Coming to Canada for a few months and want to work in restaurant industry

[mcleveille]

Hello!

I'm having a bit of a dilemma. I've been going over immigration documents for the past two hours and can't figure things out.

Boyfriend is Dutch, planning on visiting Canada for a few months (2-3) come September. Ideally, we'd want to find him a job in the restaurant/service industry and he has a lot of experience with this back home.

I'm not sure how to make this happen. It seems that all work permits are very specific to certain industries. I know he can be in Canada for 6 months as a visitor but getting him a job is important.

Any thoughts SUPER appreciated. I don't know where to start.

 

[scylla]

The short answer is that working most likely won't be possible.

He needs a work permit in order to work in Canada. To apply for a work permit he first needs to obtain a full time job offer from an employer in Canada. That employer must then obtain something called an approved LMIA (permission to hire a foreign worker). The LMIA process typically takes 4-6 months and costs the employer $1,000 + advertising costs. Once your boyfriend has the job offer and approved LMIA from his employer in Canada - he can then apply for a closed work permit tied to that specific employer. It's typically difficult to find an employer willing to go through this process since it's so long and expensive.

Normally I would recommend that he look into the IEC / Working Holiday Visa program which would allow him to obtain a work permit in Canada without finding an employer first (if your boyfriend is the right age). Unfortunately there are limited spots available and they are all gone for this year. So the earliest he would be able to apply under this program is sometime in early 2017.

 

[mcleveille]

Hi!

Thanks for that. That's what I feared. We'll definitely apply first thing in 2017..

Only option I'm left with is finding him a remote online job based out of the Netherlands, wish me luck!