Any job opportunities in IT sector in halifax?
- Thread starter llllllove
- Start date
I am not in Canada as of today but as far as I have researched on the internet (when I was applying for NSNP), there are ample IT jobs in Halifax. You can get a good idea if you browse the local job sites and LinkedIn. Don't get scared due to the less number of openings. I would rather that you compare it as a unit of 'no. of openings/ population' with the likes of Toronto etc. Hope you are getting my point.
I did my masters in Halifax in 2011-2013 and working in Toronto. So here are my pros and cons.
I did my masters in Halifax because it was much cheaper compared to other destinations in Canada, but I was also aware of the limitations in the job market. Education in Ontario is expensive when compared to NS. I moved to GTA soon after completing my masters to look for jobs, even though I was offered a job in Halifax. The reason for declining the job was the salary was significantly lesser and the taxes were more, and I had commitments to meet which I would not have been able to with that job/salary (the job was cs manager in reputed bank, but posting location was also a compromise). Well, I do know some friends who got jobs in Halifax with salaries comparable to GTA/Calagary, but I would count them as minority cases. The only way to do that is to leverage your prior IT experience, if its relevant in current market. If you have no relevant IT experience, Halifax job market with squeeze you dry.
Also as a side note, NSCC is decent college, but I would suggest you enrolling in a course in university.
I did my masters in Halifax because it was much cheaper compared to other destinations in Canada, but I was also aware of the limitations in the job market. Education in Ontario is expensive when compared to NS. I moved to GTA soon after completing my masters to look for jobs, even though I was offered a job in Halifax. The reason for declining the job was the salary was significantly lesser and the taxes were more, and I had commitments to meet which I would not have been able to with that job/salary (the job was cs manager in reputed bank, but posting location was also a compromise). Well, I do know some friends who got jobs in Halifax with salaries comparable to GTA/Calagary, but I would count them as minority cases. The only way to do that is to leverage your prior IT experience, if its relevant in current market. If you have no relevant IT experience, Halifax job market with squeeze you dry.
Also as a side note, NSCC is decent college, but I would suggest you enrolling in a course in university.
Since you have stayed in both GTA and NS, could you please share highs and lows of living at either place. Of late, I have been intrigued by NS more than Toronto. Factors like salary, safety, lifestyle, pace of life, weather, fixed expenditure (for a couple w/o children) etc.pgwp-pr-applicant said:
I wouldn't discourage you to not go to Halifax. It is definitely a beautiful place with laid back life style, only if you are a student. There are a lot of cons after you start working in NS - lack of opportunities, low income, high taxes, lack of choices. Also please note that the 'beauty' of Halifax is only for 4 months in a year (during summer and late fall). Just google for Halifax snow storms (in April!!!!) and you will know what I am talking about. Also the lack of Indian population, restricts social life (and Indian options like food, retail etc.), especially for Indians.
I agree that the government of NS does an extremely good job marketing Halifax as a go-to destination, but does not do a great job in building the economy. NS economy is heavily burdened by rich retired people, which means they are only consuming, paying less taxes, putting huge burden on health care, all of which translates to higher taxes for working population. The majority of the population in NS are students and retired-rich-population who do not contribute to the economy. (It would be best to compare Halifax to the vacation destination islands like Dominican Republic, Cuba, where vacationing is great, but settling down is not.)
My conclusion is that NS is a great destination for students, retired people and vacations, but not for working professionals. I would say the best way to enjoy Halifax/NS is study there and take vacations to NS, but not settle down.
Now coming to TO, after having lived in Halifax for 2 years, I was extremely uncomfortable in TO, with all the population, traffic and hectic life styles. However, I ended up settling down in Mississauga, which I feel closely resembles to Halifax. I can have the best of both worlds living in Mississauga. So if you don't like the downtown lifestyle, you can always choose suburbs in GTA and get the best of both worlds. Also, if you find work in smaller cities in ON like Kitchener, Waterloo, London, Kingston, for IT jobs, they offer a comparable salary to downtown TO.
Having said all this, it is only my personal opinion based on my personal experiences. Different people have different experiences. If you want to study, Halifax offers you a great student life. But you should be ready to move out of the province to search for jobs and settle down.
I agree that the government of NS does an extremely good job marketing Halifax as a go-to destination, but does not do a great job in building the economy. NS economy is heavily burdened by rich retired people, which means they are only consuming, paying less taxes, putting huge burden on health care, all of which translates to higher taxes for working population. The majority of the population in NS are students and retired-rich-population who do not contribute to the economy. (It would be best to compare Halifax to the vacation destination islands like Dominican Republic, Cuba, where vacationing is great, but settling down is not.)
My conclusion is that NS is a great destination for students, retired people and vacations, but not for working professionals. I would say the best way to enjoy Halifax/NS is study there and take vacations to NS, but not settle down.
Now coming to TO, after having lived in Halifax for 2 years, I was extremely uncomfortable in TO, with all the population, traffic and hectic life styles. However, I ended up settling down in Mississauga, which I feel closely resembles to Halifax. I can have the best of both worlds living in Mississauga. So if you don't like the downtown lifestyle, you can always choose suburbs in GTA and get the best of both worlds. Also, if you find work in smaller cities in ON like Kitchener, Waterloo, London, Kingston, for IT jobs, they offer a comparable salary to downtown TO.
Having said all this, it is only my personal opinion based on my personal experiences. Different people have different experiences. If you want to study, Halifax offers you a great student life. But you should be ready to move out of the province to search for jobs and settle down.
Yes, Job Bank is a good place to get an overview of the jobs in the market. But I would like to add on to that.
I would take job postings on the job bank with a grain of salt. To me, most of the IT jobs posted there seems to be to get LMIA for either their on-site candidates or for bringing their off-shore candidates.
At least for IT BA jobs, lower band of the market salary is 55k in Toronto, these job banks post the mid-band market salary which is 75k. This is purely because the rules set on the job bank states that the posting should offer the 'proposed' mid-band salary at the least to have good chances to qualify for LMIA.
It would not make any sense for the employer to put the offer out in open to the entire world and on top of that offer the mid-band market salary when they can get the qualified resources from their outsourced business partners! If they are putting the offer out in open, it means they have mitigated the risks by already having the candidate whom they want to offer the job to. Also, I know of a few big employers who had postings on their job banks to get LMIAs for their candidates who are working with them currently or for candidates who have been working for them off-shore.
Again, I am speaking only for the IT jobs. So if you are solely dependent on job bank then you need to start looking at other strategies to find job once you land in Canada. I would say start networking with recruiters and potential employers and make up your mind that you would need to survive for 3-6 months, after landing, hunt for jobs and find the right one. Also sites like workopolis, monster.ca and indeed are a good place to see the jobs that are available in the market.
I would take job postings on the job bank with a grain of salt. To me, most of the IT jobs posted there seems to be to get LMIA for either their on-site candidates or for bringing their off-shore candidates.
At least for IT BA jobs, lower band of the market salary is 55k in Toronto, these job banks post the mid-band market salary which is 75k. This is purely because the rules set on the job bank states that the posting should offer the 'proposed' mid-band salary at the least to have good chances to qualify for LMIA.
It would not make any sense for the employer to put the offer out in open to the entire world and on top of that offer the mid-band market salary when they can get the qualified resources from their outsourced business partners! If they are putting the offer out in open, it means they have mitigated the risks by already having the candidate whom they want to offer the job to. Also, I know of a few big employers who had postings on their job banks to get LMIAs for their candidates who are working with them currently or for candidates who have been working for them off-shore.
Again, I am speaking only for the IT jobs. So if you are solely dependent on job bank then you need to start looking at other strategies to find job once you land in Canada. I would say start networking with recruiters and potential employers and make up your mind that you would need to survive for 3-6 months, after landing, hunt for jobs and find the right one. Also sites like workopolis, monster.ca and indeed are a good place to see the jobs that are available in the market.