Any UK truckers here that moved to Canada?

I think dealing with Pride on our 18 lease trucks, took years off my life. When I heard they get to keep going, I knew it was pretty much over for trucking in Canada. Well, that and Calgary going from 5 to 35 truck driving schools in less than 10 years. Hell they're building a few more near my house, 7 days a week 14 hours a day they're driving around, so decal'ed up you can't miss them if you tried.

You guys wouldn't believe the things I see everyday in dump trucking lol, makes me wonder how much longer my outfit will be able to "do things right" against these scrap metal flip floppers, who only know how to undercut.

Anyway, wages for city and everything else trucking have tanked. Mostly Minimum wage to $21/hr. Some have moved to "by the load" for day-cab, so you can just imagine that. Dump still pays with some companies, but those companies are not hiring, mostly just the scrap metal under-cutters are.

 

The comments on this thread are a good insight. I’m really sorry to hear things are so bleak over there for you all just now.

a lot of people mentioned the likes of Calgary.

as someone that wants a rural sort of existence, can I ask what things are like in rural BC or Alberta. Or east coast, NS and PEI for instance? Sask and Manitoba are another two provinces I’d liked the look of.

TIA

 

You only need Ontario and Quebec for the set of choices. There is info here on the current state in various places so you could start by moving areas up or down your list of choices. Then maybe you can narrow down a specific province for study of work and living potential. The drive across Canada is like east to west across Europe in distance, there's a lot of difference between the provinces and even parts of the provinces you cross. No one here can tell you what to do, they can tell you their impressions of their area but you have to sift and make decisions. It was easier some years ago as companies were begging for drivers but it's different today. Today, it depends more on the type of person you are; on my side of the country a determined person could move here get their licence and find a halfway decent job but there's no real company help anymore. Maybe the PEI outfits are still taking fresh meat from Europe, I dont know. You should choose your area and phone companies there, dont bother to email Canadian businesses as they still prefer the direct approach. Walking in the door is the best approach with phoning second, no third.

 

i realise after you saying that I have been pretty vague lol. Tbf people on here have been very helpful. I had posted earlier about Sask and a user emailed me a company he had worked for to get in touch with.

mind me asking what your side of the country is? I’m determined a plenty and I’m not a cowboy or somebody who sees trucking as a ‘shortcut’ I love driving trucks and it makes me sad to imagine myself doing anything else.

You’re not the first person to tell that about emails get you nowhere. Any emails would just be in amongst thousands of people with ambitions like mine from India or China etc.

I’ll maybe try phoning some companies, just need to practice talking a bit slower first as the Scottish accent is notoriously difficult for those unfamiliar with it to understand.

 

Im in the maritimes. A friend in NS is a sweaty from Glasgow and they understand him ok if he concentrates on speaking slowly, but there's so many accents in trucking here its wild, used to be Dutch, German and Brits then eastern European and Russian currently Indian is popular it keeps changing. If you have the necessary experience and license and aren't too picky about the type of work accent won't matter

 

The government keeps changing the rules on working and I haven't kept up. When I came to N.B. you needed a job offer with lmo that got a renewable work permit then when eligible you applied for provincial sponsorship for permanent residence which ended the work permit and lmo nuisance. Then there was a scheme where you got offered the job then applied for some kind of fast tracked p.r. which took about 6 months or so, then you were free to work. I know there's different options now and you should thoroughly educate yourself on what they are, if you can tell people the immigration timeline you’ll be on it will help you.

 

im laughing at that. Glad to see rhyming slang translates in Canada! I hope you’re right man. A years experience (OTR Class 1) in September. By the time I get out there it could be anything upto 18 months. Not a lot but hopefully counts for something.

Yeah the rules and regulations are crazy man. Vary greatly from province to province. I’m doing as much research as I possibly can about what province would be best. Ultimately I’d need to pick one that had a pathway to PR via a PNP but at the same time ensure it’s not a Toronto or Vancouver situation. I want a semi rural lifestyle so trying to avoid massive cities if possible, that said beggars can’t be choosers.

got an IEC visa (2 year unrestricted work permit) but it’s LMIA exempt which can exclude me from certain PNPs. Also if I were to use that visa it I’d have to come out by November. Learning trucking on a new continent will be tough, but in harsh winters it’d be even worse so part of me wants to wait and reapply for that same visa when the pools open next year and come out in spring time. It’s an absolute minefield of information and I’m just trying to make sure I get it right.

 

Driving a truck is the same everywhere, you'll be used to that within a week. You will be driving in snow and cold 5 months a year whatever time you come out. In my first 4 years the rules to apply for citizenship changed 3 times, dont bank on your current option for entry being available in a year as there is a lot of pressure on this government to attend to immigration. They have an unbalanced housing market everywhere and altered job markets due to over immigration in recent years and things will change for a few years on admissions and immigration streams.
Do it whenever you like but I'd advise you to "go", or get off the pot.

 

hope you’re right. I hear what you’re saying, no guarantees and I know the feeling towards immigration in Canada isn’t good just now. I’ll be going over, just need to hope it all works out.

Thanks for the info.

 

I would look at man, sask or Alberta. East coast is limited for work, far more opportunities in the west.