Wala pa naman ako dun and still waiting for MR, but nasa IT field din ako (not programming) and I share the same sentiments as you. I have some IT friends who landed there recently and found their jobs within a reasonable amount of time, im saying 5 days after landing, one after a month or so, and another a couple of months later after landing; they used every possible tool for job hunting like referral, job bank, etc.; not the ideal job they had in mind maybe but just enough to get them started and going, and ung iba moved on to their 2nd job na in search for the job which matches their skill set. depende lng cgro sa diskarte and network of people you know and people you will still know, tsaka more patience and determination/motivation to find the job you really want, and of course lots and lots of prayers and faith kay Lord. Madami factors to consider and we can expect life to be tougher there, but eventually it will all be worth it. kahit pa cgro ibang bansa plan natin mgmigrate, we can only do one thing and that is to equip ourselves with anything na we think will help us establish a better life when we get there, as no one can really tell whats our future gonna be like. Kung iisipin mas mahirap pa nga yata for those na nasa mga regulated ung profession kasi they need to register and wait some time, ang tiaga at hirap that comes with it, yet they made it through and living the life they wished for.
siguro most if not all in this forum also have that fear of the unknown and uncertainty, specially dun sa mga buong family pa talaga ang kasama mgmmigrate (like me), but thats the risk we all are willing to take to give our family a better life, and best that we can possibly offer them. we only need one really good/positive reason to choose Canada (or another country you intend to migrate), and the rest of all the negative remarks and stories you hear I rather ignore. more flexible namn ang IT and its everywhere, provinces you mentioned have more opportunity for IT, so you shouldn't worry too much and just prepare your self for battle.. lets get it on!! hehe
you may want to read this post, got a lot of motivation and information from Ben.
http://memovingtocanada.blogspot.sg/