Help with Work Permit Type and advice on job searching

[buckyit]

Hi All,

I am a United States Citizen living in Hawaii. I want to work in Vancouver, BC. for a year to 2 years to broaden my skill set and started looking up work permits. I do see multiple types of work permits (open, other, international experience Canada, etc.) It looks like most of the time you need the specific job offer from an employer to submit with your permit application and wanted to verify that is the "other" selection for that question on the form. Also is it also wide spread just to try to apply for a "open" work permit anyway which does not seem to be locked down to a specific job or company.

Also any ideas for searching for jobs other than direct contact with companies and temp agencies? Any organizations specializing in finding foreign work in Canada (I will be applying for Information Technology Tier 2, client, and Jr. system admin positions). Thank you all!

 

[scylla]

You don't qualify for an open work permit (these are only available to people in specific circumstances).

To qualify for a work permit, you first need to find an employer who is willing to offer you a job. You will also need an approved Labour Market Opinion (provided by the employer) if your job does not qualify under NAFTA.

Depending on your age, you may want to check out the SWAP working holiday visa program that allows you to work and live in Canada for a year without having a job offer first. Google SWAP working holiday visa - and see if you qualify.

 

[buckyit]

Thanks for the tip. I am 27 years of age, and did pour over the IEC permit site as well. Since US is not on the IEC list, i tried looking at the recognized organizations that could help and only found AIESEC for IT related opportunities. They are only open to students and recent graduates (which I am reaching out to them for their definition of "recent" as i am 3 years out of college). SWAP looks neat, but requires applicants to get the IEC first (meeting requirements of the specific IEC permit) and then applying for SWAP .

I will be selecting other for my work permit application once a job is found first. I do have one agency that seems to be helpful in Vancouver with assistance for work permits (along side my own job search efforts) , but need to plan a small trip as the agency rep suggested that might render better results in person (definitely not NAFTA rated and going to need the LMO). Unemployment in Canada right now for IT work looks to be extremely low so hoping that swings in favor. Any other suggestions or advice for finding the possible job offers in Vancouver would be much appreciated!!

Thank you scylla for your swift reply.

 

[scylla]

It's too bad you don't qualify under NAFTA. And yes - you must be a full time student to qualify for SWAP. So that's out.

To be brutally honest, you should expect it to be difficult to find an employer who is willing to go through the LMO process. IT is not regarded as an area where there is a shortage of Canadian workers. This means that an employer who wants to hire you will have to work pretty hard to prove they were unable to find a Canadian for the role in order to obtain the LMO approval (especially for someone who is a relatively new grad).

But by all means give it a go. Hopefully you'll get lucky.