₦airaland Forum

19CannyMum:
Thank you. Its not covered by AHS. How much did you pay?

I really can not remember how much I paid then. It was 8 years ago and it was in Ontario. Also, back in Ontario the cost varies from clinic to clinic. So, your best bet is to call around.

19CannyMum:
My people in Calgary, una well done o.

Abeg where/how dem dey take circumcise boy pikin for this city?

Please I'll appreciate advise and recommendations, thanks in advance.

Just google "male circumcision clinics Calgary" and you will get a list of clinics that carry out circumcision in Calgary. This what I got when I googled it:

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GCEU_enCA828CA828&ei=RXXMXJW2AeHl0gKeqJygBA&q=male+circumcision+clinics+calgary&oq=male+circumcision+clinics+calgary&gs_l=psy-ab.3...132832.132832..133852...0.0..0.74.74.1......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71.ebPRr3Fk8_w

Note that I have never used any of the clinics in Calgary but I have circumcised my male child while living in Ontario. So, call the clinics to find out about the cost and the procedure. You can also look for review online from anybody that have used any of the clinics before you use them.

As for the cost, I don't know if it is covered by Alberta Health Services or not but when I had my son circumcised in Ontario it was not covered by OHIP (I don't know if it is now covered or still not).

sonofElElyon:
Okay, in a nutshell you don't think Prof Adesanmi is important. Noted. I disagree. We have agreed to disagree.

You see, you are missing my point. I am not saying he is important or he is not important as I am not in the position to say so. My point is you can not be using something (like taking pictures with the Prime Minister, becoming a Canadian Citizen etc) that is easy for anybody to achieve to prove that he is important. Doing so is actually insulting his achievements that you are trying to show. Hope you get it now?

sonofElElyon:
You dont know that visa,rejection means visa denials So stupid! Did they apologise or not you fool? You made it sound like they never apologise. The circumstances under which the Prof's mum was denied a visa clearly was unjustified especially since he is a citizen of Canada you slowpoke! How can a citizen who is responsible and very comfortable be denied a visit from his mum? Not just a regular citizen but someone considered worthy enough to be granted citizenship though not Canadian born and who has contributed immensely to the country?
Point has been made that Canada does apologise in matters of visa issues, whether denial or cancellation/revocation .
Fool!

If you obtain your PR (Permanent Residency) legally, becoming a Canadian Citizen is easy and it is not a big deal as long as you have not committed any crime. The requirements you have to meet to become a Canadian citizen are:

1. Provide proof that you know how to speak and write in 1 of Canada's official languages (either English or French)
2. Be a Permanent Resident (PR)
3. Have lived in Canada as a PR for at least 1,095 days out of the 5 years before you apply.

So, as you can see there is nothing special about these requirements and you don't need to be a genius to meet them.

sonofElElyon:
Gutter language from gutter mind ignored!
The fool did not read my post that visa can be denied only for justifiable reason!
Visa granted eventually and picture proof posted to show that they reversed their decision without a fourth application..
Naturalised Canadian not inferior to citizen by birth except maybe when contesting for the highest offices.
Family is cherished in Canada and no CITIZEN will be presented from having a visit from family except in extreme circumstances. They don't treat their citizens like trash the way you do here.

All Canadian citizens (either by birth or naturalized) have the same rights. Any Canadian citizen (either by birth or naturalized) can contest for the highest offices (including the Prime Minister office). Canada is not the US where you have to be born there to become a President.

sonofElElyon:
Picture of Prof Adesanmi with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau...

Taking personal pictures like this with high political figures here in Canada is nothing and does not prove that the person is important. The politicians will gladly take pictures with you if you are at the same event (rallies, conferences etc) with them.

I (SixSigma), have taken personal pictures (keyword here is personal) with the following high political figures in the past just has many have done:

1. Paul Martin - Former Prime Minister of Canada from 2003 to 2006. I took a personal picture with him at a conference in Toronto, Ontario in 2005.
2. Jason Kenney - Former Minister for Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, former Minister of National Defense and currently Leader of United Conservative Party of Alberta (running to be the next Premier of Alberta). I took a personal picture with him at a rally in Calgary, Alberta in October 2018.
3. Doug Ford - Current Premier of Ontario. I took a personal picture with him at a rally in Calgary, Alberta in October 2018. The same rally where I met Jason Kenney.

Many people irrespective of how important they are took personal pictures with theses political figures at those same events.

dustydee:
Please kindly share so we can all learn. A friend recently accepted a counter offer and a promise of promotion and shortly after the environment became passively hostile. The promotion did not come at the end of the year as promised. The person was lucky to get another offer soon after and left.

@dustydee, apart from some of the reasons @salford1 already given, some of the additional reasons not to accept counter offer from current employers are:

1. Your loyalty will be questioned as you will hardly be trusted anymore (the keyword here is hardly) because they know you are looking. All your moves going forward will be suspected.
2. When promotion time comes around, your employer will remember who is loyal and who isn’t.
3. Should there be need to downsize, you will be the first to go because they see you as not being loyal anymore. Why keep you during trying times when you have already gave them the signal you wanted out.
4. For the most part (not all the time), you are giving the counter offer just to buy them the time to hire a replacement or to get you to train somebody else internally to do your job without you knowing that this is what you are doing (especially the part of your job that you are the best at doing or you are the only one that can do). After this, any silly mistake you are gone.
5. They hardly keep the promise made to you to stay and at this point you have already lost the other offer you declined. They will become hostile or defensive when you remind them of the counter offer agreement (this is what happened to your friend). With this you become frustrated and may not be very productive anymore leading to poor performance.
6. The employer that offers you a counter offer did not value you in the first place and they're only thinking short term by offering you the counter offer. The short term part of it is that the employer will often be thinking about the costs and risks involved in finding a replacement, hence they made you a counter offer. However, you have to ask yourself, if they think you're worth that counter offer now (more money, promotion, better work conditions or what ever they are now offering), why weren't they offering that earlier?

Note that any of the above can happen in any company either reputable not reputable. This reason being that this may not even be a function of the company itself (as a reputable company will not play game with you to stay and later frustrate you out), but it is more a function of your direct manager who is trying to save face by not having somebody quit on him/her.

salford1:
Thanks very much for this. She has decided to go with the new employer's offer after a thorough brainstorming with some of her colleagues in the industry.. She also realised her career will progress faster with the new employer as there are fewer ladders to climb to the top. I also told her about the loyalty angle that her relationship with her curremt manager might never be the same again if she had accepted the counter offer. I simply told her they likely find faults in her work and might look for a way to fustrate her out of the company. It is always good to go with statistics. Just as you mentioned, some will luck out and fall outside the bell curve i.e outside the 75%, but why take such a risk.

You are most welcome @salford1. You made a lot of valid points in your post as to why it is not encouraged to accept the counter offer from her current employer. There are also other valid points beyond those that you listed as to why counter offers should not be accepted but we do not need to go into those right now. I am very pleased to know that she is going with the new employer. Going with the new employers is the smart thing to do in this case. Good luck to her .

salford:
@thecongo,@maternal,@blackbuddy, lawyers in the house and anyone out there with experience.
A family member got an offer for a job elsewhere. The new employer offered a better work life balance. She has signed and accepted the offer. Now the current employer is begging her not to leave, and now adjusting her hours to accomodate an even better work life balance. My question: is/are there any legal implication if she decides to back out of the new offer, even though she already signed and submitted an offer letter. She is thinking of consulting a lawyer.

TheCongo2:
There is none.

I am not a lawyer, but just like @TheCongo2 said, there is no legal implication to back out after accepting an offer. I have done so more than twice in the past in this Canada. However, my reason for backing out was not because I accepted counter offer from my then current employer but because I got multiple offers at the same time and the one I wanted the most came last.

Just like you as an employee can back out after accepting an offer without any legal implications, so also can the employer withdraw an offer, for virtually any reason, after you have accepted it but before you start the job. The only reason they can not give to withdraw the job offer is for discriminatory reasons (e.g. gender, religion, race, age etc). However, no employer that is worth it salt will withdraw an offer for any reason except they are closing down. The reason for this is not far fetched. It does not speak well of them as words travel fast and nobody will want to work for such employer.

Having said all of this and by virtual of my experience as a hiring manager, I will strongly suggest that your family member do not accept the current employer's counter offer. It never ends well most of the time (I will say 75% of the time). If the current employer values your family member they would have done the right thing without an offer from another employer. Any person in the know of how employers think when you tell them you are leaving them will never advice you to accept a counter offer from your current employer. Please note, this is by no means a rule not to accept counter offer but just a suggestion based on what I know and I have seen happened numerous time few months after counter offers are accepted. Your family member may however be one of the few exceptions that did not get burnt after accepting counter offer from current employer. Just take this into consideration before declining the current offer and accepting the counter offer.

And by the way, what your family member should have done was that before letting the current employer know about the new offer, she should have talked to the current employer about her concerns and what she expected them to do about it. If they agree to do and do what she wants, then she says. Otherwise, she quits. But it is late now to adopt this strategy.

Whatever she eventually decides to do, I wish her good luck and all the best!

maternal:
Don't know why you bothered. People like GodbPraised who spend all their time and money to migrate, then try to discourage people are enemy of progress. Canada is good for the kids yet why is he here ? A man doing well in naija will not leave simple. The "I did it for the kids" is the excuse people who can't make it in naija say when they migrate abroad. People in Canada are indebt and pay taxes. At least they have jobs. People in naija do all that minus having a job. People who stay abroad while complaining, bashing the place, etc are mentally unstable. How can you not like something but continue doing it ? Is it not madness ?

You are kind of right about not bothering to reply @GodbPraised post, but I replied him for two reasons:

First, I was sick to the stomach reading his write-up doing exactly the same thing he was accusing other Nigerians he met when he just arrived in Canada. He is saying something is not attainable when it is attainable. On the other hand, he complaint and did not like it when other people told him that he could not get professional job when he sure could. I wanted him to see how he is exhibiting the same behaviour as the people he was complaining about.

Secondly, just like you said people who pass wrong information like he did, while they themselves are already in Canada, are in my mind just trying to discourage people whose life will be better off here in Canada from migrating legally. I do not like it when people who want to migrate legally are being discouraged by being fed wrong information.

I hope my write-up will encourage legal migrants that they can make it with proper planning and by mingling with the right set of people.

Godbpraised:
In general Canada is good for kids and young men of 21 to 29 years. If you a man and u are above 30 and u are earning 7M, please stay in Nigeria. Canada has been set up such that 50% of ur earnings stays in Canada, that's taxes of 50%. Someone says you can earn $150k I laugh, that salary role is for CIO or senior executives. Guys before u reach that level here it may take a while. I was telling some one yesterday if I get commissioner role in my state in Nigeria. I will leave my family here in Canada. In Canada lots of people work just to pay Bill's and are indebted. Again Canada is good for young men and kids as well as women. Opportunities are in Canada, however if you are doing very well in Nigeria u can move ur family to Canada. Whilst u hustle in Nigeria as a man, with a strong agreement with ur wife before leaving.

@Godbpraised:

I don't know where to start from in my reply to this your write-up. Your write-up contains information that is purely your own opinion which I respect and will not be commenting on. On the other hand, I will be commenting on the information (the part in bold above) in your write-up that just is just plainly wrong.

To start with, what you wrote up there about people not being able to make a meager $150K (yes, meager $150K, I repeat) unless you are a CIO or senior executives is an irony. It is irony because you were the same person that wrote on the other thread complaining that Nigerians are negative people because when you came to Canada, Nigerians you met in Canada were telling you that you can can not get a professional job. That the job you will get is support worker and that no Nigerian spoke positively to your life.

Link to your write-up on the other thread: https://www.nairaland.com/3617393/living-canada-life-canadian-immigrant/503#74341506
My comments to you on the other thread: https://www.nairaland.com/3617393/living-canada-life-canadian-immigrant/504#74342262

How is your statement about not being possible to make meager $150K unless you are a CIO or senior executives any different from the statement of people not speaking positively to your life? Please reflect on this.

Take this from me when I tell you that it is not only very possible but it is also very common to make $150K and more even as an individual contributor talk less of being in management roles (entry level, mid level or senior level). A lot of people I know are making this much and more in individual contributor roles. Just like I said on the other thread you just have to mingle with the right people to know and experience what I am talking about.

To give you more insight, read my second post here on Nairaland about Six Sigma Black Belt career and how much people in that career make. This was back in 2006. So, figure out what the salary will look like now in 2019 (12 to 13 years after that post).

The post is available here: https://www.nairaland.com/10173/six-sigma-black-belt-career#279221

When you now consider many people are IT professionals, Professional Engineers, Doctors, Pharmacist, Finance people etc working in wide rage of industries such as automotive, investment baking, technology, IT, oil & gas etc making such amount as individual contributors you will understand what I am talking about.

I do agree and understand that a lot of people in the professions mentioned above are also not making that much but this fact does not negate the fact that many people are making such money and more as individual contributors.

Now regarding 50% taxation in Canada, it is obvious you do not know how the tax system works in Canada. Canada tax system is graduated whereby you pay different percentage tax rate on different portion of your salary. This is different from a flat tax rate whereby you pay the same percentage tax rate on all of your salary. I will encourage you educate yourself about Canadian tax system.

You can also follow the link below to get an idea of the percentage of your income you pay in tax depending on the province you live in:

https://www.taxtips.ca/marginaltaxrates.htm

You can also use the calculator below to give you an idea the amount of tax a person making $150K will pay depending on their province of residence:

https://simpletax.ca/calculator

As an example, if that person lives in Alberta, s/he will pay $29,007 in federal tax and $13,201 in provincial tax. This is a total of $42,208 (or just 28.14%). If we factor in CPP and IE Premiums (which are really not taxes), the person will pay a total of $45,660 or just 30.44%.

Beautyaddy:
That is not true.

People who are Physicians, Pharmacist and are doing high skilled medical professional jobs in Canada make about $100k or even more.

@Beautyaddy:

You are very correct. In fact, just like I already mentioned above you do not even need to be a Physician to make $100K and more. Even nurses (including Nigerian Nurses) make that much ($100K) and more.

francoteeboy2626:
please house,I plays talking drum and other instruments, if I can get a Nigerian church that can stand for me that there is no citizens that can play the talking drum for them,hence the need for me,can I get a work permit that way

@francoteeboy2626

As a Nigerian living in Nigeria you sure can get a temporary work permit to Canada from Nigeria if you get hired for a job that the employer can prove that the job is legitimately required and no Canadian or person with permanent resident can do the job or wants to do the job. So, getting hired to play talking drum would qualify if that job could be proven to be legitimately required by the employer and no Canadian or person with permanent resident status can do the job or wants to do the job. Many Nigerians known to me are legitimately in Canada today through Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) for jobs like live-in caregiver/nanny for a Nigerian family, Nigerian local language teachers (Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa.....), playing local drums (full time) like @francoteeboy2626 wants to do etc.

So, read the links in @joo2018 post that I have quoted for the legitimate way to approach this.

As a final note, please do not use any agent. They can not help you in anyway.

joo2018:
It is a complex something. Canada issues 2 types of work permits: Open work permits and Employer-specific work permits. Nigerians are eligible for either if they meet the criteria.

Employer-specific work permits is where it gets messy. These permits are issued under 2 programs:
Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and International Mobility Program (IMP).

For TFWP, your employer must raise a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) before you can be given the work permit. Basically, your employer must prove that no Canadian or permanent resident is available to take the job

(see here).

So basically for employer-specific, the agent must guarantee you a job with a LMIA.

@joo2018:

You have said it all. The part in bold above about raising a LMIA and availability/willingness of Citizen or PR to do the job is the key for Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).

czaratwork:
Moreover is it not here we learnt Nigerians are not qualified for work permit? Anyone that raises work permit issue here is always told that he is about to be defrauded or has it changed now? The much i know is that Nigerians are only qualified for work permit after graduating from school here.

@czaratwork:

I believe @joo2018 post and my comments above clarify your comment. The jobs Nigerians get work permit for are typically culturally inclined where it is easy to prove that no citizen or PR is available or willing to do the job. For these type of jobs, there is no reason to use an agent to get work permit through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). For this reason, they are told they are about to be defrauded if they are using agents and this is true.

rainazoe:
I believe for this to happen you have to be in CA already and have shown your skill on the drums before the church can even get round to sponsorship talks.

@rainazoe:

No, you do not have to be in Canada already before you can be sponsored as a Nigerian through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).

KINGTELLER:
Oh thanks, I saw that on their website what actually got me confused was child benefit was calculated for PR factual residency who lives outside Canada could that have implied they also consider it if dependant is not residing in CA, at the moment?

@kingteller:

As you have been told, since the child is not living with you here in Canada, you are not eligible for any child benefit be it federal, provincial or city. If you are still in doubt, the best and correct thing for you to do is to contact the relevant government agency (federal, provincial or city) paying you the benefits and honestly explain your situation to them without hiding any facts. They will let you know if you are eligible or not.

If you are considered not to be eligible, be ready to pay back every benefits you have been paid since when you become ineligible. Do not let the fact that you may have to pay back stop you from calling the relevant agency to seek clarification. Based on the fact you provided here, if you call and you are considered not to be eligible your action will be considered as an unintentional error that carry only the penalty of paying back what you have been paid with interest. This is called Voluntary Disclosures. Though, the article lays emphasis on correcting unintentional errors on tax filing but it applies in your situation because for you to be paid those benefits you must have indicated on your tax return that the kids are living with you when they are not. You can read more about it here:

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/programs/about-canada-revenue-agency-cra/voluntary-disclosures-program-overview.html

On a final note, considering the fact that in Canada you will always be dealing with the government one way or the other there is high chance that they will eventually find out if you are not eligible and at that time they will come after you for a refund, interest charge on top of what you have been paid and potentially be prosecuted. This may even be 3, 4, 5...... years down the road.

Godbpraised:
It should not, and i would explain with my own personal experience. when i came to Canada, Nigerians i meet in Canada were telling me i can not get a professional job, that the job i will get is support worker, no Nigerian spoke positivity to my life. No body told me i could go to school and upgrade myself more. all they keep telling me is that i should pick 3 care jobs, i will make more money at the expense of my career oh . can you imagine ? And meanwhile some of these guys are not doing the care job. Honestly their is nothing wrong doing the health support work or care job, but why should people project much negativity into my life. with the level of professionalism i have back home from Nigeria. Their also many things i can not tell you here, so many negative experience and wrong advise from Nigerians. It is sad, i have avoided everything Nigeria since i came to Canada, from church to meetings or parties. I told myself if i want to make progress i must think like oyinbo and talk like oyinbo, i would not be able to achieve that if i stay with people with so much negativity and jealousy. Again you can understand my stand point here.

Regarding the part in bold above, I always tell new immigrants that a vital part of how successful you will eventually be in Canada is the people (Nigerians or other nationalities) that you associate yourself with when you newly arrive. If you associate yourself with or seek advice from the people who are stuck in non-professional job that is when you get the kind of advice that you can never get professional job here in Canada.

As you will see from a lot the comments from this thread and other threads here on Nairaland, you will agree with me that not only can you get professional job but you can also eventually attain mid level and senior level management positions in your career with reputable companies (I have spoken about this in the past). Many of us here are testimony to this.

Finally, there are bad and good people among every nationality or race, and Nigerians are no exception. You only need to choose your friends carefully irrespective of nationality or race.

maternal:
This guy, I intentionally didn't go into detail because I know he isn't taking me seriously. His SIN number is his DNA and you use it for almost everything here. He doesn't know from the moment he got his visa in Africa, the day he landed in Canada, till today, everything is recorded in this country. His ROE (record of employment), change of healthcard, change of drivers license, etc, in the new province, will further prove he has violated his PNP conditions along with the other things you said. The jamo guy in the article thought he was smart like this ewu. Probably thought this government was foolish like his wat gwaan bombaclot jamaican government back home. See how he started to cry when he originally got an order of deportation. He thought about waking up beside those chickens as well.


NEVER mess with the government here. NEVER. Anyone who lives here knows it. I fear God then the federal government. Only 2 things in life that scares me. Lastly i know a Ghana girl who was on EI (employment insurance) while being unemployed. The conditions was you must stay in Canada the whole time looking for a job. She went to Ghana to party. When she returned to Canada her benefits was cut off. She was asked to repay back the money paid to her along with a 20k fine or so with interests. If she failed to comply the government was going to charge her with fraud and prosecute her. An arrest warrant would have occurred after her unsuccessful appeal. Shes paying back that fine till today. And she's illegible for EI ever again.

Well said. Especially the part in bold.

I noticed that there is part 2 of this same thread already started when this current thread is still opened. The part 2 is here:

https://www.nairaland.com/4933819/living-canada-life-canadian-immigrant

I will suggest that we keep only one thread opened at a time to avoid confusion.

umazigy:
[color=#550000][/color]

Compliments of the season great people!!! Please how many people in Calgary,Alberta are interested in the Six Sigma course? @SixSigma1 has magnanimously offered to impart this knowledge FREE OF CHARGE. Now is the time to position yourself for greatness into the new year. Three (3) more people will complete the January 2019 free session class. I believe this is valuable knowledge. Please contact him @SixSigma1 if you’re interested. May 2019 bring good tidings to all of us.

Good job with this announcement @umazigy. I have replied the message you sent to me.

Ibadanboy2015:
Good morning all,

Please I am in a dilemma .

I am a guy who immigrated to Canada through Manitoba PNP route; My sister who's a PR in Manitoba actually sponsored me .

After spending a year there , I got a decent job in Nova Scotia and I left for it . I am currently working in Nova Scotia now.

My worry now is that this is going to affect her sponsoring other family members of ours .

I don't want to lose this Job and I don't wanna block other members of the family who want to come to Manitoba through PNP.

This has really given me sleepless nights and unhappy moments. I am sad .

Please elders, what can I do ? What is the way out ?

Thank You.

Hayor2014 Glitteringstar2 oohunt smslive2 Jasmine17

@Ibadanboy2015

Just like many people have told you already, to avoid losing even your own permanent residency status in Canada you have to move back to the province of Manitoba which was the province that nominated you with certain conditions that must be met (one of which is staying in that province for a specific duration of time).

In fact, not only do you have to move back, you actually have to move back right away because the more you delay it the more it becomes difficult for you to clear yourself when (not if) they eventually know and come after you (like the Jamaican guy in the news recently). The issue here is not if they will find out that you moved out but when they will find out. I can tell you with high degree of certainty that they will find out after you file your 2018 tax by April of 2019 (they just may not come after you). Even if you do not file your tax (because you do not have to file if you are not owing or do not meet some other conditions available on CRA website), your employer will still send T4 to CRA that shows Nova Scotia as your province of employment.

While there is nothing wrong from tax perspective in working in one province and living in another, don't think of using that to justify or claim to the government of Manitoba that you have been living in Manitoba while working in Nova Scotia because as you and I know this is not feasible considering how far these provinces are apart.

By the way, apart from knowing through tax filing, there are others ways available for them to know. Tax filing is just one way for them to know. They may even already know by now but decided not to come after you yet. All in all, the little time you need to live in Manitoba without a decent job is not worth the risk of losing your PR in my view.

aworldcitizen:
Anyone travelling on Ethiopian for Thursday? We Are light travellers and have unused luggage allowance. (4 check-in bags).

Incase anyone wants to use it.

I know that you just trying to help in your own way but I do not think this is a good idea. The reason for this is that for the airline to accept the luggage it will be checked in under your name and you will be responsible for the contents of the luggage. I am not sure you want to be responsible for luggage that you did not pack by yourself or not packed by someone you know and trust.

If however, the airline will agree to check in the luggage under the name of the person you are trying to help (I doubt this but nothing is impossible in Nigeria), you may go ahead. Otherwise, please do not do it.

This is just my one kobo advice for what it is worth. The decision is ultimately yours to take.

SixSigma1:
My plan is to conduct one session every month depending on the number of interested people and meeting room availability in any of the libraries in Calgary.

It looks like we now have three people (@linuslynx, @dfanz and @chuka01) that are interested in the Six Sigma crash course already. Since linuslynx will not be landing until December, we can schedule the first session for after @linuslynx lands in Calgary in December. However, if there is more interest before December, I will schedule the first session before December (in October or November) as long as we can get a meeting room at the library. So, the actual session dates each month will be determined by meeting room availability each month.

Watch out for more detail on here!

The first session of this training has been scheduled for Saturday November 3. There are already about 15 people attending this session.

@dfanz and @chuka01: Since both of you showed interest; I am giving you the remaining two slots for this November session. So, contact me to get the detail of time and location of the session.

@linuslynx: You mentioned that you are not landing until December; I will keep you posted of December and January sessions so that you can participate.

linuslynx:
This is quite selfless and I commend you. I would really love to be part of this but not landing till sometime in December. I hope we can work out something by then.

dfanz:
Hi,

I am interested in this. Thank you for volunteering your time. When are we meeting up?

chuka01:
Interested, please how and where can I join

My plan is to conduct one session every month depending on the number of interested people and meeting room availability in any of the libraries in Calgary.

It looks like we now have three people (@linuslynx, @dfanz and @chuka01) that are interested in the Six Sigma crash course already. Since linuslynx will not be landing until December, we can schedule the first session for after @linuslynx lands in Calgary in December. However, if there is more interest before December, I will schedule the first session before December (in October or November) as long as we can get a meeting room at the library. So, the actual session dates each month will be determined by meeting room availability each month.

Watch out for more detail on here!

vascey:
Are you available for mentoring?

With @vascey asking about mentoring, it got me thinking about how I can contribute to the success of my fellow citizens who are already in Calgary and surrounding areas (Airdrie, Chestermere etc) in their Canadian dream . In view of this and despite my very busy schedule, I have decided to offer crash course in Lean Six Sigma Black Belt FREE OF CHARGE for Nairalanders in Calgary and surrounding areas. The course will take place on a Saturday and it will take 4 hours. You will learn the basic Lean Six Sigma tools and the basics of Lean Six Sigma to enable you decide if it is something you want to do to boost your existing career or to jump start your career in Canada.

In order for me to do this and for it to be worth my time and effort there has to be minimum of 3 people interested in taking the course. When we get the required minimum number of people we can use one of the libraries in Calgary as the venue of the course. I know that some libraries in Calgary have meeting rooms that they give out free of charge for this type of community support activity. So, we can take advantage of that.

If we have more interest than the meeting room can take, I am willing to have multiple sessions to accommodate all interested Nairalanders. If you are not in Calgary but willing to come to Calgary for the session you are also welcome to attend.

The only two things I am asking for in return for this free course are:
1. For you to also help other people succeed free of charge in any capacity you may have. Let the circle of help continue.
2. Not to take the offer for granted by coming late to or being absent at the sessions scheduled date just because you are getting it for free. Please be mindful of my time.

Finally, if you are interested, make your interest known by posting here on the general platform.

vascey:
SixSigma1, thanks for the enlightening post.
I am actually looking forward to switching careers and this looks great.
Though I am still in Naija, how do I position myself from here. In other words, what can I start doing now to put me in a better position for opportunities such as the one at Maple Leaf.
Are you available for mentoring?

I am honestly not familiar with the resources available to you in Nigeria in terms of training and certification. However, my suggestion is that if you find management consulting firm in Nigeria that offer the training go ahead and take the training in preparation for your Canada dream. When you arrive in Canada you can then focus on getting certified through ASQ. When it comes to ASQ certification when you got your training from is irrelevant as long as you meet their certification requirement.

As for mentorship, if it is just about asking question and looking for direction (the way it is done on this platform) I am open to helping you as much as I could but if it is about mentorship as we define it in the Six Sigma world (i.e. acting as your coach as explained in those Maple Leaf Foods video) I really do not have the time for that type of mentorship.

Saintp:
@SixSigma1
I must say this is very comprehensive, thank you very much. I see the certification has a project component , where and how will this project be done? Is it for people who are already working in an organization?
Thanks

Yes, the certification has a project component. The project has to be work related and deliver hard savings (financial results) to the organization you work for. This means that you have to be employed to be able to meet the project requirement for your certification. The size of the company you work for or the nature of their business do not matter as long as the project provide solution to a problem in the organization. In fact, it could be a one man business type of work. Also, the company does not need to have a Six Sigma program in place as long as they will allow you to apply Six Sigma approach to solving the problem that they have. In my experience, no company will be against that as long as using Six Sigma enables you to solve the problems cheaper, faster and at high quality level than any other approach the would have used otherwise.

If you are in Canada already and not employed yet, my recommendation is that you go ahead to complete the training part for now (if you can afford it) while you continue to look for work. With the training only, you can include in your resume that you are Six Sigma Black Belt trained. If you are invited for an interview, telling your prospective employer that you are Six Sigma Black Belt trained and letting them know that your goal is to use the skills you already acquired help solve their business problems can open the doors for you.

awys:
Thank you só much boss! Í must confess this is very detailed And informative . God bless you sir.please í sent you a PM. Will like to ask some questions privately on this. Thank you so much.

I have replied to your PM. Having said that, whenever possible (when questions are not private) it is better to ask them here on the open platform so that others can benefit from various responses. I do understand that you mentioned that your question is private.

joo2018:
Great post.
Referencing your moniker, what are the job prospects for six sigma certification.

sect:
Is it useful to non-Engineers? Especially one with general administration experience.

It looks like becoming a Six Sigma professional is catching the interest of some people here and also because I strongly belief that becoming a Six Sigma professional is something that can help:

1. New immigrants without Canadian experience establish themselves here in Canada with less emphasis on Canadian experience;
2. Senior immigrants boost their career to the next level;

I will give some education below about how to how to become sought after Six Sigma professional in Canada.

To start with, there are 5 or 6 levels of Six Sigma professionals (depending on who you talk to). For me personally, the levels are White Belt, Yellow Belt, Green Belt, Black Belt and Master Black Belt in that order (5 levels). However, for the purpose of my write up, I will be focusing only on the Black Belt level for the following reasons:

1. The levels (White, Yellow and Green) below Black Belt are really not valued by employers because at that level you still depend on a Black Belt or a Master Black Belt for coaching and guidance in order for you to be able to add value to your employer.
2. You do not need to start your Six Sigma journey from the lowest level to become a Black Belt. You can start at the Black Belt level
3. Master Black Belt (higher than Black Belt) is useful only if you plan to become a specialist/guru in the field of Six Sigma rather than using it as a tool to boost your current career.

Now that we have gotten that out of the way, how do you become a Six Sigma Black Belt professional? There are two steps to becoming a Six Sigma Black Belt professional:

1. The first step is for you to get Six Sigma Black Belt training.
2. The second step is to complete certain number of Six Sigma Black Belt projects (typically 3 to 5 projects) that will be used for your certification.

Note that the certificate you receive after completing your training is only training completion certificate and not certification certificate. You can only get certification certificate after completing the required number of projects your certifying body expects you to complete. After the completion of your Six Sigma Black Belt training you can only claim to be Six Sigma Black Belt trained (you can not claim to be Six Sigma Black Belt certified). You can only claim to be Six Sigma Black Belt certified after you have completed the required number of projects and get certified by a qualified certifying body.

Now, how & where do you get trained and also where & how do you get certified in Canada?

The following are the possible ways to get trained and certified in CANADA. Some of them will get you trained and certified while some will only get you trained and not certified:

1. The first way is through Canadian employers that have their own in house Six Sigma program. The company will both train and certify you. This type of company will hire graduate of any discipline without prior Six Sigma Black Belt training or experience but with minimum of 5 years work experience in their current profession. They will put them through their internal training program, provide them with necessary coaching and mentoring by already certified internal or consultant Black Belts and Master Black Belts to get them certified. One of the companies I know that have this type of program is Maple Leaf Foods. In fact I just checked their website now and they have the following Six Sigma Black Belt positions available at the moment at different locations:

https://www.mapleleafcareers.com/post/11323895
https://www.mapleleafcareers.com/post/11323883
https://www.mapleleafcareers.com/post/11222534

You can also read about their Six Sigma program here: https://www.mapleleaffoods.com/career_path/six-sigma/

Note that there are also other companies that do as Maple Leaf foods but I know about Maple Leaf Foods because I have hired many Black Belts from that company after they became certified because in my view they have the best internal Six Sigma program in Canada.

2. The second way is getting training from a University or College. One of the good (if not the best) university Six Sigma program in Canada is through York University Schulich School of Business in Toronto. The university or college will only train you and give you training certificate. They will not certify you. Here is the link for York University Schulich School of Business Six Sigma program:

http://seec.schulich.yorku.ca/program/masters-certificate-in-lean-six-sigma-black-belt/

Note that some other universities and colleges in almost all the provinces in Canada also offer similar program. You need to find out by yourself.

3. The third way is getting training from some big name management consulting firms. Some of these firms offer training only without certification while some offer both training and certification. The firm I typically recommend is BMGI:

https://www.bmgi.com/za/training/lean-six-sigma-black-belt

4. The fourth one I will like to mention is ASQ. ASQ also provide training and certification. They can also provide certification only if you are already trained by somebody else. So, if you take your training through a university/college or through a consulting firm that do not offer certification, your best way of getting certified is through ASQ:

ASQ Training: https://asq.org/training/lean-six-sigma-black-belt-training-ssb

ASQ Certification: https://asq.org/cert/six-sigma-black-belt

5. Finally, online training and certification by some faceless organizations. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS. SO, PLEASE RUN AWAY FROM IT.

Out of all the options I listed above, my recommendations are in the following order:

1. The first the one I strongly recommend is the internal training and certification through an employer (the first one) for the following reasons:
I) You have internal Black Belt and Master Black Belt available to you for coaching and mentoring.
II) You will only get certified after actually proving your skills and delivering results to the company. Your result could be easily verified by already certified internal professional unlike ASQ or other external certification where they only need your manager to testify that you did a project. If your manager is not a Six Sigma professional they will sign off on what they know nothing about.
III) Internal training and certification is free of cost for you. In fact, you are getting paid salary while being trained (just like you are doing an MBA). The following statement is from Glassdoor regarding Six Sigma Black Belt salary at Maple Leaf Foods:

https://www.glassdoor.ca/Salary/Maple-Leaf-Foods-Salaries-E7047.htm

“The typical Maple Leaf Foods Six Sigma Black Belt salary is $99,141. Six Sigma Black Belt salaries at Maple Leaf Foods can range from $86,615 - $129,406. This estimate is based upon 11 Maple Leaf Foods Six Sigma Black Belt salary report(s) provided by employees or estimated based upon statistical methods.”

2. Second: University/College training plus ASQ certification
3. Third: ASQ training plus ASQ certification
4. Fourth: Management Consulting Firms training plus ASQ certification
5. Last: Management Consulting Firms training plus their certification

sect:
Is it useful to non-Engineers? Especially one with general administration experience.

Lean Six Sigma or just Six Sigma is useful as a career booster not only for engineers but also for all types of profession. Whatever your profession is Lean Six Sigma can help you boost it further.

einsteino:
Wow! You all are so kind. I wouldnt have minded paying to get this info, but here you guys are, sacrificing your precious time to offer it on a platter of gold for free. I cant be thankful enough for the indepth analysis on this topic you all have provided me with. Thanks so much Salford1, Maternal and SixSigma1

joo2018:
Thanks for the reply.

@einsteino and @joo2018: You are both welcome. Glad to provide the information.

salford:
But then again, my example was for a government firm, and OT/bonuses for non-unionized tech staff are rare. The tax payers are always watching everymove we make.

I totally understand that you are referring to government work in your post. I only tried to chip in with what is applicable in the private sector so that people can see the whole picture.

salford:
"Total" pay doesnt are not always higher for workers in the same company or industry based on level of education. Some process operators popularly called power engineering technologists made over $200k, and this is around how much they make every year. These are guys with a diploma and around 5 years of work experience. This is more than their director's wage which is around $190k. The director might never cross the $200k mark till he retires. Non of our directors are also less than 50 years of age.

Again, this is only possible with government work and I totally understand why (tax payer's money). Trust me, in all the three industries I have worked in and currently working in (private organizations), the base salary alone (not including bonuses, stocks etc) at Senior Manager / Director level is way more than these number. When you now add bonus, stock, stock option etc you are talking about armed robber take home.

salford:
However; a few of my colleagues have moved on to private firms for bonuses/stock options. They chose money over job security. A friend just moved on to Eaton last month for that reason..

Gbam! There you go. The money is probably more important to them now at this point in their life / career than the job security that government work surely offers. I would do the same thing.

joo2018:
Great post.
Referencing your moniker, what are the job prospects for six sigma certification.
Thinking of doing IASSC Lean Six Sigma certification. Background is Engineering. Work experience is in manufacturing.

The job prospect for an Engineer with Lean Six Sigma certification at the minimum Black Belt level was excellent about 10-15 years ago when I ventured into it. While currently, the prospect may not be excellent but it is still VERY GOOD and I would advice you to consider it as an Engineer. Infact, that certification was what paved the way for me into management roles. My first two posts on this Nairaland platform in 2006 was about Lean Six Sigma. See the posts here:

https://www.nairaland.com/10173/six-sigma-black-belt-career#279217

einsteino:
why do these Technologist earn so much more than Engineers? Is it that their job exposes them to risk or is more laborious? do private firms pay them as high as this too? I wouldn't mind switching from an Engineer career to a Technologist for this o. I also noticed that on payscale.com, It is claimed that Engineer's salary is higher than Technologist's, could it be Technologist earn certain extra allowances and bonuses that makes their total income higher than that of an Engineer? I really don't mind switching from an Engineer to technologist or anything else if the money is right.

Also, as per unskilled blue collar labour, what did you need to get in? Thanks

einsteino:
Thanks so much for the reply. I would like to ask:

5. Since Engineering management roles don't mean more money, why do people care to take on more responsibility? do they do it just for the passion? or does it offer a better work-life balance?

I had hoped to continue in consulting engineering, but I am beginning to think what is the point? it is a life of stress, mandatory continuous professional devt and now less money.

einsteino:
just surprised? I would say I am stupefied

I really would like to know all the details of that "different means". My interest is to go where the money is, or at least where the pay is commensurate to the stress and challenge. Title and status is not my turf. I wasn't born an Engineer, I chose to be, so I can as well choose to redeploy my skill set and energy to an alternative career, even retrain, if it turns out to be more rewarding.

einsteino:
Thank you so much for this. I'm at a crossroad now. I am scheduled to begin an M.Eng in Civil Engineering program(co-op option), needed that to help with the Canadian education and Canadian experience. After this, I was hoping to get an E.I.T position but since I can earn more in an alternate career, I am really beginning to reconsider.

@ einsteino:

Before you go ahead to change your career plan, let me chip in from my personal experience as a Professional Engineer in individual contributor roles and as an Engineer in management roles in the private sector (either publicly traded or not publicly traded but not one man show type of company).

To start with, whether you are an Engineer, a Technologist, a Technician or a Trade person, your salary/wage depends on the industry you work in. Meaning that you should be comparing take home for an Engineer say in the steel manufacturing industry with the take home for Technologist, Technician or Trade person in the same steel manufacturing industry and not with Technologist, Technician of Trade person in another industry (like oil & gas because we know that oil & gas pays more in general than many other industries). Note that I am using the word “take home” instead of salary/wage. There is a reason for that and you will know why later in my write up.

No doubt the technologist, technician and trade person make a lot of money that many of us coming from Nigeria will not understand how and why but if you do the correct comparison as I explained above and also from my personal experience (working in automobile manufacturing industry, steel manufacturing industry and presently in oil & gas industry) you will realize that Engineers in a specific industry make more money than Technologist, Technician or Trade person in that same industry. This is why as you mentioned above payscale.com claims that Engineers make more than Technologist. Now here are the facts to support my point:

First, in my personal experience as an Engineer (individual contributor) in both automobile manufacturing industry and steel manufacturing industry (both in Ontario), if we were expected to work over-time (i.e. working more than 8 hours on a work day or working on Saturday, Sunday or statutory holiday), we get paid overtime as well. The amount ranges from one and half to double our calculated hourly rate. Yes, we are salaried employee but our salary is based on a 40 hour work week or 2080 hours in a year. So, the base hourly rate is calculated by dividing our annual salary by 2080 hours. While the overtime pay is being factored into the take home pay being reported here for the technologist, technician etc I don’t see it being factored in for the engineers that are also being paid overtime (in the private sector at least). Hence it is coming up as if they are making more than Engineers. Another aspect of Engineers take home pay that the technologist, technician etc are not paid in many private companies (because these people are most of the time unionized) is performance bonus and also being given stock option (for publicly traded private company) or profit sharing (for not publicly traded private company). In some years, your bonus could be as high as your annual salary (and it could be as low as nothing in some years especially during recession). So, as an Engineer, if you add your base salary, your overtime pay (if you are required to work overtime), your bonus (which I have always been paid least 4 different years in every 5 year period for example) and stock option (or profit sharing) you are looking at a take home that is more than what a technologist, technician or trade (with the same number of years of experience as you) will be taking home.

Now to my personal experience in management roles in the steel manufacturing industry (Ontario) and presently in the oil and gas industry (Alberta), all I can say is that if you have the opportunity to be hired or promoted into management role and your goal is to make money please take it. For most people (maybe not everybody) money is a key motivating factor that made us strive to get into management. Yes, in management role you work more than 40 hours in a week most of the time which you do not get paid for. The part of your work that will mainly make you work over 40 hours a week are mainly attending one management meeting or the other, writing one report or the other etc. However, while you don’t get paid for overtime you get the following: Performance bonus (which could be as high as double your base salary or as low as nothing), stock option, actual stock (this is different from stock option), profit sharing (if it is not a publicly traded private company). When it comes to your take home in management role especially in the middle level management role (Senior Manager/Director and Vice President) or senior level management role (Senior Vice President and C-Level), all I can say is that when you get into management you will never go back (similar to the saying that when you go black you will never go back). Even in the starting level management role (Supervisors and Managers), you will never regret being there.

@ einsteino: Take all of the above into consideration before your career plan.

Beautyaddy:
People also need to be aware that even Countries like Canada or UK that don't need to apply for a US visa to visit the US needs to apply for the ESTA in order to be granted entry into the US.


If the granted ESTA holder overstays his/her presence beyond 6 months in the US they will be required from then forward to apply for a US visa at the US embassy...and might be denied.

While British Citizens and other countries that are part of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) require ESTA to enter the US, citizens of Canada and that of Bermuda are NOT part of VWP and are not required to obtain Visa or ESTA to enter the US as tourist of for business for up to 6 months.

The only documents these two counties need is their passport.

See these links for more:

Visa Waiver Program: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/tourism-visit/visa-waiver-program.html

Canada and Bermuda Citizens: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/tourism-visit/citizens-of-canada-and-bermuda.html

Mizwisdom:
Nigerians are running to Canada while Canadians are leaving their country

Let us try to properly understand the article before concluding that Canadians are also running away from Canada. A couple of points to take note of from the article are that:

1. Visa overstay is not the same as becoming an unauthorized immigrant. If you overstay your visa by even one day you will be counted as part of visa overstay but not yet an unauthorized immigrant. The article also mentioned that “While Canada is the biggest culprit when it comes to visa overstays, the Center for Migration Studies estimates that Canadians accounted for just 0.4 per cent of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2015, while Mexicans made up more than half of the unauthorized population.”

2. One major reason for Canadian overstaying their visas in the US is due to the fact that Canadian typically do not require visas to visit the US for tourism or business for up to six months and as a result some Canadians end up staying in the U.S. longer than the standard six-month limit for tourists because they don’t realize they’re breaking the law.

The following part of the articles says it all:

“While Canada is the biggest culprit when it comes to visa overstays, the Center for Migration Studies estimates that Canadians accounted for just 0.4 per cent of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2015, while Mexicans made up more than half of the unauthorized population.

Chang said some Canadians end up staying in the U.S. longer than the standard six-month limit for tourists because they don’t realize they’re breaking the law. He mentioned one client of his who married a U.S. citizen and spent three years in the U.S. as a visitor. “I told her she’d been illegal for three years, and she was shocked,” he said. “They seem to think that they’re kind of the 51st state and the laws don’t apply to them.”