Employment in Canada

[Fencesitter]

Is it really that bad back home? I mean, I was just talking to my sister and she was telling me of all these companies that have gone out of business, and all the families without work. It's scary! I have a job lined up, but nothing in life is guaranteed...it makes me worried about this whole moving back to Canada thing.

I started thinking about the possibility of having no job when I return. What would we do? I have an infant son and my wife to support. Sure, we have money saved, but Canada is an expensive place to live and I'm sure it would disappear very quickly. Not only that, but we don't want to use all our savings...yes, we are prepared to use some, but not all!

What do you guys think about the employment prospects? The last thing I want to do is leave a comfortable life to only end up struggling back in Canada. On the flip side, I really want to be home and my wife and I both want our son to be raised in Canada. At times I think if I end up having to do a crappy job for a year or two, it will be worth it...and at least we're together...but is that realistic??

Please share your opinions.

Thanks,
FS

 

[muffy1]

Hi FS,

I think it depends upon location, what industry you are in, what job/career you are pursuing, etc. I think there are many factors that come into play. You had mentioned that you have a job lined up for your return. Have you kept in contact with the company or place a phone call/email just touch base with them to make sure they keep you still in the "forefront of their mind" and to say "Hey, I'm still here and interested" so to speak. Depending upon what the position is, is there anything you can do in the meantime via research, etc, that you can do and then go back to the company to let them know you are excited and serious, etc....I think you get my point. I'm having a hard time finding the right words today.....this waiting game is getting to me lol

For me, not being able to work until this process is done, I'm in the mindset of wanting to work 3/4 jobs when PR comes because I miss working so much right now! In the meantime, I've been doing a lot of networking with some senior execs, etc, in companies that I would like to apply to. I find there are A LOT of applicants for jobs so competition for jobs is there. Staying "ahead of the game" and doing research on the companies you are applying to, making connections/networking, all help, as well. If you are a qualified candidate for a position, and there are others, as well, it can help to know someone or to have networked with someone prior to applying, because you've hopefully made a great impression- just an added bonus.

Good topic of discussion. I'll be interested to read other's responses! All the best to you!

 

[KJG]

Is it really that bad back home? I mean, I was just talking to my sister and she was telling me of all these companies that have gone out of business, and all the families without work. It's scary! I have a job lined up, but nothing in life is guaranteed...it makes me worried about this whole moving back to Canada thing.

I started thinking about the possibility of having no job when I return. What would we do? I have an infant son and my wife to support. Sure, we have money saved, but Canada is an expensive place to live and I'm sure it would disappear very quickly. Not only that, but we don't want to use all our savings...yes, we are prepared to use some, but not all!

What do you guys think about the employment prospects? The last thing I want to do is leave a comfortable life to only end up struggling back in Canada. On the flip side, I really want to be home and my wife and I both want our son to be raised in Canada. At times I think if I end up having to do a crappy job for a year or two, it will be worth it...and at least we're together...but is that realistic??

Please share your opinions.

HIi FS....really depends what party of Canada you are returning to. The west is booming....east coast is hurting.....Ontario if you are in manufacturing no so good but other areas are very good.

Thanks,
FS

 

[truesmile]

Perhaps your sister is in a small community I don't know, but in MY OPINION it's not THAT bad. Maybe I'm lucky, no not maybe... I AM, a little. But even if I were to lose my job, I could work at something else and I WOULD work at something else. Yes some are hard hit with not too many options but many OTHERS I believe are too picky about what or where they work. I realize this is public forum so only if you care to share, what field of work are you in?

 

[Fencesitter]

I have a degree in engineering and a teaching qualification.

The job I have lined up is pretty solid, but who knows, it may not work out.

I have family connections and they can help me to get a job, though I don't want to rely on them...but then again, it's better to have a connection, so I don't feel too bad using it if nothing else pans out.

Anyways, it's late where I am, so I'll try to post more tomorrow.

FS

 

[tavora]

Is it really that bad back home? I mean, I was just talking to my sister and she was telling me of all these companies that have gone out of business, and all the families without work. It's scary! I have a job lined up, but nothing in life is guaranteed...it makes me worried about this whole moving back to Canada thing.

What do you guys think about the employment prospects? The last thing I want to do is leave a comfortable life to only end up struggling back in Canada. On the flip side, I really want to be home and my wife and I both want our son to be raised in Canada. At times I think if I end up having to do a crappy job for a year or two, it will be worth it...and at least we're together...but is that realistic??

Things are not that bad here. My husband is still in the US, where things are worse but slowly improving (or so it seems). Times are not flush as they were before the global financial crisis, but I would not say they are dire at this point. Could that change? We'll see. And yeah, you may have a bad job for a little while, but most of us have been in that situation at some point in our lives.

 

[mobeyk]

If you are willing and flexible you can always have work, even in bad economy. I would not worry. Lets say it that way: Worry is 90% useless and the 10% is good to keep you alert. If you are a performer there is never a bad economy.

 

[missmymexi]

As everyones said, it really depends where you plan to land, things are not as good as they have been that is for sure. Its funny that someone previously said the West is booming, me being in the West I would have assumed you would have better luck in the east ! The best market right now for the west is Alberta, there are tons of jobs and a lot of jobs that your engineering degree would be useful for since its mainly industry jobs. There is also alot of employment in the North (Grand prairie, dawson creek, fort McMurray) due to the oil industry, Yukon is also booming (mining, construction mainly) at the moment and offering very good wages as they do not have enough people living locally to fill the positions. Vancouver is tight, the job market is flooded as the rural communities are suffering big time and alot of people have come to the city to find work, there is a ton of competition and the wages are low in comparison to the standard of living costs, being an executive, I find it hard to get by on a executive salary in Vancouver mainly due to rent costs, a recent survey says on average a Vancouver citizen spends 85% of income on housing which is crazy ! We have also had a lot of closures of head offices because of the cost to run a company here, most are moving to Alberta where it is cheaper to run a company. Having said all of that, you are ahead of the game with the degree. Also there is alot of medial jobs available and the good news is min wage was raised to $10.25 in BC so that helps a bit, better than the $8.50 it use to be. You may want to consider working six months on and six months off at with some industry up north, a have a lot of friends that do this, they are able to make $60,000 to $80,000 in six months, makes the time away from the family for six months worth it, then you have six months to not work and have some quality time, seems to work really well for a lot of people I know and we are considering it for when my fiance comes back, we certainly have perfected being apart, so we think we could handle it ! Anyhow, hope that helps a bit

 

[parker24]

Being from Ontario, it is a TAD hard. But when you look at all the job postings, it's kinda hard to say it's impossible to get a job. Job Bank has a lot of postings, indeed.com has a TONNE of postings. I'm an educational assistant with the local school board, I was dang lucky to get the job because I was only a year out of college. I'm only on-call, which is normal for a large company. Is your wife going to work or is she going to stay home until your son is starting school?

My husband and I talked about this recently, he was like "I'll clean toilets if I have to!" Which a lot of immigrants are willing to do when they get PR status. Call centres are always hiring. In the area I'm in, it's mostly cleaning jobs and retail services. And I'm about 10 minutes from the 1000 Islands Bridge.

Don't worry FS, not all companies are closing!!!

 

[canadiangirl78]

You have a job lined up, don't waste your time worrying about this. We, on the other hand, do worry. I work online and that will help but it won't pay for everything. My husband is going without a job lined up and yeah that will be stressful. If he has to take a crappy job for awhile, he will. He has a Business degree and works in construction as a manager. But this field has been sinking fast here in California. We are doing ok thanks to free housing but I don't care if we are eating beans and rice in Canada. It will be a better life for many reasons.