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This post is generated by the numerous threads started on the Canada branch by wide eyed young Europeans and Aussies looking to escape the downturn in their country and find a life, as well as a job, here.
STOP and do your research before you buy a ticket and apply for a visa.
The worldwide recession/depression has affected us just like everywhere else. A year ago you could walk down the street here in pretty much any population centre and get a $15-20 an hour job with no references, in about an hour. Those days are long gone. "HISTORY" as they say.......
These have now become $10 an hour jobs and have well over 100+ applicants for each one, whenever, and if they are even listed at all. Every one knows 3-5 people who are out of work. The OECD predicts our official government tabulated unemployment rate will hit 10% next year. It is currently being reported as sitting at 8.7%, but you have to remember, that is only based on the people recorded as receiving their 12 months worth of unemployment benefits, and/or listed as still looking for work. The reality is that we have a 15% +/- unemployment rate if you count all the people who have fallen off the list.
Layoffs have been rampant, there are over 10,000 highly skilled oil and gas engineers/tradespeople in our province alone who are out of work, and have zero prospects. There are thousands of laborers and construction workers that are laid off and out of work, as jobs move to cheaper US states giving tax subsidies, or Mexico and China.
Restaurants and bars, seemingly the primary employment domain of the folks coming over here looking for unskilled cash work are down in revenues, since no one has loose change to spend in said places, and in many cases they are off by as much as 50%. The largest group that owns numerous pubs and restaurants in Alberta is laying off staff. Every employer is cutting wages or laying people off. The last thing they will do is even look at an application from someone who has never lived here before, is going back home in 12 months, when there are thousands of qualified locals who need work and have verifiable work histories. If they offer you a job, expect it to perhaps be at lower than normal wages, and maybe even you'll be taken advantage of financially. Not trying to be rude, we love visitors, and I love an Irish, German or Aussie female accent moaning "oh gawd I'm cumming" in my bed as much as the next guy, so I'm just stating the facts for you to consider.
If you are insistent on travelling here, we still welcome you, but you had better have enough cash to live here for the duration of your visa, because the odds of you finding gainful legal employment OF ANY KIND is more difficult than it has ever been in 20 years for us.........let alone yourselves. You may just get lucky and find work, but don't bet your entire trip on it. Plan ahead, have access to $$ and you'll be fine.
Good luck and enjoy the trip !!
In October, Alberta lost more jobs than anywhere else in Canada......15,000 people were fired or laid off that month......."officially" that is.....if you want to know the truth, always double the government numbers. The reason I say this is that a large amount of our employees here are "contractors", that is, people who are self employed and do not collect employment insurance and are not on the government stats, when they get let go, none knows about it, and our oil and gas sector is shedding them by the thousands as well. If they are not working, they don't spend money in the bars, pubs and restaurants where you guys coming here and wanting to work.
How do you find a geologist in Calgary.......yell "waiter" !!!!!!!
By Valerie Berenyi, Calgary HeraldNovember 13, 2009 7:48 AM
CALGARY - The recession is hitting Calgary youth hard: the boom's high-paying, unskilled jobs have evaporated, employers are pickier and those aged 15 to 24 face 15.3 per cent unemployment.
But hard times are especially walloping vulnerable youths who face additional challenges in life: those from low-income or unstable families, aboriginals and new immigrants, street kids and addicts. They're struggling to find enough work to pay for rent, food, clothing and school fees, says a new report by the United Way of Calgary and Area.
"We all know youth in this age group who couldn't get summer jobs, but they have a safety net or family to fall back on. They can qualify for loans, or they have other coping strategies. Every youth is having trouble finding a job, but think about those with all these other challenges," says Ruth Ramsden-Wood, president of United Way of Calgary and Area.
Randi Amato, 23, knows first-hand the struggles encountered by young people. At 16, she dropped out of high school, attracted by the seemingly endless supply of jobs that paid OK and didn't require any education. She worked as a cashier, a waitress and a fast-food server, but the McJobs began drying up and her lack of education became a "huge" barrier.
"Would you hire somebody with a Grade 10 education or with a Grade 12 education?" asked Amato, who is aboriginal. "The people now getting hired have changed quite a bit. I wasn't going anywhere and I wanted more for myself."
The Youth Resiliency Report, released Thursday and based on focus groups with 25 youths and 38 staff from 19 social agencies serving young people, details the impact the recession is having on the city's vulnerable teens and young adults.
The Calgary Food Bank reported that between June and August of 2009, more than 700 emergency food hampers were given to people ages 15 to 24, a 44 per cent increase over last year. Other agencies report staff are spending more time helping youths find food.
Among the other findings:
-A lack of shelter:based on May 2008 data, at least 700 young Calgarians have no permanent address. Ramsden-Wood believes the number is higher given the number of youth who sleep on the street or couch surf;
-A lack of employment: In October, Statistics Canada reported the unemployment rate for Calgary youth had reached 15.3 per cent -- twice the rate of unemployed adults. And in September, it reported the hours students worked during the summer were the lowest since 1977 at 23.4 hour per week.
That's not enough to live on or return to school and pay for things like books and tuition if you don't have a family supporting you, said Ramsden-Wood.
In the report, a youth worker says she's trying to help kids "who can't find work after putting 300, 400, 500 resumes around."
And if youth do find work, it's often at the minimum hourly wage of $8.80, not the $13 to $15 that desperate employers paid for these jobs during the boom, adds Ramsden-Smith.
Like many other young people she knows, Amato decided to return to school and is now a full-time student at Bow Valley College working toward her Grade 12. She plans to apply for university next September and become a registered dietitian. "That's my big dream."
Because her family is unable to put her through school, she's funded through student finance, which pays her tuition, buys her books and provides a modest monthly living allowance. She does a bit of freelancing for New Tribe, a magazine for urban aboriginal youth, to supplement her income.
"People are coming back to school, but they're having a really hard time paying for it because it can be quite expensive to get an education. But I think it's going to be so worth it in the long run," she said.
To help other vulnerable youth, the United Way is giving an additional $100,000 to agencies like the Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth for job training programs. It's contributing an extra $20,000 to the Youth Bursary Fund, which pays for things like bus passes so youth can get to job interviews.
The non-profit has also created and is in the process of distributing a manual called Hope in Hard Times Guide for Youth.
Edited by: Zabba
Destination Winnipeg
Travel Manitoba
The Toban Experience
Churchill
Edited by: jabbs7
Edited by: jabbs7
Edited by: Zabba
500,000 people currently out of work and collecting unemployment payments from the government will run out of benefits in 2010 and will be unable to find work........so if you are coming here on a work visa and/or have stars in your eyes, the worldwide economic slowdown is also here in Canada......you had better be prepared, have money saved up to live with for the period you are visiting us if you cannot find a job, and expect stiff competition for those few jobs that are available, not only from desperate Canadians, but also from other job seekers here on work visas like yourself.
Not trying to be negative.......but rather relaying the truth that gets hidden in the news or not reported at all. For example, spent the last 2 days in Lake Louise, Alberta, and stayed at a resort. Got to talking with the waiters and other staff, and guess what, none of them are Aussies or had foreign accents. The resort now has an unwritten policy of trying to hire Canadians who are out of work.........people here on visas don't get a second look unless they have no choice.
http://www.ctv.ca/generic/generated/static/business/article1443053.html
More Canadians are running out of jobless benefits without finding work, a national report said Monday, suggesting many will have to turn to savings, loans, family members or welfare for financial help.
Even before the recession, about one in four people came to the end of their benefits without finding a job, said the report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, citing 2006/2007 federal government statistics. About two million new claims were filed last year, so the report estimates about half a million people may be running out.
A separate Statistics Canada report last week showed the number of people getting employment insurance fell to 795,900 in November after peaking at 829,300 in June. Unlike in the United States, the monthly report doesn't say how many recipients run out of claims without finding work. Canada's unemployment rate is 8.5 per cent, near an 11-year high.
“As many as 500,000 Canadians who initiated an EI claim in 2009 will exhaust their benefits because new jobs remain very difficult to find,” said Andrew Jackson, CCPA research associate and chief economist at the Canadian Labour Congress. “As the number of EI exhaustees increases, so will provincial social assistance caseloads and the number of families living in poverty.”
The duration of EI benefits varies. The report estimated that a new EI claimant, on average, qualifies for about 38 weeks, or nine months of benefits.
http://www.pointrobertsmarina.com/info/jobs.html
Sort of an option if you can't get a work permit somehow or find under the table work in Canada (which there is plenty of on craigslist).
Edited by: Zabba
Edited by: canadian_backpacker
700,000 people in Canada are now receiving government assistance that is due to expire within months......and when those benefits stop they drop off the statistical database, so if the government says there are fewer unemployed it is a lie, there are actually just fewer folks collecting money, not fewer people without jobs. Make sure you have a means to support yourself when you come here looking for work on your one year visa.
CALGARY - More Calgarians are receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits than they were a year ago, according to a report released today by Statistics Canada.
The federal agency said people in Calgary receiving EI grew from 12,310 in February 2009 to 20,060 in February 2010. (Up by almost 70% !!!)
Also, at the provincial level, there were 23,060 more people on EI in Alberta this year than a year ago !!!
Edited by: Zabba
← Back to topic list
75
Time for an employment update.......I have lived here in Canada for the last 30+ years. Right now I live in Calgary.........I am a former commercial banker and business owner......This post is generated by the numerous threads started on the Canada branch by wide eyed young Europeans and Aussies looking to escape the downturn in their country and find a life, as well as a job, here.
STOP and do your research before you buy a ticket and apply for a visa.
The worldwide recession/depression has affected us just like everywhere else. A year ago you could walk down the street here in pretty much any population centre and get a $15-20 an hour job with no references, in about an hour. Those days are long gone. "HISTORY" as they say.......
These have now become $10 an hour jobs and have well over 100+ applicants for each one, whenever, and if they are even listed at all. Every one knows 3-5 people who are out of work. The OECD predicts our official government tabulated unemployment rate will hit 10% next year. It is currently being reported as sitting at 8.7%, but you have to remember, that is only based on the people recorded as receiving their 12 months worth of unemployment benefits, and/or listed as still looking for work. The reality is that we have a 15% +/- unemployment rate if you count all the people who have fallen off the list.
Layoffs have been rampant, there are over 10,000 highly skilled oil and gas engineers/tradespeople in our province alone who are out of work, and have zero prospects. There are thousands of laborers and construction workers that are laid off and out of work, as jobs move to cheaper US states giving tax subsidies, or Mexico and China.
Restaurants and bars, seemingly the primary employment domain of the folks coming over here looking for unskilled cash work are down in revenues, since no one has loose change to spend in said places, and in many cases they are off by as much as 50%. The largest group that owns numerous pubs and restaurants in Alberta is laying off staff. Every employer is cutting wages or laying people off. The last thing they will do is even look at an application from someone who has never lived here before, is going back home in 12 months, when there are thousands of qualified locals who need work and have verifiable work histories. If they offer you a job, expect it to perhaps be at lower than normal wages, and maybe even you'll be taken advantage of financially. Not trying to be rude, we love visitors, and I love an Irish, German or Aussie female accent moaning "oh gawd I'm cumming" in my bed as much as the next guy, so I'm just stating the facts for you to consider.
If you are insistent on travelling here, we still welcome you, but you had better have enough cash to live here for the duration of your visa, because the odds of you finding gainful legal employment OF ANY KIND is more difficult than it has ever been in 20 years for us.........let alone yourselves. You may just get lucky and find work, but don't bet your entire trip on it. Plan ahead, have access to $$ and you'll be fine.
Good luck and enjoy the trip !!
76
Another update........In October, Alberta lost more jobs than anywhere else in Canada......15,000 people were fired or laid off that month......."officially" that is.....if you want to know the truth, always double the government numbers. The reason I say this is that a large amount of our employees here are "contractors", that is, people who are self employed and do not collect employment insurance and are not on the government stats, when they get let go, none knows about it, and our oil and gas sector is shedding them by the thousands as well. If they are not working, they don't spend money in the bars, pubs and restaurants where you guys coming here and wanting to work.
How do you find a geologist in Calgary.......yell "waiter" !!!!!!!
77
And another "lack of jobs" update...........By Valerie Berenyi, Calgary HeraldNovember 13, 2009 7:48 AM
CALGARY - The recession is hitting Calgary youth hard: the boom's high-paying, unskilled jobs have evaporated, employers are pickier and those aged 15 to 24 face 15.3 per cent unemployment.
But hard times are especially walloping vulnerable youths who face additional challenges in life: those from low-income or unstable families, aboriginals and new immigrants, street kids and addicts. They're struggling to find enough work to pay for rent, food, clothing and school fees, says a new report by the United Way of Calgary and Area.
"We all know youth in this age group who couldn't get summer jobs, but they have a safety net or family to fall back on. They can qualify for loans, or they have other coping strategies. Every youth is having trouble finding a job, but think about those with all these other challenges," says Ruth Ramsden-Wood, president of United Way of Calgary and Area.
Randi Amato, 23, knows first-hand the struggles encountered by young people. At 16, she dropped out of high school, attracted by the seemingly endless supply of jobs that paid OK and didn't require any education. She worked as a cashier, a waitress and a fast-food server, but the McJobs began drying up and her lack of education became a "huge" barrier.
"Would you hire somebody with a Grade 10 education or with a Grade 12 education?" asked Amato, who is aboriginal. "The people now getting hired have changed quite a bit. I wasn't going anywhere and I wanted more for myself."
The Youth Resiliency Report, released Thursday and based on focus groups with 25 youths and 38 staff from 19 social agencies serving young people, details the impact the recession is having on the city's vulnerable teens and young adults.
The Calgary Food Bank reported that between June and August of 2009, more than 700 emergency food hampers were given to people ages 15 to 24, a 44 per cent increase over last year. Other agencies report staff are spending more time helping youths find food.
Among the other findings:
-A lack of shelter:based on May 2008 data, at least 700 young Calgarians have no permanent address. Ramsden-Wood believes the number is higher given the number of youth who sleep on the street or couch surf;
-A lack of employment: In October, Statistics Canada reported the unemployment rate for Calgary youth had reached 15.3 per cent -- twice the rate of unemployed adults. And in September, it reported the hours students worked during the summer were the lowest since 1977 at 23.4 hour per week.
That's not enough to live on or return to school and pay for things like books and tuition if you don't have a family supporting you, said Ramsden-Wood.
In the report, a youth worker says she's trying to help kids "who can't find work after putting 300, 400, 500 resumes around."
And if youth do find work, it's often at the minimum hourly wage of $8.80, not the $13 to $15 that desperate employers paid for these jobs during the boom, adds Ramsden-Smith.
Like many other young people she knows, Amato decided to return to school and is now a full-time student at Bow Valley College working toward her Grade 12. She plans to apply for university next September and become a registered dietitian. "That's my big dream."
Because her family is unable to put her through school, she's funded through student finance, which pays her tuition, buys her books and provides a modest monthly living allowance. She does a bit of freelancing for New Tribe, a magazine for urban aboriginal youth, to supplement her income.
"People are coming back to school, but they're having a really hard time paying for it because it can be quite expensive to get an education. But I think it's going to be so worth it in the long run," she said.
To help other vulnerable youth, the United Way is giving an additional $100,000 to agencies like the Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth for job training programs. It's contributing an extra $20,000 to the Youth Bursary Fund, which pays for things like bus passes so youth can get to job interviews.
The non-profit has also created and is in the process of distributing a manual called Hope in Hard Times Guide for Youth.
Edited by: Zabba
78
Just in case travelers find themselves looking to get off the beaten Canadian travel path and plan to or have to visit Winnipeg and Manitoba. Lots to see and do. These are the links that will give you the best advice.Destination Winnipeg
Travel Manitoba
The Toban Experience
Churchill
Edited by: jabbs7
Edited by: jabbs7
Edited by: Zabba
79
For info on what to see and do in Toronto (attractions, tours, hotels, etc), check out Tourism Toronto's website http://www.seetorontonow.com80
Another unemployment update.........500,000 people currently out of work and collecting unemployment payments from the government will run out of benefits in 2010 and will be unable to find work........so if you are coming here on a work visa and/or have stars in your eyes, the worldwide economic slowdown is also here in Canada......you had better be prepared, have money saved up to live with for the period you are visiting us if you cannot find a job, and expect stiff competition for those few jobs that are available, not only from desperate Canadians, but also from other job seekers here on work visas like yourself.
Not trying to be negative.......but rather relaying the truth that gets hidden in the news or not reported at all. For example, spent the last 2 days in Lake Louise, Alberta, and stayed at a resort. Got to talking with the waiters and other staff, and guess what, none of them are Aussies or had foreign accents. The resort now has an unwritten policy of trying to hire Canadians who are out of work.........people here on visas don't get a second look unless they have no choice.
http://www.ctv.ca/generic/generated/static/business/article1443053.html
More Canadians are running out of jobless benefits without finding work, a national report said Monday, suggesting many will have to turn to savings, loans, family members or welfare for financial help.
Even before the recession, about one in four people came to the end of their benefits without finding a job, said the report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, citing 2006/2007 federal government statistics. About two million new claims were filed last year, so the report estimates about half a million people may be running out.
A separate Statistics Canada report last week showed the number of people getting employment insurance fell to 795,900 in November after peaking at 829,300 in June. Unlike in the United States, the monthly report doesn't say how many recipients run out of claims without finding work. Canada's unemployment rate is 8.5 per cent, near an 11-year high.
“As many as 500,000 Canadians who initiated an EI claim in 2009 will exhaust their benefits because new jobs remain very difficult to find,” said Andrew Jackson, CCPA research associate and chief economist at the Canadian Labour Congress. “As the number of EI exhaustees increases, so will provincial social assistance caseloads and the number of families living in poverty.”
The duration of EI benefits varies. The report estimated that a new EI claimant, on average, qualifies for about 38 weeks, or nine months of benefits.
81
American's can get jobs in Pt. Roberts (about a 1hr 20mins commute from Vancouver)http://www.pointrobertsmarina.com/info/jobs.html
Sort of an option if you can't get a work permit somehow or find under the table work in Canada (which there is plenty of on craigslist).
Edited by: Zabba
82
ScotiaPages.com - Travel Guide and HD TV Travel Channel for Nova ScotiaEdited by: canadian_backpacker
83
Regarding official unemployment rate. Keep in mind that the government has split up the stats reporting criteria to show a rosier picture than reality. Out of work situations is rather grim. Many out of workers are signing up for Adult retraining since they get a stipend or loan to do so. That helps fudge the stats as one example.84
Still a dire lack of jobs here in Alberta.......and Calgary in particular.700,000 people in Canada are now receiving government assistance that is due to expire within months......and when those benefits stop they drop off the statistical database, so if the government says there are fewer unemployed it is a lie, there are actually just fewer folks collecting money, not fewer people without jobs. Make sure you have a means to support yourself when you come here looking for work on your one year visa.
CALGARY - More Calgarians are receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits than they were a year ago, according to a report released today by Statistics Canada.
The federal agency said people in Calgary receiving EI grew from 12,310 in February 2009 to 20,060 in February 2010. (Up by almost 70% !!!)
Also, at the provincial level, there were 23,060 more people on EI in Alberta this year than a year ago !!!
Edited by: Zabba
85
Here is another good one with quite a bit of info -> Travel & Relocation Guide for people coming to Vancouver BC, Canada86
For information on five awesome water destinations in Canada88
BC Ferries: You can avoid long waits, significant advance-booking fees and a degree of uncertainty by not taking a vehicle. Go as a walk-on passenger, or park at/near the terminal and wheel kayaks on to a ferry and launch at a walkable dock at your destination (even Swartz Bay), or put two bikes on the front of any bus heading to Tsawwassen (to Vancouver Island) or Horseshoe Bay (to Sunshine Coast & Vancouver Island) ferry terminals from downtown Vancouver. Cost to take a bike on the ferries is minimal, and there's no quota. My recollection is that they don't charge for kayaks, but confirm that hasn't changed.
