Hello everyone...

I just posted my intro thread in the intro forum... and I hope this will not be considered a cross-post... but I'm finishing up school, I'm in my final year at my university here in Miami fl, USA... I'm looking to relocate to whisterl or the BC area.

I currently run my own IT Consulting company, and I am a highly qualified I.T. professional with years of experience. Basically, this thread is to simply get some useful links, websites, or other resources to help me locate a job in Canada, as well as a place to stay, and any work visas or similar documentation I may need.

I got plenty of time before I make any decisions, but I want to get started early, the sooner the better in my opinion....

Also, if anyone has any tips for me, maybe on adjusting to different work environments or atmospheres let me know... Miami is a very fast paced city, and it can either make you rich, or leave you high and dry and homeless....

Any information would be greatly appreciated, and I know I will enjoy being on the boards...

Have a good one,
Chris

   

Hi from Edmonton. Here is a very good site which pulls ads from multiple sources and allows 1 stop replies etc.

http://working.canada.com/edmonton/index.html

register and you can save your searches etc and search by location, distance from specific city, etc. It is all free of course. The oilpatch is roaring up here so no doubt you could find satisfactory work although the big money is in going up to Ft. McMurray and working with the big companies there. There is a shortage of all skilled trades here and the Alberta govt. is trying to be helpful to people wanting to come work.
Here is a starting point for for immigrating to come work.
http://search.gov.ab.ca/query.html?qp=& ... mit=search


It gets real cold here in the winter so you have to be ready for that. People tend to be helpful and polite for the most part and the pace of life is increasing daily. Whether this is good or not remains to be seen. If you locate in Jasper you have to remember one thing. You are actually living in a Provincial park with some rather sticky rules on what you can and cannot do. Calgary or Edmonton make good bases to work out of and the mountains are only a few hours away.(closer to Calgary)


If you looking to make lots of money you will pretty much have to come to it. ( the oilpatch) With your particular trade you may be able to work remotely and thus get the best of both worlds. Very fast internet is available in all major centers and Dell computers has recently opened a huge call/service center here in Edmonton.


http://www.hrconference.ca/customer/HRI ... enDocument
Try surfing that website for links to Dell hiring. And they are hiring constantly here.

For the University of Alberta go here. http://www.ualberta.ca/

They have done some amazing things with nanotechnology lately.

Taxes are high in Canada but lower here than elsewhere.(no provincial sales tax) Also no provincial debt whatsoever. Some would say Alberta is redneck to a degree and that isn't neccesarily wrong . But since the area was only really settled around the WW1 era almost everyone here is only a few generations from being an immigrant.
If you have the skills to attract one of the big oil companies they will do almost all of the work involved in moving up for you. A tight labour market is a very good thing.

Oh, one last thing. You like hockey, right? (trick question, never answer any other way but " oh yea, love it!") Also remember this.
When in Edmonton it's "Calgary Sucks!!!!"
When in Calgary it's "Edmonton Sucks!!"
This has been a rivalry for a hundred years. Don't mess with program.

   

But first, we must remove our wet boots. Stepping out of minus 30 degrees, craving the warmth of the boat that is our home, we are obliged by our hosts to pause in a cramped and crowded space below the ship's wheel, and in near darkness, try to bend over in our thick Arctic clothing to loosen our laces with numbed fingers. Then we must stand on a drenched cold floor in our socks and hang up our 'skidoo suits' - they resemble a toddler's splash suit - along with our helmets, and all the while keep track of our gloves, and the liners of our gloves, and our frosted goggles and frozen-mouthed balaclavas that gape at us from the floor in astonishment
also swap your BMW for a Skidoo

   

HAhaha.... I love this place already

Thanks for the links xRoofer! I'll bookmark them now, this headache I got is killing me... and I'll review the sites sometime tomorrow. I appreciate the helpful hints and tips for moving up there, like "Oh yeah, I love it" in regards to Hockey... which by the way, no longer exists in the states except for collegiate (Boston College is ranked #1). And the Florida Panthers (our x-hockey team, did win a championship once)

RoyalHighlander I'm laughing my ass off, and I was almost offended that you thought I drove a BMW, but its a safe assumption seeing as everyones friggin got one in this place I'm sure I will not be prepared for the cold up there.... but I do enjoy the cold weather and snow when I visit ski-towns... but only living there will make me understand and truly value my sunny (currently rainy) weather..... I already got some kick ass snow boots, and some good boarding gear, but I got plenty of time to figure this thing out....

So, my tips are basically.... shoot for the oil rigs, and I'll be set?? Could be interesting...

Is Alberta mostly country? Or are there some major cities up there? I live in a pretty big city, with a ton of nightlife and things like that... I don't wanna move somewhere where I'll be bored to tears once I get home from work....

Where the ladies at on weekends? I've met a ton of Canadian females in my lifetime, and they have all been exceptionally gorgeous, and I'm never able to guess where theyre from..... In fact, I was in Grand Cayman one summer and this girl was from Vancouver.... I was shocked... gorgeous blonde, had to buy her a drink. She told me Canadians like to visit Grand Cayman a lot.... there was even a sign that pointed north and said "Canada.... a million miles that way"

Thanks again you guys!

   

Greater Edmonton( city plus bedroom communities right beside it) has a population of about 1 million people. Calgary about the same. They are north/south of each other with Calgary in the south and closer to the mountains. Only about 2 and a half hour drive apart.(that's if you keep pace with traffic......about 50 kmh over the limit on#2 lol) Both Edmonton and Calgary have all the attractions and all the bad points of major cities. Best skiing in the world is a day trip from both. And it is far better to service the oil industry from a support industry rather than go right out to the patch and live in a camp for 3 weeks out of 4 although this does pay extremely well.
You can have as much city or as much country as you want here. If you have a vehicle putting up with a half hour commute gets you a quiet place to live with the city not too far away. If no vehicle I would recommend being close to the C train (Calgary transit train) or the LRT (Edmonton Light Rapid Transit) as then you are a short ride to downtown.
In Edmonton it's Whyte Avenue in Old Strathcona for fast nightlife. (Home of the Canada Day riots! ) I don't know Calgary at all so others will have to fill you in there.
And I would trade the Beemer for a horrendously expensive (preferrably diesel and four wheel drive) pickup truck. Then load your skidoo in the back of that. Although with the mountains so close....keep the beemer for summer banzaii runs early Sunday morning up the mountains.
(since you don't have one you might want to buy one lol.)