Washes Off with Water and a Quick Rub
In a previous post, I suggested that it is very difficult to come here on a temporary basis and, depending on how you intend to earn money, that can be true. I work in IT and I wanted to use my career experience to earn a decent wage in Canada so, for me, immigration was the only real option because, at the time, most employers in my field wouldn't hire you if you didn't have Permanent Residence status.
However, many people do come to this country on a temporary work permit(otherwise known as a Temporary Resident Visa) on company transfer, to fill specific labour gaps as identified by the federal government or for seasonal jobs; the ski resorts are full of foreigners every winter and I think some of these may not even need a temporary visa, depending on how long you're here.
If this is your intention then you need to be ready to do a fair bit of research. Getting a Canadian Temporary Resident Visa can be quite the excerise in lateral thinking, not least because there are different ways of applying for a work permit, depending on who you are, where you're from, what kind of work you do, how long you want to stay, you favourite Star Wars film, etc etc.
As I've already said, it was our original intention to come to Canada on a temporary basis because it would have allowed us to decide if we liked it or not so, if you're not 100% sure but also not ready to say "Niet" to Canada just yet (and if you did say Niet, you're probably confusing Canada with Russia - ie both cold with bears), it may be worth pursuing the temporary option. If you do, try to have a good idea of what kind of work you want to do and how long you want to stay. Remember that, for most jobs, if an employer wants to hire a foreign worker, they have to prove to the government (via a forest of federal paperwork and a few gallons of ink), that they can't hire from within Canada so you may be more likely to succeed if you already have a tentative job offer (which suggests that the employer is ready to make this justification).
A couple of useful resources are:
http://www.canadaworkpermit.com/
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/index.asp
Good Luck !
Stays FOREVER
Let's assume that you've tried the temporary option without success or you've decided that you only live once and life is what you make it and nothing ventured, nothing gained and today is the first day of the rest of you life and now you're sick of thinking in cliches. In these cases, you are truly ready to commit to Canada.
And that means immigration !
Now, don't think that just because the temporary visa option is so convoluted. the immigration process must be easier. Nope; there are more variations of Canadian Immigration than there are O.J. Simpson mug shots. Well, not exactly, but you get the idea.
So, the first decision you need to make if you want to emigrate to Canada is how. You options are:
- as a skilled worker or professional - i.e normal
- as an investor, entrepreneur or self-employed person - if you have money and a business-brain
- as a sponsored family member - if you already have family in Canada
- as a provincial nominee - if you do something that a province REALLY needs. This varies by province
- Quebec-selected skilled workers - if you do something that Quebec REALLY needs (apart from smoking heavily). Yeah, I know, Quebec is a province but it is also different, on many levels.
Of the above imigration 'classes', the skilled worker is the most common and the one in which I emigrated to Canada.
So, for the rest of the blog, I'll be concentrating on this class, starting in the next post with, well, how to start.
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