[sparksmate]

hello!

Im finding it very difficult to find any info, or even if its possible, to be a helper for electricians in Quebec

I'm in Montreal, Im a permanent resident and have a drivers license

we don't really have unions in the uk, or at least they don't have any power, but we do have a new "ish" "company" that you need to do a health and safety course, to get a card to work on most commercial sites

I have been working as a sparks mate/helper for 15 years in the uk
doing high profile commercial work, including data and fire its always been a secondary job for me, but I can do the work of a qualified spark

if I was in the uk starting from scratch with no contact, I would just join an agency and take what comes, can I do anything like that?

any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[emtnut]

No such thing as a helper.


You get on as an apprentice or nothing.

 

[sparksmate]

Thanks for the reply, well that's f88kd then, so Id need to do a 4 year year course

do they have agencies here?

I was considering going the fire alarm route and getting fully qualified

No such thing as a helper.


You get on as an apprentice or nothing.

 

[Navyguy]

This might be helpful... not sure what the requirements are in QC.

http://www.cfaa.ca/TrainingProgram.aspx

Cheers
John

 

[sparksmate]

awesome, thanks!

This might be helpful... not sure what the requirements are in QC.



Cheers
John

 

[emtnut]

Thanks for the reply, well that's f88kd then, so Id need to do a 4 year year course

do they have agencies here?

I was considering going the fire alarm route and getting fully qualified

Not a 4 year course. Quebec is different thou, they do all the 4 or 5 apprentice terms together before you start .. I think a year in school. But you can be on pogie while you are doing that.
Maybe @Martine will chime in. She's doing that right now in QC

 

[eddy current]

Quebec also has a mandatory safety course to work on a construction site, regardless of which trade. It is called ASP and is 30 hours long. If you do not live in Quebec and have a red seal licence you do not have to take the course.

I suggest you take that course first (difficult to find it taught in English)

As for the schooling, I’️m pretty sure it is a 2 year program you must take first and then can be an apprentice.(May also be difficult to find in English)

 

[sparksmate]

thanks, I appreciate it
speaking of language, how difficult will it be on site when not fluent in French
health and safety wise and socially

Quebec also has a mandatory safety course to work on a construction site, regardless of which trade. It is called ASP and is 30 hours long. If you do not live in Quebec and have a red seal licence you do not have to take the course.

I suggest you take that course first (difficult to find it taught in English)

As for the schooling, I’️m pretty sure it is a 2 year program you must take first and then can be an apprentice.(May also be difficult to find in English)

 

[mofos be cray]

Why does a pommey move to poutine land? Move to the reasonable part of the country.

 

[Cosmorok]

thanks, I appreciate it
speaking of language, how difficult will it be on site when not fluent in French
health and safety wise and socially

Socially, you will be ostracized and treated like a alley cat. For real, it will depend on which part of Montréal, the company you're with and the attitudes of the others on the job site. Officially, Québec's language of choice is French. You might get a pass because you have a British(not English) accent, put some effort into speaking with the Quebecois workers in French. Learn some swear words, that usually gets a chuckle. That said, all official documents should be available in English. You may get passed over if you don't speak the official language though at a lot of jobs, the language police are a real thing so companies don't want to deal with the risk of getting fined.

 

[sparksmate]

Taver..shnnaaklle
why would they get fined?
there are so many bizarre things here, I like it...but really
there's a lot of backwards er...things
I am a strong believer in integration and quebecans have the right to be pissed at the queens head on their money :vs_laugh:

Socially, you will be ostracized and treated like a alley cat. For real, it will depend on which part of Montréal, the company you're with and the attitudes of the others on the job site. Officially, Québec's language of choice is French. You might get a pass because you have a British(not English) accent, put some effort into speaking with the Quebecois workers in French. Learn some swear words, that usually gets a chuckle. That said, all official documents should be available in English. You may get passed over if you don't speak the official language though at a lot of jobs, the language police are a real thing so companies don't want to deal with the risk of getting fined.

 

[Cosmorok]

Taver..shnnaaklle
why would they get fined?
there are so many bizarre things here, I like it...but really
there's a lot of backwards er...things
I am a strong believer in integration and quebecans have the right to be pissed at the queens head on their money :vs_laugh:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_qu%C3%A9b%C3%A9cois_de_la_langue_fran%C3%A7aise Office québécois de la langue française AKA language police. There are rules to follow if and when there is English used on signs, in business etc.

 

[Martine]

hello!

Im finding it very difficult to find any info, or even if its possible, to be a helper for electricians in Quebec

I'm in Montreal, Im a permanent resident and have a drivers license

we don't really have unions in the uk, or at least they don't have any power, but we do have a new "ish" "company" that you need to do a health and safety course, to get a card to work on most commercial sites

I have been working as a sparks mate/helper for 15 years in the uk
doing high profile commercial work, including data and fire its always been a secondary job for me, but I can do the work of a qualified spark

if I was in the uk starting from scratch with no contact, I would just join an agency and take what comes, can I do anything like that?

any help would be greatly appreciated

You'll have to give a call to the CCQ or emploi quebec depending what you plan on doing. They'll have a look at your prior experience and then go from there and decide how many (if any) classes you'll need to transfer over your license.

 

[Martine]

As for finding a job, you'll need to get your licensing figured out before applying for a job, as there is no such thing as a ''helper'' over here. If they refuse to accept your previous experience you'll have to do an 1800 hour schooling (which is about a year and a half) before you can actually step foot on a job site as a first year apprentice.

As for needing to speak french or not, you'd have better luck on a bigger jobsite. The last jobsite I was on we had 80 electricians and quite a few of them spoke very little french and they got on just fine because most of us spoke french and english. Certain areas of montreal (the south shore for example) are quite a bit more anglophone than on the island, but either way you shouldn't have too much of a problem, especially not if you TRY to learn basic french (I say try, because it isn't an easy language to learn as an adult)