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.

[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.

[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?

[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.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by ac888yow

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.

When I was looking for entry-level work in tech in Ottawa after getting my degree in computer science back in 2014, the private sector offered much higher salaries than the public sector; by an average of about 15% or so. I got a job in government anyway because the job security and pension entitlements were attractive enough, and, because most of my 22-year old colleagues didn't think that way and only cared about the salary offers, I had a lot less competition for the job (this was just before the current tech boom started, so finding tech jobs was still a bit of a challenge unlike today).

Earlier this year, though, after hitting nearly 4 years in the government, I moved to the private sector. The public sector was driving me insane with all its rules and restrictions and I got headhunted at a private firm that was willing to give me an intermediate position and a pretty hefty salary that would have taken me at least 10 years to get if I stayed in the public sector. Now I'm in private and I'm much happier.

[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.

[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/

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

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.

I second this. Ottawa has a lot of bottlenecks in its transportation network (the rivers being the big one, but some others too) and if you have a commute that goes through one or more of these bottlenecks you can be in for a bad time. Generally though, commutes tend to be fairly easy here (at least compared to Toronto or Montreal) if you can avoid these bottlenecks.

[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).

[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.