Specific sectors of the Canadian job market are experiencing growth and it is these areas that are attracting skilled UK workers.

Energy

With 2.3 projected job openings for every jobseeker by 2020, job vacancies in Canada for mining, oil and gas supervisors are likely to be most in demand, particularly in the oil-rich areas such as Fort McMurray in Alberta.

Construction

One of the fastest growing job markets in the country, Canada is in need of able construction workers, especially welders and electricians, and construction managers. As a result of the current shortage of skilled labour, Canadian immigration has been targeting British workers.

Information technology

Technology continues to advance rapidly and jobs in IT are plentiful for those with the right knowledge and up to date skills. Online business and industry specialist Canadian Business ranks software engineers and computer engineers among the top 30 jobs in 2013 in terms of projected growth and salary levels of employees.

Manufacturing

Although some types of manufacturing have seen a decline in recent years, there are plenty of job vacancies in Canada for those in engineering, including aerospace engineers, civil engineers, mechanical engineers and industrial technicians.

Catering

Canada is a popular tourist destination – in 2011 there were 15.6 million international visitors and the UK represented Canada’s largest inbound overseas market. For this reason, jobs in catering in hotels and restaurants are popular among British workers.

Leisure and hospitality

Linked to the growing hospitality industry, foreign workers often are able to find jobs with a difference as skiing instructors in the Canadian Rockies or at the country’s most popular resort in Whistler, British Columbia.

Railways

Jobs for railway and transportation supervisors already feature in the Canadian Business list of top 50 jobs and the number of vacancies is set to increase in 2020, when there will be 1.24 job openings for everyone seeking employment in the field.

Health services

Head nurses and healthcare managers are second on the list of the current top 50 jobs and by 2020 they are still in the frame with qualified candidates very much in demand. People who are trained dental hygienists will also fare well in terms of both immediate and projected requirements.

Education

Surprisingly, teaching is not a transferable occupation, as Canadian regulations require certification from the province in which a teaching vacancy is advertised. This means foreign teachers have to retrain at a Canadian university to be able to teach. However, jobs in education administration at all levels are predicted to grow and are well paid.

Entrepreneurs

In January this year the Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister, Jason Kenney, announced a new programme to recruit innovative immigrant entrepreneurs to help stimulate the economy. The new Start-Up Visa Program supports skilled individuals to set up their own businesses, providing lots of opportunities for imaginative entrepreneurs in many different fields.

This article was contributed by Jobmanji – a  job search engine in Canada. 

Overview

The Australian census data revealed that Australians:

• Come from more than 200 countries
• Speak over 300 languages at home
• Belong to more than 100 different religious groups
• Work in more than 1,000 different occupations

Man or woman?

The average Australian is a woman. In 2011, just over half of Australia’s population was female. In fact, since 1979, women have slightly outnumbered men.

How old?

In 2011, the average Australian was 37 years old.

Where were they born?

In 2011, only 3% of Australians reported they were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

Although Australia’s known for its long history of immigration, the average Australian was born in Australia – and so were both their parents:

• 74% of people were born in Australia
• 54% had both parents born in Australia

The largest group of people born overseas continues to be those born in the United Kingdom – they make up 5% of Australia’s population and 21% of all overseas born people living in Australia.

However, amongst recent arrivals (so people that arrived in Australia after 2006), the top position is held by India. UK-born people made up 12% of recent arrivals, and India-born people 13%.

What is their ethnic background?

Australians come from a large number of different cultural and ethnic grounds. Most commonly reported ancestry:

• English (36%)
• Australian (35%)
• Irish (10%)
• Scottish (9%)

Nearly three-quarters of Australians had at least one of these ancestries.

What language do they speak?

The average Aussie only speaks English at home – 81% of the population reported only speaking English at home. But nearly one in five people spoke a language other than English at home.

The most common languages spoken, apart from English:

• Mandarin (1.6%)
• Italian (1.5%)
• Arabic (1.4%)
• Cantonese (1.3%)
• Greek (1.2%)
• Vietnamese (1.1%)

Where/how do they work?

According to the 2011 census, 67% of men and 56% of women were employed.

For both men and women the most common occupation in Australia was sales assistant.

Other common occupations for men:

• Truck driver
• Electrician
• Retail manager

Other common occupations for women:

• General clerk
• Primary school teacher
• Office manager

Men work an average of 41 hours, compared with 32 hours for women.

Where do they live?

The average Aussie lives in one of the state or territory capitals.

60% of people lived in a capital city, with 35% living in either Sydney or Melbourne.

Capitals and other major cities accounted for over two-thirds of Australia’s population in 2011 – 69%.

The average Australian lives in a free-standing, three-bedroom house.

In summary: profile of the average Australian

From the Australian Bureau of Statistics:

“According to the 2011 Census, the average Australian is a 37 year old woman, born in Australia and with both of her parents also born in Australia. She has English, Australian, Irish, or Scottish ancestry. She speaks only English at home and belongs to a Christian religion, most likely Catholic.

She is married, and lives with her husband and two children (a boy and a girl aged nine and six) in a separate house with three bedrooms and two cars in a suburb of one of Australia’s capital cities. They have lived in that house for at least five years, and have a mortgage where they pay $1800 a month.

She has a Certificate in Business and Management, and drives to her job as a sales assistant, where she works 32 hours a week. She also does unpaid work around the house for five or more hours a week.

While many people will share a number of characteristics in common with this ‘average’ Australian, out of the nearly 22 million people counted in Australia on Census Night, 9 August 2011, no single person met all these criteria.

While the description of the average Australian may sound quite typical, the fact that no-one meets all these criteria shows that the notion of the ‘average’ masks considerable (and growing) diversity in Australia.”

Keen to read more?

See the full report of Australian social trends.

By Nicky Wagner, Member of Parliament for Christchurch Central

The Christchurch rebuild, following the devastating 2010/2011 earthquakes, is the biggest economic event in New Zealand’s history. And it is well underway.

Signs of redevelopment are everywhere and the Canterbury economy is booming – growing at more than twice the rate of the rest of the country in the past year. The current National-led Government has earmarked $5.5 billion for the region’s recovery and rebuild, while latest insurance claim estimates top $30 billion. This is, on a New Zealand scale, simply immense.

As the Member of Parliament for Christchurch Central, one of this city’s most damaged areas, I am excited about the plans for Christchurch and the blueprint for the new city centre. It has involved extensive professional and community consultation and collaboration, and many anticipate the new CBD will soon become hot property because of its redesigned compact layout.

You may well have seen images of the ReStart Container Mall, with its colourful, innovative combinations and inviting atmosphere, while the recently opened central city Enterprise Precinct and Innovation Hub (EPIC) has set out to become a world class campus for innovation-based Canterbury companies.

We look forward to the redevelopment of a number of new civic assets, including a 2,000-seat convention centre, new bus interchange, the Avon river green belt and a new 35,000-seat stadium. All over the city and Canterbury region, major infrastructure repair and reconstruction is well underway.

CEO of the Canterbury Employers’ Chambers of Commerce Peter Townsend is invigorated by the huge financial possibilities in the recovery, anticipating significant involvement as the rebuild continues to gather momentum. He emphasises this is going to go on for a long time.

And given the sheer scale of the rebuild, this means we need to recruit especially skilled people, particularly geotechnical experts and engineers, construction managers and supervisors. Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Hon Gerry Brownlee says in the past year, demand for construction project managers and supervisors increased 88% and 356% respectively, such is the volume and scale of projects beginning to come on stream.

Migrant input into the rebuild is genuinely welcome. Systems are in place to meet the demand and provide for a rise in population. We want to ensure there is a long-term vision for the rebuild – that this is no boom and bust scenario. We want to sustain a growing population, a booming economy, and a thriving new city.

Christchurch is already renowned for its quality schooling, healthy family lifestyle and of course, abundant and diverse recreational opportunities within a very short drive from the city. But with the skills, people power, capital, and palpable enthusiasm pouring into the rebuild, it can only get better.

Indeed, Lonely Planet recently ranked Christchurch in the Top Ten cities for 2013, describing it as “rising from the rubble with a breath-taking mix of spirit, determination and flair”. I couldn’t agree more. We are not just rebuilding a city, we are creating something quite special. Christchurch has a vision to become one of the best modern cities of the world and we invite you to be part of it.

Find your job in Christchurch

See roles in demand in Christchurch at Working In New Zealand.

By Mandy Harris, Corporate Migration Manager, Working In

So, you’ve given it some thought, had a chat with your nearest and dearest and watched enough episodes of Neighbours and Home & Away to have developed the required nasal twang to make you fit right into your new dream life in Australia.

Then you made the fatal error of starting the real research and, before you knew it, you were curled up in the fetal position in the front room, singing Swing Low Sweet Chariot and promising yourself you’d never stray again.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. The process of migrating is huge, not just from a legislative point of view, but also logistics, costs, and perhaps most importantly, the emotional strain that it induces. There are few things in life more unsettling than living with one foot in two continents – unable to move forward in your old life and unable to put roots down in your new destination. We call this the M factor – migration ready, move ready and mightily motivated. Yes, it’s tongue-in-cheek, sure, but stay with me – there are definitely parallels to the TV show with a similar name.

Firstly, the world is full of people who think they have the M factor. For example, there are those who go at it like the proverbial bull in a china shop and then pull up at the last minute. This is after investing a significant amount of money and realising that they actually don’t have that last piece of drive to leave behind all that is familiar and comfortable in return for an uncertain future in a foreign land full of strangers. They’re like the folk who get to the auditions, all bluster and confidence, and then freeze in the wings while waiting for their turn.

Then there are those who are pushed into it by others – their partners, friends or family, who tell them repeatedly that it’s the right thing to do. But deep inside, they know that they really don’t want it and end up miserable, trapped in living out someone else’s dream.

But then there are those who are so right, and so ready, and don’t even know it. Or maybe they do know it, but just don’t know what to do with it.

That’s where working with an expert comes in. Definitely less judgmental than those on that TV show, a Registered Migration Agent will offer you sound, honest feedback on what your options are and advice on the process. The good ones will make sure that they spend time with you, understanding what you hope to achieve, what your goals are, and what your timeline expectations are, and then will put a plan in place to help you achieve those.

In some cases, you may get answers that you don’t want – but those answers might stop you making an expensive and humbling mistake. In other cases, you may get information that you hadn’t considered that put a new spin on the direction you thought you wanted to take. But in all cases, you’ll come away from the experience wiser and more knowledgeable.

Don’t take a chance on missing out on a life that you’ve always dreamed of by trying to undertake something as legally complex and emotionally challenging as an international relocation on your own.

Mandy Harris is a Registered Migration Agent (MARN 0958730) and migrant twice over, who thinks that she might also be able to sing a little while juggling! You can contact Mandy if you’d like assistance with your Australian immigration journey via email: visateam@workingin.com 

A recently released document from Statistics New Zealand has painted a portrait of life in NZ – its people, its costs and its economy, with no orcs or trolls in sight.

Let’s see what life in New Zealand in 2013 is really like:

Keen to know more?

The full report has plenty more information about New Zealand’s economy, average earnings, population and labour force.

However, other countries around the world have some pretty fantastic ways of celebrating:

1. Czech Republic and Slovakia: women and girls are whipped with decorated instruments by men and boys in a ritual designed to encourage good health and beauty. Hm.

2. Poland and Russia: they show off their knife skills by crafting butter into the shape of a lamb which accompanies their Easter meal.

3. Germany: the Germans like to celebrate the coming of a new season by burning the remnants of the winter season – they pile the remainders of their Christmas trees and burn them.

4. Australia: ok, we lied, Australia has one quirky Easter tradition – the chocolate Bilby. Not only is it impossibly cute and different, it contributes to the Save the Bilby fund to raise awareness of their dwindling numbers.

 5. Switzerland: not content with just eating the delicious chocolate version, the Swiss like to decorate their fountains with flowers, ribbons and eggs.

6. France: a very traditional celebration, the bells in France’s churches are silenced on Good Friday in recognition of Jesus’ death. The legend goes that actually these bells fly to Rome and then back again to be rung on Easter Sunday.

7. Orthodox and Catholic nations (some parts of Greece, Mexico, Portugal and Spain): an ancient Easter ritual, an effigy of Judas may be displayed and burnt.

8. Poland: apparently men are not allowed to make Easter bread because of a fear their moustache will go grey.

9. Finland: some children will dress up as witches and go searching for treats, which sounds a bit Halloween-like to us.

10. UK: another inventive use for an egg, in some parts of the UK, they like to roll their eggs down large hills.

Think we’re happy with the chocolate eating here in New Zealand.

One of the first looks at our new home, Auckland

“I got the job”. Nothing too remarkable about those four words. Until you consider that “the job” is 12,500 miles from where you’ve lived for 26 years of your life. And you’re expected there in five weeks.

That’s exactly what happened to my husband and I back in April 2010. Almost four great years had passed in Leeds (Yorkshire, England) but we were yearning for more. More adventure, more challenges, more opportunities and maybe even more sunshine.

For a few weeks, my husband had been keeping an eye on his professional publications (he’s a civil engineer) for job opportunities. There it was – a bridge engineer vacancy based in Auckland, New Zealand. A country we’d never visited, had no friends or family in and somewhere I’d struggle to pick out on a map.

Yet we knew people that had been there and had absolutely fallen in love with it. We wanted a new adventure – well, here it was. He applied for the job and enjoyed a late night Skype interview while I slept. That very night I was woken up by a shell-shocked husband telling me he’d got the job and we were moving to New Zealand.

The morning after, the countdown began. Five weeks to go until we’d land in our new home in a brand new country – and start our brand new life.

Suddenly, life was a whirlwind of lists and endless phone calls as we tried to pack up our UK lives and prepare for a New Zealand one.

There was our flat that needed to be rented out. Banks and utility companies to inform. Tax arrangements and student loans to discuss. Jobs to resign from. Flights to book, visas to sort and shipping to organise. Then the hardest bit: friends and family to say goodbye to.

At no point during these five weeks did our feet touch the ground. There was no time for tears, doubts or wobbles – just endless lists and admin.

Standing in our now empty hallway, our possessions in a few meagre cardboard boxes that we’d next see in three months’ time on the other side of a world, and the rest packed off to storage for the foreseeable future, we knew we weren’t saying goodbye.

We were just saying hello to the adventure of a lifetime.

That’s exactly what I felt as we flew into Auckland for the first time and our first glimpses of Aotearoa filled the airplane windows. Three years on, we have no regrets about our life-changing five weeks – it was the best decision we’ve ever made and we haven’t looked back since.

Have you packed up your life and moved to a new country? Share your story!

Embracing the relaxed summer way of life 

And the Kiwi adventurous way of life too

Australia

1. They don’t say crikey all the time: beloved croc-wrestler Steve Irwin may have coined the catchphrase “crikey!” but it’s certainly not used every day in Australia.
2. They eat Skippy: Australia’s national icon – the kangaroo – is considered a darn tasty food source in Australia.
3. They don’t ‘chuck shrimps on the barbie’: snaggers, yes (that’s sausages), shrimps, no. Also, they call them prawns, not shrimps.
4. Not every animal in Australia wants to kill you: their poisonous snakes and spiders are easily avoided and they’re also home to possibly the cutest critter on the planet – the Quokka.
5. Australians don’t all live in the outback: yes, your map might show a massive country with plenty of desert-like space in the middle but in actual fact, over 90% of Australia’s population lives in urban areas on the coast.

Canada

1. It always snows in Canada: afraid not. Their summers can be positively balmy in parts with the thermometer topping 30 degrees.
2. Moose, bears and beavers are everywhere: if you don’t step outside the urban areas, your wildlife encounters will be restricted to pigeons and squirrels. Famed Canadian wildlife can be seen – but usually on specially planned tours. 
3. Mounties wear fancy red outfits: only on official, ceremonial occasions actually.
4. All Canadians speak French: Statistics Canada reckons only about 22% of Canadians use French as their first language. Most of the French-speaking population lives in Quebec – where the official language is French.
5. Toronto is the capital: it might be Canada’s largest city and the country’s financial centre but the capital is actually Ottawa.

New Zealand

1. New Zealand is governed by Australia: definitely not. New Zealand was once governed as a part of the territory of New South Wales (now a part of Australia). When Australia federated in 1901, New Zealand was offered a place as one of their states. New Zealand refused and is its own country with no ties (other than economic and commonwealth) to Australia.
2. There are 20 sheep to each person: no one’s going to deny New Zealand has a lot of sheep but in fact there’s presently around seven sheep to every one human.
3. New Zealand is all one country: actually, it’s split into two islands – the imaginatively named north and south islands, both enjoying vastly different landscapes and climates. And no, there isn’t a bridge between the two islands. There is a ferry though.
4. It’s small and everything you want to see can be done in two weeks: don’t be fooled. New Zealand’s landmass is about the same as the UK’s – and there is a heck of a lot to cram in. You could travel for months and still not do everything you want to do. It’s not a short break sort of place.
5. The weather is incredible: it definitely can be. It can also be incredibly terrible. The far north of the north island is sub-tropical, summer is cyclone season and the south island suffers bitterly cold winters, including plenty of snow.

Those of you who have been lucky enough to be travelling through Sydney in January would have experienced the last throes of the “Silly Season” (that heady, fun time that occurs between the Melbourne Cup in early November and Australia Day on the 26th of January where summer is enjoyed and corporate attire takes a casual approach). But most importantly, you would have experienced the Sydney Festival!

The Sydney Festival is a major arts festival held in Australia’s largest city. For three weeks each January, Sydney Festival offers a diverse program of around 100 events involving over 1,000 artists delivering 300 performances from Australia and around the world covering dance, theatre, music, visual arts, cross media and forums. Literally it has everything from burlesque circus to New York rap to Russian theatre; from contemporary dance to family programs to traditional Indigenous arts practice.

The Festival always kicks off with a bang and this year it featured an enormous rubber ducky. Honestly, he was huge! He hung out in another Sydney icon Darling Harbour for the length of the festival much to the delight of people of all ages. If there was any doubt, my Facebook newsfeed was filled with ducky photos for the entire three weeks. “Day One” also offered up a free Soul Review concert in the Domain (central Sydney parklands) where 60,000 people came together to get down to Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings and other bands. To see some of the highlights of Day One; a marathon with hype girls for example; check out this YouTube clip!

More than any other cultural event, Sydney Festival defines Sydney’s personality. Global, local, challenging, light hearted, diverse and inclusive are just some of the words that spring to mind when I think of what the Festival means to our city. I don’t always get involved in the festival activities as January is a busy time, however when I have, I have seen some amazing sites in some breath-taking venues that remind me why I am so pleased to have chosen Sydney as my home.

Lastly, the Sydney Festival helps to proves that Australia is not the cultural wasteland that some people may think! Yes, buildings in Australia are considered “heritage” if they are over 100 years old, but Australia is a unique land, both ancient and yet so young with a melting pot of cultures which all come together under a common cultural purpose for three weeks. Best of all, with a population approaching five million, Sydney’s a big city, but Sydney Festival works hard to make sure it doesn’t feel that way.

*Photos from Sydney Festival Facebook page.

According to a British psychologist, the third Monday of January is the most depressing day of the year. Perhaps it’s the northern hemisphere’s wintry weather; the fact you’re not doing so well on your New Year’s resolutions; or you’ve got a stack of Christmas bills piling up.

Whatever the reason, here’s our list of five ways to cheer yourself up and beat the blue Monday blues without resorting to burying under the duvet until summer arrives again:

1. Kick off your New Year’s resolution – assuming your resolution is to move, work and live overseas this year, start researching and planning your move. Think about where you’ll live, research suburbs, holidays, cost of living, the education system… there, that feels better already, doesn’t it? You’re doing something and making it happen. Result.
2. Plan a holiday – shake off the blues by planning your next escape. You could even plan a trip to the country you’d love to move to this year, so not only is it a fantastic break away but it’s a research trip too.
3. Search for a new job – new year, new challenge – new job? Make the job hunt even more productive by researching jobs in the country you fancy moving to.
4. Inspire yourself – use everyone’s favourite internet search engine to gawp at gorgeous pictures of where you’re hoping to live. Feast your eyes on spectacular scenery and use that dreaminess to picture yourself there – it’ll fuel your desire to move, and your plan-making.
5. Start a new hobby – get out of your January funk by throwing yourself into something new. Learning a language, some fancy new dance moves or knitting jumpers for cats. Whatever it is, it’s a great way to meet new people, flex your grey matter and may even help in your new home overseas!

How are you tackling the January blues?

Let us know your top tips!