I need some guidance... I am lost.

[MapleLeafRaptor]

Hello everyone, I am lost on what to do with my EE application and I am hoping someone can give me some light.

I've been living in Canada for 3,5 years enrolled in a private college which doesn't help me much regarding immigration but I had no money for a public college before. 1,5 years ago I got CLB 10 and 9 in the IELTS and my points went up to 463. Unfortunately, when I had everything ready and applied for EE hoping to get the ITA the score went over 463 and never went down since then. Very unfortunate timing.

I got married and my wife used to go to Centennial College for 2 years, so she got the 3 years PGWP. She was 6 months away from completing 2 years of experience when COVID hit and she got Laid Off. She stayed in Canada until December waiting for some measure from the Government but in January they said that only those who are in Canada are able to get their PGWP extended. That hit us like a rock.

So our points now with me being the main applicant is 457 which 2 years ago was an awesome score. If she gets the CLB 9 even with 1-year of Canadian experience she will have only 447. CLB 9 and 2 years experience, that will be 473. The problem is that her English is level CLB 7-8 nowadays and she will need to get back to work to complete 2 years of experience. It means I will have to go to public college.

So now we are investing in a public college for me so she can work and complete these 2 years of experience in Canada but she will only able to apply for the CEC after one year of work because her previous experience will be more than 3 years ago. We are enrolled at Centennial College (1-year program) for the May intake and we agreed that if we need we would get 1 more year program to get the 3-year PGWP.

I was studying French (I am a Portuguese speaker so It is not absurd for me to learn) but I am looking for Short-term possibilities and french would be more like mid-term. I would have to pay for classes as well because I am not feeling motivated to study by myself in this pandemic.

Also, now the CIC is saying on Twitter that classes that are online even if the campus is closed will not count CRS points as a Canadian Education If that confirms I will postpone to September because this is nuts.

Moving provinces is also an option. Doing one-year college in Toronto and maybe go to the Atlantic for 1 more year and work there for 1 year to try to get the PNP.

What would you guys do? Any help is appreciated.

 

[jrossi]

Well, Masters won't be enough for you. Neither will an improvement on the IELTS.
The ways would be either french, the Atlantic or hoping to get lucky and receive a PNP nomination.

From the 3, the easier, cheaper, most secure and most predictable of all would be French. In other words: there's not an easy path. With you being a portuguese speaker, I would say learning French is a no-brainer. French will give you, at least, 62 extra points. It would end your nightmare, would bring you stability... If that's not a motivation, what could be?
If French is not in your radar, than I would definitely try to move to Atlantic ASAP (honestly didn't get why you would choose to do 1yr college on Toronto before going to the Atlantic... the sooner you get there, sooner you'll have a network to pursue a job offer).

 

[MapleLeafRaptor]

Well, Masters won't be enough for you. Neither will an improvement on the IELTS.
The ways would be either french, the Atlantic or hoping to get lucky and receive a PNP nomination.

From the 3, the easier, cheaper, most secure and most predictable of all would be French. In other words: there's not an easy path. With you being a portuguese speaker, I would say learning French is a no-brainer. French will give you, at least, 62 extra points. It would end your nightmare, would bring you stability... If that's not a motivation, what could be?
If French is not in your radar, than I would definitely try to move to Atlantic ASAP (honestly didn't get why you would choose to do 1yr college on Toronto before going to the Atlantic... the sooner you get there, sooner you'll have a network to pursue a job offer).

Hey jrossi, thank you for your reply!

I think you really opened my mind. I guess I am trying to rush things and because of that, I am not doing things so well. I was studying French for around 3 months in a row (every day) but for some reason, I lost motivation but I think you are right. I need to think in the mid-term. Maybe thinking about taking my test around September or something when I would have almost 1 year of study.

About the Atlantic Provinces... yeah It is a possibility. I got my SP for the may intake at Centennial, If I ask for my money back they will not give me 100% of it but I can change the intake. That's why I thought about completing 1 year at Centennial, 1 Year maybe in Halifax, and getting 3 years PGWP meanwhile my wife would complete 2 years of experience (she already have 1,5)

But I guess you are right I should focus on French and maybe postpone my college.