The first year over for Finnish forestry workers in Canada

In the fall of 2018, five open-minded Finns left to work as forest machine operators in Canada. Now Jussi Kolu, Arvo Taipale, Juha Mäenpää and Jonni Virolainen have spent a year, somewhat affected by the coronavirus, on the other side of the pond.

The company that hired the Finns, J.D. Irving, is a vast conglomerate that employs over 16 000 people. The Woodlands Division alone has over 400 forest harvesters and log trucks. According to Jussi Kolu, the work is mostly independent, and workdays are usually 10-12 hours long.

Kolu has only worked the night shift since December 2019.

- I enjoy being on the night shift very well; the sunshine does not affect your work. My shifts are usually ten hours; I rarely work 12 hours.

Working the night shift does not affect the payroll of the employees, since there are no proper extras paid in Canada. According to Kolu, it is possible to negotiate with some contractors to get an extra hour’s pay when working nine hours.

Jussi Kolu has worked only night shifts since December 2019 in Canada.

Employers apartment and car have now been switched to personal ones

The arrival to Canada has been made easy for new employees at J.D. Irving. Employees are given an apartment and car for the first three months so that they can save some money for later use. The employer also helps to sort out bank accounts, phone contracts, social security numbers, health care and drivers licences as soon as possible.

- After the first three months, we carried on living in the same apartment for a while. After this, we moved to a slightly smaller and cheaper apartment. Kolu says.

Jussi Kolu lives in a detached house in Sussex with Arvo Taipale and Juha Mäenpää. Each of them pays 450 dollars for an 85 square foot house with a large garage. The two other Finns, Jonni Virolainen and Pasi Purra, live in Chipman sharing an 800-dollar rent.

The sunshine does not affect work during the night shift.

Some of the Finns already have their own car or use a contractor’s car. Kolu still uses a rental car, for which he pays 800 dollars per month.

- For a rental car, the price is very reasonable, a car from a normal car rental service would be a lot more. The funding of a brand new, 50 000-dollar car would be approximately the same, but, naturally, does not include insurance and maintenance fees. The best part of having a rental car is that you do not have to pay for maintenance yourself, our employer pays for them. A leased car would be too expensive because of its 20 000-kilometre limit, Kolu ponders.

In Canada, wood is also harvested with crawler machines.

Returning home is not on the horizon

A few of the Finns returned to Finland for Christmas, but Jussi Kolu has not returned, and he has not had friends or family over to visit Canada. He keeps in touch with his closest ones by phone, sometimes through video calls.

Kolu left for Canada knowing he is not coming back any time soon. His contract of employment is valid for two years, after which his residence permit becomes permanent.

- This year has not changed my mind; I have planned to enjoy myself here for multiple years. I cannot be more specific because I have not planned. There is much more to Canada than New Brunswick, so we will have to see where I end up, Kolu says.

Finns and a sauna, an inseparable combination. The sauna on a trailer was built in a few months alongside work. Jussi Kolu is the second on the right.

Kolu spends most of his free time with the other Finns, but he has also made many local friends.

- I speak to some of my new friends daily. Sometimes the locals spend time with us Finns too.

As a hobby, Kolu has started enduro with the other Finns and a few locals.

- New Brunswick offers ideal conditions for enduro. There is both easy and challenging terrain, and there are no restrictions on the state’s or Irving’s land.

As a hobby, the Finns have found enduro, for which New Brunswick offers ideal conditions.

Coronavirus also closed Canada

The first year in a new country alone would have definitely been memorable, but the coronavirus pandemic also brought exceptional times to Canada.

- Smaller shops, restaurants and bars closed already in March, as well as the borders of Canada and its provinces, Kolu remembers.

The use of masks and two-metre safety distances have been recommended in public places. However, there has been very little, only 176, cases of coronavirus in New Brunswick. During the past few months, only a few people at a time have actively had corona.

- During the past few months, the provinces’ borders have opened, and companies have finally been able to open their doors after the restrictions, Kolu told us in August.

Nevertheless, Canada’s borders were still closed for all foreign workers in the fall of 2019.

- You can leave the country, but you cannot return until the borders are opened again. This will probably happen when there is a vaccine against coronavirus, Kolu says.

The global pandemic also brought many new regulations to working at J.D. Irving. Two-metre safety distances are carefully regulated, face masks are used if needed, and all machines are disinfected with a disinfection towel after use. The recruitment of international workers has also been discontinued for the time being.

Machines travel on long-nosed truck tractors.

A sauna known nationwide

Being Finns, the men had to get a sauna in Canada, of course. Kolu, Taipale, Mäenpää and Virolainen built a sauna on a trailer in a few months alongside work.

- This has made the locals go wild, and many have wondered what we are doing. A few articles about our sauna have been released in the local newspapers, and we have even been interviewed for the nationwide news of Canada, Kolu says with a laugh.