(01-05-2014 01:41 PM)scotian Wrote:  Although I do enjoy my lifestyle of working a few months a year and traveling, its getting tiring

Damn, life must be good if travelling is getting tiring. I wanna get there!

Hey all. Special thanks to scotian for starting this thread and telling the world whats been going on around here. I've been following this thread since my roommate told me about it last month and am finally allowed to post. A bit about me: Born and raised in Edmonton. Graduated in '03 wanting to be a computer programmer and instead started an Apprenticeship and got my Journeyman Welder ticket in '08. I've been doing mostly Stainless Steel and Aluminum MIG and TIG and most of my SMAW experience has come from school. Started my HET Apprenticeship a couple years ago and am currently a 2nd year. With HET there are 4 Journeyman tickets that I could have after I'm finished the 4 year Apprenticeship. These include in order: Journeyman Trailer Mechanic, Journeyman On-Road Mechanic (after 3rd year), and after the 4th year I could have Journeyman Off-road Mechanic and Heavy Equipment Technician. I've been at my current job for 4 years now and although the pay is good enough ($37/hr + overtime + contractual piece work) due to the lack of professional appreciation and career advancement where I'm at, I have decided to quit the HET Apprenticship and get my B-Pressure ticket with the help of a course through NAIT. I start on the 11th of this month and will be doing my B-Pressure test on March 6th. Some people may ask "Why didn't you do that right after you got JM Welder ticket?". Fact is I didn't feel the need to get it. I am still young (28) and felt it important to keep a good social life and long term relationships while I'm young rather than work all the time. I'm not single but I do have a mortgage to pay for now so it's time to buckle down and make even more money. My plan is to get off the reefer (have since New Years after smoking for 13 years), join the Local 488 (Pipefitters Union) and work up in the Mac for at least 5 years. A little nervous about the big change but I feel it is necessary to advance in my career. I have 2 brothers in 2 different Unions that have been telling me to get it together for years now. Well time to take the good advice. If there are any 488 members out there please let me know what I gotta do to get in. Every day I check the call list and see average of 4-5 jobs available and from what I understand things are gonna be picking up even more in the next little while. Must say this thread has been quite informative, and I've been learning a lot through everyone's experience. Thanks everyone and keep the posts coming.

(01-03-2014 11:01 PM)TravellingSoldier Wrote:  No problem man, if you have questions about places to get your tickets and hostels/finding a place just ask What part of Canada are you from? I'm from Ontario and tbh it isn't as bad out here as everyone says. It's not a humid cold so it doesn't "stick to your bones" so to speak. It's just worse if you have exposed skin/improper gloves and boots. So as long as you dress warm, wear a balaclava and good boots and gloves, you'll be good.

Thank you very much. I will be sure to ask you about those things before i make the trip. I'm from Toronto. Nice city but its hard to get apprenticeship with a company here. Don't really mind the cold that much. And I know its boring out west, which you should already be accustomed to since you lived in Hamilton lol. But hey, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages by a landslide and I'm ready to take on that challenge. Its good to see that you have that drive at a young age. At that age i still didnt know what I wanted to do in life. But its all good. Very good decision you've chosen. Thank you for your support and I will definitely keep in touch with you.

(01-05-2014 02:36 PM)energyy Wrote:  

(01-03-2014 11:01 PM)TravellingSoldier Wrote:  No problem man, if you have questions about places to get your tickets and hostels/finding a place just ask What part of Canada are you from? I'm from Ontario and tbh it isn't as bad out here as everyone says. It's not a humid cold so it doesn't "stick to your bones" so to speak. It's just worse if you have exposed skin/improper gloves and boots. So as long as you dress warm, wear a balaclava and good boots and gloves, you'll be good.

Thank you very much. I will be sure to ask you about those things before i make the trip. I'm from Toronto. Nice city but its hard to get apprenticeship with a company here. Don't really mind the cold that much. And I know its boring out west, which you should already be accustomed to since you lived in Hamilton lol. But hey, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages by a landslide and I'm ready to take on that challenge. Its good to see that you have that drive at a young age. At that age i still didnt know what I wanted to do in life. But its all good. Very good decision you've chosen. Thank you for your support and I will definitely keep in touch with you.

Cool man, just a heads up. You can do the CPR and first aid through St. Johns Ambulance or Red Cross before you come out and they are recognized here. I also did H2S Alive in Beamsville, Ontario (you can do it in a few other places too) before I came out. It's a little more pricey but if you are looking to be prepared and start work ASAP, you can get some tickets while still on Ontario ground.

(01-05-2014 02:36 PM)energyy Wrote:  

(01-03-2014 11:01 PM)TravellingSoldier Wrote:  No problem man, if you have questions about places to get your tickets and hostels/finding a place just ask What part of Canada are you from? I'm from Ontario and tbh it isn't as bad out here as everyone says. It's not a humid cold so it doesn't "stick to your bones" so to speak. It's just worse if you have exposed skin/improper gloves and boots. So as long as you dress warm, wear a balaclava and good boots and gloves, you'll be good.

Thank you very much. I will be sure to ask you about those things before i make the trip. I'm from Toronto. Nice city but its hard to get apprenticeship with a company here. Don't really mind the cold that much. And I know its boring out west, which you should already be accustomed to since you lived in Hamilton lol. But hey, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages by a landslide and I'm ready to take on that challenge. Its good to see that you have that drive at a young age. At that age i still didnt know what I wanted to do in life. But its all good. Very good decision you've chosen. Thank you for your support and I will definitely keep in touch with you.

Oh, and by the way, even if you did get an apprenticeship the wages are shit there lol... A friend of mine is a 2nd year electrician in Hamilton and makes 15 an hour lmao. Plus, there's no where near as many hours there and the tickets aren't internationally recognized like the Red Seal JM tickets

(01-05-2014 02:02 PM)Albertron Wrote:  

(01-05-2014 01:41 PM)scotian Wrote:  Although I do enjoy my lifestyle of working a few months a year and traveling, its getting tiring

Damn, life must be good if travelling is getting tiring. I wanna get there!

LMAO! Strong gif bruh

Sorry bout the totally disorganized post earlier. Just found out about the "edit within 60 minutes" rule.

(01-03-2014 11:01 PM)TravellingSoldier Wrote:  Oh, and by the way, even if you did get an apprenticeship the wages are shit there lol... A friend of mine is a 2nd year electrician in Hamilton and makes 15 an hour lmao. Plus, there's no where near as many hours there and the tickets aren't internationally recognized like the Red Seal JM tickets

Exactly...the wages are way better in Alberta. More opportunity and more money. I'll give up living in Ontario for that anyday. Once this winter is done is when I will take my trip. I should have enough funds by then. I will get a few tickets before I leave. But im sure it will take me a few days to get situated and such so I may get a rental for a week for transportation. That may be pricey at my age, I have to look it up. When you first arrived there, how did you get around?

(01-05-2014 07:26 PM)energyy Wrote:  

(01-03-2014 11:01 PM)TravellingSoldier Wrote:  Oh, and by the way, even if you did get an apprenticeship the wages are shit there lol... A friend of mine is a 2nd year electrician in Hamilton and makes 15 an hour lmao. Plus, there's no where near as many hours there and the tickets aren't internationally recognized like the Red Seal JM tickets

Exactly...the wages are way better in Alberta. More opportunity and more money. I'll give up living in Ontario for that anyday. Once this winter is done is when I will take my trip. I should have enough funds by then. I will get a few tickets before I leave. But im sure it will take me a few days to get situated and such so I may get a rental for a week for transportation. That may be pricey at my age, I have to look it up. When you first arrived there, how did you get around?

Taking the bus! Unless you need to get to Nisku you really don't need a car. The ETS is really good and usually pretty fast so I have had no problem getting from my place (I'm staying on whyte ave) to downtown, even Fort Sask is on the bus route. Handing out resumes is easiest online now but if you hear of a few sure things and want to go in and hand them out physically, renting a car may be a good option. It all depends on your patience, if you've never owned a car it won't be necessary. Especially being from Toronto I'm sure you're used to public transportation. Get here and feel it out before you make any decisions. As for funds, just make sure you have atleast $4K and some warm clothes before you come out. If you find a temp job, you will be golden with even $3k.

@hervens
Mining eng will probably be a lot more interesting than electrical and more relevant to the actual industry but I should warn you that since you are in Quebec, you will learn much more about hard rocks than soft rocks (aka sedimentary rocks) that contain petroleum. The reason is simply geography- Quebec is in the Canadian Shield where there is no oil, just mineral resources. Look to see if your school offers classes in sedimentary geology before you blindly go into mining engineering. You want to be able to speak the language of this industry when you come out for work. Just my two cents. However, I know a lot of guys from Queens with geological eng or Toronto guys with Mining eng out here who found neat jobs, albiet in more geotechnical (civil combined with geo) work. The most interesting shit is actually the more conventional plays like the bakken, cardium, montney, horn river etc in my opinion, so consider that side as well as the oil sands which is sort of boring IMO- the oil is just sitting at the surface or very shallow and doesn't require the imagination needed to drill for oil 2km under ground!

(01-06-2014 12:48 AM)komatiite Wrote:  @hervens
Mining eng will probably be a lot more interesting than electrical and more relevant to the actual industry but I should warn you that since you are in Quebec, you will learn much more about hard rocks than soft rocks (aka sedimentary rocks) that contain petroleum. The reason is simply geography- Quebec is in the Canadian Shield where there is no oil, just mineral resources. Look to see if your school offers classes in sedimentary geology before you blindly go into mining engineering. You want to be able to speak the language of this industry when you come out for work. Just my two cents. However, I know a lot of guys from Queens with geological eng or Toronto guys with Mining eng out here who found neat jobs, albiet in more geotechnical (civil combined with geo) work. The most interesting shit is actually the more conventional plays like the bakken, cardium, montney, horn river etc in my opinion, so consider that side as well as the oil sands which is sort of boring IMO- the oil is just sitting at the surface or very shallow and doesn't require the imagination needed to drill for oil 2km under ground!

Another thing to consider is that a lot of the newer oil sands operations being built aren't mining, they're SAGD, where they drill into the land without disturbing the surface and pump the oil mix solution out. I"m not sure if mining engineers would be involved in that, probably petroleum engineers. Someone sent me this link, anyone interested in mining engineering should check it out: http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/09/13/striking-gold/

Fuck, I wish someone had sat me down when I was a teenage and told me about the opportunities in engineering, or even a trade instead of spending fours in uni to get a BA, oh well.

Scotian. You're starting to hit foreman, project manager level aren't you? Do you think youre BA is going to help you out with that just to say you went to uni?. I'm curious because I also have a BA going into a trade and am wondering what happens after the journeyman level and the opportunities available.

(01-06-2014 01:39 PM)NFallin Wrote:  Scotian. You're starting to hit foreman, project manager level aren't you? Do you think youre BA is going to help you out with that just to say you went to uni?. I'm curious because I also have a BA going into a trade and am wondering what happens after the journeyman level and the opportunities available.

I don't think I"m going to get into management any time real soon but I am looking into going self contractor which will basically double my wages, but also presents other challenges. To do so, I need to take a couple more courses that are only two weeks a piece and I should be there in the next 2-3 years. My problem is that I"m comfortable where I am and every time my bank account reaches a certain level I tell my employer to fuck off and I go travelling, which is all good but I could be a lot farther ahead in my career if I would just buckle down and "get er' done." I worked my ass off during my first three years in the oil patch to get a few tickets and bank enough money to be able to live the life I"m living now and honestly, I"m not too keen on doing it again but I really should.

As for management, I'm sure I could talk my employer into letting me run jobs at the field supervisor level but I don't really want to, sure its a few more bucks an hour and less field work but I'd be baby sitting a bunch of crazy tradesmen and dealing with crazy clients all the time, too much stress! I just want to set my self up in the next couple of years where I at least have the option to take an office job, we'll see what happens.

As for the BA, the only way it'll help me is if I decide to go back to school for an MBA, I already have the undergrad to do so, or if I go to engineering school, which is a possibility, I could transfer credits to take care of the humanities elective requirements.

(01-05-2014 01:15 PM)Jay_Bird Wrote:  I havent read the thread in a while and reading about all the people making the move is great. Especially Traveling soldier, im 19 and to hear someone young goin out there and making it is fuckin awesome.

I'm still saving that Do Re Mi

Anyone on here do heating and air conditioning refrigeration or combustion or know anyone that does? I was wondering how the work was for them in the sands? Or would that be more of a city job where your at home every night

Oh yeah man it's awesome. If you're into shows the music scene is sick out here as well. Performances all the time for those days off!

TS, well done from another Hamilton guy!

It's a shame you're out there and I'm back here otherwise we could have met up. I don't live in Hamilton but I'm so close by and all my night game adventures are there so things would have been interesting had we had two RVF guys running this town..

(01-06-2014 07:00 PM)Nascimento Wrote:  TS, well done from another Hamilton guy!

It's a shame you're out there and I'm back here otherwise we could have met up. I don't live in Hamilton but I'm so close by and all my night game adventures are there so things would have been interesting had we had two RVF guys running this town..

Ahh shit, I do plan on visiting in the near future, and when I do, I will hit you up man! The only problem is I'm not legal drinking age in Ontario lmao... So unless you've got solid enough game to hit up a chucky cheeses and try and slam some milfs it might be a no go, I'm down for whatever though. I could always use an excuse to have something to do in Hamilton.

Just wondering since you're commenting on this thread, are you considering a move out here?

(01-06-2014 10:14 PM)TravellingSoldier Wrote:  Ahh shit, I do plan on visiting in the near future, and when I do, I will hit you up man! The only problem is I'm not legal drinking age in Ontario lmao... So unless you've got solid enough game to hit up a chucky cheeses and try and slam some milfs it might be a no go, I'm down for whatever though. I could always use an excuse to have something to do in Hamilton.

Just wondering since you're commenting on this thread, are you considering a move out here?

The oil sands is still in the back of my mind, it might be something I get into later in 2014. I monitor this thread for updates and to see how things are going.

Ya, let's hit up chuck's! Day approaches it is.

(01-06-2014 10:43 PM)Nascimento Wrote:  

(01-06-2014 10:14 PM)TravellingSoldier Wrote:  Ahh shit, I do plan on visiting in the near future, and when I do, I will hit you up man! The only problem is I'm not legal drinking age in Ontario lmao... So unless you've got solid enough game to hit up a chucky cheeses and try and slam some milfs it might be a no go, I'm down for whatever though. I could always use an excuse to have something to do in Hamilton.

Just wondering since you're commenting on this thread, are you considering a move out here?

The oil sands is still in the back of my mind, it might be something I get into later in 2014. I monitor this thread for updates and to see how things are going.

Ya, let's hit up chuck's! Day approaches it is.

Well if you're into anything technical it's awesome out here. If you don't like long hours or getting your hands dirty it's probably not an environment you'd want to get into. Although I think for the money and experience, it shouldn't be a problem for someone uncomfortable with the conditions to man up and work hard for a while. Lack of poon might get you distraught but I just got a POF lurker to help me out when I got back in from camp.

There was actually a lot of girls at the camp I was staying... kinda strange. Anyways cool man, that or a gluten free bakery, booster juice something like that, pick up some health conscious HB's.

Traveling Soldier

Great job kid ! When I will have the 3k saved I'll be out there. In the meantime I'll be at Sam,s on Barton singing the blues.( sheesh you had to mention Barton , I fell out of my chair with that one rofl)

(01-07-2014 08:22 AM)Sal Ceech Wrote:  Traveling Soldier

Great job kid ! When I will have the 3k saved I'll be out there. In the meantime I'll be at Sam,s on Barton singing the blues.( sheesh you had to mention Barton , I fell out of my chair with that one rofl)

Good man, I'm glad to hear that. & yeah understandable... singing the blues is something most would do if faced with the sight of that decrepit neighbourhood. In the meantime stay away from the strip and pocket them dollars!

Hi all,
Can someone give me advice which places are the best in Calgary to get the main safety tickets: H2S alive, CSTS and Standard First aid? I heard that some places give tickets which are not recognised.
thanks a lot.

Anyone interested in getting tickets in Ed, this is where I went.

http://411.ca/business/profile/9513223

The place is pretty laid back, cool environment and if you do more than one ticket they will give you a discount. (I got all my tickets tax free)

(01-07-2014 03:57 PM)stafas777 Wrote:  Hi all,
Can someone give me advice which places are the best in Calgary to get the main safety tickets: H2S alive, CSTS and Standard First aid? I heard that some places give tickets which are not recognised.
thanks a lot.

http://www.enform.ca

http://jobview.monster.com/Equipment-Ope...rom=indeed

They are looking to hire 38 people!

Hi guys, first time on the forum, i'm moving to Canada in a couple of months,I have a friend who is a scaffolder in the oil sands and will give me a job labouring when i get there, I have a degree in computer software and was wondering is there any other positions I could go for or get certs that would get me a better paying job?