I do feel sorry for the drivers that only get mileage pay and spend hours/days hanging around for SFA, especially today as I’m doing just that, sitting on my arse as my load isn’t ready until tomorrow, first time it’s happened in a long time, but I’m being paid, not as much as I’d get for a full day’s driving, but not far off it and we get $20ph waiting time after the first hour too, quite often I’ll book in at night for a late appointment, go to sleep and get paid $20ph for my ten hour break
We get lots of extras on my job (fridges mostly with some van work) last month I made $850 in extras and did over 14,000miles at 42cpm, got home every weekend too, so there are decent jobs, paying decent money out there, they just don’t advertise them in Truckstop News
The thing with thrucking over here is that it is very easy to get into, so any idiot can…and often does, but whereas in Britain you need to have your wits about you to earn a decent living out of trucks, over here it’s easy, especially as drivers seem to put up with all kinds of crap over here, so people who have no right being in business can end up with a thriving transport company, if you end up working for one of those your life will be miserable
newmercman:
I do feel sorry for the drivers that only get mileage pay and spend hours/days hanging around for SFA, especially today as I’m doing just that, sitting on my arse as my load isn’t ready until tomorrow, first time it’s happened in a long time, but I’m being paid, not as much as I’d get for a full day’s driving, but not far off it and we get $20ph waiting time after the first hour too, quite often I’ll book in at night for a late appointment, go to sleep and get paid $20ph for my ten hour break
We get lots of extras on my job (fridges mostly with some van work) last month I made $850 in extras and did over 14,000miles at 42cpm, got home every weekend too, so there are decent jobs, paying decent money out there, they just don’t advertise them in Truckstop News
The thing with thrucking over here is that it is very easy to get into, so any idiot can…and often does, but whereas in Britain you need to have your wits about you to earn a decent living out of trucks, over here it’s easy, especially as drivers seem to put up with all kinds of crap over here, so people who have no right being in business can end up with a thriving transport company, if you end up working for one of those your life will be miserable
Answer your dam phone then just tried ringing you lol i got bank appointment in an hr but free after that
Some very interesting and thought provoking points being made.
Is there anywhere i can find a list of prospective employers for each region of Canada? Preferably ones that offer the most support for people coming over from the UK…quite nervous about how i would cope with the tests etc.
Obviously i am looking to do long distance work, couldn’t see the point of moving thousands of miles away to do day work!
Would have no problem living in the truck for the first couple of months to save some dosh…if that was an option.
I’m 43 yrs old and know that if i don’t make the move within the next 12 months, i probably never will.
mickfly:
Not trying to pee on your bonfire, but a contract over there is pretty worthless, although the flatbed company I worked for were spot on. My blog with pretty pics of loads etc, is here… cathincanada.blogspot.com/
Would that be the bonfire with my furniture in it? …lol… I think the ‘Contract’ was for LMO purposes… because when reading through it, it says $60,000 for a maximum of 40 hours per week and 2 days off… You and your wife should give up Trucking and become photographers and sell prints, you have captured some excellent moody scenes… and there are some beautiful pictures on your blog!
Thanks for the compliment, I enjoy taking pictures and I enjoy truck driving (but not so much in the UK, and I don’t think I could be a tramper here now).
DonutUK:
Some very interesting and thought provoking points being made.
Is there anywhere i can find a list of prospective employers for each region of Canada? Preferably ones that offer the most support for people coming over from the UK…quite nervous about how i would cope with the tests etc.
Obviously i am looking to do long distance work, couldn’t see the point of moving thousands of miles away to do day work!
Would have no problem living in the truck for the first couple of months to save some dosh…if that was an option.
I’m 43 yrs old and know that if i don’t make the move within the next 12 months, i probably never will.
Take my advice on this and dont even consider coming to the Maritime Provinces. Compared to the rest of Canada its a very under developed and somewhat backward place when it comes to wages and employment conditions, so much so that most sensible people here have either moved to Ontario or Alberta, this creating the need for foreigners to take their place. I often think that New Brunswick is the Poland of Canada as we earn the crappest money, have amongst the worst employers and definetely the worst conditions. As with Poland, where much of the sensible people have gone to the UK, Germany or Sweden etc and they’ve had to bring in Ukrainians to do the work…well thats all we are here, the Canadian equivilent of the Ukrainians brought in to Poland to prop up the ridiculous way they run trucking companies here. I’m in a job I like at the moment and I never thought I’d say that about NB but its still crap money per mile compared to central and western Canada, though I seldom wait around and running bent isn’t required to get the job done, unlike at all of the reefer companies here who would bite your arm off to get you here and then treat you like an indentured labourer. A common term by many NB trucking companies for drivers is “Meat in the seat” and hence the huge revolving door that most companies have with driver turnover. If a Canadian wont do it, a Brit will, if a Brit quits, theres another to take his place, if they cant find another Brit they’ve recently discovered recruitment/immigration agencies in Toronto who will bring in Russians and Ukrainians etc and many of the bad companies here have a large amount of them now.
You may well only be interested in long haul work now, but after a few years of doing this you may well change your mind and actually want a life in Canada you’re a part of, not just visit once every two or three weeks for a day or two. Bearing that in mind, try and settle somewhere that does offer this type of work too so you could easily make the change if or when that time comes. When that time comes for me, I’m going to have to leave this province because there is absolutely nothing here like that, and if there is its minimum wage or just above and I havent moved to Canada to live in worse poverty than I would in England. I’ll be looking to move to southern Ontario near (but not in) Toronto or perhaps Alberta, maybe Edmonton as I seem to prefere that city to Calgary. Ontario is looking more appealing at the moment though.
I’m planning to do my Class 2 licence, have booked my practical test for next month , and providing all goes well, would want to do my Class 1 test straight after this.
It will all cost a bit of money.
I wanted to go to Canada as soon as I get the required 2 years experience, but also have an other idea, which might actually be better than spending my money on all these licences in the UK.
How about if I went to Canada, lets say on a tourist visa, enrolled in a driving school there, got my licence in Canada and then tried to get a job this way without any experience.
From what I’m gathering it is easier to get a driving job in Canada, so instead of looking for a job in the UK, I could start straight away in Canada, even if it means starting at the bottom.
The questions I would have are these:
Would any Canadian company employ me this way, without having any driving experience and not having a work permit?
Even if so, I would probably need to come back to the UK, get a job offer from them, and then go back to Canada, but then without any experience would I get a working visa to work there legally?
Would there be any other way for me to get working straight away in Canada without wasting my time working and getting the required 2 years experience in the UK? ( I think that’s what required by Canadian authorities to issue you a work permit, I might be wrong there)
To hold an Alberta licence, you must be a permanent legal resident of Canada and an Alberta resident. From: servicealberta.gov.ab.ca/1741.cfm
I assume the other provinces will have similar rules. You can exchange your UK licence for a class 5 licence (car licence) when you have the legal right to live in Canada but not when visiting as a tourist. You would need to upgrade from class 5 to a class 1 licence to drive trucks and buses.
Big Jon’s dad:
To hold an Alberta licence, you must be a permanent legal resident of Canada and an Alberta resident. From: servicealberta.gov.ab.ca/1741.cfm
I assume the other provinces will have similar rules. You can exchange your UK licence for a class 5 licence (car licence) when you have the legal right to live in Canada but not when visiting as a tourist. You would need to upgrade from class 5 to a class 1 licence to drive trucks and buses.
Back to the drawing board?
so, do all these guys going there with job offers have permanent legal resident of Canada status before they even depart from the UK?
Is there any other way of getting there sooner, or the only option I have left is to get Class 1 in the UK, find a job here, get those 2 years experience behind my belt, and then try my luck in Canada?
Big Jon’s dad:
To hold an Alberta licence, you must be a permanent legal resident of Canada and an Alberta resident. From: servicealberta.gov.ab.ca/1741.cfm
I assume the other provinces will have similar rules. You can exchange your UK licence for a class 5 licence (car licence) when you have the legal right to live in Canada but not when visiting as a tourist. You would need to upgrade from class 5 to a class 1 licence to drive trucks and buses.
Back to the drawing board?
so, do all these guys going there with job offers have permanent legal resident of Canada status before they even depart from the UK?
Is there any other way of getting there sooner, or the only option I have left is to get Class 1 in the UK, find a job here, get those 2 years experience behind my belt, and then try my luck in Canada?
Thanks
No we certainly do not have permanent residence in 95% of cases. It is possible to do it that way but it takes ages. We come over on 12 or 24 month temporary work permits, exchange our licences which we only get back a car licence in return and then do the class 1 test again. As far as I’m aware you will need to be able to prove 2 years experience on class 1 before you are eligable to enter on a work permit. The way they see it is that they have enough of their own people without experience so why import more etc. I think that at the very least you are going to have to do 2 years in the UK on artics before making any sort of move here.
As we already have X amount of years experience in the UK/Europe then all we need to do for insurance purposes is simply pass the test here, with no training required whatsoever. On the other hand, even if you could come here in your current situation, which I’m fairly sure you can not, you’d have to do the full commercial drivers course here which costs several thousand dollars and lasts 8 or more weeks and then no decent company would touch you because you dont have experience. They have the same catch 22 situation in Canada with regards not employing people without experience as we have in the UK, except in Canada it costs 3 or 4 times as much to do and takes 2 or 3 months to train, where as you can do it in the UK in a week or two.
Right, back to the drawing board then.
It doesn’t look like I can do anything about speeding the whole process up.
The other question I would have is whether getting D (bus) licence would be a good move for Canada?
I’ve read somewhere that on average hourly pay for bus drivers is better then for truck drivers over there.
The question is whether getting a job driving and bus and getting some kind of residency would also be relatively easy or would it be much harder task?
In the UK many if not most service bus companies are prepared to pay for the training and the licence as people usually when they they decide they want drive for a living prefer to drive trucks as it means much less hassle, no dealing with passengers.
Would it be the same in Canada? Would Canadian bus drivers be in much greater demand then truck drivers are?
I’m not looking for a Canadian company to sponsor my training, just thought it might be easier to actually get a bus licence with a view of emigrating to Canada after working in the UK for 2 years as a bus driver.
Thank you for your replies
anon84679660:
Right, back to the drawing board then.
It doesn’t look like I can do anything about speeding the whole process up.
The other question I would have is whether getting D (bus) licence would be a good move for Canada?
I’ve read somewhere that on average hourly pay for bus drivers is better then for truck drivers over there.
The question is whether getting a job driving and bus and getting some kind of residency would also be relatively easy or would it be much harder task?
In the UK many if not most service bus companies are prepared to pay for the training and the licence as people usually when they they decide they want drive for a living prefer to drive trucks as it means much less hassle, no dealing with passengers.
Would it be the same in Canada? Would Canadian bus drivers be in much greater demand then truck drivers are?
I’m not looking for a Canadian company to sponsor my training, just thought it might be easier to actually get a bus licence with a view of emigrating to Canada after working in the UK for 2 years as a bus driver.
Thank you for your replies
There is a difference between working in Canada as a temporary worker (TW), and emigrating to Canada permanently. Temporary workers have no right to remain in Canada once their work permt expires. They may be able to renew their work permit but not indefinately. Permanent residence status (PR) is something that may or may not be granted if you apply while there as a TW.
Certain groups of skilled workers, mainly in health related professions and construction trades can apply via the federal skilled worker program to emigrate directly from the UK and have PR before they leave the UK. The federal skilled worker program has been shut down for 6 months though, but will restart at some point. The backlog of applications is years long.
I don’t think there is a shortcut unless you have a skill that is desperately needed and have already got enough experience.
Some provinces have their own skilled worker programs so that may be something to explore. Google is your friend. Search for each province and the job you are interested in. Truck driving jobs for TWs are easy to find on the internet, I havent seen any bus driving jobs for TWs.
Everything related to immigration and citizenship has very long waiting times. Two of my sons (Canadian citizens) are sponsoring their wives (UK citizens) for PR and there is a delay of about a year before their application envelope even gets opened so their case can be started. It can then take another year for the decision. There are also non refundable fees to pay to CIC (large fees!)
One DiL now has PR the other has had their case opened.
I’m dual Canadian and British so can work in either country. I find the grass is really is greener in the UK for me. I don’t drive trucks for a living though.
All 3 of my sons have moved from the UK to Canada, 2 drive trucks and hold class 1 licences, the other son is training as a heavy duty mechanic for a crane company.
They all say they are staying in Canada and will not return to the UK. Their standard of living and treatment they get as workers is much better than it was in the UK.
robinhood_1984:
As far as I’m aware you will need to be able to prove 2 years experience on class 1 before you are eligable to enter on a work permit. The way they see it is that they have enough of their own people without experience so why import more etc. I think that at the very least you are going to have to do 2 years in the UK on artics before making any sort of move here.
Not true, as I’ve said before.
Two years is required for PR, which, by the time you get it you will have gained by driving in Canada.
H&R WILL take on drivers with no class 1 experience, but who have passed the UK class 1 test. I know of 2 people who have gone there with NO experience, they shall remain nameless.
Thank you all for your replies.
so, from what I understand getting a bus D licence will get me anywhere in terms of getting a job in Canada which would help me to get a PR in the future.
I know it might take some time, but as long as I work legally in Canada driving trucks and I am needed there, I can eventually get my Canadian PR. Am I right?
Big Jon’s Dad, what did you exactly mean by saying “I find the grass is really is greener in the UK for me”?
but then you said that both your sons prefer to stay in Canada and don’t want to return to the UK as “Their standard of living and treatment they get as workers is much better than it was in the UK.” So, Canada is a better place to work and live for a truck driver then?
So, I could try my luck trying to get a job with H&R without having any experience in the UK/Europe driving trucks then?
I only need to get C+E, get fully qualified C+E driver?
I suspect H&R is some kind of haulage company from Canada, am I right?
Two years is required for PR, which, by the time you get it you will have gained by driving in Canada.
H&R WILL take on drivers with no class 1 experience, but who have passed the UK class 1 test. I know of 2 people who have gone there with NO experience, they shall remain nameless.
There you go then. I was sure you had to prove 2 or even 3 years experience to obtain an LMO but maybe that was just for company insurance reasons.
Two years is required for PR, which, by the time you get it you will have gained by driving in Canada.
H&R WILL take on drivers with no class 1 experience, but who have passed the UK class 1 test. I know of 2 people who have gone there with NO experience, they shall remain nameless.
There you go then. I was sure you had to prove 2 or even 3 years experience to obtain an LMO but maybe that was just for company insurance reasons.
Most good companies would expect a relevant degree of experience, I’m only relating what I know about H&R, and experience was clearly not needed for at least one drivers LMO.
So, I could try my luck trying to get a job with H&R without having any experience in the UK/Europe driving trucks then?
I only need to get C+E, get fully qualified C+E driver?
I suspect H&R is some kind of haulage company from Canada, am I right?
Thanks
Yes, and yes, but I wouldn’t advise a novice to go to Canada.
anon84679660:
Big Jon’s Dad, what did you exactly mean by saying “I find the grass is really is greener in the UK for me”?
but then you said that both your sons prefer to stay in Canada and don’t want to return to the UK as “Their standard of living and treatment they get as workers is much better than it was in the UK.” So, Canada is a better place to work and live for a truck driver then?
Well, the grass in Alberta is either white or brown for about 10 months of the year. As is almost everything else.
I work as a self employed service engineer servicing ladies hairdryers in hairdressing salons. There are enough salons in the UK midlands to provide me with a reasonable living within about 90 minutes drive from home. The population density in Alberta is too low to have enough salons within a reasonable drive for me to survive. Alberta has 3 million people living in an area 6 times the size of England. The city of Calgary has 1 million, Edmonton has another million and the rest are dispersed in the other small towns. The only other place in Canada I would want to live is on Vancouver Island in British Columbia where I grew up. The ferry ride to the mainland takes about 2 hours so working off the island would mean at least 4 hours commute each day plus $$$ in ferry fares.
I married an English girl and settled here. I work about 6 to 8 hours a day, 4 days per week, 3 weeks per month. My house is paid for, my cars are paid for. I can afford to visit Canada each year to see my sons and their families so why would I not want to stay here? If I was driving trucks here, I’d be on the plane out of here in the morning!
Anyone thinking of emigrating to Canada should check their pension arrangements. If you have worked in the UK for 30 years and have made the required contributions, you are entitled to the UK State Pension at the basic rate even if you retire in Canada. This rate is frozen at the rate payable when you first get your pension. There are no increases each year, no winter fuel payments and no supplementary pension top-ups like you would get retiring in the UK or in the EU. If you have enough time to work in Canada before retirement you may be able to get a Canadian pension. Private pensions I’m not sure about, you may need to continue making contributions to keep the pension plan alive, certainly to meet the estimated worth of the pension.
…lol… I think the ‘Contract’ was for LMO purposes… because when reading through it, it says $60,000 for a maximum of 40 hours per week and 2 days off… 
