Entering Canada as tourist while pending IEC application

[Nounours]

Hi,

I have a job offer in Canada at a company to start next week and work there for 4 months. They submitted an IEC for me to get a temporary work permit (working holiday) for that time but there was a huge delay in the application system and eventough we started months ago the working holiday is still not finalized. My girlfriend who is traveling with me and also submitted an IEC application has the same issue. Of course I will have to postpone the starting date at the company since I will receive a IEC in a few weeks. But the issue is that we booked our flights for the coming weekends (we are from Europe) and payed for our appartement and arranged everything at home (e.g. temporarily put my job here on hold). We just want to proceed with our travel plans and already enter Canada as a tourist so we can make use of the flights and apartement we payed for. When our IEC is finalized after a few weeks, we will go to the border again and pick up the temporary work permit and then I can start my job in Cananda.

The problem is that HR people at the company in Canada informed me that I could have lots of struggle entering Canada as a tourist since they could notice I have an application pending. So they could deny me from entering Canada as a tourist.

Can someone provide some advice on my situation? I think my situation is reasonable and it makes sense for me to enter Canada as a tourist for a while to use my apartement and flights. So I don't see it is such a problem for me to enter? We probably should tell the border control agent ourselves that we are here for Holiday + work (but for the first month only holiday)? I can show them I have a place to stay for in Canada and that I already payed for it + I can show that Im able to support the two of us financially.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks

 

[avro1959]

I am by no means an expert or an immigration lawyer but I'd like to make a comment here based on what I've read before on a similar situation.

If you are from a country not requiring a visa to enter Canada, you can visit Canada with the intention of visiting Canada temporarily. That is, you have to convince the border officer that you are visiting temporarily. Proof would be return tickets, accommodation, funds, etc. This needs to be kept ready in case the officer asks further questions.

You should not under any circumstances say that you intend to stay or work in Canada. This will give the officer grounds to refuse entry. Do not even mention the IEC application. The officer may already know that you've applied for IEC working holiday visa, and if they mention it, just stick to your story of returning to your home country at a certain date.

During your visit to Canada, if you get your letter of Introduction (LOI), then you can flagpole to activate your work permit. For an example of how this is done, google "activate your canadian work permit flagpole" and you'll find an article to describe the process.

Of course, the best and low-risk option is to wait for your LOI in your home country before travelling.