Made for immigrants
Landscaping is practically made for new immigrants to Canada. Jobs are plentiful on the West Coast of Canada and entering the trade is fairly easy. All you need is a good attitude and willingness to sweat it out outdoors, in all sorts of weather.
On-the-job training is provided, assuming the newcomer has basic English skills. And the training is a crucial element because better pay comes only with better skills. Plus, landscape horticulture is now a Red Seal trade in Canada.
If you want to know what it’s like working as a landscape professional, you can read my e-book “Treated like dirt!“. And if you think you might want to become a landscaper, you should read my e-book “How to become a landscape professional“.
Hustle
It’s hard to say immigrants are harder workers than the local, younger dudes that tend to populate landscape company crews. But what’s clear is that immigrants hustle more. There’s more desperation in their lives as they attempt to get established in a new country and build-up their resumes.
My friend Ahmet is a Turkish forestry engineer working in landscape maintenance. He’s working on his skills so he can get a raise; and he also does other jobs after-hours because his wife and son are still in Turkey and depend on him. Thus the hustle.
While he’s working on his skills and building his resume, he’s looking for jobs in forestry. And Red Seal Vas will be there to give him a good reference when he lands his dream job.
Alan is another hustling immigrant who struggles with English but he knows how to hustle in order to provide for his large Kurdish family. He does landscaping gigs at astonishing rates. If his private gig pricing is as reported, I’m sure some of the seniors who hire him are risking ruining their retirements.
Essential workers
Who knew last spring that landscapers would be considered essential workers during a pandemic? Nobody. This was a strange year but landscapers were lucky to keep their jobs and work without stoppages (knock on wood!).
This is a great advantage landscaping has over other lower-paying service jobs. The kinds of jobs often filled by immigrants; and annihilated by the pandemic we’re still in.
Once you gain experience, I don’t see how you can ever be unemployed as a landscaper on the West Coast. Companies need good, dependable workers and immigrants fit right in.
Let’s see what 2021 brings.
