Help with Canada Trip in 3 weeks!

[xiosen]

Hello All,

My girlfriend and I are about 3 weeks out from traveling to Canada (toronto to montreal) for the first time for about 4 months. At the end of the 4 month period we have to come back to the US for a wedding. I am trying to figure out a proper game plan for when we come back so that I can save enough money to finance it. As it stands now if my girlfriend gets a job in the 4 months we are vacationing then we have nothing to worry about and will be able to stay longer (im self employed and can only get an open work permit after she gets an offer in her field). The problem arises in what to do if we do not have a job offer.

Both of us are committed to trying to visit canada for a year or two to decide if we like it and want to create a home here. However should we not be able to find work in the first 4 months I am wondering about setting up shop in a border town like buffalo, ny. My question is, do you feel living in a border town would increase our chances of finding work? Right now we are aimlessly applying online and hopefully when we visit on vacation we can network and meet some connections. All our stuff is in Phoenix, AZ and coming back here in my opinion would make a lot harder to find work just like the troubles we are having now. So staying in a border town is another financial risk as we will not have any possessions for who knows how long.

Other than potentially being able to fly or drive to an interview or looking better on resumes being closer, is there any benefit to living in a border town? What about any drawbacks?

Thanks for any advice you might have!

 

[xiosen]

Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas for us?

 

[scylla]

It's difficult to provide any real advice since finding a job in Canada as a foreign worker is typically quite difficult. Based on your older posts, it looks like your girlfriend qualifies under NAFTA. If so, that certainly makes things easier since an LMO isn't required. However she still needs a work permit to be able to legally work in Canada and employers often see this as a barrier they're not interested in dealing with.

Living in a border town would certainly make it easier to attend interviews in person. The only downside I see is the relocation costs and what any costs to you might be if you aren't successful in finding a job in Canada and decide to return to AZ. Otherwise I don't see any issues with the border plan.

When you come for your visit to Canada, make sure you pack like tourists (i.e. don't pack like you're moving or bring things that make it look like you're moving). You could run into issues at the border if you show up looking like you're planning on settling down.

It might also be worthwhile to see if you can find out what the job market is like for your girlfriend's profession. Are there too many people in Canada with these qualifications? Not enough? This research might give you some idea of how doable your plans are. Also, I assume you are common law (i.e. have lived together for a minimum of one full year). For you to qualify for an open work permit, you must be common law.

 

[xiosen]

Thank you for your reply. My main questions pertained to how to improve our chances of success at finding a job while we are there and what is a good course of action once we have to leave.

She does qualify under NAFTA for one of the jobs and we have been networking as much as possible through our connections in the states to get some contacts in Canada. The object is to definitely try and get a work permit as everything hinges upon that. I am also looking at putting my business' on hold and possibly entering the job market as well as a last resort. We do qualify as a common-law if she qualifies.

We are packing light for sure (just a backpack each). From what we can tell there is always a need for medical lab technologists so I think it should be do-able. Although everyone we spoke to said just to apply online (which I believe our AZ address is getting us filtered out).

I am thinking then while we are vacating and enjoying the sites that by putting a canadian address on the applications where we are staying would improve our chances of not being filtered out. We still have to mark no to legally work but it may get one of us in the door. I suppose then the next best option then once our time expires is to try the border plan and re-visit the finances while we are in canada to make arrangements for the next phase.

With any luck we will be able to find work and stay!