Job offer as equine groom/rider: which work permit?

[Alexandrin]

Hello,

I hope this is in the right place. If not, I apologise.

I'm a 23 year-old student from France. I applied to the IEC back in Novembre, but never received an invitation, so I was never able to ask for a work permit.
Due to personal reasons, I decided to go to Vancouver on vacation for a few months, and look for someone willing to sponsor me there.

I found a position as a groom and rider as part of a competitive team in the Greater Vancouver area, and the owner of the stables/head rider is willing to sponsor me. She agreed to write me a job offer. However, neither of us really knows what to expect, or what to apply for.
I have been practising horse-riding for the past 20 years, and have more than enough experience around horses: I'm a qualified groom, handler and rider, and more.

I was wondering under which visa I should apply? How should she sponsor me?

Also, I saw something about polo grooms being exempt of work visas because of the difficulty of finding some, and I was wondering if that applied to any kind of groom for a competitive team/person/stables? http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/temp/work/permit/athletes.asp

Thank you all in advance for your answers,

Best

 

[scylla]

Normally your employer would need to obtain an approved LMIA before you could apply for a work permit.

You can certainly try to apply under the international mobility program without an LMIA. I don't know if a non-polo groom qualifies. I suspect no one on this forum will be able to answer such as specific question. You'll probably need to either hire an immigration lawyer to help you - or try applying and see what happens.