Vacation entitlement in Canada

betsy1963 · Nov 5, 2004

Hi,
I'm a British nurse trying to emigrate to Canada (?BC) however I have heard conflicting reports about the amount of vacation you get. I'm going to be a father soon and want to be able to visit family back in the UK. My mother will never speak to me again if I disapear off to Canada and never have chance to bring the grandkids back to see her!
Here in the UK I get 5 weeks leave + 8 days to make up for public holiday/'stats'
What do you get in Canada?
If it is only 4 weeks can you take unpaid leave in addition?
Any tips for how to stay sane with only 4 weeks holiday a year!!!!
jan.

There is no across the board entitlement to vacation in Canada that I know of. This is something that is negotiated in contract. Some places you start out with only 2 weeks, but 3 seems to be the norm. A lot of places would also have 10 or 11 stat (holiday days). Other places will let you take overtime in time off rather than money. It is up to individual places on whether they allow unpaid leave or not.Another thing to remember is that with 12 hour shifts you don't always use alot of time to have a week off. It might be 24 hours used to get a week off.

OCCHCanada · Nov 5, 2004

I also recall that when UK refers to "5 weeks vacation", 5 weeks means 35 paid days off.

In Canada, 5 weeks mean 25 days off (a week means 5 working days, not 7 week days).

So if you start with an employer, and you get 3 weeks vacation, that only 15 work days, not 21 :crying2:

fergus51 · Nov 6, 2004

Will you be working a union job? If so, BCNU's contract will determine your holidays. http://www.bcnu.org I think

britnurse600 · Nov 11, 2004

Thanks for the info.

It's a little imposing thinking of going to Canada and not knowing what the situation will be like. I see that there are postings about Canadians having difficulty finding full time jobs - here in the UK there are permanent posts everywhere virtually nowhere has full-staffing, lots of agency/bank. What's the situation like where you work?

jan.

fergus51 · Nov 11, 2004

It really depends on where you are going and what specialty you work in Jan. In Vancouver, you shouldn't have ANY trouble getting enough work, same goes for a lot of northern places like Prince George. Some places in the interior (Kelowna, Kamloops, etc) can be a little harder to find full time positions right away. Have you looked at healthmatch's website? http://www.healthmatchbc.org . I am from BC and miss it terribly, but the work situation isn't good enough for me right now so I am living in the US and thinking about the UK in a few years.

If you want info on a particular area, be sure to post. There are often members of this bb who have lived or worked there and can provide you with the insider scoop. I got a lot of great info when I moved to California after posting about specific hospitals.

Morning-glory · Nov 26, 2004

I work as an agency RN in Ontario. I get to make my own schedule. Vacation pay is about 4% of my salary. (2 weeks). But I have control over when I work.

I also teach in the clinical setting, so I do take 3 weeks off to do that, and come back to my agency job, I can still take time off to have a vacation, or just down time, without having to explain anything to anyone. If you are looking for flexibility, agency is the way to go. If you are looking for stability, you want to find something more permanant. Lots of jobs in Ontario, and if you are coming from abroad, employers may make you an offer of full-time employment.

It will be a difficult transition either way. Let us know if we can help.

alli · Dec 6, 2004

I am a from Quebec. For fulltime employees you get 4 weeks vacation plus about 13 stats (for all the holidays). It's not that bad