# IT jobs in canada



## tazster (Apr 17, 2009)

hi 

i was wondering if anyone had an idea on where the best area would be to move to, to continue working in iT, i have been looking at toronto, edmonton and calgary, although i think i only keep looking at calgary as i like the flames and and drive my wife insane by watching every game i can on sky, and force her to go to the saddledome when were over. any help you can give would b e appreciated, Im not sure if all areas have thier own little it community and it wouldnt make a difference or if most jobs would be found in a certain area.


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

tazster said:


> hi
> 
> i was wondering if anyone had an idea on where the best area would be to move to, to continue working in iT, i have been looking at toronto, edmonton and calgary, although i think i only keep looking at calgary as i like the flames and and drive my wife insane by watching every game i can on sky, and force her to go to the saddledome when were over. any help you can give would b e appreciated, Im not sure if all areas have thier own little it community and it wouldnt make a difference or if most jobs would be found in a certain area.


I don't think there's much doubt that most IT jobs can be found in Toronto. It is the financial centre of Canada. Calgary and Edmonton have jobs but certainly not not in the volume of TO.


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## tazster (Apr 17, 2009)

Auld Yin said:


> I don't think there's much doubt that most IT jobs can be found in Toronto. It is the financial centre of Canada. Calgary and Edmonton have jobs but certainly not not in the volume of TO.


thanks for the reply auld yin. whats the housing market like in toronto any idea on the best areas and areas to avoid


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

tazster said:


> thanks for the reply auld yin. whats the housing market like in toronto any idea on the best areas and areas to avoid


The best areas is a difficult thing to answer. Toronto covers a very large area and it is beneficial if you knew where you were going to work before choosing somewhere to live. For an insight into some areas within the city proper look at boldts.net - Toronto. There are of course many dormitory towns/cities surrounding the city proper where many people live and work of commute into the city from.
The housing market is very active in Toronto and environs and so much depends on your income, family size, need for schools etc, etc.


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## EVHB (Feb 11, 2008)

Ottawa has a lot of IT people too, but of course not as much as Toronto. 
Ottawa is less expensive as Toronto. ;-)


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## w_man (Apr 16, 2010)

Hey - you love the flames then you gotta move to Calgary. There are lots of IT jobs here but mostly in the Oil and Gas sector. Things are starting to pick up in the O&G and being in the industry, I see more companies wanting to hire so I would certainly keep an eye out for job postings as well as recruiters.

What exactly do you do in IT? Networks? Programmer?

Btw - GO FLAMES GO


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## tazster (Apr 17, 2009)

w_man said:


> Hey - you love the flames then you gotta move to Calgary. There are lots of IT jobs here but mostly in the Oil and Gas sector. Things are starting to pick up in the O&G and being in the industry, I see more companies wanting to hire so I would certainly keep an eye out for job postings as well as recruiters.
> 
> What exactly do you do in IT? Networks? Programmer?
> 
> Btw - GO FLAMES GO


i do networks and telecomms. with my poresent company its mostly installation, and maintainenace of retail network systems and of course more and more integration of voip 

what you think of the ryan stone signing, the boys still recovering from surgery one mistake after another.


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## sslkumar (Jul 12, 2010)

if you are willing to consider calgary, edmonton, fort mcmurray almost all the banks and consulting firms have offices out there. They hire for IT positions for those offices. 

check out websites for accenture, kpmg, telus(telecom) etc.,


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

sslkumar said:


> if you are willing to consider calgary, edmonton, fort mcmurray almost all the banks and consulting firms have offices out there. They hire for IT positions for those offices.
> 
> check out websites for accenture, kpmg, telus(telecom) etc.,


The banks certainly have branches in those centres but it's highly unlikely banks would be hiring IT professionals in such places.


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## undrkvabrtha (Jul 12, 2010)

Wow....

Quite some useful info out here. I'm a business analyst - work areas include RqM, QA (standards / review) and Enterprise Architecture (ICT Governance, BPA/M etc)

Would I be looking for such roles in the public sector (Ottawa) or in the private sector (Calgary, Toronto etc)?

I currently work for the Oz Govt. in ACT.

In advance, thanks for the insight, folks!


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## tazster (Apr 17, 2009)

Auld Yin said:


> The banks certainly have branches in those centres but it's highly unlikely banks would be hiring IT professionals in such places.


think im in agreement with you auld yin toronto looks like it would be the best bet for jobs in iT. i heard ayr was lovely to live and also mississagua (forgive spelling if wrong ) any idea if this is true


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

tazster said:


> think im in agreement with you auld yin toronto looks like it would be the best bet for jobs in iT. i heard ayr was lovely to live and also mississagua (forgive spelling if wrong ) any idea if this is true


Ayr is a small village whereas Mississauga is a very large city. Ayr is very nice and much further from Toronto but does have some nice areas. Mississauga is in what's known as the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) with much better transit facilities than Ayr which has virtually none.


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## undrkvabrtha (Jul 12, 2010)

Hi Auld,

May I interject with a question?

does Ayr have any kind of public transport that connects to Toronto's CBD or other business suburbs?

What is the difference in terms of accommodation/food costs between GTA and Ayr? 

In Oz, strangely enough, you can pay a decent bit of money for a shack in a rural area, or pay a lot for a decent place. Food can actually be more expensive in rural areas - although this varies from region to region.

And hence my question...

Thanks in advance!


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

undrkvabrtha said:


> Hi Auld,
> 
> May I interject with a question?
> 
> ...


There may be a very limited bus service between Ayr and Waterloo(30Km and the home of the Blackberry) or Brantford (26km) or Hamilton (50km), all three being good sized cities but unlikely to the GTA. While Ayr is a small village/town it is in a well populated area. Food costs will be the same and everything is available in the cities mentioned. Housing is probably less expensive but no way can Ayr be described as isolated.


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## undrkvabrtha (Jul 12, 2010)

Thanks Auld.

I'm glad that Ayr's not isolated. I drive 70km to work and back everyday in ACT. If driving from Hamilton or Ayr gives me a better lifestyle, I might opt for it.

I'm applying for my visa this September - and am planning to land up in Canada end-2011 or early 2012.

Do you work in a Computer Science environment or an IT environ, by any chance?


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## seany3533 (Jun 4, 2009)

Hi, 
not sure if anyone may know i am currently a consultant in storage area networks, design, implementation and management of these system. i also consult in tivoli tsm and implement and run them as well. i currently work in outsourcing where we also go in and take over companies existing systems and bring them into our own environment. in addition i also cover the fibre networks as part of the san infrastructure and virtualisation

i believe this is a currently wanted skill even though it now not on the list of 29. could anyone tell me if they know of the opportunities out there i am searching the jobsites trying to gather as much information.

ideally i want to be based in calgary any help from anyone much appreciated. my wife is a health visitor registered nurse so she is to be the principal applicant on our forms so any information in that area appreciated to.

thanks

Sean


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## scharlack (Nov 21, 2008)

seany3533 said:


> Hi,
> not sure if anyone may know i am currently a consultant in storage area networks, design, implementation and management of these system. i also consult in tivoli tsm and implement and run them as well. i currently work in outsourcing where we also go in and take over companies existing systems and bring them into our own environment. in addition i also cover the fibre networks as part of the san infrastructure and virtualisation
> 
> i believe this is a currently wanted skill even though it now not on the list of 29. could anyone tell me if they know of the opportunities out there i am searching the jobsites trying to gather as much information.
> ...


Hello,

I also work with IBM Software. I have seen quite a lot of job ads for storage analysts (TSM). Are you familiar with Veritas, EMC, etc?

There is a broad range of places where you can look for a job (government websites, private companies, schools/universities, pension plan administrators, etc).

You should see more computer jobs in the GTA than Calgary.

I strongly recommend you look at these websites and do some keyword searches to see what's on demand and what isn't.

>workopolis.com
>monster.ca
>ca.indeed.com
>gojobs.gov.on.ca (Gov't jobs for the province of Ontario)

If you've really made up your mind about coming over here you may consider a reccie and while you are here try to get as many interviews as possible. Employers here seem to like the face-to-face contact.

Much good luck!


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## seany3533 (Jun 4, 2009)

Hi Scharlack,

thank you for the reply, yes we have made our mind up to come out and should have submitted everything in the next week or two as with the changes we have had to do ielts tests etc now.

i have worked on the following: emc (clarion/dmx and software) ibm (ds4000, 8000,ess, xiv, svc) 3par, hp (eva all ranges, RSM, CA, BA), hds and sun ibm libraries, brocade, cisco, project lead, san architecture, normal bau, managing storage teams. implementation, blade chassis, falconstor, tivoli hsm. 

in addition to the above interviewing and setting up offshore teams for storage in India.

worked with 3rd parties on best practice and supported designs 

i have worked in the following sectors for storage: pharmecutical, banking, telecommunications, finance and outsourcing. 

we came over for christmas and new year stayed in calgary but spent few days at lake louise, i spent quite a bit of time in canada in the army on the safety staff many years ago and always wanted to come back to live so this is the opportunity now to do this i hope.

thanks

Sean


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## scharlack (Nov 21, 2008)

seany3533 said:


> Hi Scharlack,
> 
> thank you for the reply, yes we have made our mind up to come out and should have submitted everything in the next week or two as with the changes we have had to do ielts tests etc now.
> 
> ...


Sean,

You seem to have a very solid IT background. Unfortunately IT is out of the list of occupations that you can apply as a skilled worker to immigrate to Canada. 

I am not sure whether you have heard of LinkedIn (>linkedin.com). It's become more and more popular. I suggest you publish your professional profile there and keep actively searching for a job. All you need is one lucky break! 

Cheers


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## seany3533 (Jun 4, 2009)

Hi,

yes i know they dropped it out unfortunately, but my Wife is a health visitor and nurse so she is the principal applicant 

i am on linkedin just not had time to properly sort it out yet.

All i need to do is get to canada and know i will eventually get a job heres hoping.

Thanks

Sean


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## undrkvabrtha (Jul 12, 2010)

scharlack said:


> Sean,
> 
> Unfortunately IT is out of the list of occupations that you can apply as a skilled worker to immigrate to Canada.
> 
> ...



Hi Scharlack,

didn't realize that IT was no longer on the list of occupations for immigraion. 

Perhaps I should clarify - in an earlier post, I mentioned that I'd be putting in Visa Papers later on - actually, that refers to my partner's visa.

I've been a Canadian PR visa holder for a while now, although I live and work in Oz - but my partner's yet to gain access to Canada.

However, once my partner's visa comes through, we're going over for a few years.

My question is: does the removal of IT from the list indicate a lower demand for such skills in the job market?

Your insight is appreciated,
Cheers.


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

undrkvabrtha said:


> Hi Scharlack,
> 
> didn't realize that IT was no longer on the list of occupations for immigraion.
> 
> ...


I think that would be a reasonable assumption.


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## scharlack (Nov 21, 2008)

undrkvabrtha said:


> My question is: does the removal of IT from the list indicate a lower demand for such skills in the job market?
> 
> Cheers.


I can't give a realistic answer to your question. Specially because IT covers such a broad range of occupations. So, IT could look very promising to you and not as promising to me...

IMO one of the reasons for the exclusion of IT from the list is due to a lot of scams attracting immigrants to that industry. Other reasons would be excessive number of unemployed people during/after crisis, etc. But that's just my opinion.

If you would like a piece of advice I say keep an eye on how many offers you see in the job boards on the internet (workopolis, indeed, monster). 

Much good luck


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## undrkvabrtha (Jul 12, 2010)

Thank you, Auld and Scharlack.

Your honesty is appreciated. I should probably sit back and wait to see what responses the market has in store for me. 

My area of work is policies and architectures...

It's an interesting thought - the effect of the GFC in Canada was to probably bring in applications from displaced US-based IT / Computer Science / Software Engineering professionals for all available roles in Canada. 

This combined with the associated shrinkage of the job market there would've made things harder for existing industry personnel in Canada.

Add to all this that one more (myself) is likely to land there with not much of a future... and we have a tragedy that George Bush would've been proud of (he might've termed it the 'War on Crises')

just kiddin' - I reckon Canada actually made it out of the GFC better than many other European nations, and most certainly, USA.

Thanks again, people.


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