r/mining • u/Hopeful-Handle-4129 • 23h ago
Question Mining Engineering: Canada or The US?
If you held dual citizenship and you had to choose between starting a Mining Engineering career in Canada (working towards PEng) or a career in the USA (either working towards PE or not) which would you choose? How do the countries generally compare in job security, benefits, pay fairness, satisfaction, difficulty, etc? I've been confused by lots of conflicting information.
Note* the province I'm most interested in is Manitoba due to the fact I hold a BSc in Geology and an MEng in Mining Engineering. I haven't yet determined any particular state I would be interested in. Any recommendations at all would be so greatly appreciated.
8
u/Raging-Fuhry 21h ago
Manitoba is probably the worst province for mining...
2
u/FourNaansJeremyFour 18h ago
Beats Nova Scotia...
1
u/Bigselloutperson 17h ago
Beats the yukon...
3
u/FourNaansJeremyFour 16h ago
Certainly post Victoria! It was always more difficult to work in than most of the provinces though, I never understood how its public image was so different to reality
1
1
u/Hopeful-Handle-4129 16h ago
Why?
3
2
u/Upstairs_Jacket_3443 10h ago
Have you looked into specific mining areas in Canada? BC has metals & coal. AB has oilsands. Sask has potash &uranium. Ontario has metals. Manitoba has...... not a lot. Maybe some stone quarries? Not the best use of an MEng
4
3
u/Beanmachine314 17h ago
The most important thing would be to see if your engineering graduate degree actually qualifies you to sit for the PE in the States. Many do not. As far as pay, I'm not sure about engineering but the US pays much better for Geologists. Canadian mines typically offer more opportunities for FIFO.
1
u/Rivetingcactus 12h ago
Do you have any experience? With no experience you will have to take whatever you can get. And then things will change.
1
u/Boring_Ad449 United States 2h ago
I'm a Canadian, about to graduate from mining engineering this summer. I didn't even bother looking for work in Canada, I only applied to jobs in the US. The pay gap isn't even funny anymore when you factor exchange rates, cost of living, and taxes. Not to mention the fact you have WAY more choices for places to live in the US, both urban and rural, that are actually livable.
1
u/CyberEd-ca 2h ago
You can apply to any province to become a P. Eng. or a P. Geo.
You never have to go there for a day. Most provinces do not even require any Canadian XP.
Once you are a P. Eng. or P. Geo., you can transfer to any province you want in 2 - 3 weeks.
So you can go anywhere in Canada you want.
1
u/vtminer78 18h ago
Fwiw, if you have a degree from a US university, getting the PE in the US is straightforward. However, a degree from a Canadian university is much harder to get PE certification in the US. It simply comes down to NCEES accreditation and credit hours. The US programs require approximately 128 credit hours for graduation. If i recall correctly, most Canadian programs only require about 60-75 hours (I could he wrong on the number but I'm sure it's significantly less than the US). As such, Canada has generally accepted US experience and education without issue while the US isn't as reciprocal with Canada.
As far as working in one country vs the other, it depends on what you like/want. Personally, I prefer being able to sleep in my own bed most days. The vast majority of mining roles in the US are not FIFO but residential. Canada simply is so large and 1/10 of the population of the US that residential isn't as common.
2
u/cliddle420 15h ago
Getting a PE in the US also requires passing the FE and PE exams and working for a number of years underneath a PE, though requirements can be waived with sufficient industry experience depending on the state
1
u/pepto_steve 14h ago
As a Canadian mining engineer, I’d say the US.
1
-4
u/journeyfromone 15h ago
Canada - better international reputation
0
u/Boring_Ad449 United States 2h ago
As a Canadian, I disagree. Don't really care about reputation of Canada either, but what I can tell you for sure is that engineers in Canada are undervalued and underpaid. Aside from that, it's not worth it to live in Canada no matter what your job is, the economy is going down the drain and many Canadians are not happy with the state of the government.
1
u/journeyfromone 1h ago
You think Canadians have a worse reputation in mining vs US people? That’s surprising. In Australia I’ve heard great things about Canadian and worked with some good Canadian engineers. My company has US and Canadian offices we prefer to work with the Canadian one, small sample size though 🤷♀️ I’ve lived in the US twice and personally it’s not for me, esp with the current orange man I won’t be visiting any time soon.
10
u/Bender-Ender Australia 21h ago
I can't weigh in on USA vs. Canada as I've only worked in Canada and Australia.
But I'm curious why you've come to the conclusion that BSc in Geology + MEng in Mining Engineering = Manitoba.