# Emigrating to Canada as a QS



## KDPom (Jul 17, 2011)

Hi

I am interested in moving to Canada and wondered if any Quantity Surveyors could give me some advice? Not sure what visa I can apply for and where. If possible I would like to be able to get a visa without relying on a job offer (understand thats no always possible!). I am due to get my citizenship from Oz in January (I'm a pom). I have an LLB Law degree and a PG Dip Quantity Surveying which I passed in April, I've been employed as a QS/Contract Admiinistrator for the last 3 years.

Any help or advice will be appreciated. Not too bothered on area, just need a whole new adventure!!!

K


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## roundfoot (Jul 11, 2010)

Hi,

I am a QS also looking to emigrate to Canada in the next few months (job offer pending). You would need a job offer to be able to emigrate and the employer would need an LMO in order to employ you. Are you looking to work as a PQS or a contractors QS? The Canadian industry seems to be quite different to the UK system.


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## KDPom (Jul 17, 2011)

Hi 

I have worked in a private consultancy for just over two years and currently working for a subcontractor (7 months now), with three years in total, so I'm not too bothered if it is PQS or Contractors QS (if I had to make a definite choice I would probably sway towards Contractors QS though). Forgive my ignorance I have literally just started looking into this! What is an LMO? How does the industry differ to the UK? I think QS's are viewed a bit differently in Aus as well (which is where all my experience is, although my qualification is from England!!). They dont seem to be very good at initial cost control here, and frequently the QS seems to be brought in only when things are going wrong!! I think I read somewhere that you sort of have to choose one definite element from QS, ie whether you are going to be completely focused on cost issues, or construction management? Wondering if it is the same with the legal side. I have basically been working as a Contract Administrator for the last 7 months with the Subby and I have a law degree also so wondering if I may have more luck with this occupation? 

Thanks for your reply by the way! You will have to let me know how you get on! I know from being in Aus the last five years that others experiences are an excellent way to get up to speed when you go to a new country!!


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## roundfoot (Jul 11, 2010)

An LMO is a labour Market opinion, basically it's the Canadian government allowing an employer to employ a foreigner. The employer needs to justify why they can't find a Canadian etc. From what I understand this isn't too difficult as they don't seem to teach QSing in Canadian universities. But if you are under 30 you cab apply for a working holiday visa which I think gives you a year in Canada which can be extended to 2 years. The CIC website has a lot if info www.cic.gc.ca.

I can only talk about Vancouver as I have spoken to quite a few companies there but on the PQS side a lot of companies seem to do a lot of pre contract stuff, feasibility studies and budgeting and the like but not that much post contract work other than monitoring on behalf of the lender. The don't seem to have the employers representative role you get in the uk (from what I gathered anyway) as this seems to be undertaken by the architect.

On the contractor side things tend to be different too. It tends to be split into an estimator who also places the orders post contract and the project manager who does all the post contract cost control, valuations, change orders and so on as well as project managing! Some larger will also have a project coordinator who assists the PM and covers a lot of the paperwork side of things. There isn't (or not at any of the companies I spoke to and these were some of the biggest - PCL, Ledcor, Stuart Olson etc) what I would consider a traditional contractors QS role. So if you fancy getting into project management as well you up down the PM route otherwise an estimating role may be better (that's what I'm looking at). You will find that a lot of the estimators over there are Brits.

This is just what I have found speaking to companies out there. It's well worth trying to get in tough with the companies and try and get over there and meet sone potential employers. As a lot of them are Brits they all appreciate it's a difficult process and they were all very helpful to me, giving me contacts at other companies if they weren't looking for anyone.

Hope that helps and good luck.


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## KDPom (Jul 17, 2011)

Hey thanks for taking the time to reply!

I'm 31 so just missed out on the Working Holiday Visa or I would have definitely gone for that, it's how I first came to Oz. 

I'm hoping I could probably pursue the estimating route then I have two years where I basically completed estimates on pipelines, water desal, pump stations etc, so I guess water and infrastructure would be my target, not sure how much work there is in that!! Having the possibility to break into Project Management sounds pretty exciting but I really think I need a bit more experience behind me, a lot to think about! I'm hoping to get a little bit more experience in resouces here before I make the move. Feeling a lot brighter about the prospects and having some direction though! Still not sure on area if I did make the move, I always think land and see or go with where the offer is!!! (I can be a bit impulsive!!)

Good luck!


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