I’m planning to take a master’s degree in architecture in Canada. What is job market for architects in Canada?
Non Sequitur
Aug 29, 20 10:25 am
what happened to your U.S.A. grad school ambitions?
abhishekanpat
Aug 29, 20 10:34 am
In USA work visa is tough and sponsorship is not easy to get. Canada is easy to migrate if you study there. also Studying Costs are similar or lesser than the USA. Hence...
Non Sequitur
Aug 29, 20 12:23 pm
Thank you for paying international tuition $$$$$$. You’ll find the job market here is fine, getting better as the C19 situation improves but Canada is a large place with few large cities but much competition. You’ll need more than just an expensive degree if you want a chance.
abhishekanpat
Aug 29, 20 12:44 pm
Yeah, that's right. competition is everywhere. I will give my best.
apscoradiales
Aug 31, 20 9:14 am
After you graduate, expect to having to look for a job for a few months.
Be prepared to move to get it. Your wages will be a notch above minimum, you will work far more than 40 hours per week, will have to work weekends and all-nighters - i"f you don't, we will find someone else who will" - without overtime pay, you will be reviewing a whole lot of shop drawings (shitiest job in the office besides making prints, imo), and you will be the lowest man on the totem pole.
If you stick around for a min. of 5 years, situation might get better,
In my opinion, forget becoming an architect. Become a plumber, electrician, carpenter, bricklayer instead.
You can thank me later, much later come the retirement age.
Non Sequitur
Aug 31, 20 9:15 am
This is grossly incorrect.
Non Sequitur
Aug 31, 20 9:16 am
Also, shop drawing review is a fucking important job. They don’t throw fresh grads into that.
apscoradiales
Aug 31, 20 9:22 am
Unfortunately, that is perfectly accurate.
Shop drawings are BS - nobody in Europe does them. Only Canadians and Americans do them so they can inflate their fees.
Also, what does your average architect know about shop drawings or what purpose they serve? Nothing. We do them, because we have always done shop drawings.
Why bother if your drawings are good and don't have many mistakes.
Reviewing or checking shop drawings does not mean that there are no errors in them - some pretty bad ones too.
That's why architects carry insurance!
Non Sequitur
Aug 31, 20 9:26 am
Not a single word of it. Try again.
Almosthip
Aug 31, 20 11:15 am
Do you even have a clue what shop drawings are and who produces them?
citizen
Sep 2, 20 12:12 am
(From the year 2065)
"Dear Apscoradiales,
Well, I am about to retire from the plumbing business and you were completely right. Good call.
Love, Abhishekanpat.
P.S. You really had no idea what shop drawings are, did you?"
Chad Miller
Sep 2, 20 10:38 am
apscoradiales - you're flat out wrong about everything you posted.
apscoradiales
Aug 31, 20 9:21 am
forgot to say, they'll want someone who has at least 15 years of Revit experience, 20 years in institutional projects, and you will have to have at least 10 years experience in AutoCAD, Photoshop, 3D Max, Sketchup, and many, many other applications.
Long time ago when I was switching jobs in order to get paid more, firms were asking for at least 5 years of ACAD experience while the programme had been out for only about 2-3 years.
Fuckin' idiots, pardon my French!
Chad Miller
Sep 2, 20 10:40 am
Everything you've said is incorrect.
Bench
Aug 31, 20 9:31 am
apscoradiales' information is wildly out of line - i've worked in Canada, the US and Europe, and none of his descriptions are accurate.
Also agree on shop's - that's some complex shit that requires a good deal of experience to do, at least 2-3 years post grad.
stephanieanderson1
Oct 30, 21 8:31 am
So if he's wrong, can you say something about the real situation, as you've experienced it?
apscoradiales
Aug 31, 20 9:36 am
Well, so have I, three different continents.
What I described to you is what I experienced, and what many young grads I worked with over many years experienced as well - unless you were a son or daughter of a very important client.
Then, you are treated like gold.
Otherwise, piss off, and just do your job.
I wish it was different, but it really is not.
Non Sequitur
Aug 31, 20 9:38 am
Not our fault that you’ve had a shit career.
apscoradiales
Aug 31, 20 10:26 am
I had a good career, as good as anybody else who worked in the profession at the time. Glad it's over, as things were getting worse, and worse every year.
Feels sorry for the young ones - they have no idea what they're getting themselves into. Seriously, I think they should all consider going into some trade - maybe construction trade.
Architects themselves are the only ones to be blamed for the conditions that exist now in the profession.
Jay1122
Aug 31, 20 11:23 am
There are some truth in the harsh comments made. While there are always good and bad, elites and slackers, we would like to talk about a typical medium and large percentile market situation. I would say half of graduates cannot even get into traditional architecture. Spend a few month out of school searching for job is common unless you are the top ones in school with internship experience. And 90% of available jobs are doing boring projects/tasks. Got a friend that is also foreigner doing M.Arch trying to find job in US after graduating. A few hundred job apps still no chance, i would not say he is bad, just your average graduate. I think requiring sponsorship definitely has something to do with it. Honestly my advise is if you don't have big passion for architecture design and drawing, don't bother with this profession. Too many went into this profession dreaming to be one of those starchitect. Then they had to dive deep against the competition with over work, cheap salary until they could not handle it and quit.
Non Sequitur
Aug 31, 20 11:52 am
Moral here is don’t be a disillusioned wanker and you’ll be fine. Plenty of decent and respectable career paths available in the Canadian market, what Apsc describes above is just evidence of someone who never had the self respect and aptitude to notice and move on from an abusive workplace. It’s not relevant advice and not representative of the norm.
BackAgain
Sep 1, 20 11:31 pm
What would be a fair depiction of an architect’s life in Canada as opposed to the U.S.? In America many people view architecture as a tortured existence with low wages, long hours, slow advancement and idiots for clients. CDs should be detailed to death, the threat of a lawsuit always hangs in the air and owners don’t give a damn about design.
Then again some architects seem to stay contentedly in the career.
So, what would you tell a fledgling Canadian architect to expect?
Non Sequitur
Sep 2, 20 9:21 am
You’re responsible for your own career. Don’t expect a change of country will change much. Plenty of disgruntled wankers and plenty of content people, you just need to have reasonable expectations and know how to design and build equally. Also metric. We’re metric up here because we’re smarter. 8-)
bowling_ball
Sep 2, 20 10:37 am
Except a lot of builders still use Imperial. Also renovations of older buildings will need to be done in Imperial. Also most residential is Imperial. Construction materials are almost all still dimensioned to Imperial numbers.... We still get shop drawings in Imperial even though our drawings are metric, FFS.
Non Sequitur
Sep 2, 20 10:51 am
I do everything in metric and will NOT review shops in imperial units. Our specs require metric and I’ll insist on it.
Almosthip
Sep 2, 20 11:14 am
The GC will learn to convert all units to metric before submittal. At least on the government jobs.
apscoradiales
Sep 2, 20 8:58 am
Practice between the two countries is very, very similar, based on my experience doing many joint-venture jobs,
What you just said about the practices is very true, both sides of the border.
What's different, not a whole lot though, are Building Codes, building standards (different standards for buildings in Manitoba versus Alabama, for example, due to climatic conditions), and local by-laws.
That's about it.
At the end of the day, it's the same shiet,
Chad Miller
Sep 2, 20 10:41 am
We get it - you had an unhappy job in architecture. Please be quite now.
apscoradiales
Sep 2, 20 12:33 pm
I had a happy career.
Jay1122
Sep 2, 20 1:03 pm
Sure does not sound like it from the description above. But i would also want to wean off some dreamers so the field will have less competition and better salary. So many people did not know what the real profession is like until it is too late.They cannot turn away from the field after their time and effort spent pursuing the degree. Instead, accepts low paying jobs until they couldn't handle the condition anymore a couple years down and decided to change
.
stephanieanderson1
Oct 30, 21 8:43 am
I wonder if any of you who have experience working in the field would be willing to provide some concrete information about your experiences? Many of you have said that apscoradiales comments are incorrect, so if that's so, what has your experience been? Did you get a job quickly (if so, how long ago)? What was your first job like? Did you progress in the field (ie. up the ladder) quickly? What was/is your salary (if you don't mind saying, it's just people have different ideas about what a good/poor salary is, and it's hard to get a concrete sense of what most, non-starichect architects realistically make. What is your work-life balance like? Do you like your job/what about it do you like? I'm in Canada, and am trying to get a sense of the job prospects...
Non Sequitur
Oct 30, 21 9:56 am
All your questions are answered above. Aps is a disgruntled retired arch and while he had made decent points, his opinions above are not relevant. Take 8 seconds and search the forum. You’ll find plenty of information. We don’t have time or the patience to break apart your wall of text style ramblings.
I’m planning to take a master’s degree in architecture in Canada. What is job market for architects in Canada?
what happened to your U.S.A. grad school ambitions?
In USA work visa is tough and sponsorship is not easy to get. Canada is easy to migrate if you study there. also Studying Costs are similar or lesser than the USA. Hence...
Thank you for paying international tuition $$$$$$. You’ll find the job market here is fine, getting better as the C19 situation improves but Canada is a large place with few large cities but much competition. You’ll need more than just an expensive degree if you want a chance.
Yeah, that's right. competition is everywhere. I will give my best.
After you graduate, expect to having to look for a job for a few months.
Be prepared to move to get it. Your wages will be a notch above minimum, you will work far more than 40 hours per week, will have to work weekends and all-nighters - i"f you don't, we will find someone else who will" - without overtime pay, you will be reviewing a whole lot of shop drawings (shitiest job in the office besides making prints, imo), and you will be the lowest man on the totem pole.
If you stick around for a min. of 5 years, situation might get better,
In my opinion, forget becoming an architect. Become a plumber, electrician, carpenter, bricklayer instead.
You can thank me later, much later come the retirement age.
This is grossly incorrect.
Also, shop drawing review is a fucking important job. They don’t throw fresh grads into that.
Unfortunately, that is perfectly accurate.
Shop drawings are BS - nobody in Europe does them. Only Canadians and Americans do them so they can inflate their fees.
Also, what does your average architect know about shop drawings or what purpose they serve? Nothing. We do them, because we have always done shop drawings.
Why bother if your drawings are good and don't have many mistakes.
Reviewing or checking shop drawings does not mean that there are no errors in them - some pretty bad ones too.
That's why architects carry insurance!
Not a single word of it. Try again.
Do you even have a clue what shop drawings are and who produces them?
(From the year 2065)
"Dear Apscoradiales,
Well, I am about to retire from the plumbing business and you were completely right. Good call.
Love, Abhishekanpat.
P.S. You really had no idea what shop drawings are, did you?"
apscoradiales - you're flat out wrong about everything you posted.
forgot to say, they'll want someone who has at least 15 years of Revit experience, 20 years in institutional projects, and you will have to have at least 10 years experience in AutoCAD, Photoshop, 3D Max, Sketchup, and many, many other applications.
Long time ago when I was switching jobs in order to get paid more, firms were asking for at least 5 years of ACAD experience while the programme had been out for only about 2-3 years.
Fuckin' idiots, pardon my French!
Everything you've said is incorrect.
apscoradiales' information is wildly out of line - i've worked in Canada, the US and Europe, and none of his descriptions are accurate.
Also agree on shop's - that's some complex shit that requires a good deal of experience to do, at least 2-3 years post grad.
So if he's wrong, can you say something about the real situation, as you've experienced it?
Well, so have I, three different continents.
What I described to you is what I experienced, and what many young grads I worked with over many years experienced as well - unless you were a son or daughter of a very important client.
Then, you are treated like gold.
Otherwise, piss off, and just do your job.
I wish it was different, but it really is not.
Not our fault that you’ve had a shit career.
I had a good career, as good as anybody else who worked in the profession at the time. Glad it's over, as things were getting worse, and worse every year.
Feels sorry for the young ones - they have no idea what they're getting themselves into. Seriously, I think they should all consider going into some trade - maybe construction trade.
Architects themselves are the only ones to be blamed for the conditions that exist now in the profession.
There are some truth in the harsh comments made. While there are always good and bad, elites and slackers, we would like to talk about a typical medium and large percentile market situation. I would say half of graduates cannot even get into traditional architecture. Spend a few month out of school searching for job is common unless you are the top ones in school with internship experience. And 90% of available jobs are doing boring projects/tasks. Got a friend that is also foreigner doing M.Arch trying to find job in US after graduating. A few hundred job apps still no chance, i would not say he is bad, just your average graduate. I think requiring sponsorship definitely has something to do with it. Honestly my advise is if you don't have big passion for architecture design and drawing, don't bother with this profession. Too many went into this profession dreaming to be one of those starchitect. Then they had to dive deep against the competition with over work, cheap salary until they could not handle it and quit.
Moral here is don’t be a disillusioned wanker and you’ll be fine. Plenty of decent and respectable career paths available in the Canadian market, what Apsc describes above is just evidence of someone who never had the self respect and aptitude to notice and move on from an abusive workplace. It’s not relevant advice and not representative of the norm.
What would be a fair depiction of an architect’s life in Canada as opposed to the U.S.? In America many people view architecture as a tortured existence with low wages, long hours, slow advancement and idiots for clients. CDs should be detailed to death, the threat of a lawsuit always hangs in the air and owners don’t give a damn about design.
Then again some architects seem to stay contentedly in the career.
So, what would you tell a fledgling Canadian architect to expect?
You’re responsible for your own career. Don’t expect a change of country will change much. Plenty of disgruntled wankers and plenty of content people, you just need to have reasonable expectations and know how to design and build equally. Also metric. We’re metric up here because we’re smarter. 8-)
Except a lot of builders still use Imperial. Also renovations of older buildings will need to be done in Imperial. Also most residential is Imperial. Construction materials are almost all still dimensioned to Imperial numbers.... We still get shop drawings in Imperial even though our drawings are metric, FFS.
I do everything in metric and will NOT review shops in imperial units. Our specs require metric and I’ll insist on it.
The GC will learn to convert all units to metric before submittal. At least on the government jobs.
Practice between the two countries is very, very similar, based on my experience doing many joint-venture jobs,
What you just said about the practices is very true, both sides of the border.
What's different, not a whole lot though, are Building Codes, building standards (different standards for buildings in Manitoba versus Alabama, for example, due to climatic conditions), and local by-laws.
That's about it.
At the end of the day, it's the same shiet,
We get it - you had an unhappy job in architecture. Please be quite now.
I had a happy career.
Sure does not sound like it from the description above. But i would also want to wean off some dreamers so the field will have less competition and better salary. So many people did not know what the real profession is like until it is too late.They cannot turn away from the field after their time and effort spent pursuing the degree. Instead, accepts low paying jobs until they couldn't handle the condition anymore a couple years down and decided to change .
I wonder if any of you who have experience working in the field would be willing to provide some concrete information about your experiences? Many of you have said that apscoradiales comments are incorrect, so if that's so, what has your experience been? Did you get a job quickly (if so, how long ago)? What was your first job like? Did you progress in the field (ie. up the ladder) quickly? What was/is your salary (if you don't mind saying, it's just people have different ideas about what a good/poor salary is, and it's hard to get a concrete sense of what most, non-starichect architects realistically make. What is your work-life balance like? Do you like your job/what about it do you like? I'm in Canada, and am trying to get a sense of the job prospects...
All your questions are answered above. Aps is a disgruntled retired arch and while he had made decent points, his opinions above are not relevant. Take 8 seconds and search the forum. You’ll find plenty of information. We don’t have time or the patience to break apart your wall of text style ramblings.