hmmy: sorry if my attempt to knock the rose coloured glasses off your eyes, felt to you like a slap in the face. All I'm trying to do is open your eyes and prepare you to make an informed decision.
I skimmed that silly BC government labour market projection report- more marketing document than report! It is from 2012, and forecasts a "tight labour market" in 2018-19. Are you planning to come now, or in 2019? It quite clearly shows a labour market which is the OPPOSITE of tight for the only time for which its projections have a hope of being accurate, i.e. 2013- and there has been a slump in oil prices since then. That whole report is based on forecasting- crystal ball stuff, full of wishful assumptions motivated by the "industry partners" who are inevitably behind reports like this. It predicts 100,000 new jobs from LNG export projects alone, as an example of wishful thinking embodied in that report.
There are similar industry-sponsored media reports about shortages every few days here. And people believe them- they give people hope and make them feel good about themselves.
In contrast, the OSPE report is based on measurements- Canada's national census data over the past 20 years. The trend is unmistakeable. Fewer and fewer engineering grads here, regardless where they were educated, actually work in their chosen field. And it's not all by choice. If it were, the fact that the ones who work outside engineering earn something like 20% less, on average, than those who do, would indicate that they were making choices against their own economic interests.
Engineers Canada did a similar labour market projection study, with the participation of Randstadt- a temporary staffing company (conflict of interest much?). Even though the data in the study showed that we were generating far more candidates for engineering jobs than were required to satisfy even the most unreasonably optimistic estimates of economic growth, retirements and replacement demand, and that this trend was likely to remain into the future as the baby boomers start to retire, they STILL concluded that the labour market would be tight. Why? Because they took the fact that most engineering grads fail to gain access to the profession as a given- as inevitable, and normal. They were looking at the effect of changes in supply/demand balance on employer PERCEPTIONS of labour market tightness, rather than basing it on the labour market supply/demand balance itself!
The OSPE study demonstrates the patent falseness of that assumption. Two decades ago, the fraction of engineering grads and immigrants working as engineers was DOUBLE what it is now, and it has gotten steadily worse each and every census.
The fraction of engineering grads educated outside Canada, who are actually working as engineers, was only about 20% as of the last census. The 20% that succeeded are just fine, thanks, and not all of the 80% who didn't are unhappy either- but some are bitter as hell and they bad-mouth Canada publicly as a nation of liars. They feel they were recruited here under false pretenses, for jobs that didn't exist. They certainly have a point, based on the data!
As to the licensure requirements: if you meet the academic requirement, that's fantastic, as it's a huge hurdle if you don't. I still suggest that you apply, pay the fees, submit the transcripts and get that ARC review in writing, from APEGBC- not from the useless Engineers Canada- and that you do all of that BEFORE you come. That you can do that prior to arrival was done for a very good reason- people who come and then are surprised by having to write sets of technical exams are generally very, very unhappy about that fact when it happens to them! And it's totally unnecessary.
I don't know where you're getting the notion that you have to write an academic exam about "general engineering"-whatever that is- if you meet the ARC requirement. And yes, I had a look at the APEGBC website! In most provinces, and certainly here in Ontario- if you meet the ARC requirement, you merely need to gain your four years of mentored work experience and then write the ethics and law exam which is NOT a technical examination whatsoever. If you were a Canadian grad, here in Ontario even registering as an EIT before writing the exam and applying for a full license wouldn't be mandatory. But for you, I strongly suggest registering as an EIT before coming- it will certainly help you with a job search.
As to your rant about the benefits of youth versus experience- good for you. My own company prefers to hire and train young engineers and NEVER suffers from shortages- but we're not typical in the industry here. All I was telling you is what employers are looking for- what shows up in their job ads. If you're young and motivated and full of fire, by all means come here and find or create your own job- and the very best of luck to you! Just don't blame Canada if it doesn't work out the way you'd hoped.
Finding the job before you come is key. It will make all the difference to both your ability to succeed here and your ability to become a landed immigrant once you're here. Focus on that.
