The only thing I can add to this now that I've made it to alberta, is don't just look at the oil fields for huge money, chances are you can do a very similar job to what you're doing now but make a rediculous wage.

As an example, I worked in a ford dealer in the lower mainland, and wasn't happy with BC wages, so I applied at 9 dealers in alberta. I got 6 replies the next morning. the one I picked offers 4on/off or 21on/off in a modern shop. they paid to move me up here, and I get my share of the alberta oil money while staying inside a heated shop.

There is a ton of money to be had in this province and you don't have to work outside in -40 doing manual labor.

I also have to add that fort mcmurry isn't the only place up here with money, and kijiji is your friend for alberta.

Jobs seemingly slowing down up there in a bunch of places. 4/5 of my buddies got laid off

When oil prices are depressed like they are currently, must be some knee-jerk reactions to keep the profitablity up.

A few of my buddies up in Cold Lake got laid off ass well. However when you make 110 in 8 months it ain't so bad

The company I work for is currently on a hiring freeze. We are producing too much when the demand isn't as high as we are currently supplying. Cost of mining projects and operations are too high at the moment as well. But this is normal, mining is always up and down and repeat due to supply and demand and we only operate to commodity prices. If it isn't feasible or profitable enough to continue, why should we?

Is the company you work for contractor/owner? What are they mining for?

It has slowed down considerably in the Oil Sands;

Recently Completed Projects:
- Imperial Oil Kearl (initial development and expansion 1)
- Husky Sunrise

Delayed/Cancelled Projects:
- Suncor Voyageur
- Statoilhydro Corner
- Total Joslyn

Active Mega Projects:
- Suncor Ft. Hills (Suncor is in no rush to complete this work)
- Conoco Phillips Surmont 2 (Winding down though)
- Imperial Oil Kearl Expansion 2 (Barely worth calling a mega project)

Active Significant Projects:
- CNRL Kirby
- CNRL Horizon Expansion
- Suncor TRO
- Shell RC1

It’s worth noting the recently completed Newfoundland Long Harbour project as it kept a significant portion of the usual Ft Mac working population busy at home. Now that it’s over, they are rushing back to Alberta.

Both TransCanada and Enbridge have massive capex planned for 2016 and beyond, neither of which seem to have a significant amount of work planned before that time.

I’ve been getting a lot of resumes the last few months, one of our staffing firms has also told me they are being inundated with resumes, so to me this indicates it is indeed slow.

I like the labor market being the way it is, I can limit my hiring to include only those who reside in Western Canada and are non-smokers.

what's the situation like in grande prairie?

Don't bring your wife. They all become single when you're at work.

Its hard work and really dangerous

I haven't noticed a change cuz I've only been here a week lol, but I talked to a few pipeliners and welders who said we aren't as affected as other areas.

seems busy though

:suspicious:

lol

It's starting to get cold, once everything freezes work will pick up again.

Our company wouldn't be doubling their fleet if the work was truly slowing down.

I just came back from a 9 month stint at kearl expansion project. If you can handle all the bullshit of a mega project and the cold then it's not too bad. The company I worked for was PCL (people come last) and they are the worst company I have ever worked for. No joke. They preach all this safety and then ask you to pull all this cable in impossible places saying its safe to climb onto aluminum ladder tray 40' up lying on plywood tray sliders and wearing a harness. The tray specifically states not for people to climb on. We've worked outside in -50 before they called us in. They waited until the last possible minute to maximize production. At safety meetings if you raised any concerns or started becoming a common person who had safety issues they put a bullseye on you. Goes on and on on. I made $5k per two week rotation and as a Forman I was making $6k per rotation. You get 7 days off of which 2 are spent traveling home or to work. Then there's the people you work with, most guys are pretty good but every so often a real winner comes along. If you can tough it out for a year you'll make $130-150k total before taxes. It's not too bad, you get into a routine and after you make some friends it gets bearable

War is peace
Freedom is slavery
Ignorance is strength
Danger is safety

And this is why you should go into a trade. Making the same amount with half as much work (one week rotation).. Not to mention most likely end up working for better company as well. (If you're a contractor)

Between what was written in his post and the fact that he was working for a union contractor, it would be reasonable to assume he is an electrician, possibly j-man as he was foreman.

Most tradespeople do not net anything close to 5000$ for 70-82 hour weeks in the Mac.

I would say PCL is one of the better contractors to work for out there... Ledcor second and Kiewitt a very distant third.

Edit: Damn RS mobile.

Any of you in sheet metal? Looking really slow this time of the year compared to last, the union site is also looking really empty. There will be job postings that only last a day at max...

Seems like he is working 2 on / 1 off. Are you C&SU? Anyways, all I can say even the worst jobs in AB (safety wise) don't compare to anything in BC. Ive never seen a proper lock out or any safety procedures followed (working over a certain height with harness) etc. Then they wonder why ppl fall off ladders and split their head open, like at Sofina foods downtown.

But one must remember that there are much more than "trade" jobs in the patch.

Very true, usually the good/smart tradespeople don't stay on the tools very long :s

I can say the people I have worked with are very safety minded and certainly understand proper lockout/tagout. I'm not a very safety orientated person myself, I basically just assume everyone around me is a fucking idiot trying to kill me and that approach has worked really well for me. #stillalive

If the C&SU question was directed at me, no I am not.

Damn it sounds like real work to make money up north!

Anyone know if the bottle depot is hiring in Fort mac?

I was a union electrician up there. You don't really do a lot of work on site, usually the first hour or two is spent on daily safety talk and sheet fill out. Walk down of tray routing and access and egress for workers and also actually finding the damn reels lol. Some days we literally did almost nothing because out general foreman couldn't give us proper pull packages that were complete. Some days were pretty good when I could get ahead of the guys and get a whole bunch of pulls setup for the next day or two. Keeps the boys happy to not be standing around.

I have a friend who recently came back to town after 7 years on the rigs.

he's saved around a hundred thou and is ready to find someone and settle down, but he built zero transferable skills so he's working as a landscaper earning $14/hour. i think there's a lesson to be learned there. he could have apprenticed in a trade and become an experienced journeyman up there, which would have him earning $25/hour at the minimum here.