This is in Ontario and not remote, its in Waterloo.
BTW, I agree with what you said jnathan. Thats what i found everytime i screened at interviews, most of them not upto the mark. I found a whole lot who could not talk proper English, the others probably havent seen a computer in their life. Yes, the certificates part..oh yeah that annoys me more than anything. Many ppl have asked me..."will having this certification get me a job"... my answer is always simple... "having a cert alone never gets you a job, and for one, you dont need a cert...all you have to know is to talk"
For IT, no one asks for canadian experience. All they ask is proper experience and if the candidate understands what he said in his resume!