I'm a dual US-Canadian citizen and have lived and worked in both Canada and the US for over ten years each. Most recently, I was living in Edmonton, Alberta for two years, but have now moved back to the US and am working, ironically, in immigration law! I recently started this job, so I can't give any immigration tips just yet.
The Canadian job market is overrated and not as great as the government claims. It's funny because I remember seeing a Canadian Government advertisement in an Indian paper guaranteeing people who immigrated to Canada that they would have great jobs!
The best provincial economy in Canada right now is Alberta and it's mostly because of the oil sands up North. Edmonton is big in the trades. Calgary (which is a great city, by the way) doing better for white-collar jobs for oil companies. But the job market in Alberta right now is in Fort MacMurray, where people who work in the oil sands can start making $20 an hour. Even McDonalds pays more than $10 an hour there. However, the cost of living up there is really high and it’s isolated and very boring. But that is where the best money in Canada is at the moment. Oh, and there are a lot of temp jobs in Alberta too.
The other places, the Toronto market is very saturated right now, especially since most new immigrants move there when they arrive in the country. Toronto is also a very expensive place to live. Montreal’s market is pretty bad too because of French language laws and the highest taxes in the country. Vancouver’s is getting better, mainly from an increase in the transportation industry, construction for the Olympic Games and natural resources. However, Vancouver is notorious for being very expensive, and salaries there are not so good.
So, if I were to recommend any place in Canada, it would be Alberta, as long as oil prices remain high. As soon as the oil prices drop, then the economy there will be in a tailspin because they’re not doing anything to diversify their economy. Between Edmonton and Calgary, I would choose Calgary. Edmonton sucks.
But if you’re trying to choose between working in Canada and the US, I would stay in the US, no question. Even with a hot Alberta economy, there is more opportunity in more sectors in the US.
With my situation, I was educated in Canada and worked in both countries. The quality of the jobs was better by orders of magnitudes in the US, in terms of pay and everything. When I moved back to Edmonton two years ago, it was mostly for family issues, but I came back with an open mind. However, I was bitterly disappointed because the only work I found was at call centers, and they don’t pay well and the working conditions were atrocious. What was really sad is that I was working with a lot of people who had Masters of PhDs from countries like India and they were stuck working there because nobody in Canada would recognize my experience. I was also surprised that few people would recognize my US working experience. I got sick of these jobs and I’m now back in the US.
I think Canada has enormous potential, but a lot of it is wasted, especially the way they deal with labor talent. It’s really unfortunate that they advertise a labor shortage when it’s really not the case.