IT in CANADA

Heah all,

Hows the IT job market in Canada? I see some of your posters are from Canada, may be you guys can provide some info on this. I have applied for the Canadian PR, but it take 2-3 years to actually get it, unless one manages to get a job in Canada and can obtain it faster.

I have applied for a job to several places online but have never heard anything. I understand that it might be because of my lack of experience in the field, as its not even a year yet.

I just want to get a good idea of the availability of jobs, especially in InfoSec. Do you physically have to be there to get hired? any other info is also greatly appreciated. Just trying to figure out if it would be a good move to move to Canada. I have a great starting job and would like something better off course.

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GT-Rob

Canada is very diverse, so it depends where you want to go.

If you are open to anywhere here, and don't mind cold winters, come to Alberta. The IT industry is huge here, actually just about every market is huge. Some cities here have an average income of over $100k/year (thats average of everyone). I am in Calgary now, and make double what I made in Ontario. In Alberta you can have a job in about 3 minutes, and an IT job in about an hour (I am not joking).

Toronto would be the next best for jobs. You have a lot of cities around there, and probably has the most jobs overall (the most people too).

BC is the nicest part of Canada IMO, good amount of jobs there in Vancouver, especially with the olympics coming in 2 years. It will be an expensive place to be though.

East coast is jobless. Quebec is ok, and easy to imigrate to (lots of people goto Montreal first, then to Alberta).

Anyway, I would say it will be hard to get a job before you are legal to work here. We need skilled workers but companies don't want to waste time on someone who might not ever get here

coffeeking

Thanks for the reply mate. That is a good bit of information, exactly what I was looking for. I actually plan to go to BC, but would'nt mind going elsewhere for a good job. 100K or so sounds very good, but that would be for someone with a bit of experience I would think. If it actually takes me about 3 years to get a PR card, by then I would have 3.5 years of experience and hopefuly more education under my belt, which I heavily plan to earn.

I can totally understand the companie's procedure of not hiring someone who doesnt' have the legal work permit. But, if you manage to land a job while you are in process of obtaining your PR, and company agrees to hire you, then you are on to something called 'Fast track' processing, one can get there as soon as in 9 months or so. Otherwise it takes a few years.

Thanks for your input mate, very informative.

binarysoul

I would say it would be almost impossible to get an IT job while you're not a Canadian resident and have less than a year experience (as you say you have). So if I were you, I wouldn't even waste my time sending out resumes. There may be a one in a billion chance someone will even email you.

Once you arrive in Canada, that's another story altogether. Don't expect to get a job right away even if you have the skills and experience that is not Canadian so to speak. I know it sucks as IT is IT no matter where you go, but HR doesn't think that way.

Do expect to start from junior-level jobs with minimal pay, i.e. helpdesk and call center and then move on to real IT jobs.

Canadians are generally nice people and open-minded, but if you belong to visible minority do expect different treatment when applying for jobs at least once in a while. This shouldn't discourage you, I'm simply stating a fact. The good news is that people are generally nice, but do expect to be treated differently if you're different. Remember, Canada is regarded a highly tolerant country when it comes to migrants and it's a fact, but it's not a perfect country. No country is.

GT-Rob

Ya you might be able to secure a job if you had enough demand (10+ year experience, CCIE or phd or something along those lines).

There are plenty of entry level people already here though, so you will most likely have to wait. 3 years sounds about right for PR (depending on the country you are coming from).

UnixGuy

Interesting replies!

any idea how's Unix Administration there ?? is it widely used like the US ?? and how's Sun products in general in Canada ?

Pash

GT-Rob wrote:

Ya you might be able to secure a job if you had enough demand (10+ year experience, CCIE or phd or something along those lines).

There are plenty of entry level people already here though, so you will most likely have to wait. 3 years sounds about right for PR (depending on the country you are coming from).

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/index.asp -

The requirements are actually:-

- You have at least one continuous year of full-time, paid work experience or the equivalent in part-time continuous employment.
-Your work experience must be Skill Type 0 (managerial occupations) or Skill Level A (professional occupations) or B (technical occupations and skilled trades) on the Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC).
- You must have had this experience within the last 10 years.

It is something I wouldnt mind researching about, i dont mind cold weather and I hear the cost of living out there is incredibly cheap compared to the UK. This for me is massive bonus, only downside being i would miss my family and friends.

dynamik

Pash wrote:

It is something I wouldnt mind researching about, i dont mind cold weather and I hear the cost of living out there is incredibly cheap compared to the UK. This for me is massive bonus, only downside being i would miss my family and friends.

Depends on the location. From what I've heard, Vancouver is warmer than Minnesota. It might still be colder than you though, not sure.

GT-Rob

The weather is odd here.

Vancouver is like Seattle (they are about 50 miles apart). Never snows, but rains every day :P

Alberta is nice, as they rocky mountains are right there. However, in the winter it can go from +70F to -50F.

From what I have seen, you probably wouldn't make as much here as you would in the UK, but like you said, it is much cheaper to live here.

binarysoul

Haa weahter

If I had the power, I would shift Canada some place warm!

I've lived in Toronto, Ottawa, the East Coast and been to Montreal (Canada's Europe). I have to tell you, extreme cold isn't something you will have good memories of; at least I'm not fond of it. When you get up in the 7am on Monday morning in Janaury and your car outside is under heavy ice and snow and the roads are slippery and it's snowstorm with winds upto 90km/h, you want to be in Florida!

I have friends and family in the UK and the urge is I move there. The cost of living is a concern, but I also hear one can earn good cash. I've been briefly to London a couple of times, and I've liked the peopel and the climate. I don't mind giving up extreme cold in return for high cost of living so long as Londoners take me as an employee

astorrs

binarysoul wrote:

Haa weahter

If I had the power, I would shift Canada some place warm!

I've lived in Toronto, Ottawa, the East Coast and been to Montreal (Canada's Europe). I have to tell you, extreme cold isn't something you will have good memories of; at least I'm not fond of it. When you get up in the 7am on Monday morning in Janaury and your car outside is under heavy ice and snow and the roads are slippery and it's snowstorm with winds upto 90km/h, you want to be in Florida!

I have friends and family in the UK and the urge is I move there. The cost of living is a concern, but I also hear one can earn good cash. I've been briefly to London a couple of times, and I've liked the peopel and the climate. I don't mind giving up extreme cold in return for high cost of living so long as Londoners take me as an employee

You need to move west to Vancouver. The average winter high here is 6C (avg low is about 0-1C). You couldn't pay me enough to move to Ontario for the winters...

snadam

Having family in Montreal, I dont know how they tolerate the winters there. Its insane. Then again, some of them must think im crazy fishing all day in 108 degree weather during the summers

astorrs

snadam wrote:

Having family in Montreal, I dont know how they tolerate the winters there. Its insane. Then again, some of them must think im crazy fishing all day in 108 degree weather during the summers

Yes there is nothing I love more than landing at PHX and realizing it's 105F in the shade... at 5:00pm. I usually do my best to get the hell out of there before lunch the next day (for fear of melting)...

I'll be there for 2 days next week... what am I thinking...

snadam

astorrs wrote:

snadam wrote:

Having family in Montreal, I dont know how they tolerate the winters there. Its insane. Then again, some of them must think im crazy fishing all day in 108 degree weather during the summers

Yes there is nothing I love more than landing at PHX and realizing it's 105F in the shade... at 5:00pm. I usually do my best to get the hell out of there before lunch the next day (for fear of melting)...

I'll be there for 2 days next week... what am I thinking...

Well if it makes you feel any better, its been in the high 90's low 100's with 30%+ humidity. Welcome to the monsoon season, where the 'dry heat' no longer applies.

http://www.weather.com/weather/local/85024?lswe=85024&lwsa=WeatherLocalUndeclared&from=searchbox

dynamik

He asked me if he should hang out with anyone while he's down there. I was like well, Undomiel doesn't drink and Snadam does shots of SoCo, so you probably don't want to bother...

snadam

dynamik wrote:

He asked me if he should hang out with anyone while he's down there. I was like well, Undomiel doesn't drink and Snadam does shots of SoCo*, so you probably don't want to bother...

*shots of SoCo in the privacy and safety of my own home!!!

first weather, now booze....oh well, when in Rome...where is my SoCo?

undomiel

On the other hand I can offer a complete beatdown in Wii bowling!

astorrs

undomiel wrote:

On the other hand I can offer a complete beatdown in Wii bowling!

I wouldn't doubt it, since I've never even touched a Wii controller...

OptimusPrime

I don't know what you guys are talking about, I'm in Florida

nasu

GT-Rob wrote:

Canada is very diverse, so it depends where you want to go.

If you are open to anywhere here, and don't mind cold winters, come to Alberta. The IT industry is huge here, actually just about every market is huge. Some cities here have an average income of over $100k/year (thats average of everyone). I am in Calgary now, and make double what I made in Ontario. In Alberta you can have a job in about 3 minutes, and an IT job in about an hour (I am not joking).

Toronto would be the next best for jobs. You have a lot of cities around there, and probably has the most jobs overall (the most people too).

BC is the nicest part of Canada IMO, good amount of jobs there in Vancouver, especially with the olympics coming in 2 years. It will be an expensive place to be though.

East coast is jobless. Quebec is ok, and easy to imigrate to (lots of people goto Montreal first, then to Alberta).

Anyway, I would say it will be hard to get a job before you are legal to work here. We need skilled workers but companies don't want to waste time on someone who might not ever get here

Very interesting I am in Ontario and salary kinda sucks and i have lots of years experience and work but is not even close to 100k+ . If you could give more info what u do what`s ure salary what was in On and where can I look for jobs in IT in Calgary. How`s rent there ?

Really appreciated.

GT-Rob

Where in Ontario are you? If you are in Toronto, or maybe Ottawa, Alberta might not be worth the move (its a far move!) as those larger cities seems to have comparable pay/opportunities.

Check out sisystems.com. They have lots of IT contracts in Alberta, most of them 60-90k. They have deals with a lot of oil and gas companies out here, and they all pay well. There are a few other consulting companies out here. Sapphire, TEC, to name a few. Lots of big companies here though. Telus, IBM, etc. EnCanna (oil company) is building the tallest building in Canada right now, so there will be lots of openings with them I suspect (I am already interviewing with them).

Housing is the one thing that will kill you out here. Im not exaggerating that it is about 2-4 times as much as Ontario (not including toronto). A decent place is going to be around $1000/month at least.

Everything else is the same though. Gas, food, movies, its all the same. Its just housing has been driven up so much because everyone makes so much out here.

Its also a far move. To drive, you are looking at around 3500km. Flying isn't bad (westjet is about $300 each way), but it depends what you are bringing

nasu

thx buddy, I'm in Toronto still in my 3 year at Seneca Collge Networking and Security but I have more than 10 years experience with computers and about 5 with networking. I am planning to go and get all my certs and then get a Senior Networking Admin or Security job.

Thx for the info keep in touch. I don't mind driving that bad

haha when did u move there ? i guess PST tax is not applicable there right ?

astorrs

Yeah no PST in Alberta.

And I wish "a decent place is going to be around $1000/month at least" applied to Vancouver as well. For $1000/month here you can live in a "lovely" 2 bedroom box with a view of a brick wall, a "minor" rodent problem and a strange smell emanating from the walls...

GT-Rob

haha ya Vancouver is nuts, but you guys have the mountains, the ocean, and no snow, so I don't feel sorry for you guys!

I moved here last winter. It was -47 when I was waiting for my bus the first week here. As much as the jobs are great out here, I will probably be moving to Toronto next year. More just because I don't like being so far from family.

coffeeking

This post has turned out to be real informative for me, got more than what I was asking for.

One thing that makes me wonder; the place I work at here in kuwait is a widely recognized place in middle east. From what I have heard, there are about 300 canadians in our work place, total of about 3000-4000 staff, most of them arab-canadians. This makes me wonder that why did all these guys came back from there; if there are good IT jobs in Canada then why didn't they take them?

nasu

i don't think IT jobs are really good in Canada, the best I guess is Dubai, Europe, US i mean $$$ value. -47 is a lot yeah crazy. Vancouver is really nice place to live better than Toronto in my personal opinion. Good luck guys finding the best place to live and the best salary in IT.

GT-Rob

For one, the grass is always greener on the other side...

I agree that Canada isn't #1 in IT, and never will be. I personally have even considered jobs in other countries like UAE, Bermuda, etc. But its the quality of life that keeps me here.

astorrs

GT-Rob wrote:

I agree that Canada isn't #1 in IT, and never will be. I personally have even considered jobs in other countries like UAE, Bermuda, etc. But its the quality of life that keeps me here.

+1

I danced around with taking a job in the middle east last year, but didn't really want to raise my 4 year old on a compound in Dubai. Even the 50% salary increase wasn't enough to leave my life here.

Sepiraph

binarysoul wrote: »

I would say it would be almost impossible to get an IT job while you're not a Canadian resident and have less than a year experience (as you say you have). So if I were you, I wouldn't even waste my time sending out resumes. There may be a one in a billion chance someone will even email you.

I agree, it is basically pointless to send out resume if you are not even in the country.

From what I have seen, it is quite difficult for non-citizen to get decent jobs in Canada period since a lot of companies require/desire Canadian experiences. From an employer's point of view, they don't really have an incentive to hire someone foreign over local. Language barrier is another factor.

It helps if you can speak English (or French) well and confidently, even better if you have networking (socially).