Options for PGWP holders

[valar morghulis]

Hello experts,

I have been following this forum for some time now and have finally created account to ask a few questions and share my knowledge.

My current score is 379, and the evaluation of foreign education is underway, and once evaluated, my score will bump up to 433. I am currently employed in the province of Ontario on an entry level position. My question is, what should be my options to get selected from the express entry pool?At my current position, it is impossible to receive LMIA as I work in an occupation where it is not difficult to find Canadian workers. My PGWP expires next year in April.

- Should I start looking for new job (probably in remote areas where it is difficult to find workforce)? In this case an employer may be willing to obtain a LMIA - given that there is shortage of workers.

- Should I wait for Ontario PNP to start?

- Should I wait for the draw scores to go down? This is risky step, as no one know if , when and how much the score will drop for receiving an ITA.

Please share your ideas. May be start this thread as a portal where everyone can share what they are going to do.

Thank you very much for reading this. I look forward to your valuable opinions.

 

[valar morghulis]

Re: Options for PGWP holders - Please share ideas.

Anyone would like to participate in this discussion?

 

[avm]

last month draw cut-off score is 886. This means all candidates having LMIA.

my expectation is that most of the LMIA candidates go-off within 4-5 draws (around May). After that CIC should reduce the cut-off score due to lack of LMIA candidates.

 

[valar morghulis]

last month draw cut-off score is 886. This means all candidates having LMIA.

my expectation is that most of the LMIA candidates go-off within 4-5 draws (around May). After that CIC should reduce the cut-off score due to lack of LMIA candidates.

Thanks for your insight. Even if they select people without valid job offers, the cutoff score may remain between 500 and 600 (or 450 and 600) - with this they will comply with their statement of "a job offer is not a requirement" and "only highly ranked candidates will be selected".

 

[avm]

those who are getting ITAs now, they had old LMOs (issued before 21st July 2014). After 21st july new LMIA rules came.

at this moment canada economy in critical situation (crude oil prices sliding, loonie value plunging against US dollar). Moreover, this year is General election year. So conservative government taking stringent measures to curb unemployment.

So getting LMIA is at this moment is very tough.

hopefully most of the people having scores around 360-410 will get ITAs

 

[valar morghulis]

those who are getting ITAs now, they had old LMOs (issued before 21st July 2014). After 21st july new LMIA rules came.

at this moment canada economy in critical situation (crude oil prices sliding, loonie value plunging against US dollar). Moreover, this year is General election year. So conservative government taking stringent measures to curb unemployment.

So getting LMIA is at this moment is very tough.

hopefully most of the people having scores around 360-410 will get ITAs

And we are not sure how long will it take for scores to come down to 360 (if the score EVER come down).

 

[pixelfrontier]

If you're considering getting a LMIA I say play to your advantages when looking for a job. Do you have any particular skillset that most Canadians won't have? For example, if you speak several languages, try looking for job offers where they need people who speak those languages and you would most likely get a LMIA since not many Canadians would even be able to compete with you.

Other than that, how long have you been working in Canada for? How many points did EE give you for Canadian work experience? If you didn't get the maximum number of points (max is 80 points for 5 years or more) and say you have worked for 1 year and 10 months it might be worth waiting 2 months so that EE will award you 53 points for Canadian work experience (equivalent of 2 years of work) instead of 40 (equivalent to 1 year of work). You could use those 2 months to look for a new job and also practice and improve your IELTS/CELPIP score too, if you're not close to the max number of points you can get for that. It really depends on how many points you currently have and how much you can improve for each category right now.

 

[valar morghulis]

If you're considering getting a LMIA I say play to your advantages when looking for a job. Do you have any particular skillset that most Canadians won't have? For example, if you speak several languages, try looking for job offers where they need people who speak those languages and you would most likely get a LMIA since not many Canadians would even be able to compete with you.

Other than that, how long have you been working in Canada for? How many points did EE give you for Canadian work experience? If you didn't get the maximum number of points (max is 80 points for 5 years or more) and say you have worked for 1 year and 10 months it might be worth waiting 2 months so that EE will award you 53 points for Canadian work experience (equivalent of 2 years of work) instead of 40 (equivalent to 1 year of work). You could use those 2 months to look for a new job and also practice and improve your IELTS/CELPIP score too, if you're not close to the max number of points you can get for that. It really depends on how many points you currently have and how much you can improve for each category right now.

Thanks for your valuable comment. I am currently employed on a PGWP and have one year and one month of experience. My current CRS score is 379 and am waiting for my ECA results which will improve my score to 433.

 

[john1818]

Thanks for your valuable comment. I am currently employed on a PGWP and have one year and one month of experience. My current CRS score is 379 and am waiting for my ECA results which will improve my score to 433.

I am in the same boat. I have the exact score of 379. I will wait for another couple of draws and then probably to a different province where atleast I can secure PNP, The EE profile will be still active and you can get ITA from any where so that option would be still open. I would suggest the same for you. Wait for couple of draws and if the situation does not change, move to a different province and secure PNP.

 

[valar morghulis]

I am in the same boat. I have the exact score of 379. I will wait for another couple of draws and then probably to a different province where atleast I can secure PNP, The EE profile will be still active and you can get ITA from any where so that option would be still open. I would suggest the same for you. Wait for couple of draws and if the situation does not change, move to a different province and secure PNP.

Thanks for your input. But timelines here are quite time sensitive. Waiting for a few draws (2 months?), moving to another province and find a job (2-3 months), apply for PNP (3-5 months). We are looking at about 10 months by the time one moves to a different province, find a job and get PNP and then getting the ITA is the additional wait time.

We are in a quite confusing situation. I sometimes wonder what if I move to another province for a job (and PNP) and the selection scores drop down to a point where it is easier to get ITA. In that case it won't be worth making that move. Just a thought.

 

[john1818]

Thanks for your input. But timelines here are quite time sensitive. Waiting for a few draws (2 months?), moving to another province and find a job (2-3 months), apply for PNP (3-5 months). We are looking at about 10 by the time one moves to a different province, find a job and get PNP and then getting the ITA is the additional wait time.

We are in a quite confusing situation. I sometimes wonder what if I move to another province for a job (and PNP) and the selection scores drop down to a point where it is easier to get ITA. In that case it won't be worth making that move. Just a thought.

I would suggest to start your planning as of today, look for shortest PNP processing times and at this time, it is SK, look for jobs online in different cities in SK, start applying. If you have any contacts in SK, ask them as well about accomodation and jobs. By the time it would be already 2 months and if the draws are not in favor, move right away without even thinking about anything. You need to sync everything together at this time. Even I am getting vibe that they would be liberal after 2 to 3 draws. But you never know whats gonna happen.

 

[john1818]

I would suggest to start your planning as of today, look for shortest PNP processing times and at this time, it is SK, look for jobs online in different cities in SK, start applying. If you have any contacts in SK, ask them as well about accomodation and jobs. By the time it would be already 2 months and if the draws are not in favor, move right away without even thinking about anything. You need to sync everything together at this time. Even I am getting vibe that they would be liberal after 2 to 3 draws. But you never know whats gonna happen.

There is another option. There are some immigration Consultants who can get you LMIA for aroung 5 to 6K. Start looking for those options as well.

 

[valar morghulis]

There is another option. There are some immigration Consultants who can get you LMIA for aroung 5 to 6K. Start looking for those options as well.

Thanks but no thanks!

 

[valar morghulis]

I would suggest to start your planning as of today, look for shortest PNP processing times and at this time, it is SK, look for jobs online in different cities in SK, start applying. If you have any contacts in SK, ask them as well about accomodation and jobs. By the time it would be already 2 months and if the draws are not in favor, move right away without even thinking about anything. You need to sync everything together at this time. Even I am getting vibe that they would be liberal after 2 to 3 draws. But you never know whats gonna happen.

Exactly. Your point of moving to other province(s) makes sense and applying for PNP. Since a PNP doesn't require a valid job offer, I think this is doable.

 

[john1818]

Thanks for your input. But timelines here are quite time sensitive. Waiting for a few draws (2 months?), moving to another province and find a job (2-3 months), apply for PNP (3-5 months). We are looking at about 10 months by the time one moves to a different province, find a job and get PNP and then getting the ITA is the additional wait time.

We are in a quite confusing situation. I sometimes wonder what if I move to another province for a job (and PNP) and the selection scores drop down to a point where it is easier to get ITA. In that case it won't be worth making that move. Just a thought.

One thing we all need to realize that Immigration of Canada doesn't want all the PGWP holders to settle in Ontario. They want us to move to less populated provinces.