My husband (Canadian citizen) sponsored me (US citizen) when he was living in the US finishing his PhD. Definitely highlight the ties you've maintained like bank accounts, driver's license, etc. As for the job hunting, you can take advantage of those two Canadian degrees you said you have. How? Email your professors and former fellow students. Let them know you're planning on applying for jobs in Canada in your field and your timeline and (a) ask for their advice on the Canadian job market in your field and if there's anything else you should be doing now to be competitive in a few months when you are ready to apply and (b) ask if they hear of any openings to let you know. Include in your letter of explanation for IRCC that you're "leveraging your network in Canada" (or something similar) for looking for a job even though it's too early to apply at the moment and that emails showing your efforts are included etc etc etc. Depending on your field, it may also be helpful to contact a recruiter in Canada and explain your timeline and ask for his or her advice as well.
My husband was far enough along when we submitted the application that he'd actually applied for jobs and we included a table listing the jobs he'd applied for and what the application status was for each (never heard back, phone interview, skills test etc). If you get asked for more proof down the line for intent to return to Canada something like that will be helpful, and my guess based in what people have posted here is that if IRCC does question your intent to return to Canada it'll be several months into the process, so just keep plugging away at getting things ready for the job hunt/reaching out to people etc even after your application is submitted to IRCC so that if they do come back looking for more you can say "Here's what I've been doing in the last several months since the application was submitted."
As a side note, my own opinion that's basically an anecdote is that being a student outside Canada is beneficial for showing proof of intent to return over having an established career outside Canada because there's a really natural reason for why you're intending to return at such and such a time when your program ends, and should be fewer questions of "But your life is so established in country X why should you uproot now? Are you really intending on moving back?"
Good luck - both on the immigration and the tail end of the PhD! My husband and I both found our quality of life went down in the last year of the PhD but rebounded magnificently after graduation.
My husband was far enough along when we submitted the application that he'd actually applied for jobs and we included a table listing the jobs he'd applied for and what the application status was for each (never heard back, phone interview, skills test etc). If you get asked for more proof down the line for intent to return to Canada something like that will be helpful, and my guess based in what people have posted here is that if IRCC does question your intent to return to Canada it'll be several months into the process, so just keep plugging away at getting things ready for the job hunt/reaching out to people etc even after your application is submitted to IRCC so that if they do come back looking for more you can say "Here's what I've been doing in the last several months since the application was submitted."
As a side note, my own opinion that's basically an anecdote is that being a student outside Canada is beneficial for showing proof of intent to return over having an established career outside Canada because there's a really natural reason for why you're intending to return at such and such a time when your program ends, and should be fewer questions of "But your life is so established in country X why should you uproot now? Are you really intending on moving back?"
Good luck - both on the immigration and the tail end of the PhD! My husband and I both found our quality of life went down in the last year of the PhD but rebounded magnificently after graduation.
