any members from the edmonton canada area

[ashleyroachclip]

I recieved a letter from a friend in California, that spotted a news article from a company in Edmonton looking for workers.
The article he forwarded to me states that the economy there is booming, and there is a demand for construction workers as well as many other tradesmen.
The article goes on to mention that the requirements for foreign workers has been relaxed to some extent, to allow for the filling of the
labor pools needed for the expanding oil sands boom.
Do any of you from the area have any input /knowledge of this.
Oregon is a nanny state, and I am not one to partake in the welfare system, and since the project I have been working on is now finished, I have been building a hydroelectric dam, I am looking for work that pays a family wage.
Thanks for any input you have of the serious nature.

 

[Squamishcoyote]

I'm from BC, but I have a friend who is currently working out there as a second year apprentice electrician. He gets 37.50/hr plus $75/day LOA, room and board provided. Come spring time I might head out there too, as going rate for a ticketed electrician is 50-60hr

 

[SID297]

I've seen news reports about companies looking for workers in the oil sands areas, but it seemed remote and lonely work. You'd possibly be away from your family for weeks on end depending on the location of the job site.

 

[mack83]

I'm one of those people that live in fort mcmurray (the oil sands). This place got a bad reputation for being desolate. Just like any area you'll have bad areas as well as good. It's just where you choose to hang out at. Most ticketed tradesmen make between 130g to 280g a year. The odd employee will break 300g a year however. I'm home to my family every night here in town. There is a surprising amount of schools and parks. Also, if you want to go partying or spending some money in a big way, Edmonton is only 4.5 hours south. It's not as bad as people make it out to be.

There are a fair number of camps north of the city as well.

 

[canadianbullitt]

I work as an electrician up there as well. I live 400 miles south of ft mcmuray. I would never want to live in that town. Not exactly pretty up there haha. I stay in camp for 14 days at a time, fly home and have 7 days off. I like it.
Money depends on what position you have. A ticketed tradesman makes between 40 and 50 per hour. Supervisor foremans Ect can make more. I don't see a tradesperson making 300k a year like someone has said.
There is tons of foreign workers up there from overseas. I have often wondered why there isn't more American workers around with the economy being the way it is.

 

[mack83]

60+ an hour as an electrician here. Not a GF either. Lots of my field mechanic buddies make 250+g a year. Couple with their own field trucks make shy of 500g a year running their own business. I work 14 and 14 and still do 200+ a year. I live in a nice new neighborhood as well. It's cleaner in my area then Edmonton IMO. All suncor, syncrude tradesmen make roughly $55 an hour. Instrumentation techs make more. Power engineers... They make more as well. Also with the new developments going up around here it's going to be alot more friendly for shopping and entertainment in the next couple years.

 

[canadianbullitt]

I'm not saying you don't but how do you manage 60 an hour as an electrician? Our jman rate is 42 an hour. Who do you work for?

 

[SID297]

Are you guys talking USD or CD?

 

[canadianbullitt]

CD but its pretty even right now anyway right?

 

[mack83]

Canadian which I think is on par with US. I work for Finning. You out of the 424? Couple my buddies just got hired with Shell Albian Sands and they make $72 an hour with a $60000 signing bonus amoung other things. Heavy duty mechanics though. I think shell hires electricians too though?

 

[canadianbullitt]

Canadian which I think is on par with US. I work for Finning. You out of the 424? Couple my buddies just got hired with Shell Albian Sands and they make $72 an hour with a $60000 signing bonus amoung other things. Heavy duty mechanics though. I think shell hires electricians too though?

Jesus lol. I gotta make a move! I work for integral at cnrl. It's CLAC so not really union I guess.

 

[OneManWolfpack]

Lol, I was thinking the same thing.

 

[zak88lx]

Are you guys talking USD or CD?

$280,000.00 CAD = $279,748.22 USD
Canadian Dollar ↔ US Dollar
1 CAD = 0.999101 USD 1 USD = 1.00090 CAD

Pretty much identical right now.

 

[Blown_By_You]

I'll be going up there in the spring.. We can make $1000 a day up there and work something like 21 on, 7 off. You can stay as long as you want, but most guys I know just go for a month or two and come home.. Great way to supplement our US income

 

[ashleyroachclip]

I am.a carpenter by trade, have also worked as a mechanic.
Being 55 and the economy in the dumps,I don't want to be on ssi or any other program.
I just want to make bank so I can spend time with my wife and six and counting grandchildren.

I started working long before they issued a ticket as you called it.
So having been a general contractor for more than 25 years may not count for much?
I need contacts, so I can make some decisions after I do some more investigating.
you guys have been of some help, and I thank you.
Maybe I will be one of those crossing the border

 

[scottg]

Damn!!! I'm a plant electrician so I don't do much conduit or wire pulling, more programming and troubleshooting, but I don't make anything near like that. That's crazy money. If I wasn't married I would seriously consider this.

 

[zak88lx]

Damn!!! I'm a plant electrician so I don't do much conduit or wire pulling, more programming and troubleshooting, but I don't make anything near like that. That's crazy money. If I wasn't married I would seriously consider this.

You can make crazy money up here, but you almost need it, as everything is quite expensive.

Alberta is also hiring unemployed US military vets to fill positions in the oilsands.
Alberta to recruit American war vets to work in oilsands

 

[scottg]

You can make crazy money up here, but you almost need it, as everything is quite expensive.

Alberta is also hiring unemployed US military vets to fill positions in the oilsands.
Alberta to recruit American war vets to work in oilsands

Seems like good old fashioned hard work and manual labor though. Right now I can usually just sit in the maintenance office here at the plant (like now) as long as the lines are up and running. I'm more of a technician than a power electrician anyways.

 

[mack83]

Seems like good old fashioned hard work and manual labor though. Right now I can usually just sit in the maintenance office here at the plant (like now) as long as the lines are up and running. I'm more of a technician than a power electrician anyways.

As much as I'd like to say working at one of the plants is crazy hard labour... It's not. The safety standards at the big sites up here are so out of this world that it really really slows production. Safety really is their most important concern.

As far as cost of living... Well the houses are much more expensive. Food and gas are about on par with the res of the country. Eating out is a bit more expensive at restaurants though. With your average double wide trailer going for $500g... Yeah it's pricy. Most people rent rooms between $700-$1000 a month to supplement their housing costs. A really really nice house is going to cost in the $850g and up range. That same house in Edmonton or Calgary might cost you $450g. At those prices though, most rent out a full legal basement suite to make it affordable.

 

[Squamishcoyote]

As much as I'd like to say working at one of the plants is crazy hard labour... It's not. The safety standards at the big sites up here are so out of this world that it really really slows production. Safety really is their most important concern.

My friend quoted his supervisor as saying "safety first, if you don't work then you can't get hurt, so we don't really work"