New Years greetings, I was watching IRT over the holidays and it re-ignited a subject I have been mulling over for a few months now.
A chance conversation with a colleague over a brew was the catalyst, he told me he had worked in Canada for over two years and only came back to the UK for family reasons otherwise he would have stayed.
He worked for Canadian trucking firms taking loads from Canada into the USA and bringing return loads back into Canada, it sounded like a real blast of a life, something that really appealed to me for years.
Anyone on here worked or still works in Canada put me straight? I’m 55 in June so I suspect I’m too old to get a work visa but from what I can gather provided you have a UK C+E licence it is quite straightforward to get the Canadian equivalent.
bigdave789:
New Years greetings, I was watching IRT over the holidays and it re-ignited a subject I have been mulling over for a few months now.
A chance conversation with a colleague over a brew was the catalyst, he told me he had worked in Canada for over two years and only came back to the UK for family reasons otherwise he would have stayed.
He worked for Canadian trucking firms taking loads from Canada into the USA and bringing return loads back into Canada, it sounded like a real blast of a life, something that really appealed to me for years.
Anyone on here worked or still works in Canada put me straight? I’m 55 in June so I suspect I’m too old to get a work visa but from what I can gather provided you have a UK C+E licence it is quite straightforward to get the Canadian equivalent.
There’s a couple of Brit lads on here that live in Canada, Robin hood, and Newmercman.
I reckon if you e.mail or pm them they would give you first hand accounts mate.
bigdave789:
New Years greetings, I was watching IRT over the holidays and it re-ignited a subject I have been mulling over for a few months now.
A chance conversation with a colleague over a brew was the catalyst, he told me he had worked in Canada for over two years and only came back to the UK for family reasons otherwise he would have stayed.
He worked for Canadian trucking firms taking loads from Canada into the USA and bringing return loads back into Canada, it sounded like a real blast of a life, something that really appealed to me for years.
Anyone on here worked or still works in Canada put me straight? I’m 55 in June so I suspect I’m too old to get a work visa but from what I can gather provided you have a UK C+E licence it is quite straightforward to get the Canadian equivalent.
There’s no age limit on work visa’s. Plenty of older drivers have moved out here.
To get a Class 1 licence you need to take a medical, pass a multiple choice computer test like the Highway code, pass an airbrake test, a pre-trip & driving test, can all be done in a week - 10 days.
If you go on the Expats forum on here, ask away, plenty of drivers working in Canada.
Not sure your age would be an issue, more like the new systems of work brought in by immigration to limit foreign workers - plenty of info on here
neilg14:
bigdave789:
New Years greetings, I was watching IRT over the holidays and it re-ignited a subject I have been mulling over for a few months now.
A chance conversation with a colleague over a brew was the catalyst, he told me he had worked in Canada for over two years and only came back to the UK for family reasons otherwise he would have stayed.
He worked for Canadian trucking firms taking loads from Canada into the USA and bringing return loads back into Canada, it sounded like a real blast of a life, something that really appealed to me for years.
Anyone on here worked or still works in Canada put me straight? I’m 55 in June so I suspect I’m too old to get a work visa but from what I can gather provided you have a UK C+E licence it is quite straightforward to get the Canadian equivalent.There’s no age limit on work visa’s. Plenty of older drivers have moved out here.
To get a Class 1 licence you need to take a medical, pass a multiple choice computer test like the Highway code, pass an airbrake test, a pre-trip & driving test, can all be done in a week - 10 days.
If you go on the Expats forum on here, ask away, plenty of drivers working in Canada.
Excuse my ignorance and please dont rip the ■■■■ but what’s an airbrake test? Do I maybe know it as something else or is it a North America thing? Or is it just a brake test after hooking up?
You have to learn how the prehistoric braking systems operate here and be able to demonstrate your knowledge to the examiner plus pass a written test on it too
The brake-test is the hardest thing that you will do when changing over your licence; but it just needs plenty of practice. I was 52 when I came over in 2006; which didn’t cause a problem. However, now that a company has to pay $1000 for every foreign worker application, you may need to show how determined you are about staying in Canada.
For an example of the work you might be asked to do; check-out my blog: http://www.chrisarbon-roadtrips.blogspot.uk
Best of luck.
Both the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia PNP programs have a 55 year old age cap for applications. I suggest looking into the Manitoba and Saskatchewan programs to see if they offer a higher limit. I know a couple of older guys in their early 60s who are driving here, some at my previous firm and one of them now works with me at my current one but they all know that they cannot stay beyond 4 years and will be going back as there is no route to permanent residence for them via their occupation.
bigdave789:
He worked for Canadian trucking firms taking loads from Canada into the USA and bringing return loads back into Canada, it sounded like a real blast of a life, something that really appealed to me for years.
Its completely different from the UK and Europe, that’s for sure. In some ways its ten times more boring than Europe, because the place is so vast and most towns look identical for example, it gets a bit old quite soon, but if you drive far enough you’ll see some great scenery, especially in the western parts. The other big difference are the driving regulations which mean that while you’ll be able to achieve more, you’ll be less stressed and you’ll certainly never have to take to trucknet to confess about going 10 minutes over your time and seek advice as to whether your life is over or not.
Bad tasting bacon with sweeteners added.
Bad coffee and tea.
Meal portions the size of steering wheels.
No night heaters, like the Victorian era, you run an engine to keep warm.
No air conditioning, just run the engine all night when parked up.
Old fashioned gear boxes.
Don’t go.
The visa changes a year or so back have made it much harder to gain entry to Canada as a foreign driver. The main snag seems to be the new limits on the proportion of a company’s workforce made up of low paid foreign workers. If I remember correctly the initial limit was set at 30% or 40%, in 2015 the limit reduces to 20% and from 2016 it will be 10%. That means the current pressure is on firms to get rid of their foreign drivers, not recruit more.
There are also problems for those wanting to apply for permanent residency, as the timescales for processing exceed the new maximum limit for a temporary foreign worker visa.
I’m still hoping and praying that they relax the rules for the haulage industry at some stage in the next year or two, but I fear they may not.
There is no pressure on companies to get rid of their foreign drivers. It is true that there will be a limit of 10 % of the workforce that will be working with a temporary work permit but as foreign drivers gain permanent residency status they cease to be one of that 10%. Therefore the company can then apply to bring in another foreign driver.
toby1234abc:
Bad tasting bacon with sweeteners added. True…
Bad coffee and tea. True…
Meal portions the size of steering wheels. True…value for money.No night heaters, like the Victorian era, you run an engine to keep warm. Wrong
No air conditioning, just run the engine all night when parked up. Wrong.
Old fashioned gear boxes. I shift,M shift.Merc autos in freightliners.
Eaton Fuller,Spicer.
Don’t go.
Fair enough 
It’s Toby ,he’s been on the Thatchers again mate
toby1234abc:
Bad tasting bacon with sweeteners added.
Bad coffee and tea.
Meal portions the size of steering wheels.
No night heaters, like the Victorian era, you run an engine to keep warm.
No air conditioning, just run the engine all night when parked up.
Old fashioned gear boxes.
Don’t go.
I have a night heater and I shift, it’s sometimes too cold to turn off the engine, last night being an example when it dropped to -31c, it’s warmed up tonight to a balmy -17c so the night heater will be all that’s required tonight.
Pea meal bacon, nothing like the strips of fat the yanks have and you can get back bacon in the supermarkets.
Tea, well you can’t make a decent cuppa without English water anyway, but you can get the regular brands here, so not a problem.
Coffee, there are about a billion different roasts available, if you can’t find one you like then the problem isn’t the coffee.
Toby just doesn’t like it because he got knocked back by the daughter of the Mayor of Winnipeg.
Chris is on the money about the air brake part of the test, but study it and it will click in to place eventually and then it’s just a routine.
The immigration and temporary work permit schemes have had a bit of a shake up recently, but there is still a shortage of drivers and the economy is booming, so never say never.
Just for info, I have received confirmation that my name is on an lmia so should be going in a month or so so if it’s what you want to do you must be prepared to put in more leg work than before (the reform)
I won’t say who with yet as I don’t know if they want that kind of info shared on here but I’ll update for those who are interested as things happen 
I would put more emphasis on the ‘or so’ rather than the “in a month” part if I were you, most of your training is spent doing pre trips and air brake practice and it’s outside work, February is not the time to be outside in the Prairie Provinces.
Anyway congratulations, keep us posted on how you get on.
Tell me about it! I certainly wouldn’t have chosen to go this time of year 
aye NMM the pre trip and the air test is a REAL pain at -20c…the course before the one I did just had to tell the examiner what they should have done,it was so cold lol winterpeg,plenty o you tube videos on pre trip and learning the “script” for the air test,as well as going to mpi.ca ,driver quizzes …look at air brake ,class 1( and check out class2 and class5 as well).iirc you will do a computer test before getting a provisional licence
well I say mpi.ca is Manitoba but its near the same over Canada.
Read up on school buses to had a few questions on them pop up on my tests.