Working in Canada?

[lat1]

any of you guys ever worked in canada as an electrician? i know that its usually pretty hard for americans to work up there, but if you are skilled in certain fields, you have a better chance of getting a visa. they follow ohms law up there too, right????

 

[peter d]

Why would you want to? It's cold enough here, but there's a whole county north of this coldness.

Seriously though, although there are many similarities between our systems and theirs, there are major differences too. It would probably take some time to get used to the differences. For instance, you would surely want to be wearing your PPE when working on a 347/600 volt system. And they call their wirenuts "marrettes."

 

[lat1]

it was -31 F on my way to the job on wed. am, so the cold is not an issue! just looking for a change of pace, and i know their dollar is pretty much equal to ours right now.
anyone know how the residential market in BC or AB? i've been doing strictly resi. for the last 3-4 years, mostly custom homes in ski towns. are there similar real estate booms in W. Canada?

 

[electricguy]

it was -31 F on my way to the job on wed. am, so the cold is not an issue! just looking for a change of pace, and i know their dollar is pretty much equal to ours right now.
anyone know how the residential market in BC or AB? i've been doing strictly resi. for the last 3-4 years, mostly custom homes in ski towns. are there similar real estate booms in W. Canada?

Yes, The ski Towns are booming plus we have the 2010 Olympics a guy can stay busy till then anyhow

 

[mdshunk]

Last I heard, Toronto is something of a boom town right now, but the crime is high in that city, so they say.

 

[BryanMD]

any of you guys ever worked in canada as an electrician? i know that its usually pretty hard for americans to work up there, but if you are skilled in certain fields, you have a better chance of getting a visa. they follow ohms law up there too, right????

In July of '04 while on my extended road trip (that I still haven't written about) I dipped my foot into BC to visit a lady in Abbotsford. Very nice.

At the border I went through more investigation than I suspect most suspected smugglers would have to endure. Why? Because I had my tools with me. I was at the crossing for almost two hours.

Iron pipe roof rack with ladder on top (Escort wagon), the 'bag of tricks' main tool bag, 2 hardware boxes, 2 good sized Rubbermaid tubs filled with even more tools; and of course clothing and personal effects gave them pause.

The border guards were convinced I was planning to move in and stay (they must have known the lady 'cause I was in fact very tempted); but they gave me such a hard time that I was discouraged from doing so much as changing a lightbulb for my friend.

Everyone else I visited with on the trip got at least a couple new circuits.

Later that summer when I was in NY I decided to not even try to see the better side of the Niagara Falls.

 

[Rampage_Rick]

Anyone know how the residential market in BC or AB?

Red hot. We don't have the mortgage meltdown, and housing is still supposed to climb in 2008. I got approved for a $275k mortgage and that won't get you a doghouse around here (and I'm 70 miles out of Vancouver)

In July of '04 while on my extended road trip (that I still haven't written about) I dipped my foot into BC to visit a lady in Abbotsford. Very nice.

At the border I went through more investigation than I suspect most suspected smugglers would have to endure. Why? Because I had my tools with me. I was at the crossing for almost two hours.

I'm guessing Sumas crossing. That's about 25 minutes away from me. I almost had a similar experience heading south.

"What you got in the back of your truck?"
"Uh, tools"
"What kinda tools?"
I begin rattling off a list: "Shovel, axe, sledgehammer" etc...
The border guard mulls it over for a few minutes, and then lets me pass. I guess he thought that it was unlikely for me to be going to Washington to do manual labour... (insert joke here about Mexican labor in WA)

On a side note I signed up to be one of 500 guinea pigs for the new RFID driver's licenses that will supposedly assist in border crossings.

they follow ohms law up there too, right????

Here, yes. Be careful about Australia though. Not only do the drains swirl the other direction due to the Coriolis effect, but the magnetic field around a conductor is also reversed (Left hand rule)

OK I'm kidding... the drain swirl thing is a myth, and I made up the rest...