Do you wanna be Canadian, please...

yeah.. i can try n find some numbers in a little bit but i too am quite certain its alot higher percentage than that cumulatively.
as it is i love hearing the top local news reports touting that NEW unemployment assistance claims are at an all time low. emphasis I place on 'new'. they certainly dont emphasize it.
the new rules for that assistance caused everyone ON it to have the time allowed on it drastically shortened and stiffened the rules that qualify new applicants.
Just because the amount of new applicants is dropping doesnt mean everyone that was just on it has returned to work. they are trying to make it sound as though the ranks of the unemployed are thinning when in fact they are not.
if you didnt know.. here.. as long as you have worked something like 22 weeks consecutively you have paid enuff into unemployment tax to be able to collect something like 65ish % of what your weekly gross income was for a short period of time.

quick search result for my state of NY alone is 8.3%
http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/lauhsthl.htm

 

if you havew your cdl --some companys can import drivers--i know they get eauropean and asian drivers--not sure if they can get them from the us tho---they arnt the greatest companys but it would be an in if you can get it
right now some companys in toronto are paying 50cpm single and 50 cpm split for teams

 

The minimum wage here in the U.S is really holding alot of people back. In my state, it is 7.25/hr. The minimum wage in Ontario is 10.25/hr...big difference. I am a Canadian but just happen to be living here for now because my wife is American. When you factor in 150.00 every two weeks to cover health insurance for your family through a company plan, while at minimum wage, it really leaves little to live on. In Canada, the health care is already covered whether you have a job or you don't.
I was making 16.00/hr at my job in Canada and just assumed that is what I would be making here only to find out after I got here that on average, the wage is 8:00/hr....what a rude awakening.
As for wages here...the state of Indiana cut health care services by 15% in the field I am in and I saw 2 pay cuts this year with the end result being company closure.
Everyone I have talked to here tells me about pay cuts...and unions..forget about it..they are being ravaged by the myriad of temp agencies out there. The temp agencies recruit employees for companies at a much lower wage. The temp recruits cannot join a union and are ineligible for benefits while under the temp agency.

 

exactly John. a cdl B back in late 90's in NY had an avg starting pay of 12 dollars or a bit more and alot more with experience.. now .. due to a desperate pool of licensed workers willing to 'take anything' has starting wages as low as 8 an hr for inexperienced and 10 nearly max per hr with experience. costs go up but previously decent wage minimums have dropped drastically.

 

my nephew just starting his first real driving job in saskatoon--at 23 an hour--paid for 15 a day--home most nights and every weekend--all no touch company frieght

 

thats awesum Canuck. many congrats to your nephew.
i appreciate your earlier suggestion too and i will start askin around once i get upgraded to an A. and in the meantime i shall just likely run with whoever i can and bank as much as i can and hopefully be able to get my paperwork in order fairly soon.

 

Canuck...do you know what is involved in getting a CDL changed to class A..I plan on returning to Canada someday.

 

Pusher, you weren't turned back at the border because of us not wanting US citizens or tightening security in retaliation to the CBP regs. You have a CRIMINAL record. Immigration DOES NOT WANT YOU! Not because you are American or cannot get the $2500, you are an ex-convict. You need a FULL PARDON before they will even think about it. Same thing for us going down to the US. Criminal record = no FAST card. ICE does not want Canadian criminals to move there and neither does CCRP in Canada. Simple as that.

Otherwise, all the best finding work to at least be able to live. It can be tough out there depending on the area you live. NYS seems to be a pretty low opportunity area.

 

i hear ya. .and yeah normally the usa even forbids issuing passports to us citizens with felony convictions too yet i have one issued to me.. all my idiocy dates back to 10-15 yrs ago tho.. at some point somewhere along the line it hasta be seen that the crime(s) were not a career choice but an error. and I currently meet all the requirements necessary to be eligible to fill out the "Rehabilitation fo persons who.." wow thats long.. its the IMM 1444 form. which from my study seems to quite clearly say that as long as my crimes were not these sort of crimes (they arent) or were committed within the last 5 yrs (they werent) I have a very good chance of being permitted entry.
http://pbc-clcc.gc.ca/infocntr/factsh/pardon-eng.shtml
yes it seems that i do need to apply for a Canadian Pardon. which i am optimistic that i shall. its just an added process since everyone clamped down on their borders since 9/11 and other atrocities. as a child/teen and young adult I used to walk/drive/ride across the Canadian border with nothing more than a wave hello from the usually friendly Border guards who never appeared to have any need or desire to frisk search or any other way detain anyone attempting to cross.
times have changed. If they hadnt i would already be up there happily employed and living my life quietly watching the clear decline of the place I left.
from your tone.. i certainly hope you arent the one to review my app either. lol. and i pray too that neither you or anyone close to you gets dragged into anything that ends up being criminal by definition, particularly in this day and age of perpetual victimization, which will then unwillingly open your eyes to just exactly what that whole revolving door never ending process is. I fell into it thru some very bad decision making and more than a little bit of trickery as well.. from your wording tho.. it seems that i need to simply line up on the wall and await the firing squads rounds to make contact... because after all.. i am an 'ex-convict'. but i do see your well wishes too and i appreciate them very much and of course return the same.
were i to heed your advice tho, i wouldnt know of the possibilities available to me that you seem so sure do not exist. it will take time but wether negative or positive i will try to update here as i go thru the motions.

 

Well, sorry to hurt your feelings but, I call a spade a spade. You admit to making some mistakes, that's fine. You must have been convicted of said crimes. Therefore by definition an 'ex-convict'. You do not need a Canadian pardon unless said 'mistakes' were performed in Canada. If so then your chances are slim that the pardon will go through. You see, CCRA and CBP work VERY close nowadays and can search each others records and update each other on flagged persons.

I have driven with a fellow who was my trainer for 2 weeks, he is an 'ex-convict', admits it, and it happened over 25 years ago. Yet the US CBP pulls him in EVERY trip across just to look at his passport and say hi. I also drove with a fellow who cannot get a FAST card due to some 'mistakes' AND has a pardon. The US CBP WILL NOT issue a FAST card to him although the Canadian authorities approve him. So by your logic the US DHS must be all against both of them.

Face it, you messed up. Most likely when you were younger and stupid (weren't we all at one time?), this now has adverse impacts on your current life. One of those hindsight is 20/20 things.

Not sure where you got the "firing squad" thing from, but, oh well. If you have trouble getting the $2500 for the Immigration entry "fee" ( I guess is what they call it), you may have even more trouble hiring the lawyer to go through the Pardon Process. Remember though, like I already stated, just because you have a Pardon, the border personnel do not have to let you cross. It all depends on what DHS and CCRA have in their databases.