLOBAL/content.nsf...ors_-_Overview
That one, you'd better copy and paste! It shows you how much of a tax hit you'll take in each province, as a guide. In general, anyone with a family will have some deductions which will help, and most people I know get a refund cheque every year. You DO have to fill in a tax return every year but you'll know when it's tax time - people at work will stop talking about hockey for 5 minutes. The easiest thing is to use a tax preparation service like H&R Block who'll charge relatively little (and it's a deduction!) and give you an instant refund if one is due. A local accountant may get you a better refund for less cost, but you'll have to wait for Canada Revenue Agency to issue the cheque. Again, you pays yer money... Also note that the provinces set their own sales taxes. Alberta has none, just the federal 6% goods and services tax, while ON has 8% PST, and NS, NF and NB have "harmonised" sales tax (federal and provincial in one hit) of 14%. PEI is worst of all, at 10% PST plus 6% GST, but that's still lower than UK VAT! And at least you know what the tax hit is straight away in Canada.
Talking of tax, don't forget that it won't be quoted on new car prices, etc. New houses have GST added at a reduced rate, so check if it's included in any houses you're looking at. Also, most provinces have a land transfer tax similar to stamp duty.
For anything else, drop me a PM!
Thread Starter
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Guys - thats fantastic - loads to go on as i have said to those who have PM'd - I have a mandatory 2 years to serve before I can leave so I am in the embryonic stages of planning the feasibility of a move.
Lock n' Load - that must have taken ages to type
Thanks.
to that end
- do you need Licencess to work on an airline?
- will my degree help ?
Kind Regards
Sumps
Lock n' Load - that must have taken ages to type
Thanks.to that end
- do you need Licencess to work on an airline?
- will my degree help ?
Kind Regards
Sumps
Join Date: Apr 2002
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Sumps,
The largest Canadian aerospace employer is Bombardier (www.bombardier.com). A quick check of their website shows over 150 jobs - the majority in engineering. They will help with relocation costs, immigration etc - not to be sneezed at. One recent ex-pat at their Flight Test Centre is an ex-RAF EO and their Chief FTE is a Brat. Know for a fact they are recruiting in both Toronto & Montreal as they have several new programs plus increased production rates after the 911-induced slump.
The largest Canadian aerospace employer is Bombardier (www.bombardier.com). A quick check of their website shows over 150 jobs - the majority in engineering. They will help with relocation costs, immigration etc - not to be sneezed at. One recent ex-pat at their Flight Test Centre is an ex-RAF EO and their Chief FTE is a Brat. Know for a fact they are recruiting in both Toronto & Montreal as they have several new programs plus increased production rates after the 911-induced slump.
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Pratt & Whitney Canada have a factory in the small city of Lethbridge, Alberta. The company employs people with your background. The climate is mild, relative to most Canadian cities. Lethbridge is one of the sunnier cities in Canada, and they experience the "Chinook" which is a strong, warm, dry wind that melts what little snow may be left. Because of the close proximity to the Rocky Mountains, (one hour driving time) the city occasionally experiences autumn, winter, and spring in a single day! The local University is well-respected for its Education Faculty.
Roses grow well here, as do the natural Cotton-wood trees in the river valley. A species of cacti also grows wild here. The local theatre troupe sells-out on every show. The city supports recycling, water conservation, and public transit. What is not to like? Costco, Wal-Mart,
Burger King, and several other franchise retailers are here for your shopping pleasure. Marks & Spencers closed about 15 years ago..
Roses grow well here, as do the natural Cotton-wood trees in the river valley. A species of cacti also grows wild here. The local theatre troupe sells-out on every show. The city supports recycling, water conservation, and public transit. What is not to like? Costco, Wal-Mart,
Burger King, and several other franchise retailers are here for your shopping pleasure. Marks & Spencers closed about 15 years ago..
Join Date: Jul 2002
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What's not to like about Lethbridge?
Walking at 30% to the vertical! It's real windy....
Actually though, it probably is a great place to be. Check mls.ca for house prices of course, but the location is great for trips to Glacier National Park in Montana as well as the Canadian Rockies. Note that skiing is more than an hour away - maybe 90 mins to Fernie and over 2 hours to Kimberley (evansb can correct these times) but hey, that's close enough for a day trip. Also 90 mins to Calgary for big-city shopping and the Stampede and watching their hockey team go down in Flames.
Walking at 30% to the vertical! It's real windy....
Actually though, it probably is a great place to be. Check mls.ca for house prices of course, but the location is great for trips to Glacier National Park in Montana as well as the Canadian Rockies. Note that skiing is more than an hour away - maybe 90 mins to Fernie and over 2 hours to Kimberley (evansb can correct these times) but hey, that's close enough for a day trip. Also 90 mins to Calgary for big-city shopping and the Stampede and watching their hockey team go down in Flames.
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Lived here since '90, a few years with a few feet of snow but more years wearing a t-shirt to take out the garbage.
[q]What is not to like? [/q]
Just for the heck of it, one day we measured by odometer the amount of traffic lights on Mayor Magrath....(main traffic route here) near the southend. I think it was something like 7 lights in .8 km!
Two are not even a hundred meters apart! They wonder why there are so many rear-enders on that strip....duh! Six lanes of traffic and that BS? Heard that the traffic planner came from Kelowna. 
[q]What is not to like? [/q]
Just for the heck of it, one day we measured by odometer the amount of traffic lights on Mayor Magrath....(main traffic route here) near the southend. I think it was something like 7 lights in .8 km!
Two are not even a hundred meters apart! They wonder why there are so many rear-enders on that strip....duh! Six lanes of traffic and that BS? Heard that the traffic planner came from Kelowna.
I had the pleasure of taking a CH47 to "Chinook" country, ie Lethbridge, a few years back. Ah, the delights of mountain flying in the Crowsnest Pass - a glorious area. Not to forget of course, "head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump"! Really liked Alberta (esp "Cowboys" in Calgary!), but when it's time for me to jump across I'm looking at Ontario. There are plenty of RAF guys coming to the end of engagements looking to move to Canada. I've heard of jobs being offered in Halifax, Ottawa and Toronto recently. My buddies in the CF tell me that anyone with CH47, C130J or C17 experience would be most welcome - not just to crew/maintain but also for industrial backup, project experience and Simulation sectors.
Good luck Sumps. Let us know how you get on.
Good luck Sumps. Let us know how you get on.
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Gents - Still doing the research! What does it take to get a (for want of a better phase) Canadian Aircraft Maintainers licence, where can I obtain one and what is the cost (Can'$ will do)
I was looking initially around the Toronto area - but will look else where if need be
Cheers sumps
I was looking initially around the Toronto area - but will look else where if need be
Cheers sumps
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