Hi,
Last year I was in a similar situation as you (I'm a software developer from eastern Europe with 10+ years experience in .Net and Java, telecommunications and insurance industry ...) but I got a little bit lucky and managed to secure an open work permit through some youth exchange program and with that I got a contract position in one Canadian company. Last week I got a permanent offer for that position and before that a work permit for another year so now I can apply for permanent residence (I hope).
I first came to Canada last year in March for one month to see my relatives and to decide what to do with my life. I think I've sent over 60 applications to job postings on sites like workoplis and monsterjobs (I was more then qualified for them) and if I remember correctly I got two calls, both ended very quickly after they realized I don't have a work permit. As I hold some MS software developer certificates I became a member of one Canadian group which helps Canadian MS certified developers with finding jobs and organizing job fairs in Microsoft Center in Mississauga. I even went on one job fair but I was rejected very quickly by all companies because it is very difficult for a Canadian company to obtain something called Labour Market Opinion (LMO) which they need when they want to employ foreign workers as software developers. I even went to Service Canada (it's an umbrella for several government agencies) to get some advice about my situation.
So, when Canadian company wants to employ foreign worker they need first to obtain LMO. LMO is issued by one government agency when employer proves that he tried to employ Canadian citizen or permanent resident but he could find a right person. Canada, especially provinces like Ontario, Alberta, Quebec and British Columbia have a very strong post secondary education in IT so there are enough Canadian citizens and permanent residents to fill job openings and because of that there are little chances to obtain LMO (I was told this by a counselor from Service Canada, my HR manager and one very nice man for job fair). You would have to hold some very peculiar knowledge/expertise which Canadian employers can't find or are having difficulties to find here. Situation was a little bit different several years ago when software developers where a little bit hard to find and these positions were even on a list of occupations for Federal Skilled Worker Immigration Program but that changed and they even had facilitated process for hiring foreign workers as software developers which waived LMO but that was canceled in 2010.
So after one month being in Canada I returned to my home country very sad thinking I don't have a chance of getting a job in Canada and relocating here permanently. As i said before, I got lucky because two weeks after my return home, that youth exchange program was announced and I managed to obtain a work permit.
Last October, I landed to Canada, and started to look for a job. It took me almost two months to get a job offer. First 6 weeks were terrible, I think I've sent again over 60 application for positions throughout Ontario province. I got an interview with one recruiting agency which placed me with them and that was it, nothing else. Not a single human email reply or phone call for all that applications I've sent. Then after 6 weeks, calls started, I got 3 interviews in one week, and decided to accept first offer (it was organized by recruiting agency). Today, I think I could have waited a little bit more and I even might secured a better paid job (now I have an average developer salary or a little bit more) but I will not complain.
Here are some of my general impressions and experiences gathered during my stay in Canada and by reading this forum
1. it is quite normal to not get any kind of reply to your job applications
2. it is normal that employers will ignore applications from people who are not in Canada and even if they are in Canada but they don't have a work permit
3. non Canadian post secondary education doesn't hold any value with employers (especially Asian education)
4. non Canadian work experience doesn't hold any special value with employers
5. fluent English is very very appreciated, I can not stress this enough
6. reference letters and recommendations from companies from other side of the world hold a little value here (except from well known corporations)
7. employers don't have any problems with hiring non Canadians as long they can legally work in Canada and have desired work experience and knowledge
So, your wife and you can come here and try to find a decent job, but without a work permit chances are like zero that you will get a job which you desire. It might be a different if you are willing to work low level jobs, they call them survival jobs (LMO for them is not difficult to obtain) but with them you will get nowhere. Then again, you or your wife might get lucky and impress some employer who is willing or can obtain LMO.
In case I didn't get that work permit, I had a backup plan which was something like I would enroll to Canadian university and earn Canadian degree in software engineering (I dropped out of my degree, I even made some enquiries can I transfer my marks to Canadian university). After you finish Canadian university (bachelor, MBA, PHD) you can get a open work permit which is valid almost as duration of your education. I would advise that you study this path (your spouse can get an open work permit while you study) and decide are both of you willing to try this, it's not cheap but it's I think the easiest and most secure way to immigrate to Canada. But before all this, you should come here for several weeks to see do you even like it
