Architectural Technologists in Canada

Paterson

Anyone on here made the move to Canada to work as an Architectural Technologist?
Any advice for someone planning to do so?
Where did you see job advertised?
What state/city are you living/working in?
Did you get your qualifications assessed?

JamesTC

Moved here four years ago, things were a bit better than for jobs though.
I just goggled Architectural Offices in Calgary downtown area and went round to each one with my CV and Portfolio in hand and got an interview out of that, have been working here since, a few of the other offices that I called into that day followed up with me later but I had taken a job at that stage.
As mentioned above I am in Calgary, Alberta.
No need to get qualifications recognized, not in Alberta anyway, no institute or association for us Techs here. Chances are you are more academically qualified then the Technologists here, they only do a two year Diploma in SAIT so a four year BSc (Hons) or even the basic three year Dip/BSc (Ord) will be fine, but again things might be different in other Provinces.
Other Provinces have Professional Associations for Architectural Technologists (BC and Ontario off the top of my head), would need to look them up and see what is involved in joining if they are applicable.
If you have experience in Ireland it won’t count per say, they will look at it and evaluate it for equivalence here (what kind of projects you worked on, what scale, value etc) but you will probably start in a junior position and it will be steep learning curve for the first few months as you get up to speed on local Building Codes, Permit applications and standard construction details but after that you can rise up quite quickly.

knucklehead123

Hi Paterson

I know this is an old thread, but I am also an Architectural Technologist from Ireland who is going to Toronto on an IEC visa. Just a few questions.

Did u make the move?
Have you worked as an AT?
Where did you get work?
Any further advice?

I am with CIAT, and I have read that they have an agreement with AATO for recognition. Check their website.

I have a few years exp., but not in a wide variety of projects, and I am also have a MSc in BIM Management.

Paterson

Apologies James for not thanking you sooner, your advice helped me lots and is greatly appreciated.
Hello Mr. Knuckles,
Yes I made the move, I arrived last May.
I was lucky enough to get a position as an AT in a small Architectural firm in Calgary AB.
My advice is very similar to above, print out a bunch of CV's and deliver them to every Architectural Firm / Interior Designers and Home builder. At each company ask to speak to HR or manager or at least ask for the managers name so you can follow up with a phone call. Call absolutely everyone you leave a CV with and every job opportunity you apply online for, this can make you stand out in the pile of CV's / Applications. 
Be friendly to receptionists they may be your only interaction with the company and can often pass on a good impression. I also asked each firm I visited whether they were actually looking at the time.
My job hunt took 9 weeks, that's 70+ CV's, and close to 50  online applications. Unfortunately I arrived in Calgary during an economic down turn and because of this all potential employers could be as fussy and particular as they wanted. Any Irish experience I had was void, almost everyone I spoke with wanted "Canadian" or "North American" experience and some companies would not accept a CV without it.
Be open to the idea of applying for CAD draftsman work as it the search for work as an AT may take longer to get, I had started the interview process with and Mech & Elec consultancy until I got offered my job as AT.
Even with all that negativity I don't regret making the move and love it here.
Also as a side note, when I arrived in May they would only issue a work permit for the duration of your travel insurance policy, I am not sure if this has changed but keep it in mind.
I hope this is all helpful and best of Luck

knucklehead123

Great advice Paterson. I am not expecting an easy process in getting an AT job, but like you said, I will look at starting off as a CAD draughtsman and hopefully work my way up. I plan to do some research of the local building code before i get there, and I also have experience in BIM, and use of its software like Revit, Navisworks and Common Data Environments. Have you noticed any increase in use of these. I know some places have advertised that Revit is essential, so hopefully that will stand to me.

Have you heard of anyone performing online interviews before arriving. I plan to travel a bit before arriving in Toronto, so I don't mind starting work straight away when arriving there. If I was able to apply for work before hand then it would be great.

Any advice on renting a property? I have read that they require credit checks, etc. Is there a way around this as I wouldn't have a Canadian credit check.

Also, is there any reason why you ended up in Calgary to work as an AT?

I know its more questions, but better to hear from someone that has done it rather than reading online, etc.

Cheers

Paterson

When I was looking there was a handful of companies asking about my Revit experience, where I am currently working don't use revit and have no intentions on using it anytime soon. I wouldn't necessarily recommend going for draftsman and working up but apply for bout types and remain looking for AT positions.
I haven't heard of people been interviewed online but after dropping CVs off I did receive calls that were interview like to confirm my experience and good qualities etc.
I am not sure what renting is like in Toronto but here the majority of places dont require a credit check to rent a place, the norm here is one months rent as security deposit. My landlord rented me the place before I even had got employment, my girlfriend was working at the time but it didnt worry him. All places here are un furnished except kitchen appliances unless you rent a room off someone, try joining the "Irish in Toronto" facebook page you may find someone looking to rent a room. When I arrived I booked an Air BnB for my first 3 weeks, you can get discount for booking for long periods of time and I was able get city centre for 30euro a night.
Credit check will be mainly come into play when you try financing someone, I think it takes approx 6months to accumulate a rating, if you want to build a rating get a bill phone and making its payments will build your rating (from my understanding)
I researched payscales online and Calgary was apparently paying more than Toronto & Vancouver (My alternative choices) approx 10% more and then Alberta has one of the lowest VAT rates, its 5% and I believe Toronto is closer to 15%. Those factored into my decision and at the time I booked my flights Alberta was enjoying an economic boom of sorts, but didn't last until I arrived ha 
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to ask, I may not know all the answers but I can try help

circular flexing

Paterson wrote: »

When I was looking there was a handful of companies asking about my Revit experience, where I am currently working don't use revit and have no intentions on using it anytime soon. I wouldn't necessarily recommend going for draftsman and working up but apply for bout types and remain looking for AT positions.
I haven't heard of people been interviewed online but after dropping CVs off I did receive calls that were interview like to confirm my experience and good qualities etc.
I am not sure what renting is like in Toronto but here the majority of places dont require a credit check to rent a place, the norm here is one months rent as security deposit. My landlord rented me the place before I even had got employment, my girlfriend was working at the time but it didnt worry him. All places here are un furnished except kitchen appliances unless you rent a room off someone, try joining the "Irish in Toronto" facebook page you may find someone looking to rent a room. When I arrived I booked an Air BnB for my first 3 weeks, you can get discount for booking for long periods of time and I was able get city centre for 30euro a night.
Credit check will be mainly come into play when you try financing someone, I think it takes approx 6months to accumulate a rating, if you want to build a rating get a bill phone and making its payments will build your rating (from my understanding)
I researched payscales online and Calgary was apparently paying more than Toronto & Vancouver (My alternative choices) approx 10% more and then Alberta has one of the lowest VAT rates, its 5% and I believe Toronto is closer to 15%. Those factored into my decision and at the time I booked my flights Alberta was enjoying an economic boom of sorts, but didn't last until I arrived ha 
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to ask, I may not know all the answers but I can try help

Credit checking for renting will largely depend on where you are renting. It's pretty common in places like Vancouver and Toronto where competition for rentals is pretty high, I think it's less common in Calgary at the moment. Also if you rent off a private landlord as opposed to an agency, they are less likely to insist on a credit check. Make sure to research the legal requirements around deposits etc for where you are planning to rent. For example, in BC, 1/2 months rent is the legal maximum deposit, but some landlords try to ask for more if you are new to the country.

You are correct that Alberta has no provincial sales tax, only the federal one which is currently 5%. But that hurt Alberta quite badly when the oil downturn hit as the province had no revenue stream from sales tax to fall back on. Ontario has HST (12% I believe) and BC has a mix of GST and PST, depending on what you are buying (a lot of services are PST exempt).

knucklehead123

Thanks again Paterson.

I understand your choice to choose elsewhere, and maybe upon arrival it could change for me also. We only have Toronto on the radar as we have friends there. The tax difference does seem appealing tho.

I am reading a lot about Canadian CV style. Did you use your Irish CV, or did u change it to suit the Canadian style?

Also, did your lack of knowledge of local building codes effect your interview outcomes, etc? Many design building codes in first world countries are pretty much the same... minimum dimensions, etc. And I'm a firm believer of them being relevant to the project. I certainly do not know all the TGD's, but when I need to find out something, I can use my noggin and check them. I know you develop more of an understanding when working on projects, and i'm sure that will be the same when starting a job there.

Are you registered with the provincial AT body?

I'll keep AirBnB in mind for the first few weeks actually.

JamesTC

I know you addressed your questions to Paterson but I will throw some comments in as well.

Re: Revit, I think it depends on the size of the office, in our office it is a must, haven’t used AutoCAD since 2013 and wouldn’t go back.

For the CV, I just formatted my Irish CV from A4 to Letter size, renamed it Résumé and changed my contact details from Irish numbers and address to Canadian, throw in your skypename in case of skype interview. Other then that there was no style different from what I used at home, custom cover letter for each employer, Résumé no longer then two pages.

For Building Codes, you a right that things are broadly the same, as in you know a dimension is controlled by the code but you have to look it up as apposed to knowing it off the top of your head like you would with the regs at home, also they are not as well laid out and separated as ours (I use the National Building Code and Alberta Building Code mainly) so it can be a bit of pain looking things up but you get into it quite quickly so I would not worry about it, just to note you wont be buying your own copy of the code, very expensive here, even if you just want PDFs.

For the interview, I would talk about how buildings are put together in Ireland using examples from your portfolio, materials used, Building Regulations, important details etc to show your knowledge and also let them evaluate how relevant your experience is to them, the more varied the projects the better.
While I know people, who have done skype interviews none of them were hired off that alone, it was an interview for an interview, the face to face meeting is where things happened.

Regarding experience, as I said in my original post above your Irish experience wont count, but having experience before you come (I had worked over 5 years at home) means you can advance quite quickly I found, so while you start at the bottom your pervious experience will allow you to rise faster then someone fresh out of college.

No AT body in Alberta, well there is the ASET but that covers more then just Techs and unless you are in a management position there is no point in being a C-Tech or C.E.T, unless you just want letters after your name!....have never seen it as a requirement in job ads here.

While things are picking up a bit again in Calgary I would say Toronto would be a better bet for work at the moment, if I was moving now it would be where I would go.

knucklehead123

Thanks James. Some great advice there.

I managed to download a copy of the Ontario Building Code, and yes it is a very long single document that is in no comparison to the well laid out format of our TGD's. I will scan though it just to get an idea of the basics before i arrive in Toronto.

I am fairly proficient in Revit, amongst other BIM software, so I will aim for a company who utilises them. I will base my interview around this and my experience using them. I would prefer to head towards the BIM Coordinator / Manager route in the future, while also staying within the AT role, so using these pieces of software is a must for my job over there. Although Canada do not have much of a standard to follow in relation to BIM, I am well up to speed on the UK standards and processes which was the foundation of study within my Masters Degree in BIM Management, and again I will focus on this during an interview. These processes and standards can be used internationally which bring the same results, and my knowledge of these could benefit a potential employer. I plan to get registered with CanBIM, who provide certification of competency of BIM. I've been in contact to see if my BIM education & training in Ireland can be used for certification instead of sitting a CanBIM registered course in Canada.
Have you any experience with how BIM is tackled over there?

Again, thanks for your replies, and if I have any more queries I will post here. Really looking forward to getting over there now.