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

[Kiowan]

Nowhere in North America swaps a UK truck licence. You have to re take your test and in Canada we have provinces, not states, that's the USA....Since Humboldt every province has the MELT or mandatory training program which is about $10K dollars, no idea if companies are paying this but given companies are still bringing drivers over or have been, then I'd imagine they are paying and locking you into a contract to prevent you leaving before they've got their work out of you, and they'll get their work out of you. BC doesn't have many companies able to recruit foreign drivers, most of that is done in the prairies (except Alberta due to the economy) and the maritimes.

[Tanraj]

Just seen this post, sounds like your going down the same route as me. I came to Canada from England in 2016 and like everbody says you can only exchange your UK license for class 5. You will have to do the whole theory test and road test again set me back around $2000 back in 2017.

I am also in BC. It sure is great as they say you can be skiing on the mountains by day and watching the sun set in the evening. I must warn you though be prepared for the high cost of living in BC (Bring Cash) owning a house forget about it.

Not sure if you did make a move here but need any help just drop me a message would be happy to help.

Also as far as work goes you will only be doing long haul driving as this only contributes to getting your permanent residency. Expect been in the states and at least a 7 day round trip is not uncommon. May take a couple of years but once your a resident your free to do as you wish

[Scraggy88]

Yeah, BC is bloody expensive, the misses wants to eventually move over there from AB but that’s gonna be a long way off probably. Company I work for only gives an extra $1 or so an hour for working out of BC but maybe when the kids have grown up then we may have a fighting chance

[bobthedog]

Rather late to the party here but here goes.

I moved to BC four years ago and can’t say I regret it. The caveat here is where I moved to. The nearest Walmart or Canadian tire is 3.5 hours away in summer and up to 5 in winter. There are a couple of grocery stores and a hardware store and one fuel station.

That’s it.

Property here is now getting expensive because of all the talk of new mines opening up but we shall see. Other than that the cost of living is not dissimilar than anywhere else.

And I earn very good money. Very. Good. Money!

Recently I went on a mentor/trainer course in Kamloops (14 hours away in the company pickup to give you an idea of scale). While there I was speaking to one of the main people at the company and she told me that BC will be opening up to TFWs so it’s a possibility. I can’t attest to it very well as I haven’t looked into it but that’s the talk of the higher ups.

Personally I wouldn’t be driving those corridors anymore. It got to be as much a rat race as anywhere else and the overall driving standard has dropped considerably. So many people like the humboldt driver who should never be let loose. It’s telling that we haven’t had a single one from that neck of the woods hired on up here. The requirements for this gig are fairly well set in stone because we run 72300kg on bad roads.

But all in all it’s a potential avenue you might want to look into. Plenty of work around and some good firms looking for good drivers.