Canada 2010-2011?

mc3cann

Hi,

Im moving to toronto finally on the 6th after a long summer of saving! There are two of us going, both recently qualified engineers. Just wondering if there are any other similar ppl who have done the same and if so what the actual job prospects for new engineers are in toronto?!

Also we only have a hostel booked for the first week so any suggestions on where to stay would be great?!

fat__tony

People, I need some urgent advice please;

Where have people booked their flights and insurance? (Through USIT or someone else)
Have you had to pay the amount in full when you were booking?
Did you book return tickets at the time?
What kind of flexibility were you offered with regards to flights?

My visa application has been with the canadian commission since 12th September, all documentation is with them except flights and insurance details.

Your assistance is appreciated, thanking you.

t is for tommo

Hey just got through there too, so I shouldn't have received that email and text message at all. They are definatley jokers alright, just creating more hassle for themselves apart from anything else.
Just another question that they couldn't answer: I have spent more than 3 years away from Ireland since I was 18 but not continuously. How will this effect my application. The girl said the 3 year restriction is more to do with police clearance in other countries you may have been in. At this stage with the 20th of October deadline it would be difficult to obtain police clearance from oz and new zealand in time. Would I be better of to tell some white lies about time spent away (only evidence being passport stamps) or be truthful and hope the Canadian visa processing people don't ask for the oz / new zealand police clearance. Anyone have experience like this in previous years?

i_love_toast

t is for tommo wrote: »

Hey just got through there too, so I shouldn't have received that email and text message at all. They are definatley jokers alright, just creating more hassle for themselves apart from anything else.
Just another question that they couldn't answer: I have spent more than 3 years away from Ireland since I was 18 but not continuously. How will this effect my application. The girl said the 3 year restriction is more to do with police clearance in other countries you may have been in. At this stage with the 20th of October deadline it would be difficult to obtain police clearance from oz and new zealand in time. Would I be better of to tell some white lies about time spent away (only evidence being passport stamps) or be truthful and hope the Canadian visa processing people don't ask for the oz / new zealand police clearance. Anyone have experience like this in previous years?

hey when you got through to them did you ask them if the deadline is definitely October 20th and NOT september 30th as they were saying in the email?

and also if you only applied is your application still being processed and not on the cancellation list?

t is for tommo

Hey I love toast, ya I am not on a cancellation list or a waiting list and the deadline is 20th of October. The September 30th deadline was for people who were further ahead in the process. It is still going to be tight trying to get everything sorted by the 20th October deadline so I would get going on your garda clearance and application forms asap. If you have not received your email with the forms yet, you can download them here

https://www.securetravelbooking.com/canadatracking/tracking.aspx#

Best of luck.

Rachel171

fat__tony wrote: »

People, I need some urgent advice please;

Where have people booked their flights and insurance? (Through USIT or someone else)
Have you had to pay the amount in full when you were booking?
Did you book return tickets at the time?
What kind of flexibility were you offered with regards to flights?

My visa application has been with the canadian commission since 12th September, all documentation is with them except flights and insurance details.

Your assistance is appreciated, thanking you.

Hi Fat Tony.

Myself and my boyfriend are going to Vancouver January 10th 2011 (stop off in NYC and Chicago for ten days)

We applied for our visas July 30th, and received our visas last week. (We did take three weeks getting our forms together, so only took 4/5 weeks to process unlike the min of 8 weeks they have advised ).

However, I have had many issues with USIT (too many to go into detail here! But I HATE the way they treat their "customers") and absolutely don't want anything to do with them. They also charge a fortune for flights and insurance. You need to book over the phone too, so can't "shop around" via their website, therefore you have no idea what the breakdown of charges are.

We have booked our one-way flights with edreams.ie as this facilitated the "multi-trip" stopovers we wanted. Our flights came to €620...

We didnt book return because most importantly 1) who knows when or from what city you will be coming home from in more than a years time and 2) many websites wont let you book further than the date you book, therefore we couldn't search for flights in Jan 2012. (I'll beit USIT do..)

I need to book my insurance and send in my details by Thursday 30th, so am researching around. Getcover.ie or http://www.backpackertravelinsurance.ie seem to be my best and cheapest options.

Hope this helps!

fat__tony

Rachel171 wrote: »

Hi Fat Tony.

Myself and my boyfriend are going to Vancouver January 10th 2011 (stop off in NYC and Chicago for ten days)

We applied for our visas July 30th, and received our visas last week. (We did take three weeks getting our forms together, so only took 4/5 weeks to process unlike the min of 8 weeks they have advised ).

However, I have had many issues with USIT (too many to go into detail here! But I HATE the way they treat their "customers") and absolutely don't want anything to do with them. They also charge a fortune for flights and insurance. You need to book over the phone too, so can't "shop around" via their website, therefore you have no idea what the breakdown of charges are.

We have booked our one-way flights with edreams.ie as this facilitated the "multi-trip" stopovers we wanted. Our flights came to €620...

We didnt book return because most importantly 1) who knows when or from what city you will be coming home from in more than a years time and 2) many websites wont let you book further than the date you book, therefore we couldn't search for flights in Jan 2012. (I'll beit USIT do..)

I need to book my insurance and send in my details by Thursday 30th, so am researching around. Getcover.ie or http://www.backpackertravelinsurance.ie seem to be my best and cheapest options.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the info.

My application has been with the canandian high commission since September 11th so the short turn-around time sounds encouraging. Was that 4-5 week period from when your documents sent to the canadian high commission?

Also I'm a bit nervous with regard to booking the flights when I my visa hasn't been approved yet!!

mirtos

I spoke to USIT today and they said that they sent out a blanket text and email to everybody, because some people have not yet submitted confirmation of their flights and insurance to USIT.

So, basically, if you applied to USIT for a Canadian visa in September, you must submit all information to them (by email/post or hand delivered) before 6pm on 30th September. If you do not submit your information by then, you will loose your place on the visa programme or go on the cancellation list.

If you are only applying now, USIT recommended that you send them all documents (copy of passport, garda/police cert, confirmation of flights and confirmation of insurance) within 7-10 days of applying for the visa, as this helps ensure that your visa is processed promptly and efficiently. If you do this, USIT are aiming to provide you with your visa in 4-5 weeks.

You do not need to book your flights or insurance with USIT: USIT quoted Mr. Mirtos and I return flights for €1400pp including insurance. We bought flights from Aer Lingus for €650pp (with the option of changing our return flight for €75 plus the difference in flight prices, which is approx €100-200pp) and insurance from AIB for €320pp. By the war, certain USIT flights to Canada may require either a terminal change in Heathrow (yipee!) or an overnight in Heathrow (more yipee's).


I do not work for USIT but I am on the waiting list and got an awful fright when I received the text and email last night! I called them and they advised me what I have written above.

Best of luck!

Reney

I applied for my visa on August 20th and got it last week. I've actually found USIT quite pleasant and helpful to deal with, I was expecting them to be a nightmare going by other people's stories but without chasing them I even got a phonecall from them today to clarify that it was a blanket email that was sent yesterday and that my application, visa etc was fine.

I was a little wary about booking my flights before I had my visa too but USIT said I would have my visa in plenty of time for flying on Nov 1st so I put a deposit on them a week in advance of getting my visa and the documents came through the following week.

I booked my flights and insurance package with USIT as I'm heading over to do a ski season so I needed decent insurance that would cover me for snow sports for the whole year and USIT offered this and a return flight package with 1 free flight change - for me this didn't work out a huge amount more than booking my own flights and insurance and just saved time and hassle in the long run.

Sorry to hear about the USIT horror stories on here, the blanket emails are annoying but I think USIT have upped their game a lot over the past few years so fingers crossed they cut out the crap and keep improving...

Just to add my flights and insurance package was €1000 (that's return, with 1 yr snow sports travel insurance, sim and 1 flight change)

ogriofa

mc3cann wrote: »

Hi,

Im moving to toronto finally on the 6th after a long summer of saving! There are two of us going, both recently qualified engineers. Just wondering if there are any other similar ppl who have done the same and if so what the actual job prospects for new engineers are in toronto?!

Also we only have a hostel booked for the first week so any suggestions on where to stay would be great?!

Hey there, had a chat with a fella the other day that works for the "construction business board" or something. He reckons that a Alberta has a load of work going. **Although, he reckons its an "UGLY" place to live. Might be an idea to get a few quid saved up.

G'luck

Have you received your pre-departure pack Reney? Just curious as to what's in it..

Zapp Brannigan

Pre-departure pack is just a downloadable PDF with info on SWAP and what to do when you get to Canada. You also get a ROgers SIM card sent to you in the post.

Nothing to look forward to really!

Reney

Deleted User wrote: »

Have you received your pre-departure pack Reney? Just curious as to what's in it..

No didn't get it yet, but I'll let you know if it's any different to as Zapp described it !

Cheers!

Calgarian

Why does everyone just head to Vancouver & Toronto? There are lots of other cities with better job prospects. Depends what you're looking for I suppose, work or fun.

Don't head out here in big groups like a lost soccer team, if you are one of 6 lads looking for work in the same places as the other 5 it's going to end in tears. 2 or 3 is a perfect number, anything more and I reckon you're doing yourself no favours.

I came to Calgary on the 21st of June, had fun for the first 3weeks, then started looking for work. 2 of us came over, me and a buddy from Uni, both Engineers. We found work easily enough and are nearly 3months into it now. We got REALLY lucky as it isn't all that easy to get engineering work. We hope to stay on in Canada as the work is perfect for us, and the money is good. We'll see how things turn out I suppose.

The down side is that Calgary isn't exactly the most exciting of places. It is a small city.

The main thing that I would say to anybody coming to Canada is don't all go in one massive group. Its far less intimidating/annoying for prospective employers to see 2 people walk in together looking for work, rather than 3, with one waiting outside and the other asking to use the toilet.

Just my observations is all, I'm not being a smart arse. Best of luck to everyone thinking of coming to Canada, I will never regret coming here, everyone is so happy to talk to an Irish person. There are the odd few "they took our jobs" (south park) but nothing serious.

tipp86

Im moving over to Toronto for 3 months the Gf hopes to find work during the 3 months i dont.

Im going down the Kijii and craiglist route for short term rentals. Anyone else got any tips where i should look or should i wait until i arrive? If so any good tips on where to stay for first week or two ?

citytillidie

In Montreal now for 3 months and have a retail job in a Hallow'een store.

Finding it hard to get other work with out French other than tele sales, and being honest I got very lucky with the retail job I have.

spudmonkey17

Fizzy86 wrote: »

Hey so in Toronto a few days now. Staying in an area near High Park for the moment but is only temporary. Looking for somewhere more permanent soon. Any advice on areas that are good? Gonna be doing a course in Islington but hopefully will find some sort of job in the city or nearby...
Would love to hear from anyone that's here, only been here a few days but feeling kinda weird having no one to talk to apart from the family im staying with...
Fiona

Hey Fizzy
I'm in a similar enough situation myself. Only arrived in Toronto yesterday having spent the last 4 months living in Chicago. Trying to get my head around the areas and figure out the best places to live.

So if anyone that's already here has any advice on the areas in Toronto let me know!

Zapp Brannigan

Question for you folks in Vancouver.

Is the night life as sh*t as it seems? Seems like there's no late bars or craic to be had?

Fizzy86

spudmonkey17 wrote: »

Hey Fizzy
I'm in a similar enough situation myself. Only arrived in Toronto yesterday having spent the last 4 months living in Chicago. Trying to get my head around the areas and figure out the best places to live.

So if anyone that's already here has any advice on the areas in Toronto let me know!

Yeah it's pretty confusing knowing where to live alright. I just found an apartment next to High Park yesterday so will be moving there in a few weeks. It's kind of a suburb on the Bloor subway line. Think it's about 15 mins to the city. I'm going to a College in Islington so kinda thought it best to put myself between there and the city.
Still not too familiar with the city itself, I need get in there and explore bit more!

JoeMcSavlon

Hows it going Lads..

Hopefully heading towards winter of 2011 and applying for Visa when it opens to get a place.. Finishing work & will have money saved by then.. anyone here have the same plan..Hate having to use Usit but after reading the thread can see its gonna be expensive anyway!! does anybody have a ball park figure for flights, visa insurance etc.. Thanks

ratedR

Been in Vancouver nearly 3 weeks now. Got work in construction after a week (general labouring). Physically hard work, but it's not rocket science. 13 bucks an hour with options of overtime occasionally so it's ok for entry level work.

Sorted accomadation too. Had to view a few places before we found the right one. A lot of places are ****holes, as you'll find out. Average rent for a 2 bedroom place is around 1000-1300 per month. We were lucky enough to get a fully furnished place with tv, internet, washing machine and dryer and all utilities (elec,water) all included in rent price.

Lovely city, plenty to do and see. Drink is a little expensive though. Average price of a pint in pubs is a little over 7 dollars, and then of course you have to tip. Off licences here in Vancouver (and all BC apparently) are few and far between. You'll find them, but its not like home or OZ where there are lots everywhere. A six pack of bottles heineken, corona, etc are about $17, and you cant buy booze in the supermarkets.

Stuff in supermarkets is around the same price. I saw someone on here moanng about the price of chicken... get over it. If you want it you'll buy it !
Very easy to get around too with the skytrain and busses. Id reccommend buying a day pass on the skytrain (can also be used on busses) especially on the first few days, as it's $3.75 for a 2 zone ticket before 6pm, $2.50 after, but it only lasts 90 minutes. And just keep an eye on the bums hanging around some of the ticket machines in some of the stations. (Their pretty harmless to be honest though)

There are plenty of jobs over here, from what I've seen. I was probably lucky to get something so quickly, and even though it's not what I want to be doing, it's paying rent and keeping me away from my savings. I'm still sending off CV's when I get the chance for jobs I'm qualfied to do.

It's an expensive city too, but then no more expensive then most other big cities. You just need to shop around for the best deals in supermarkets and stuff.

Best of luck to anyone coming over. If anyone has anymore questons on Vancouver I'll try answer them.

MJRS

Visa, 420 roughly. Flights, paid 220 London to Toronto with AirTransat, just gonna book the flight home whenever we want to go home. Insurance, 195 with backpackertravelinsurance.ie.

One of my friends did everything through USIT and paid 1600 in total! You do get the flexible date flight home, but not worth an extra 700 tbh.

Limerick_Lass

Zapp Brannigan wrote: »

Question for you folks in Vancouver.

Is the night life as sh*t as it seems? Seems like there's no late bars or craic to be had?

Im here 2 weeks... and still looking for some craic

JoeMcSavlon

MJRS wrote: »

Visa, 420 roughly. Flights, paid 220 London to Toronto with AirTransat, just gonna book the flight home whenever we want to go home. Insurance, 195 with backpackertravelinsurance.ie.

One of my friends did everything through USIT and paid 1600 in total! You do get the flexible date flight home, but not worth an extra 700 tbh.

Cheers NJRS thats some difference alright..bit more work but saving quite alot..just seems like usit cause a bit of hassle when giving them details of flights and that..just get the name down for the Visa in January!! Does anyone know is that when its gonna be opened for 2011?? Thanks

JohnMearsheimer

JoeMcSavlon wrote: »

Cheers NJRS thats some difference alright..bit more work but saving quite alot..just seems like usit cause a bit of hassle when giving them details of flights and that..just get the name down for the Visa in January!! Does anyone know is that when its gonna be opened for 2011?? Thanks

It will probably open around the start of January 2011. It opened on January 12th this year.

Disco84

Hi all,how are things. Ive the U35 visa organised through USIT, flying out to Toronto the 11th of November.
One difficulty i'm having is just getting my head around the apartment search. Im looking for a decent two bedroom in Mississauga. Theres alot to choose from but almost nothing is furnished. Obviously this is just common practise in Toronto but what is the best way of going about tracking down a furnished one?
Thanks alot!

Zapp Brannigan

Limerick_Lass wrote: »

Im here 2 weeks... and still looking for some craic

Disappointing. Can't believe they don't have late opening hours. Just seems backwards.

FouxDaFaFa

citytillidie wrote: »

In Montreal now for 3 months and have a retail job in a Hallow'een store.

Finding it hard to get other work with out French other than tele sales, and being honest I got very lucky with the retail job I have.

Hi citytillidie,
What level of French do you think you'd need to work in Montreal?I would love to go there and have a pretty good standard of written and spoken French but am not fluent. Just wondering if it's worth the risk going to French-speaking Canada or if I should just save that for when I travel and work somewhere like Toronto?

tipp86

Handy little site i found

http://www.sublet.com