Questions about Ottawa

[J_Murphy]

1)What can a civil engineer with 10 years experience expect to make?
2)What are best non-suburban neighborhoods for a family in early-30s with a young child? Somewhere affordable based on answer from question 1.
3)What are average rent and housing prices for a 3 bed/2 bath place, that isn't in an apartment building?

Thanks,

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by J_Murphy

1)What can a civil engineer with 10 years experience expect to make?
2)What are best non-suburban neighborhoods for a family in early-30s with a young child? Somewhere affordable based on answer from question 1.
3)What are average rent and housing prices for a 3 bed/2 bath place, that isn't in an apartment building?

Thanks,

One working spouse or two?

[J_Murphy]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

One working spouse or two?

One at first for sure.

[nredding]

Hard to say about the salary. You would have to find an employer who is interested in hiring a civil engineer with 10 years experience first.

We can't answer the neighbourhood questions without knowing your budget. Nice non-suburban neighbourhoods are generally quite expensive. (Although expensive is relative, depending on what you're used to.)

[acottawa]

Given that his is a government town, this might be a useful guide to the salary range available.

https://emploisfp-psjobs.cfp-psc.gc....?poster=890612

It indicates someone with 10 years experience would be eligible for "five" level, which would start in the low six figures.

[AndyMEng]

Originally Posted by J_Murphy

1)What can a civil engineer with 10 years experience expect to make?
2)What are best non-suburban neighborhoods for a family in early-30s with a young child? Somewhere affordable based on answer from question 1.
3)What are average rent and housing prices for a 3 bed/2 bath place, that isn't in an apartment building?

Thanks,

1. $70-80k
2. Close: Main Street, Centretown, Mechanicsville. Further: North end of Clyde (Glenmount), Alta Vista/Trainyards. Furthest or Expensive: Westboro, Centrepointe, Corkstown, Gloucester
3. Rent: $1500-3000, $300k for townhouse, $500k for older smaller house, $600k and up for a larger place.

[J_Murphy]

Originally Posted by AndyMEng

1. $70-80k
2. Close: Main Street, Centretown, Mechanicsville. Further: North end of Clyde (Glenmount), Alta Vista/Trainyards. Furthest or Expensive: Westboro, Centrepointe, Corkstown, Gloucester
3. Rent: $1500-3000, $300k for townhouse, $500k for older smaller house, $600k and up for a larger place.

Thanks.

[J_Murphy]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Given that his is a government town, this might be a useful guide to the salary range available.

https://emploisfp-psjobs.cfp-psc.gc....?poster=890612

It indicates someone with 10 years experience would be eligible for "five" level, which would start in the low six figures.

Thanks...of course, Federal government jobs usually pay a bit more than private sector. Also, I work as a civil/environmental engineer, which is usually on the lower end of the scale.

[Kitchissippi]

Although technically old suburbs, there's still good value in the areas within walking distance of the future New Orchard and Iris LRT stations. Last time I looked you could get a SFH in the low to high 300K range.

[lrt's friend]

Housing costs will drop as you move out to the suburbs. The Hunt Club/Blossom Park area is suburban but surprisingly central compared with Orleans, Barrhaven and Kanata. The area has a wide variety of low rise housing styles from single family homes to stacked townhouses. It is very conveniently located adjacent to the airport and bounded by the Greenbelt Conservation Lands. There is good shopping in the area and good access to public transit. South Keys Shopping Centre, the main retail node in the area is served both by the Trillium O-Train Line and the Southeast Transitway.

If possible, you should determine your housing location based on where you end up working. The Rideau River can be a bit of a barrier and commuting can be a pain if you have to cross one of the limited number of bridges.

[rocketphish]

Explore Ottawa (and other cities') neighbourhood housing pricing data with the Globe's new House Price Data Centre:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-...ticle29697029/

[AndyMEng]

Originally Posted by J_Murphy

Thanks...of course, Federal government jobs usually pay a bit more than private sector. Also, I work as a civil/environmental engineer, which is usually on the lower end of the scale.

LOL, yeah, people in the government don't really know what it's like outside of government...

There are civil jobs (few and far between) usually around $85-95k plus a full pension and an additional week/two weeks of vacation, and less workload.

[HighwayStar]

Originally Posted by AndyMEng

LOL, yeah, people in the government don't really know what it's like outside of government...

There are civil jobs (few and far between) usually around $85-95k plus a full pension and an additional week/two weeks of vacation, and less workload.

And don't forget they get to strike for more... as public sector employees are on the front-lines of the "race to the bottom".

[J_Murphy]

Originally Posted by AndyMEng

LOL, yeah, people in the government don't really know what it's like outside of government...

There are civil jobs (few and far between) usually around $85-95k plus a full pension and an additional week/two weeks of vacation, and less workload.

Do you know who some of the more well known/respected consulting companies to work for in the area are?

[McC]

Based on my unscientific observation, I'd guess that Delcan and MMM do more than 95% of the civil engineering consulting for the City (just scan the reports on the City website).

[YOWflier]

Originally Posted by AndyMEng

LOL, yeah, people in the government don't really know what it's like outside of government...

A sweeping generalization that probably shouldn't be applied to Engineers and Engineering work.

I'd bet most Engineers working in government have private industry experience.

I'd then bet that those who don't (i.e. were recruited directly into the Service from University) work very closely with private industry, either via surveillance/monitoring, regulation, or direct provision of services. In other words, they are intimately aware of what's going on in private industry because they work in lock-step with it.

There's probably a very tiny proportion of Engineers in the Service who have roles that are strictly inward-looking, and thus wouldn't have any concept of what it's like in the "real world".

[YOWflier]

Originally Posted by J_Murphy

Thanks...of course, Federal government jobs usually pay a bit more than private sector. Also, I work as a civil/environmental engineer, which is usually on the lower end of the scale.

I think you can look at it this way:

Federal Engineering jobs at the entry level and mid-level (say, ENG-03 and below) will generally pay salaries on-par or a bit higher than the private industry equivalents.

Upper mid to high level (say, ENG-04) will generally pay higher.

High level (say, ENG-05 or higher, or a very senior person 'capped' at ENG-04), will generally pay lower than the private industry equivalent.

Note that I'm referring to base salary only. Once you factor in paid overtime (very rare in private), pension, and other benefits, all bets are off and the comparison become very difficult.

[AndyMEng]

Originally Posted by J_Murphy

Do you know who some of the more well known/respected consulting companies to work for in the area are?

A short list, you said something about Civil/environmental?

Delcan, CIMA+, WSP (Halsall/Genivar/MMM/Parsons Brinkerhoff conglomeration), Stantec, Cleland Jardine, Golder, Keller, J.L. Richards, JP2G, John Cooke, Houle Chevrier, etc. and all the standard bigger players too.

Now, these are generally civil, but all carry different disciplines and specialties. I put your enviro/geotech firms first in the list. Shop around, you won't have a problem finding a job

Also, if you're a fan of the golden handcuffs like we've been discussing here, try www.jobs.gc.ca for all your public works listings as well.

[McC]

Forgot about Stantec, they should have been on my unscientific survey of 95% of City engineering reports (and also reports to the city for development apps, like the traffic studies) that I've seen.

[YOWflier]

Another resource that might be of use/interest to J_Murphy is the Ottawa Business Journal's (obj.ca) annual publication called the "Book of Lists". It's an annual supplement to the weekly journal itself, which hilights the Ottawa region's biggest players across a wide spectrum of industries and sectors.

This can be an invaluable resource for finding out who the local players are and pointing your job search. Engineering firms, for example, are listed on page 65, but I'd give the whole thing a read if I was J_Murphy to get a sense of industry in Ottawa.

Here's the 2015 "Book of Lists" online:

http://objmags.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
https://issuu.com/greatrivermedia/docs/bol2015_-_issuu

Here's a screen clipping of the journal page describing the "Largest Engineering Firms" (I clipped the top 5 of 20):