British Columbia, Canada

[Jatt_Chahal]

New on this forum so Hi

Looked online and it sates ICBC will exchange UK license if moving to BC, Canada within 90 days, does this include the HGV entitlements or does it mean a costly retrain to get ie Semi license there? I know it differs sate by state so hence trying to get a definitive answer on this.

Also any suggestions on best way to go about moving and finding work there would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[Scraggy88]

Hey man, I moved to Alberta about 4 and a half years ago and was able to swap my uk licence for a Canadian operators license. Unfortunately they only give me a class 5 which is for a car and had to redo my class 1 as well as take an air brake course before that.
I would imagine the same would be said for BC.
The air brake course is only a day course or a 2 day course if you do it in the evening and can be done at the local college and costs around $250 to $300 Canadian bit is easy to do and you can go straight for your class 1 too which is nice, unlike England where you have to do class 2 first.
Alberta now has a MELT (mandatory entry level training) program that’s I think 113 hours of tuition which you have to complete to get your commercial vehicle license which I think can cost anything up to $10,000 and up to $5,000 for a bus but I would imagine can be reclaimed on the following years tax return, I was lucky enough to get my class 1 just before they brought it all in but you should look for yourself and I don’t think BC has implemented the MELT program as of yet so it would just be a case of do the computer and practical tests and air brakes.

As for finding a job, if you have at least a couple of years behind you over in England then you should at least have half a chance when you get here, however you are planning to do that.
easiest way is to look on the internet and search for the different companies local to where you will be or you can always ask around on here too.

Hope this helps buddy!

[Jatt_Chahal]

Thanks scraggy88, that's a big help to point in the right direction to start with appreciate it bud.

On another note would you say it's worth all the upheaval of moving from UK to Canada with regards to initial emigration costs and setting up over there Vs staying in the UK. It's more of a maybe than a Defo at mo for me and need to try and work out short-term to longterm pros/cons.

Thanks

[Scraggy88]

Well it’s gonna be dependent on ones status, options, positions etc over there. Myself, I came over here on my own and the only thing I have in England now is my family but it’s just a plane ride back to go visit.
There are lots of different ways of getting through immigration, my advice would be to do as much research as you can, look on different forums etc and ask as many people as you can about the process and if you have money to spare then pay a visit to an immigration lawyer and explore your options with them.
Obviously moving half way across the world is something not to be taken lightly, even more so if you have a wife and kids or dependants over there and it’s a whole different world over here in Respect of pretty much everything, work, cost of living, laws etc so it’s always a good idea to compare the cost of living mainly over here to over there, taking into account the conversion of UK£ to CAD$ as some things are cheaper here and some things are more expensive. I find food to be way more expensive over here compared to over there and that takes a fair chunk of my paycheck with a household of 6.
British Columbia is more expensive that Alberta also as bc has a PST (provincial sales tax) as well as the GST (government sales tax) so everything costs a little more over there, AB is 5% and I think bc is 12%.

My best recommendation would be to take a vacation over here for a few weeks and see for yourself what it’s like here (when the world can travel again) or even take a couple of visits to see what it’s like in the summer and in the winter and do some research while you are here.

For me personally, it has been absolutely worth the move, it’s been hard at times and will continue to be hard at times as it’s gonna take many years to get everything I want in life, a house, new pickup truck, camping trailer, all the toys for the mountains etc as I came here with only about CAD$20,000 and started from nothing on my own and since then have took on a family of 4 at the time so didn’t make it easy for myself lol.
As they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day and it’s gonna be a different experience for everyone who attempts the move but myself it’s been the best life choice I have made