Hi Guys,
I thought I had better reply since my name was listed somewhere near the start of this thread. I returned from Saudi in April '05 and looked a while for a job and then took one in June '05 about 3500km from where I was living. I was living and previously working in Alberta but took a job in central Canada in Hamilton, Ontario. I have been here close to 2 years now. Since I have been in this job we have hired a few more guys. One of the jobs I passed onto a friend of mine who was still working in Saudi at the time. He did not have any paperwork done as of yet. So even though is was by far the most qualified for the job he wasn't able to take it as his immigration paperwork had not been started and he had no work visa.
The Biomed depts or hospitals here in general are not set up for hiring people from out of the country. My colleague Jesse Esperemme, whom I knew in Saudi and actually helped him in getting some of his paperwork done for his immigration to Canada would have the most information on his getting work in Canada. He is an Engineer from the Philipines and in general has more qualifications than most biomeds in Canada, although he still went through a process of becoming certified through the local board here, which I helped him with as well.
As for jobs there does seems to be a need for Biomeds here as there are often job openings with no qualified biomeds to fill the positions. The job boards listed above are a good start but I would have to say that most will require you to be here in the country and ready to start within a few weeks notice. Before I returned to Canada for work I applied for a number of jobs (40-50) and heard from none of them, since I was not here in Canada to start working. Once I was here I was offered a job by the first one I interviewed for. Now I actually work at two hospital since there is not enough biomeds to go around. Of the 6 biomeds in our shop here, 3 of us work part time at other hospitals not associated with ours, to get extra cash.
But don't forget that Canada is the second highest taxed country in the world. On my paycheck I am deducted about 43% in taxes and deductions (pension contibutions, union dues, dental and so on).
Any more questions I will try to answer if I can.
Dale Shuya
