Canadian Job Market

[WFGC2006]

Read lots of posts on moving to Canada and forgeting about the ridiculous GC process. The main concern is about finding a job. My question is: did anyone here do a serious research/analysis of Canadian job market?

I have been traveling for leisures to almost all major Canada cities. My impression is economy is booming and people are quite happy where they are. The only city I haven't been is Galgary, but what I read on newspapers is that labor is in such severe shortage that Home Depot is forced to use "self check out" lanes and lots of business can not take any more opportunities due to inability to fill the job opennings. Also one of my friends who works in accounting field in Vancourver posted his resume online 9pm the previous day and his phone started ringing non-stop since 7am the next day. All these anecdotal experience seems to paint a different pictures.

I would believe if you work in IT field, US is definetely the place to be, but if you work in any other field, I would caution to say any bad words about Canadian job market before doing any serious research or job finding activities.

[nozerd]

Depens on a lot of factors

1) Education - Where did you get you degrees from. If from US/Canada/UK/Australia/NZ you are fine. If from India/Pak etc you may have issues in interviewers appreciating your qualifications.

2) Your diction, accent and command over English language and your personality.

3) Your experience (if its predominantly in India/Middle East/Far East or West)

4) From my understanding generally harder in Canada to get a job than US but once you get the job there is more stability in the Job (ie fewer layoffs etc).

5) Less outsourcing happening than in US.

6) Canada has amazingly liberal (socialistic) policies. Paid Maternity leave for 9 months, lot more public holidays than US, Most ppl work 9-5 not much overtime etc.

7) Best thing is to go there with a job.

[zCool]

Depens on a lot of factors

1) Education - Where did you get you degrees from. If from US/Canada/UK/Australia/NZ you are fine. If from India/Pak etc you may have issues in interviewers appreciating your qualifications.
-- Not true.. Doesn't matter. Actually education is the least important thing in Canadian Market. No body gives a damn that you hold masters from US or that coveted PhD from something or other..

2) Your diction, accent and command over English language and your personality.
Will matter a little.. but If USA is melting pot then Canadian job market today is melting pot that's been boiling over for a while now.. While absolutely flawless Canadian accent might help and will give an edge is flipping burgers or telco sales rep type of jobs in general it doesn't matter.

3) Your experience (if its predominantly in India/Middle East/Far East or West)
No way it matters.. There is this dreaded concept of "Canadian Experience" , Which is just a way of filtering out unwanted candidates and that applies to all your experience in US too.. so unless you have experience in Canada in similar job your experience doesn't count. Be prepared to start in the mailing room once again..

4) From my understanding generally harder in Canada to get a job than US but once you get the job there is more stability in the Job (ie fewer layoffs etc).
-- More harder to get a job..
Harder even to keep one.. and stability sucks! Even the canadian jewels like (finance sector in Toronto, RIM in waterloo or bunch of smaller companies in Ottawa or Calgary) are pedestrian by US standards.. pay is modest and job satisfaction is nill.. You are much better off working in India is almost all sectors except IT (if you can withstand instability and low pay)

5) Less outsourcing happening than in US.
-- Not true.. Plenty of outsourcing going on and people are loosing jobs all the time.. but mostly they end up being winners due to near-shored jobs from US. so you are going to get scraps from US economy .. right now since US is flaming hot.. even canadian market is okay.. meaning you will get abt 70-75K jobs in Toronto.. that's like getting 75-80K job in NYC.. nothing to sneeze at.. but over all not exactly a job to die for..

6) Canada has amazingly liberal (socialistic) policies. Paid Maternity leave for 9 months, lot more public holidays than US, Most ppl work 9-5 not much overtime etc.
-- Who are you kidding?? What you have to remember is.. when Govt. makes laws that don't make sense.. people will interprate and apply those as they see fit. Try going back after taking 9 month leave.. or even broach the subject.. you will be shown door faster than you can "eh"! Whats on paper and the reality of the market are hugely different..


7) Best thing is to go there with a job.
-- I'll say... At least you go there with next 6 months preparation. But again.. once you start working and they paying thro' all the taxes for all the 3rd world trash that's coming to Canada to live off on your taxes.. while you struggle hard to keep your head above water all the time.. worrying abt safty of your kids, insults at the workplace.. indignities of constant reminders of being "stupid tax-paying citizen" coz Canadian Govt. just can't live without invoking new taxes to make "your" like easier. you will soon realize.. your frustration with US immigration system was just your own fantasy and obsession that your carried too far and got yourself into fine Mess..

My advise to anyone considering move north is.. "DON'T DO IT!"
Yes wait can be frustrating and it can get little insecure.. but as far as Canada is considered.. I agree with Tucker Carlson's assessment.. it's a Honduras with worse looking ppl that won the geographical lottery of being next door to USA.

BTW.. Been there done that.. so this is coming from real experience.. and I had a good job in Canada.. so it's not bitter experience.. just true picture..

[nozerd]

Zcool,
Are you saying that even if you have an already arranged job waiting for you in Canada making aprox the same salary pre tax in US , it is still better being in H1 in US than going to Canada ?
What is it that pisses you off so much. Guess you have never been unemployed or without health care in US.

[GCJinx]

It is absurd. I agree that Canadian job market is no comparision to US. But I got a job (3 jobs) in IT without breaking a sweat. Yeah the pay is not great but the overall factor is good. Ofcourse US is "DA BEST" but we are all looking for Canada as a purely backup as we dont know what happens to our Green Card. So the question is CANADA Vs HOMECOUNTRY and not CANADA Vs USA.

Canada by cutting its immigration quota will help itself and all the existing immigrants. They are giving PR visas to too many people (I'm not against it). But first let them make existing immigrants happier by providing real employement before letting in new people or else after getting Canadian citizenship, everybody with decent qualification runs to the south of the border to the greatest country in the whole universe

[leonqiu]

Life is a beseiged castle, people inside want to get out, people outside want to get in.

Same situation for this great Canada vs. US debate. My suggestion: be careful before taking the first step - do all the research as you can, talk to friends and relatives. But once you make up your mind, it is purely irrational trying to compare these two countries. They are very different (life style, people, etc.), no matter how much people want them to wear the same pants.

[zCool]

I have a very good job in USA.. and I had a very good job in Canada.
Life wasn't so bad.. but there's really not much life outside of your ghettos in Canada.Toronto is turning into ethnic enclaves and a polyglot medley of permanant underclass of newly arrived immigrant and poor third-worlders.
What pisses me off was after 75K canadian salary .. you effectively end up saving max 10K and that too after watching a lot of things.. Taxes take a BIG bite out of it.. then there is constant inflation.. expensive rents.. (percentage of your earnings.. Toronto is probably most expensive city in NA to live in)\

Comparing Canada v/s home country is perfectly valid point. And when you compare.. unless you are from Pakistan, Iraq, or some other God-forsaken land where all decency has been lost to fanatics, terrorism or war.. you are better off in your home country. People tend to think Canada is similar to USA.. IT'S NOT!
It's a socialist paradise where poor, unemployed losers are awarded with your hard-earned tax dollars and even after all that.. you never really get ahead..
New immigrants who made it big in Canada were mostly from past generation.. since 1990's Canada's immigration open door to every loser from third world has made sure that entire job market is flooded with too many people competing for too few jobs..
Native population has tried stem this tide by adding extra hurdles like making certification of degrees near impossible or requiring "Canadian Experience" etc.. but bottomline is Canada is on the race to bottom very fast and so most talented professionals are coming state-side.. plus all the reasons we had when we fled India to US are there is US..
1. pandering to Minorities.. (Muslims are already asking separate sharia law in Ontario!)
2. Giving separate quotas to every ethnic group. (they call them "visible minorities"
3. Corruption in normal life.. (it's already in Toronto as is seeping across the nation like a poison)
4. No educational future to kids due to overcrowded schools .. (Try finding how hard it is to get in good engg. or Medical school in Canada right now.. and extrapolate that into future..)
5. Crumbling infrastructure (Medical healthcare is killing all other funding to Infrastructure development)
6. It's a myth that Canada is second largest country in the world area- wise..
Only 5% of the land is arable.. meaning population density is increasing at almost 3rd world rates..
7. affordibility in rural areas that are decimated by global shifts in economy.
and urban properity is turning into immigration nightmere..
8. Elites are using Canada as some type of multi-cultural experiment that poor 3rd worlders from all countries right from Somalia to China are only too happy to take advantage of..

I had given a LOT of THOUGHT to all these and I had high hopes when Stephan harper came in .. but I think rubicon has been crossed.. and No govt. in Canada is trying to save middle class when they can pander to various groups and get elected in Ontario and there by rule the country..
So if you are plannign to make a life in Canada .. you better think abt long term,.. do you want to be there when backlash begins?
As far as "BACK-UP" logic goes.. I had thought abt that.. a it's for some other time.. but suffice to say.. backup is no backup really.. Rather you decide to move there and make a life.. Backup just means you want a canadian passport value of which is free-falling per day and it's only matter of time before it turns into useless piece of paper that it is..

[zCool]

This is 1 positive experience in the sea of disappointments.. just checkout other links on the left side menu!
Better still visit http://www.notcanada.com
I have no issues if after all the research and knowledge if someone decides to make canada home.. but I repent money and effort I spent in creating the "backup" only to find at the end of it all The passport is worth squat and left Canada after 2 yrs..
Reality is much harsher and especially coming from USA you will never find what you expect..

[Tito_ortiz]

In 1996, when I first landed in Vancouver, BC there, they used to say that economy was booming as well. In 2002 they said the economy was about to improve. In 2004 they said the economy in 2005 would grow. Every time I go there to visit friends, they read something on the newspaper and they dream that the economy is booming as well. I think the best picture given to me about my future in Canada was from a fellow India, who posted a job of the type "Make Cnd$10,000/month. Come to my office in Vancouver, BC and I can tell you how". That was in 1997. I was so hungry to find a job that I took a bus in dowtown and went to visit his office. It was snowing and cold like hell. I talked to him just to learn it was one of those direct marketing business (i.e., Amway, herbalife, etc). Then he opened my eyes and told me that he was also an engineer. He said I had not many chances for future in Canada because the country economy is not based on high-tech and industry like the US. For example, BC main source of revenue is forestry. He said that life there in general, was very unrewarding for engineers and if I ever get a chance to come to the US, I should stick with it, because lots of people would like to come and can't.

I left the office and I knew that life was going to be tough...

Two weeks ago I visited a man who immigrated from South America 30 years ago. His son was born and educated in Canada. His son speaks native English, French, Portuguese. He also speaks Spanish very well. He got his pilot license after attending two years of aviation school in Canada. He literally could not find an entry level job as a pilot in Canada. He tried very hard for more than one year. Thanks to his double citizenship, he went to South America and got a job there and he is happy now as a learjet pilot in South America. He reports that most of his classmates who graduated with him have given up from the aviation profession and are now delivering pizza making $10/h (in Canadian dollars).

The above is just the truth and what people have reported to me.

Originally Posted by WFGC2006

Read lots of posts on moving to Canada and forgeting about the ridiculous GC process. The main concern is about finding a job. My question is: did anyone here do a serious research/analysis of Canadian job market?

I have been traveling for leisures to almost all major Canada cities. My impression is economy is booming and people are quite happy where they are. The only city I haven't been is Galgary, but what I read on newspapers is that labor is in such severe shortage that Home Depot is forced to use "self check out" lanes and lots of business can not take any more opportunities due to inability to fill the job opennings. Also one of my friends who works in accounting field in Vancourver posted his resume online 9pm the previous day and his phone started ringing non-stop since 7am the next day. All these anecdotal experience seems to paint a different pictures.

I would believe if you work in IT field, US is definetely the place to be, but if you work in any other field, I would caution to say any bad words about Canadian job market before doing any serious research or job finding activities.

[Tito_ortiz]

Originally Posted by rahulp

http://www.canadiandesi.ca/article.php?SID=1&AID=219

Well, I respect his positive experience. However, it seems that his motives to like Canada are very person and unique to his situation. How many of us care whether the US image doesn't look very good from the international perspective anyway? Who cares that you do not have so many Asians or Indians in our neighborhoods.

Most of his positive views about Canada are irrelevant to me.

[nozerd]

Tito,
Arent you the old Marlon ? If so I thought you already got your green card - what are you still doing around here ?

Are these forums so addicting that ppl visit even after their green cards

[go_guy123]

Originally Posted by nozerd

Tito,
Arent you the old Marlon ? If so I thought you already got your green card - what are you still doing around here ?

Are these forums so addicting that ppl visit even after their green cards

Actually Mechanical , Chemical Engg jobs are in good numbers in
Fort McMurry (alberta province) because of oil sands project.

But very cold there.

[nozerd]

Another option is to live in Canada and work in the US. Live in a border area and commute back and forth to work daily.

[WFGC2006]

Originally Posted by Tito_ortiz

Well, I respect his positive experience. However, it seems that his motives to like Canada are very person and unique to his situation. How many of us care whether the US image doesn't look very good from the international perspective anyway? Who cares that you do not have so many Asians or Indians in our neighborhoods.

Most of his positive views about Canada are irrelevant to me.

I would not agree with this assessment. It all depends your goals. If you want to travel around the world before you die, a blind man can see that a US passport comes with a certain amount of risks. It's not only because of the itchy hands of the US government, but also due to the fact that the US is the most prosperous and arrogant kid in your kingdergarden class (who do you want to take on when you want to bully someone?).

But on the other hand, if you are happy to go to Disney land once a year, then....

Also I heard someone here saying that the Toronto housing market is the most expensive in NA, well, obviously he has not been living in NYC, San Fran, etc.

[valuablehurdle]

Well said ZKool, Canada is an empty barren land where the 3rd world loosers pile themselves. The smarter ones either come to USA or remain in INDIA / CHINA.