Schooling in Metro Vancouver

After reading the guest blog entry "Secrets to Success (Part 1)" on ASingaporeanSon's blog, I guess maybe I should share my replies to reader NGS on my other blog entry "Boyfriend-brand dinner" and add a couple more comments. [And I'll litter the blog entry with some school-related photos at random.]

NGS was asking about where to stay in Vancouver, presumably with regards to his/her children's education. See his/her comments dated Thursday, November 14, 2013 9:20:00 PM: 

Hi, thanks for your comments. Actually I was referring more to Vancouver, which we intend to settle now.

A bit of myself, I have two young children, Primary 5 and Sec 1, and 3 teenagers ( two of them will be serving NS, and one of them will be following with the mum to settle in the year 2014.Thanks

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[My reply on Monday, November 18, 2013 6:16:00 PM was as follow.]

Hi NGS,

I do not have any children and thus I have not done any research on education for the young. Here's some info and/or opinions that I've gathered from some locals and immigrants. Disclaimer: Take the info/opinions at your own risk.

For public schools, you will need to reside (i.e. official residential address) within the "catchment area" to enrol your child in a specific school. The school districts, covering each city, in Metro Vancouver, include (not full-list here):

1. Vancouver School Board

http://www.vsb.bc.ca/schools

2. North Vancouver School District

http://www.nvsd44.bc.ca/Pages/default.aspx

3. West Vancouver School District

http://www.sd45.bc.ca/

4. Burnaby School District

http://www.sd41.bc.ca/

5. Richmond School District

http://www.sd38.bc.ca/

6. New Westminster School District

http://district.sd40.bc.ca/

For a full list of B.C. school districts, check Guru Wikipedia and ask Professor Google for details.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school_districts_in_British_Columbia

If you're looking for private schools, then it is an entirely different ball-game. Please ask Professor Google about it.

Generally, DTES (downtown East Side of Vancouver) is a poor-men's area, so poverty-related issues do creep up in schools too. West Vancouver is dominated by wealthy households. North Vancouver and Vancouver-west (i.e. Vancouver, west-side of Main street) has a more-even cross-section of the social demographics.

The folks whom I spoke to generally like bringing up their children in North Vancouver or Vancouver, west. That's all the opinions I've gathered.

Once again: Take the above info/opinions at your own risk.

Cheers, WD.

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Yesterday when we were helping our friends (a PRC couple) move to their new home in Burnaby, the wife mentioned that they chose their home's location because it is within the catchment area of a good or highly-ranked school. That's when I heard about school rankings in Metro Vancouver. [Click here and here for more information.] Do note that the rankings are done by Fraser Institute, a research institution whose "research" invariably carries "right-wing" conclusions, so take the rankings at your own risk.

[Nov-2013: Kindergarten registration opens Nov-Jan]

One elderly Singaporean couple whom I spoke to told me that they were not too concerned about which school their children when to when they immigrated decades ago. In fact, they just enrolled their children in the public schools nearby as they were confident of the quality of education in B.C., Canada. Both their children are now adults holding professional/executive jobs. The caveat: They lived in North Vancouver. [See my reply to NGS above about North Vancouver.]

[Sep-2013 Classroom covenant at a private Christian school]

There are also private schools that market themselves to specific niche. E.g. Schools with a strong Christian emphasis. E.g. School with a specific education methodology -- say Montessori. One of my East Asian classmates believes in the value-add of a private education, despite its much more costly academic fees. She came from an East Asian society that is highly conscious of social class and, as a couple, both she and her husband were from the upper-middle class. Those who send their children to private schools should be prepared for endless rounds of donation drives and parent-volunteer activities.

[Nov-2013: Part of a public school compound]

Personally, here's what I have observed amongst the youths at my previous part-time retail job as they discussed about the differences between their school experience. [Note: This is a very small sample size, so please take my comments at your own risk.] Those from private schools were given the mobile phone numbers of their teachers and encouraged to speak to their teachers if they had any issues. At work, IMHO, the private school students/grads tended to "expect to be served" (e.g. "you have to train me for the job"), "treated with respect" and were more willing/confident to speak with (and/or take an issue up with) authority figures (e.g. managers). Those who went to "public schools" (mostly Vancouver, East side) were more likely to be treated as "just another student on the education assembly line" at school. At work, IMHO, they were more ready to adjust to their roles of being "cogs" of the retail chain (i.e. "just shut-up and follow the chain of command, and plot revenge later") and seemed better at the street-smarts of managing inter-personal politics at work.

[Mar-2013 Urban farm program in selected Vancouver public secondary/middle schools]

Some of the Canadians whom I spoke to preferred to put their children into the "French-immersion" public school system. One theory is that private schooling is beyond the average-family's affordability; parents who chose to put their children into French immersion obviously read and found out about the additional steps needed to apply for this "special" stream; and thus they (the parents) are likely to be more interested in their children's education; and thereby more likely to raise their children in "educationally-supportive" home environment which in-turns leads to their children mixing with others from such similar background.

[Nov-2013: Stream of Dreams mural that frequently adorn the fence of public schools]

[Nov-2013: A distant view of a Stream of Dreams mural that frequently adorn the fence of public schools]

I have also come across children who are home-schooled. These generally fall into 2 groups. E.g. Parents who think that "schooling is a form of brainwashing" and refuse to submit their children to be "stripped of their independent minds". The other group is wealthy and/or have "gifted" children; and the parents believe in developing their children's knowledge/skills as fast as they (the children) can learn/absorb.

Since I am not a parent myself, I do not hold entrenched views one way or the other. I think each parent will have to decide on what he/she thinks is in the best interest of his/her child/children. That said, don't be surprised if/when the child grows up and voice issues/disagreement with the parents' choice. There are no guarantees -- individuals can react differently to the same stimuli.

Migrating via Student Visa - Part 3

DECLARATION and DISCLAIMER: The following is my personal opinion. I am not any way qualified to give education and/or migration advice to anyone, and thus any content from me shall be construed as a sharing of personal opinion, not advice. I do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information provided by me. Under no circumstances will I or anyone related to this content be responsible for any loss or damage resulting from any reliance on the information or other content posted or linked by me.

This post will cover some odds-and-ends relevant to the issue of migrating via Student Visa. See links to previous posts on this series at the footnotes.

1. Popular sources of information on Canadian university rankings

Those interested in pursuing education in Canadian universities can check out the various popular sources of information on Canadian university rankings.

The Maclean's university ranking website is a well-known and popular source of information for Canadian high-school students heading to universities here. However, its university ranking is not without controversy. That said, it also publishes university rankings done by others, seen from a Canadian perspective. Thus, it is a useful website to read consolidated information related to Canadian universities. E.g. The 2013 Shanghai Jiao Tong University ［上海交通大学］ (China) annual Academic Ranking of World Universities is reported by Maclean's here.

[15-Aug-2013 Maclean's report of SJTU's Annual Ranking of World Universities]

The Globe and Mail (a well-established newspaper in Canada that was ever unsuccessfully sued by one old-man in a little red dot) reports on Education in Canada. E.g. 23-Oct-2012 Canadian University Report 2013: Student satisfaction survey results.

Of course, one can hardly forget the world-famous Time's World University Rankings.

2. Consider the option to transfer university

My understanding from speaking with the locals is that the 1st year of undergraduate studies here is usually a broad-based education (i.e. course credits from various fields). In order to sign up for these courses from such a wide variety of fields, it is not uncommon that one ends up having to do extra courses/certifications prior to entering the university in order to meet the course pre-requisites.

I have met students from China who do some preparatory courses (e.g. 1 year of studies) at, e.g. SFU, in order to gain admission to undergraduate courses in their target universities.

• For a guide on your transfer options in B.C., Canada, check out www.bctransferguide.ca
• As mentioned previously in Part 1, to search on your post-secondary education options in B.C., Canada, check out www.educationplanner.ca
• Finally, to understand more about post-secondary admissions and transfers in B.C., Canada, check out bccat.ca (BC Council on Admissions & Transfers). The BCCAT runs both Education Planner and BC Transfer Guide websites.

3. Consider the weather and economy of the region/city

Please check out the weather and economy of the region/city where you plan to study before making a decision. You don't have to travel to Canada to do so, but at least do some online research (e.g. Google, Wikipedia, region's tourist information, etc). In a country as big as Canada, it can be "too hot" in one city and "too much snow" in another on the same day. Understanding of the local economy will also help the potential students to consider what skills they may need (i.e. training, certification, and/or preparation) to help them clinch part-time work near their schools.

Note: When looking for a job B.C., Canada, employers will typically ask for "2 Canadian work reference". Therefore, it is important to have regular (e.g. once weekly) part-time work and/or volunteer assignments while studying so that one can get one's managers' and/or volunteer co-ordinators' references* to support one's job application after graduation. *That is, get their names, contact numbers (cell/mobile and work number), and their consent/agreement to be your reference.

In B.C., you will need certain certifications even for the "blue collar" jobs. E.g. Waiters need "Food Safe Level 1 Certification" and perhaps also "Serving It Right" (for premises that serves alcohol). E.g. Even volunteers at summer camps may need a current CPR Level C Certification from an approved B.C. authority.

Good luck on your student/migration journey!

Footnotes:

• See Part 1 "How to sort out the paper mills from the really "recognized" education centres?".
• See Part 2 "Factors to consider when selecting an education programme for the purpose of immigration".

Migrating via Student Visa - Part 2

DECLARATION and DISCLAIMER: The following is my personal opinion. I am not any way qualified to give education and/or migration advice to anyone, and thus any content from me shall be construed as a sharing of personal opinion, not advice. I do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information provided by me. Under no circumstances will I or anyone related to this content be responsible for any loss or damage resulting from any reliance on the information or other content posted or linked by me.

In the previous part, I covered "How to sort out the paper mills from the really "recognized" education centres?"

This post will cover some "Factors to consider when selecting an education programme for the purpose of immigration".

Note: I am not going to cover common student concerns such as financing your studies, choosing a school with the right cultural fit, etc. These I will leave to the readers to do their own research. This section focuses on specific considerations relating to the eventual goal of immigration.

1. Check the CIC requirements for PGWPP and CEC

Some graduates who apply to stay in Canada after graduation do so under the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program (PGWPP) CEC (Canadian Experience Class) visa. Note: PGWPP is only a temporary work visa. It does not give the visa holder Permanent Residency status.

IMPORTANT NOTE: It is only after gaining "at least 12 months of full-time (or an equal amount in part-time) skilled work experience in Canada" that the PGWPP visa holder can apply for Permanent Residency under the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) visa.

For details on eligibility, please check the CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) website for "Determine your eligibility — Work after graduation". See below for a paraphrased summary of the requirements. Note: ALL requirements must be met, i.e. AND, not OR situation.

• Have a valid study permit when you apply for the work permit.

• Completed full-time studies of at least 8 months. IMPORTANT NOTE: If your studies is less than 2 years but more than 8 months, then you'll only get a work permit for a period no longer than your study period. E.g. If your studies is for 9 months, your work permit (in the best case) will only be for 9 months; and IMHO that sucks because the processing time for Permanent Residence applications for the Canadian Experience Class within Canada is around 9 months to 1 year for 80% of the cases to be processed in the best situation. Sometimes it can be worse due to un-forseen circumstances. E.g. CIC workers going on strike from 11-Jun-2013 to 07-Oct-2013. Thus, if you can, please aim for 2 years or more program, so that you can get a 3 year work permit. [Note: This suggested approach is also shared by Anonymous on Tuesday, September 24, 2013 at 5:53:00 PM in my previous blog post on this series.]

• Post-secondary programme from a public-institution, OR a private institution that operates under the same rules and regulations as a public institution, OR a private institution for a program of study leading to a degree recognized by the province. Therefore, it is important that if you go for a program from a private institution, you shall check with the relevant provincial ministry on whether that specific program is eligible for migration application BEFORE you commit to the program. [Click here for the Ministry of Advanced Education, BC.] Plus, you'll have to take the risk that a program that was previously recognized may be dropped from the "recognized list" when you personally complete the program. In short, if you want to minimize your risk, I suggest sticking with the publicly funded institutions.

• Apply for your work permit within 90 days of receiving written confirmation (for example, a transcript or an official letter) from your institution indicating that you have met the requirements for completing your academic program.

• Other conditions apply. Please click here for details.

2. Check CIC for other ways to immigrate with your skills

Check CIC website for the Federal Skilled Workers Program and the Federal Skilled Trades Program. In case you cannot qualify for CEC, it is wise to have done an education programme leading to skills that are wanted under either of the above schemes.

The only catch is that the list of skills wanted and the quota of visas allowed for each skill changes from year-to-year. Thus, it is a risk that you'll have to calculate. E.g. Nursing was dropped from the wanted skills list in May-2013, despite having been there for the longest time ever.

Currently (as of today 06-Oct-2013), FSWP is applicable for the following job codes.

0211   Engineering managers
1112   Financial and investment analysts (Cap reached)
2113   Geoscientists and oceanographers
2131   Civil engineers
2132   Mechanical engineers
2134   Chemical engineers
2143   Mining engineers
2145   Petroleum engineers
2144   Geological engineers
2146   Aerospace engineers
2147   Computer engineers (except software engineers/designers) (Cap reached)
2154   Land surveyors
2174   Computer programmers and interactive media developers (Cap reached)
2243   Industrial instrument technicians and mechanics
2263   Inspectors in public and environmental health and occupational health and safety
3141   Audiologists and speech-language pathologists
3142   Physiotherapists
3143   Occupational Therapists
3211   Medical laboratory technologists
3212   Medical laboratory technicians and pathologists' assistants
3214   Respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionists and cardiopulmonary technologists
3215   Medical Radiation Technologists
3216   Medical Sonographers
3217   Cardiology technologists and electrophysiological diagnostic technologists

Currently (as of today 06-Oct-2013), FSTP is applicable for the following job codes.

Group A – Jobs with sub-caps of 100 applications each (and their corresponding 2011 NOC code)
7202 Contractors and supervisors, electrical trades and telecommunications occupations
7204 Contractors and supervisors, carpentry trades
7205 Contractors and supervisors, other construction trades, installers, repairers and servicers
7271 Carpenters
7301 Contractors and supervisors, mechanic trades
7302 Contractors and supervisors, heavy equipment operator crews
8211 Supervisors, logging and forestry
8221 Supervisors, mining and quarrying
8222 Contractors and supervisors, oil and gas drilling services
8241 Logging machinery operators
8252 Agricultural service contractors, farm supervisors and specialized livestock workers
9211 Supervisors, mineral and metal processing
9212 Supervisors, petroleum, gas and chemical processing and utilities
9214 Supervisors, plastic and rubber products manufacturing
9231 Central control and process operators, mineral and metal processing
9241 Power engineers and power systems operators
9243 Water and waste treatment plant operators

Group B – no sub-caps (2011 NOC code)
7231 Machinists and machining and tooling inspectors
7233 Sheet metal workers
7235 Structural metal and plate work fabricators and fitters
7236 Ironworkers
7237 Welders and related machine operators
7241 Electricians (except industrial and power system)
7242 Industrial electricians
7243 Power system electricians
7244 Electrical power line and cable workers
7245 Telecommunications line and cable workers
7246 Telecommunications installation and repair workers
7251 Plumbers
7252 Steamfitters, pipefitters and sprinkler system installers
7253 Gas fitters
7311 Construction millwrights and industrial mechanics
7312 Heavy-duty equipment mechanics
7313 Refrigeration and air conditioning mechanics
7314 Railway carmen/women
7315 Aircraft mechanics and aircraft inspectors
7318 Elevator constructors and mechanics
7371 Crane operators
7372 Drillers and blasters - surface, mining, quarrying and construction
7373 Water well drillers
8231 Underground production and development miners
8232 Oil and gas well drillers, servicers, testers and related workers
9232 Petroleum, gas and chemical process operators

Pay attention to the job codes (a.k.a. NOC codes) above. We will touch on it in the next section.

3. Check your future employment prospects

Working in Canada is a federal government funded website that lists job requirements, earnings, outlook, for each area of Canada. There are many ways to use the website; some suggestions below.

• "Explore Careers by Occupation" helps you to discover the education and/or training requirements to enter a specific occupation/job-code (NOC code). See previous section for examples of jobs with shortage of qualified workers.
• "Explore Careers by Education Program".
• "Job Market Trends" for each specific area of Canada. 
  1. AB = Alberta
  2. BC = British Columbia
  3. MB = Manitoba
  4. NB = New Brunswick
  5. NL = Newfoundland
  6. NS = Nova Scotia
  7. NT = Northern Territories
  8. NU = Nunavut
  9. ON = Ontario
  10. PE = Prince Edward Island
  11. QC = Quebec
  12. SK = Saskatchewan
  13. YT = Yukon Territories

That's all for Part 2 for now. Please feel free to drop your comments, feedback and ask further questions in the Comments section below.

Footnote: See Part 1 here. See Part 3 here.

Migrating via Student Visa - Part 1

In one of my previous posts, Vegabond had some questions about migrating to B.C., Canada, indirectly via the Student Visa route.

Vegabond wrote on Friday, August 30, 2013 12:06:00 AM:

Hi Winking Doll,

I have been following your blog ever since I chanced upon it from asingaporean son. Thanks for starting this blog :) I, too, am looking to move to BC however I do not qualified as a skilled worker. My local uni degree has little employability out of sg...haha. I'm interested to do a career switch into healthcare and is looking at some of the healthcare related programs in Canada. What is your insights on other allied health professionals in terms of jobs outlook/demand in Canada, how open is employers towards foreigners who graduated from Canadian schools, etc?

Vegabond wrote on Friday, August 30, 2013 12:14:00 AM: 

Appreciate if you could email me and share your opinions and advice about entering Canada via student visa route... Wishing u luck in finding your ideal job in BC! My email is [Email edited for privacy]

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His/her questions cannot be answered in a single post, so I shall do this in a series. This is the first part. But first a declaration and disclaimer.

DECLARATION and DISCLAIMER: The following is my personal opinion. I am not any way qualified to give education and/or migration advice to anyone, and thus any content from me shall be construed as a sharing of personal opinion, not advice. I do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information provided by me. Under no circumstances will I or anyone related to this content be responsible for any loss or damage resulting from any reliance on the information or other content posted or linked by me.

The B.C. education scene is very lively. There are lots of paper mills. Many will promise you "take this or that course, this or that industry is short of skilled people" etc. What they do not inform you is the reality of the B.C. (and/or Canadian) job market. I shall cover the B.C. job market later in this series. 

Firstly, how to sort out the paper mills from the really "recognized" education centres? At the risk of offending a lot of BC graduates and holders of higher-education paper-qualifications, here are my 2 cents of opinion.

1. Go to publicly-funded and/or well-known post-secondary schools

These are listed on the Translink (public transport) website as follow. "Eleven post-secondary institutions in Metro Vancouver are eligible to participate in the program (University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, Capilano University, Langara College, Emily Carr University of Art & Design, Vancouver Community College, Douglas College, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, British Columbia Institute of Technology, Nicola Valley Institute of Technology and the Justice Institute of BC)."

Note: As far as I know, Simon Fraser University and Emily Carr University of Art & Design is not publicly-funded. It is private, but has a good reputation (see point 3 below). I do not know about Capilano University, Nicola Valley Institute of Technology and the Justice Institute of BC -- I suspect some of these are not publicly-funded either.

IMHO, as a result of having to justify for funding from the government, the publicly-funded institutions have to ensure that their education/training programmes have some relevance and/or maintain acceptable standards.

2. Check EducationPlanner.ca

EducationPlanner.ca is the website created to assist those exploring post-secondary education options in BC. You can search the website for programmes offered by the various education institutions.

3. Ask those in-the-know about informal ranking

I was told informally by various BC locals/residents of the following informal rankings.

• For degree courses, UBC (University of British Columbia) has the best reputation (i.e. well-recognized across Canada, in USA and overseas). SFU (Simon Fraser University) also has cross-Canada and some international clout. I've been told by some that this is followed by BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology). KPU (Kwantlen Polytechnic University) is behind BCIT in the reputation/prestige game. 

[Note: I did not have much of a choice of education institutions as CRNBC only recognized 2 institutional courses specifically catered to Graduate Nurses, Internationally Educated Re-entry. One was mainly classroom-based from KPU and the other was a mainly online-based course from Thomson Rivers University.]

• For arts, animation and design, Emily Carr University of Art & Design is the place to be.

• For community colleges, the top-ranking is VCC (Vancouver Community College). [Note: Be careful of copycats with sound alike names, e.g. VCC (Vancouver Career College), but of different reputation.] The next best is Langara College. Douglas College is ok, but definitely does not have the "oomph" of the preceding 2 publicly-funded colleges. One thing to be aware is that while community college qualifications are recognized throughout BC, I've been told that they do not carry the same prestige across Canada. Thus, the community college route is only recommended if one does not intend to leave BC and/or one intends to transfer/upgrade to other courses in the universities.

Ok, that's all for Part 1 - How to sort out the paper mills from the really "recognized" education centres?

Footnote:

• Click here for Part 2 - Factors to consider when selecting an education programme for the purpose of immigration.
• Click here for Part 3 - Odds and ends.