Post: #1

Sup folks.

I feel like I had enough of living in Europe so time for me to get the fuck out of here.

I found out I'm eligible for Canadian express entry. I've never thought about living in Canada before really but I figure why not.

With oil down in the dumps at $30 and some experts even speculating ridiculous prices like $10 in a couple years, I don't think it'll be easy to find a job in oil and gas. Thankfully I still have all the tech experience and tech isn't dying anytime soon. Things I'm curious about are;

- Is IT in high demand there? Apparently not enough people move to Canada to work in IT so Google search proved unfruitful. If I lose my job here, I'll find another in a month tops and probably with a 5-10% salary increase as well. Is it anything like that?
- Which province should I move to in order to maximize my career prospects in IT?
- How's the average ratio of senior developer/software architect salaries to median income in these cities? According to my research, purchasing power adjusted GDP in Sweden and Canada is similar but Canada has higher income inequality which for STEM field workers is a good thing.
- How's the banging prospects?
- Anything else I should know about living in Canada? (not visiting, living)

I've been to Canada before but not for a long time so my experience was quite touristy. I ran a search on the forum but most if not all I could find was about life in the oil sands. Since I'll be living in a city working a day job rather than working 2-3 week shifts on a remote site and getting my ass off to somewhere in South America, it doesn't really apply in my case. I'd very much appreciate some hard red pill knowledge dropped, especially from Canadian residents who moved there from another country.

Cheers

Post: #2

I would suggest stay away from Toronto for your sanity. The weather and women are terrible, and the price to live in or near the city is quite high. It's all the drawbacks of Vancouver (expensive, people are a little cold) without any of the positives of Vancouver (weather, good looking women).

Calgary if you want to make bank. Anything you can do in Vancouver, tack on $20k to that and you'll have your wage in Calgary. It's a smaller city but people are nice. It's also cheap to live in so you can save a lot of money.

Vancouver is a great city for the outdoors, good looking women and the weather. It's expensive here but lifestyle can be quite good if you are making money.

Post: #3

Anybody knows how you look for jobs in Canada? I have tried few online job sites and there are very few jobs on it (monster, indeed). I always thought Canada had more jobs than here in the UK, maybe I am looking for it the wrong way.

Post: #4

Kijiji is a good place to check for leads on work, living arrangements, vehicles etc. Essentially Craigslist for Canada but a bit more professional. Might not be best for IT related job searching but its a start.

Post: #5

Canada is going through a recession now, but no one is saying it.

I don't know about Alberta, both most other provinces are in rough shape.

If you have a choice of places to go, I wouldn't choose to come to Canada.

Linkedin is a good tool to find jobs, the online sites are garbage.

Post: #6

Vancouver is booming right now, lots of jobs most people I know are understaffed and looking to hire. The province is also voicing much of the same, especially up north.

The north coast is also prepping for the LNG terminals.

BC is the new Alberta, funny how that happened.

Post: #7

(01-19-2016 03:22 PM)the Thing Wrote:  I found out I'm eligible for Canadian express entry. I've never thought about living in Canada before really but I figure why not.

You are not eligible unless you have 12 months work experience in Canada.

Post: #8

Canada's IT/Tech is not that large as Canada does not the heavy funding VC streams that America enjoys. You will find Tech in Canada clusterd in three reigons: Kitchener-Waterloo (KW), Ottawa, and Toronto.

KW is the place where the most prospects would be. It is basically are version of Silicon Valley with Google, RIM, etc., all based there with the University of Waterloo serving as the research hub.

KW is a decent city that is dominated by it's universities. It isn't that big and lifestyles can get capped there with not that much stuff to do.

Toronto is seeing a Start-up bubble right now and if you have legit skill sets you can exploit this to make deacent money. There will be a new program put forward by the city that will dump tens of millions in the field in 2016 so opportunity will be there.

But the catch here is that Toronto is a hole, but for a Swede dude you will likely like it here (most Swedes I meet like it here, most prefer the mountains and BC though) and probably do well with the ladies.

I would not call Canada a Tech giant in that scene though, Sweden might even have a much more robust world in Tech than Canada.

Post: #9

This forum is full of Toronto-haters, and while it isn't perfect, it's great for jobs, has a decent nightlife - and I actually don't mind the women here. If you go to upper-class clubs (which you should) you'll see a lot of high-quality girls. Not to mention in general the people are nice.

If you're coming for IT, it's either Waterloo or Toronto - and Waterloo is a tremendously boring city. There are a ton of startups in Toronto right now all coming out of the digital media zone, so they're always looking for technical staff. Rent is crazy expensive right now in Toronto, but you can find some good deals near the subway line on eglinton for just north of $500 a month for a bachelor.

Toronto isn't nearly bad as people make it out to be. I live here now, but didn't grow up here. The women can be a bit uppity sometimes, but it's a multicultural hub. So you'll get girls from everywhere in the world - pick your choice.

And yes, as a swede you'll likely clean house.

Post: #10

(01-19-2016 11:29 PM)WeekendCasanova Wrote:  This forum is full of Toronto-haters, and while it isn't perfect, it's great for jobs,

When you say 'great for jobs', please be more detailed. For a newcomer, what kind of jobs can one expect to get off the bat and what kind of salaries? Please expand on the types of different careers/jobs that are available. What different methods can one apply to get these jobs. How did you handle the 'Canadian experience' pre-requisites?

Post: #11

(01-19-2016 09:28 PM)Tresdus Wrote:  

(01-19-2016 03:22 PM)the Thing Wrote:  I found out I'm eligible for Canadian express entry. I've never thought about living in Canada before really but I figure why not.

You are not eligible unless you have 12 months work experience in Canada.

I filled out the "Are you eligible?" sort of test and it told me that I was. (Edit: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/s...ly-who.asp)

Quote:Skilled work experience

Your work experience must be:

at least one year (1,560 hours total / 30 hours per week), continuous full-time or an equal amount in part-time,
paid work (volunteer work, unpaid internships do not count),
in the same job,
within the last 10 years, and
at skill type 0, or skill levels A or B of the 2011 National Occupational Classification (NOC).

I fulfill all of these criteria. Apparently I'm also directly eligible for Permanent Resident status, and I already have an Engineering degree, so I can switch to crazy hours shift work in oil & gas for the money should it pick up in a couple years.

(01-19-2016 11:07 PM)kosko Wrote:  But the catch here is that Toronto is a hole, but for a Swede dude you will likely like it here (most Swedes I meet like it here, most prefer the mountains and BC though) and probably do well with the ladies.

(01-19-2016 11:29 PM)WeekendCasanova Wrote:  And yes, as a swede you'll likely clean house.

I'm not a Swede, will I still clean house?

Post: #12

The thing, with no disrespect to Weekend Cassanova..but his talk about cleaning house is unfounded. Will you eat? Yes. But the work you will put in is not proportionate to the quality you will get. However, if middle aged fat lizards (200+ pounds) with kids is your guilty pleasure then yes, you will clean up and have a large harem.

Any other type of lizard simple way to prove it, let Weekend Cassanova provide a current datasheet.

But that is besides the point, this thread is about making money not slamming lizards.

Post: #13

I hate on Toronto all the time, but I've never actually been there. How would that people that have been to Vancouver and Toronto compare the average quality of girls in downtown clubs.

In Vancouver I've always found the quality to be quite good, there seems to be a lot of girls from Oregon and Washington coming up for weekends too, the under 21 crowd.

OP, one thing to consider is that public transit is not that great in most Canadian cities, so plan on getting a car unless you want to live right in the center of the city and never leave.

Post: #14

(01-20-2016 05:39 AM)Moma Wrote:  The thing, with no disrespect to Weekend Cassanova..but his talk about cleaning house is unfounded. Will you eat? Yes. But the work you will put in is not proportionate to the quality you will get. However, if middle aged fat lizards (200+ pounds) with kids is your guilty pleasure then yes, you will clean up and have a large harem.

Any other type of lizard simple way to prove it, let Weekend Cassanova provide a current datasheet.

But that is besides the point, this thread is about making money not slamming lizards.

I can count on two-hands the amount of lizards I've seen during my entire life going out to clubs in Toronto. Walking around during the daytime, sure, you'll see some whales. But stick to good clubs, or even college clubs for that matter, as a foreigner, and you already have the advantage. T.O has a big PUA culture, however, so most guys at least have some semblance of game.

I figured there was already a solid datasheet on Toronto, but if there isn't, I'll be sure to write one up.

In regards to transit, Toronto is pretty covered, as well as Waterloo - so if you're choosing between those two cities, you'll be alright. The Toronto subway can pretty much get you anywhere, but you might go crazy will all of the delays due to passenger assistance alarms being accidentally pulled. The buses and street cars are very efficient. Most of the large IT and tech firms work near the Dundas Square and in the nearby vicinity, so you can get there easily.

Waterloo has a massive student population with Waterloo University and Laurier, so buses run frequently. I'd recommend definitely getting a car here though - there's not much to do in Waterloo, and the closest major city is Toronto/Mississauga.

Post: #15

Weekend cassanova, drop a current datasheet on the spots in Toronto where you have converted lizards for sex. Describe approach, summary of dialogue, ease of conversion or LMR and how you overcame the LMR. I would like a 5 fresh lizard count over a consecutive span of any 3 months no earlier than March 2015.

Post: #16

Moving from Sweden to Canada seems like madness to me, purely on a social aspect I don't think you would last.

Toronto is a tough market socially but I am sure there are some jobs you could get here.

Outside Toronto is better socially but I am not sure about the jobs, other than Alberta which I believe still has jobs.

I will say that out West as in BC and Alberta might be more to your liking, although I don't know you personally.

Why Canada?

Weekend Cassanova, I await your club report. lol

Post: #17

(01-20-2016 11:12 AM)rudebwoy Wrote:  Moving from Sweden to Canada seems like madness to me, purely on a social aspect I don't think you would last.

Toronto is a tough market socially but I am sure there are some jobs you could get here.

Outside Toronto is better socially but I am not sure about the jobs, other than Alberta which I believe still has jobs.

I will say that out West as in BC and Alberta might be more to your liking, although I don't know you personally.

Why Canada?

Weekend Cassanova, I await your club report. lol

First of all thanks everyone for all the great insight. Reason for my move there is that I literally cannot stand the western European mindset and especially the Swedish way of life brings my blood to a boil. Maybe you visited for a while and liked it but living somewhere is an entirely different thing compared to being a tourist. I had good and bad times, I got laid, I got cockblocked, I got LMR'd, I went home empty handed and jerked off, I made friends, I made enemies, I met some great people and some absolute idiots. Overall it's time for me to get the fuck out of here.

Eastern Europe doesn't offer this many opportunities in my field, Germany is the same shit as here but in different color, I haven't even thought about France because I don't know how my way of life would fly in a Muslim country, UK tech work especially London is poverty level nickel and diming unless you have the capital to start your own business which I don't. My parents will chase me down with a baseball bat if I ask them "hey can I have another $100k to bootstrap another start up?". Being an H-1B slave for God knows how long doesn't sound so exciting, provided that I could even get one. Therefore, Canada.

About BC and Alberta, actually you're right since for a person like me the more red neck it is the better, but as I said I have no idea how the opportunities are and I'll move to whatever province puts bread on my table.

Post: #18

[email protected] being a Muslim country!! I'm not discounting this allegation, by the way, it's just funny how you put it loooool

Post: #19

(01-20-2016 11:36 AM)the Thing Wrote:  

(01-20-2016 11:12 AM)rudebwoy Wrote:  Moving from Sweden to Canada seems like madness to me, purely on a social aspect I don't think you would last.

Toronto is a tough market socially but I am sure there are some jobs you could get here.

Outside Toronto is better socially but I am not sure about the jobs, other than Alberta which I believe still has jobs.

I will say that out West as in BC and Alberta might be more to your liking, although I don't know you personally.

Why Canada?

Weekend Cassanova, I await your club report. lol

First of all thanks everyone for all the great insight. Reason for my move there is that I literally cannot stand the western European mindset and especially the Swedish way of life brings my blood to a boil. Maybe you visited for a while and liked it but living somewhere is an entirely different thing compared to being a tourist. I had good and bad times, I got laid, I got cockblocked, I got LMR'd, I went home empty handed and jerked off, I made friends, I made enemies, I met some great people and some absolute idiots. Overall it's time for me to get the fuck out of here.

Eastern Europe doesn't offer this many opportunities in my field, Germany is the same shit as here but in different color, I haven't even thought about France because I don't know how my way of life would fly in a Muslim country, UK tech work especially London is poverty level nickel and diming unless you have the capital to start your own business which I don't. My parents will chase me down with a baseball bat if I ask them "hey can I have another $100k to bootstrap another start up?". Being an H-1B slave for God knows how long doesn't sound so exciting, provided that I could even get one. Therefore, Canada.

About BC and Alberta, actually you're right since for a person like me the more red neck it is the better, but as I said I have no idea how the opportunities are and I'll move to whatever province puts bread on my table.

Respects my man, now that is a well thought out response and I can see you know what you are talking about.

Canada will do you fine.

If you ever stop over in Toronto, give me a holla. I will buy you a beer.

Post: #20

@the Thing
Of course you are looking for a company which handles the visa affairs for you right, or which strategie do you follow if I may ask?

Post: #21

(01-20-2016 12:52 PM)RandomGuy1 Wrote:  @the Thing
Of course you are looking for a company which handles the visa affairs for you right, or which strategie do you follow if I may ask?

My idea was to straight up apply for PR through the "Federal Skilled Worker" program since I satisfy all the requirements. I have a couple years of experience in software engineering which is NOC class A, I have college degrees, I got 8.5 out of 9 in IELTS last year (I took it back when I was considering to work in O&G as an engineer, before oil prices fucking tanked)

You apply online through something called "Express Entry", then from what I've heard it takes a couple months for you to get invited but in the meantime you can come over as a tourist and start looking for jobs and if you get a job offer you're bumped to the top of the waiting list and your PR is ready in a couple of weeks tops.

I believe you start off with a PR card and can apply for Canadian citizenship after 3 years if you so desire but I'm not entirely sure about this.

Check your eligibility for the Federal Skilled Worker program at http://www.cic.gc.ca/ctc-vac/ee-start.asp

There are also other programs by individual provinces but I haven't looked at those to be honest. I'm a firm believer in looking for jobs with your feet on the ground since if you're already in town it's easier for a company to decide to call you over for an interview as they won't have to pay for flights hotels and shit.

Post: #22

Alot of companies won't hire you unless you are in the town or province.

Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec use to have special programs in place for immigration, the rules were alot easier than the Federal Skilled program.

I would send out feelers now, to gauge the response. I would get onto Linkedin and add recruiters, also check out companies that you have in mind.

You sound like a skilled guy, so I don't see a problem. I believe software engineering is big in B.C as well as Ontario. Kosko and Laner always give good advice, so don't discount what they say.

Post: #23

I work as a senior contractor in the downtown financial district of Toronto. You can make good money here in tech, particularly mobile development. That being said the weather is awful. The cost of living is high. I commute, like a lot of people because of that. I'd be glad to leave Canada and work abroad actually.

I've worked four years in Vancouver. Felt pretty isolated. It's pretty difficult to meet people and the people you do meet are pretty superficial. It's also ridiculously expensive. Oh and it rains six months of the year.

Post: #24

(01-20-2016 07:33 PM)maz Wrote:  I work as a senior contractor in the downtown financial district of Toronto. You can make good money here in tech, particularly mobile development. That being said the weather is awful. The cost of living is high. I commute, like a lot of people because of that. I'd be glad to leave Canada and work abroad actually.

I've worked four years in Vancouver. Felt pretty isolated. It's pretty difficult to meet people and the people you do meet are pretty superficial. It's also ridiculously expensive. Oh and it rains six months of the year.

Rent is killer here. And the commute if you're coming from outside of the GTA is horrendous. It's either pay high-rent, or commute 2+ hours on the gardiner expressway

Post: #25

I take the GO train. Work is pretty close to Union, thankfully. If I had to take the Gardiner I'd lose it pretty quickly. With low interest rates and public transit, the ont gov seems to be encouraging more and more urban sprawl into even Niagara. I don't recognize anyone in my small town anymore.