Hi all,
I have looked through various sources of information regarding working in Canada for several days. I have some concerns which I am thankful to be advised. I am interested in working in Quebec, in the field of IT Consulting/Analyst. I am a foreigner from outside Eu, with a Master degree in France and currently residing in France.
1. I was contacted by some Canadian employer. They want me to check with the Embassy whether I 'meet the condition to work in Canada, as they have agreed to hire people in the past, after which the person was not eligible to work in canada'. How can I get such certificate that I 'meet the condition to work'? They would like to make sure before proceeding with the hiring process. They will come to France late November. I have mailed to both CIC and Quebec immigration but I think the answer will only come in months.
2. From my understanding, it seems to be almost impossible (and take very long time) to get a permanent work permit right away in Canada, so the best strategy for most foreigners is to try to be temporary workers for several years first, then apply for permanent worker permit under one of the federal programs from inside Canada. Is it correct? In that case, can the company 'pretend' to be hiring you as a temporary worker, while in fact, it is supposedly a permanent job? Are companies willing to do that when hiring foreigners? It's better not to ward them off before they even see me by saying I can only get a permanent work permit in at least 1-2 years.
3. Let's say one follows the strategy above, how does the temporary employement period affect the decision of LMO? I think it's kind of trade-off, yet I am not sure:
- short period (e.g. one year) and it's easier to be accepted, yet after 1 year the process has to be repeated: LMO, Ceretificat d'accceptance du Quebec, Temporary work visa under Canada immgration. After one year I am eligible to apply for permanent work permit, but if the temporary work permit extension is not accepted, I have to stop working right away!
- long period (e.g 2-4 years, as temporary worker is allowed maximum 4 years), so that after one year I can apply for the Federal Skilled program. While waiting for their decision (which take around 1.5 years), I am still doing my job. Yet this reduce the chance of getting the LMO in the first place, as one of the criteria is that employers have to prove the job is to fill labour shortage and they cannot TRAIN a local in one year. 3-4 years jobs do not look like 'filling labour shortage at the moment'.
Which one do you think is the better strategy?
I got the thoughts for question 2,3 because when I attempted the online evaluation service at CIC, there were two questions: 'how long do you intend to stay in Canada' and 'how long is the job offer?'. Results from these two questions changed the outcome of the evaluation:
- Permanent- Permanent -> Not eligible
- Temporary more than 6 months-Permanent -> Not eligible
- Temporary more than 6 months-Temporary more than 6 months-> Eligible
It seems I pass the evaluation of Quebec though, yet there is still another level of application at CIC for the work permit.
Another related question: how do these online evaluation really reflect the real-life decision?
4. Is applying only to Quebec really justified, with another provincial layer added on top of the Canada immgiration? Will the provincial support (Certificat d'acceptance du Quebec) add any advantage to the national immigration decision? Do others province add another layer as does Quebec?
5. In the LMO form to be filled by employers, session 'job offer information', the tick box says 'permanent (not applicable in Quebec)'
[please Google "labour market opinion application form", as I am not allowed to post link yet. My bad!]
Does it support my saying in the first question, that it is not possible to get a permanent job right away? Yet several points in that form keep repeating 'no applicable for Quebec', even the Federal Skilled Program!?
Many thanks for your input!
I have looked through various sources of information regarding working in Canada for several days. I have some concerns which I am thankful to be advised. I am interested in working in Quebec, in the field of IT Consulting/Analyst. I am a foreigner from outside Eu, with a Master degree in France and currently residing in France.
1. I was contacted by some Canadian employer. They want me to check with the Embassy whether I 'meet the condition to work in Canada, as they have agreed to hire people in the past, after which the person was not eligible to work in canada'. How can I get such certificate that I 'meet the condition to work'? They would like to make sure before proceeding with the hiring process. They will come to France late November. I have mailed to both CIC and Quebec immigration but I think the answer will only come in months.
2. From my understanding, it seems to be almost impossible (and take very long time) to get a permanent work permit right away in Canada, so the best strategy for most foreigners is to try to be temporary workers for several years first, then apply for permanent worker permit under one of the federal programs from inside Canada. Is it correct? In that case, can the company 'pretend' to be hiring you as a temporary worker, while in fact, it is supposedly a permanent job? Are companies willing to do that when hiring foreigners? It's better not to ward them off before they even see me by saying I can only get a permanent work permit in at least 1-2 years.
3. Let's say one follows the strategy above, how does the temporary employement period affect the decision of LMO? I think it's kind of trade-off, yet I am not sure:
- short period (e.g. one year) and it's easier to be accepted, yet after 1 year the process has to be repeated: LMO, Ceretificat d'accceptance du Quebec, Temporary work visa under Canada immgration. After one year I am eligible to apply for permanent work permit, but if the temporary work permit extension is not accepted, I have to stop working right away!
- long period (e.g 2-4 years, as temporary worker is allowed maximum 4 years), so that after one year I can apply for the Federal Skilled program. While waiting for their decision (which take around 1.5 years), I am still doing my job. Yet this reduce the chance of getting the LMO in the first place, as one of the criteria is that employers have to prove the job is to fill labour shortage and they cannot TRAIN a local in one year. 3-4 years jobs do not look like 'filling labour shortage at the moment'.
Which one do you think is the better strategy?
I got the thoughts for question 2,3 because when I attempted the online evaluation service at CIC, there were two questions: 'how long do you intend to stay in Canada' and 'how long is the job offer?'. Results from these two questions changed the outcome of the evaluation:
- Permanent- Permanent -> Not eligible
- Temporary more than 6 months-Permanent -> Not eligible
- Temporary more than 6 months-Temporary more than 6 months-> Eligible
It seems I pass the evaluation of Quebec though, yet there is still another level of application at CIC for the work permit.
Another related question: how do these online evaluation really reflect the real-life decision?
4. Is applying only to Quebec really justified, with another provincial layer added on top of the Canada immgiration? Will the provincial support (Certificat d'acceptance du Quebec) add any advantage to the national immigration decision? Do others province add another layer as does Quebec?
5. In the LMO form to be filled by employers, session 'job offer information', the tick box says 'permanent (not applicable in Quebec)'
[please Google "labour market opinion application form", as I am not allowed to post link yet. My bad!]
Does it support my saying in the first question, that it is not possible to get a permanent job right away? Yet several points in that form keep repeating 'no applicable for Quebec', even the Federal Skilled Program!?
Many thanks for your input!