from canada?

[blazin454]

hey who all is from canada and where abouts? is anyone able to give any info or advice as to where would be a good place to go? ex. i hear saskatchewan is booming now and its still cheap to buy land.. alberta is good money and booming but expensive to live... and bc.... well i dont think is has as much to offer except for the fact i can walk out my backdoor and go fishing in the beautiful creek behind my house or drive up into the mountain that are also right behind my house... in my opinion its beautiful here... anyways any information as so where the money is, where is affordable, and where all the work is will be appreaciated.. thanks

[Cornerstone]

Wow! Someone who wants to move here?? Waaal, Sask. is fast becoming the center of the Prairie universe, while Alberta is still cruising in boom mode. If you're coming up from the U.S. you might want to check out your tax regs. and ours for that matter. I've read previous posts here and on the AWS forum where fellas have some complaints about the tax stuff. Yes, real estate is at a premium here in Alberta where renting can run ya $800 for a one bedroom apt. to $2000 for a 3-bedroom bungalow. But definitely its a tradesmens bonanza in both provinces with some really good wages for the ticketed. Oh yeah, forgot to mention winter. Brrrrrr. But a small concession is that it's a dry cold. All the best.

[c wagner]

Well I live in Saskatchewan and here is MY opinion of our fine province.
Yes jobs seem to be plentiful here these days but the wages haven't exactly increased a whole lot for the most part.
Housing prices on the other hand have increased approx. 65% over the past year. It seems that many investors from other provinces knew about our impending boom well before the residents did and swooped in to buy up all of the cheap real estate, then the boom hit and prices went through the roof! Currently the market is flooded with houses however the prices haven't dropped any if your lucky enough to find a place to rent you'll also pay dearly for that!
It doesn't matter what size the town or city, if there is oil or mining anywhere near you can expect to pay premium prices.

Other than that there are plenty of nice lakes for fishing and camping. Lots of good hunting, snowmobiling, quading, etc. We're pretty shy on mountains but that's why you take your summer holidays and check out Alberta and B.C.!!!

[youngwelder_154]

Newfoundland is going to be booming here in about a year, Mind you thats a little far away but it gives you time to save up all the pennies you will need I'm going to be getting my Red Seal just in time for top wages But as far as works concerned Alberta is TOP right now, Im a second year apprentice and had an offer for 30 an hour START OFF!! but an illness came to my family and family is more important thank god my mother got better
Also I'm not from Newfoundland, I'm right next to it on the small Island of PEI no work here don't bother trying :P (thats whay I want to leave)

[new2weld]

From Canada here. Just a hobbiest - spent 20 hrs or so on stick. Just got a MM210 and planning to fire it up and go the mig route.

I'm from Southern Ontario - just north of Toronto.

[Mega Arc 5040DD]

Saskatchewan is the place to be at least thats my thoughts I also happen to live here so I might be a little biast Its booming with lots of jobs and opertunities. Thats just my 2 cents

[c wagner]

Saskatchewan is the place to be at least thats my thoughts I also happen to live here so I might be a little biast Its booming with lots of jobs and opertunities. Thats just my 2 cents

Where are you in Sask.?

[blazin454]

interesting.. i think ive got my mind made up.. im going to try to learn a little bit and stay at the job im at then move out to alberta or sask whichever seems most prosperise (spelling???) at the time. the company im with now is not one i want to make much more for as the owner is greedy cheap and very ignorant.. he treats his guys like dirt and doesnt pay them near what they are worth. we do big jobs for coal mines diamond mines sawmills and oil companies such as precision drilling (big money jobs) but yet we only make $13 to start.. the highest paid fully ticketed guy are only making like 24-26.. i dont think thats very fair as the companies we are doing jobs for pay their entry level labourers more than that. lol other than that little rant the guys i work with seem like pretty good guys and there is alot to learn from many of them.. so i hope to learn as much as possible then move on to a company that is willing to treat their employees fairly...

[Mega Arc 5040DD]

Where are you in Sask.?

Saskatoon

[Conrad_Turbo]

Saskatoon

Ditto.

The vacancy rate last I heard in Stoon was less than .X%, so it is hard to find a decent place to rent in the city and everything is overpriced. I have a mortgage for a house I bought 3 years ago, to rent my place it'd be over double what I would pay on my mortgage...the city property values are crazy. I truely feel bad for anyone who didn't get in before the boom and are S'toon locals.

If I were someone moving into Saskatchewan I'd move into a small town close to the city. The property spike hasn't hit the small towns as much as the city. Then wait a few years for the market to cool down (there will be a surplus of home builders in the next few years) and then move into the city. There are a lot of specific field jobs, however it is hyped up more than it really is, in my opinion.

[blazin454]

has anyone heard anything about the pipeline in regina? someone said there was a new pipeline going through the city and there would be alot of work for welders there..

[c wagner]

News to me but it might be true. I was reading in some oil industry magazine that there is potentially 4 pipelines headed through Saskatchewan in the next couple of years. I guess it all depends on what the price of oil does.

[Shep]

There is a huge stockpile of pipe south of Regina on highway 6 at the old drive in theatre

[blazin454]

if anyone knows of any potential work in that area please let me know...

[dmk welding]

I just moved back to Saskatoon from Alberta this summer and bought a house. We paid $280 K for a 1040 sq. ft bungalow on a quiet cul-du-sac on the west side. My mortgage is high and the bills are too and I have no idea where to find rig work in this area.
I got on with a local company in July and did a 1.5 month long job for them in Edmonton for peanuts compared to what I made in alberta. What a friggin joke this Saskatoon welding company was...prime example of the old CHEAP rig welder from Sask that is stuck in 1988 and thinks a guy should only get travel one way, etc etc. Scabby welder also...will never even consider working for him again. Sorry for that rant.
Anyways...here I sit...wife 6 months pregnant, new house, big bills and I sit and type on this computer at 10:26 am on a Friday when I really should be working.
In my opinion, stay away from Sask for now unless you want a shop job for 10-23/hr, unless you're in Estevan and even there the cost of living is skyrocketing. The cost of everything rose way before any real kind of boom hit here and like C Wagner says the wages are WAY behind Alberta.
Guess I'll get back to faxing resumes for now and praying that I don't have to go the pipefitters union route to pay the bills!