You can apply for your permanent residency directly and then look for a job after you get it. You can look at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/index.asp and see if there is something you qualify for. Apart from that, like PMM said, there are various working holiday programs if you are in the right country and of the right age and they may give you an open work permit for one or two years. Generally you don't get an open work permit in Canada. It's normally tied to an employer. You can read about work permits here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/index.asp and here you can read about what the employer has to do to hire you: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/workplaceskills/foreign_workers/supperimm.shtml
