Hi all, loving catching up on all the posts on here and oh boy im learning somethings, I have one question I think i know the answer for but just wanna hear it from the horses mouth so to speak.
Im Class1 enabled, I have a house in Nova Scotia, now can i use my class1 UK licence to go and work in Canada, yay or nay?
If yay, how easy is it to get this ball rolling?
Yours
Jak.
jakdaniels1966:
Hi all, loving catching up on all the posts on here and oh boy im learning somethings, I have one question I think i know the answer for but just wanna hear it from the horses mouth so to speak.Im Class1 enabled, I have a house in Nova Scotia, now can i use my class1 UK licence to go and work in Canada, yay or nay?
If yay, how easy is it to get this ball rolling?
Yours
Jak.
UK has no agreement with Canada so a lorry test over there would be needed - at least thats what I seem to remember eading some time ago
Nay. You’ll need to do a driving test again in Nova Scotia for your class one. Its a straight swap for a car and motorbike licence. Your UK (or wherever else) driving experience will count though so if you have two or three years, or more, you wont have to do their stupidly expensive and long winded “internship”, just come over, take the test and thats it. Where abouts in Nova Scotia is your house?
Really? oh flip, anyone done such a move and how did they find the experience■■?
Jak
Hi Mr Hood,
The house is down south on cape sable island, Newellton, ever get down that way and fancy a stop over I can tell ya where the spare key is, there even some beer in storage in the cellar round the back.
So you did it huh? and would you do it again if you had to?
Jak
jakdaniels1966:
The house is down south on cape sable island, Newellton, ever get down that way and fancy a stop over I can tell ya where the spare key is, there even some beer in storage in the cellar round the back.
Thats the only part of NS that I’ve never been to. I’m not sure what work opertunities down there would be like, but I’m guessing very limited. Nova Scotia has a much smaller transport industry than New Brunswick, which is a bit back to front given the size of population and economy in NS which is larger than that of NB. Over in Halifax you’ve got Clarke who I know have some European drivers and nearby in Dartmouth there is GTL, who also have a yard up here near Woodstock and I’ve met British drivers on for them, as well as Germans, Romanians etc.
jakdaniels1966:
So you did it huh? and would you do it again if you had to?
Being honest, now I know what I do after having being here for four and a half years, I would never repeat the experience. Working as a truck driver in the Maritime provinces is a thankless existence of getting paid by the mile, waiting by the hour or day and being away from home by the week or month. Other parts of Canada offer better terms and conditions but the Maritimes lag way behind and the wages are rock bottom. They are short of experienced drivers here purely because so many have moved to Ontario or out West to get away from how things are done here.
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are wonderful places to live in, but earning a living to actually be able to live here is where it all goes wrong. Unless you want to be away for weeks on end, which you’ll have to be to make up for all the unpaid waiting time down the road, you’ll earn very little and if you’re never at home, is there really any point in doing it in the first place?
I’m in a Monday to Friday job now but its taken a long time to get to this point and these jobs are few and far between. My main advice if you do come here would be to stay well clear of reefer companies, as thats where the majority of the waiting time is. If you can get a job with a dry van firm you’d typically be sitting around much less. Reefer work is all well and good if you’re doing proper long haul trips that are 4 or 5 days each way, then you dont mind some down time, but if its just down to NJ or PA, wait a day, then up to Toronto, wait another day or so, then back round to NS you’ll almost have spent as much time waiting as you will have driving and will be earning 4 days pay for 7 or so days away. Most Maritime reefer outfits operate mainly on this so called “East Coast Triangle” like I’ve described.
How did you come to own a house down there in Nova Scotia?
Another thing, if you have a house in NS does that mean you have Canadian residence or citizenship already? If so then that would greatly improve your prospects as you wouldn’t have to entertain any of the bottom dwelling companies who only survive by replacing their disgruntled Canadian drivers with Europeans and increasingly Indians, Brazilians and Jamaicans as the supply from the UK and Europe is drying up.
Im lucky enough that i dont need to be doing this for the money, the house is paid for, theres water in the well out back, I make my own electric and no gas to buy either, so all i would need if enough for food, municipality taxes and the odd box of tim bits. ;0)
I was divorced in 1996 and decided to see some of my dreams, I made contact with some lovely ladies from all over the States, they put me up and i did some DIY to help out with my stay, I have been north east south and west USA but one year got talking to a lady from NS, I went and fell in love, NS is just georgous, so to sum it up, i travelled alot of miles to find one of those smiles, and the lady of my dreams I found when i returned from living in Manassas VA to the UK and she lived less than a 1/4 mile from where I stayed in Bradford.
We was looking just out of curiosity at realty in canada, EasyBay Realty had this lonesome house for sale, bank repo, the price was right, i knew the location, we paid cash, and bought tickets to visit it for the first time in January, I smoked at the time and after 8 hours flying was just gagging for a smoke, I came out of the airport in Halifax, felt the minus 16 degres and quit the deadly weed.
Thats how we got our house, its not finished yet bar one main bedroom and a walk in wardrobe and a wet room but once i get over and working and getting paid $5 plus per mile, ( thats the rate right ) ill have that house finished in a breath.
I think i need to get things moving on this subject asap.
Might have to do a reccy trip and see if i can get a job offer on the table to make it easier to land.
How did you do it?? job first or another way to get green card?
jAK
We have a house and that is it, done nothing yet about making the permanent move but the way employers here treat thier staff is getting right up my nose, so its move or be done for manslaughter.
Pretty much every one who’s come out here has done it the same way. Found a job with a company who can obtain LMO’s (Labour market opinion) which is a document needed for you to be eligable for a Temporary Work Permit, then once you’ve been here for a certain length of time, which varies from province to province, you can then apply for Permanent Residence. The problem is that most of the companies who employ foreign drivers do so because no locals want to work for them because to be honest, they’re crap to work for. If you dont need the money, thats fine, but you’ll still be away in the truck, down in the US, waiting for loads and getting paid sod all for it, while your woman is sitting at home waiting for your return, or sitting in the truck with you, getting annoyed that you’re doing so much unpaid truck babysitting.
Personally I find British firms better to work for. I came here merely for the adventure and Ive ended up meeting a girl whom I’m getting married to but I’ve never been sacked in the UK for refusing to sit 2 or 3 days for no pay while they pull their finger out with a load and Ive never got the sack in the UK for refusing to work 24 or 26 hours straight and adjust the log book accordingly. I’ve been sacked for those things in Canada, and while the next day the company in question came back appolosing and offering me my job back, which I had to accept due to my PR application at the time, the way they treat drivers in these cowboy Maritime firms harks back to how I’m told things used to be in the UK in the 70s or 80s when drivers were plentiful, jobs few and regulations absent or ignored. British firms these days simply would never get away with what many firms in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick get up to with their drivers. Now not all firms are like this by any means, but the ones that do are so numerous that the general industry average is quite low and the better firms still have to compete against the crap firms so it all has its effect and those seeking to hire foreign workers will tend to be those that cant keep their own locals.
Yeah I figured it wouldnt be all a bed of roses, all this stuff your giving me is JUST what i wanted to hear, thankyou, the raw truth is all you wanna hear sometimes good or bad.
I am also qualified to work on single phase, 3 phase and CT metering here in the UK and canada works on the same stuff, so eventually im thinking maybe getting in with NS Power somehow so a gate in is about all im looking for right now.
I got a fun packed weekend coming up living room change which as we all know costs money and time and swearing. So ill get back to you real soon.
Thanks again for all the info.
Jak.