Qualifications in Canada

[nicjill]

I am currently trained in nails and beauty but on maternity leave(ish!) and my partner has recently been thinking about applying for new jobs, possibly abroad. It might be something that we would consider in about 9 months, when I would be going back to work BUT I have no idea how I would stand if we moved away. We have previously looked at the states so I have an idea of what I would have to do to retrain there but now he is looking at Canada. I have never been to Canada and know very little about it!

Would I be right in assuming that I would have to train from the very beginning to do nails or beauty in Canada or would any of my qualifications be recognized? For nails I have trained with Creative in all areas, including master level in l&p, for beauty I have NVQ level 2. The area he is looking at currently is Alberta.

Any information would be great. As I say, it is only a possibility we will look at for next year or so but I don't want to get his hopes up if it would mean we'd be worse off moving away! We also have to consider that will will have a young child. Last time we considered it, it was just us so if it turned out to be an expensive mistake it didn't matter but we have to be more careful these days.

 

[canadian chick]

Hi,
Me (a nail tech) and my husband (a mechanic), my daughter which is 10 and our son who is 6 emigrated from england last year to cranbrook,canada.
My husband got offered a job when we lived in England,we had 6 month's to sell every thing and move.
We come out on work visa's from England to this company that had employed my husband,he could only work for the company on the work visa,while our consultant worked on our work visa's we asked her to help us through our perminant resident visa as well for which she was doing.
Every think was going well until a week after christmas,my husband come home after a day at work and said he had been laid off work,work had gone quite.(when we come out to canada in the 6 month's before hand they told us that they would never do that to us as they employed my husband from england and they knew we had nothink once we got here).
we could'nt come back to england because our passport's were in canada house in london being perpared for P R, so we phoned our consultant and asked her what we do know,oh she said wait for your passport's to come back then you can either look for other work or go home and that was all she said.
It was -38 out side with our major road's closed due to snow and ice,we are 5 hour's away from calgray and 10 hour's away from vancouver,so we said we have to stay and get through this,i went and found a full time work,my husband stayed at home and took the kid's to and from school until he found other employment.
well my husband is now in a job,we are behind in all our bill's and rent,we have just sold our car so we can pay back some of these bill's,we have now said that we are moving over to the other side of canada so my husband's uncle can help put us up so we can clear our bill's.

This move has cost us nearly $30,000.00 and a lot of up set,our kid's are not happy as they can see we are not happy.

If i could turn back the clock i would have never moved to canada,we went through the internet and researched every think we could before moving,we interviewed the company before we moved and they said that work was very busy and that's why they needed a mecanic to help out and the possablite of my husband being laid off was very slim
we come to canada for a better life for our kid's,we never come to canada to be rich,we never come to canada to live on their benefits system but i wish now i could come home.
I'm not trying to put you off of coming to canada but you have a small child to think about like you said in your post,i have a 10 year old and a 6 year old and they wish they could come home.
My dad was looking through the internet and found a web site called 'notcanada.com',he asked me to go through this site,if you have some spare time have a look,if i had read this site before i would have never looked at coming to canada to live.
This is just what has happened to us i would guess that other's have done the same as us and have had no problem's and are enjoying they life here.
I'm sorry if this has put you off or has up set your plan's.
All i would like now is to come home back to England that's where my heart is now.
When i moved out i went to a salon and asked if my qualification's was recognised and they said yes,i am qualified in creative,my husband on the other hand has to go for his journey man certificate so his qualification's are put in to canada law.
We took that chance in coming here,we tried every think to make this work,we knew before we left England this was'nt going to be easy but we tried.

 

[nicjill]

OMG that's terrible. What a horrid thing to happen to you and what a horrid company to do that. That's kinda what I'm worried about, that if we moved it would cost us a fortune and we'd be stuck!

To be honest, we would only move for my partner's job and I know that his job would be secure, plus there are a few people from his company moving to the same area at the moment (hence why he is thinking about it). I know the company he would be applying to help with relocation, etc so in theory it shouldn't cost too much to get over there. I'm just worried now that we'd go over and I wouldn't be able to work so I'd be stuck at home with the baby, or that I could work but end up paying more in childcare than I'd earn. I don't fancy having to live off my partner. As I said before, if it was just the 2 of us, it wouldn't be as much of a problem but it would really have to be worth it to uproot our baby, especially taking him/her away from my mum (first grandchild so she's be gutted).

Thanks for the replies, certainly gives me something to think about!

 

[sc in canada]

I live in Calgary Alberta and your training that you have done would be enough to work here. Where in Alberta are you thinking of moving too? Right now our entire province is booming and finding work will not be a problem at all. In Calgary there is a HUGE shortage of workers, salons are finding it difficult to fill openings for not only nail techs but stylists. Most places are even offering a signing bonus if you agree to work there for 6 months to a year.

Canadian Chick sorry to hear that things did not go as well for you and your family. Cranbrook is a beautiful area to live however I don't think the economy there is as good as other areas. I hope things better for you and your family. Maybe you guys could look at moving closer to Calgary I know that there is a demand for mechanics here and he could work while getting the correct qualifications.

 

[nicjill]

I think the company he is looking at is based in Edmonton. Don't really know much about the area, had a quick look on the net but not quite the same as getting a real insider's view!