[Bencouver]

I am considering moving to the kooteny's some day. having only worked in vancouver though i am wondering how hard it is to find steady work with good pay for a ticketed carpenter. i have experience in forming, framing and finishing. i am also wondering how bad it was last winter during the recession. out here i was able to find work when things slowed down. i am getting tired of going broke just to pay the mortgage on a two bedroom condo. it would be nice to have a house for my family. if anyone can tell me what its like in the kooteny region that would be great. thanks.

 

[katoman]

If you're good, come to Toronto, more work here than you can handle. Way too many hacks here.

 

[shanekw1]

It can be a long search finding a good job and good pay around here.

New construction practically stopped here last fall.

 

[Bencouver]

i didn't expect replies so fast. thanks. it probably won't be for at least a year or so. i'm expecting i would be commuting a lot to different areas. i'm also wondering about what the unions are like. i've never worked for one here.

 

[Bencouver]

castlegar is one of the areas we are considering due to its central location. i know questions about pay can be kind of taboo but i'm going to ask anyway. what is the going rate(hourly) for a journeymen? out here 30$ an hour is pretty standard. i only ask because it would determine the price of the house we would choose.

 

[shanekw1]

There is definitely some commuting to other areas, currently I am driving an hour each way to a job out past Nelson on the North Shore. Working in Salmo, Fruitvale, Trail, Slocan Valley etc. is not uncommon at all, I've done many jobs in all those places.

I don't know anything about the union. Never joined, don't plan to. Never been on a union job.

Can't really say for sure about the wage, but 27-30 is probably a pretty safe bet.
I'm sure some places are more and some are less.

 

[Bencouver]

you said new construction died during the fall but what about renos and other small jobs. i have stayed busy during slow times by doing smaller jobs on my own. i guess i'm just a little paranoid about leaving the bubble because its been good to me but after looking at the price of houses outside of the lower mainland i sometimes ask myself wtf i am doing here? i just hear all these stories about work drying up in the smaller towns.

 

[shanekw1]

Renos and smaller jobs are going ok, I've kept busy all year.

With the sawmill that shut down, and people's EI running out, there are a lot more 'contractors' out there tho.