I believe you can work while the visa is processing - so long as you are not at any point out of visa status. There is a lot of information here about the visas in Canada cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?q=512&t=15 and you could take a look at the FAQs and the various issues discussed on this site. Should be straightforward to get the work permit so hopefully you won't have any problems.