# Moving to Canada at 38. Advice appreciated.



## floodhead (Jun 21, 2013)

Hello all,

I currently live in Ireland.

I have the opportunity to recieve Canadian Permanet residency (skilled worker program).

By the time the VISA gets sorted and I am ready to go I will be 38 years old.

I have a well paying job here but I would like to try something different before I get too old to try something new.

I have visited Canada 3 times and have spent significant amounts of time in US.

I have a degree in engineering and significant experience in med device / pharma industry.

I have no wife or children. 

If people could offer advice on the following questions I would appreciate:

1. Age. At 38 will Canadian employers consider me too old to hire? Will I be able to fit in socially?

2. Is there demand for manufacturing / process engineering in pharma / med device industry?

All advice is appreciated.


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## EVHB (Feb 11, 2008)

In my experience, 38 is not too old. (I was 40+ and my husband was 50+).
Have you found a lot of job postings in your field? I think the big players are Philips, Agfa, GE Healthcare and Medtronix. And lots of small companies.
If you don't see job posting you qualify for, it's not a good sign. If you see plenty of job postings, it looks better. 

Maybe this is a good place to start to get to know the companies: Medical Device Company Directories - Canadian Life Science Industries


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

I wouldn't think you'd have much problem fitting in... no more problem than a 40 year old woman (moi) would have fitting in in Ireland or England... I came over last October to get married to my English spouse and while I've had a few cultural things to get used to (it seems like everyone here smokes!!!; the drivers are iNsAnE!; some dialects I can't always understand on the tannoy etc) sometimes I can convince myself that I'm "somewhere in America," and not in Europe.

Whilst I've only spent a weekend in Dublin (don't know what part of RoI you're from), I didn't think it too much different than most places in North America... i.e. you speak English, (most) Canadians speak English (except for parts of Manitoba, New Brunswick and the majority of the province of Quebec), we like our sport (mind you, football isn't as popular in Canada as it is in Europe... we're more hockey hooligans), we like to drink beer (Guinness is one of my favourites!).

As long as you have an open mind and are willing to experience new things (which I think you are, judging from your OP), you should be just fine.

In regards to pharma... if you can get hired by Cardinal (Pyxis) or Omnicell or Bayer Health, you should do well. I worked for hospital pharmacies in Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and Fraser Health (in British Columbia) in the past and used to see the reps come 'round the pharmacy... it's getting to be a tough sell to the hospitals as the government cuts its health care budgets and the Authorities are having to streamline their expenses as the patient load grows, but as the needs of the pharmacy wend their way up to the top of the priority spending list, the Authorities do look at their options when asking for bids for equipment.

Good luck to you!


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