TWP: No employer willing in Quebec

[Ferret]

I'm running into dead end after dead end. I am looking for a job in graphic design, hoping to work with a Temporary Work Visa until I am granted an Open Work Visa through my application for permanent residence. I've been here for almost three months now, broke, with student loans impending repayment, and I hit the same issue.

Every job I interview for, they love me. Sometimes I even work a few days of trial, seeing the workplace, etc, but when it comes to filling out the paperwork to grant me a Temporary Work Visa, they point blank refuse. My most recent failure was a job I felt I fit perfectly. I worked in their office for 3 days, learning their systems and befriending the employees before the Human Resources girl came back from vacation and said hiring me was out of the question. The lady who had initially hired me on, not knowing how complicated the process was, was very apologetic. Said otherwise I was perfect, way more qualified and likable then any of the other candidates. I couldn't have done better.

I spent a couple days putting together a very well written email, describing my situation, outlining the whole process for them, providing links to forms and mailing checklists, making it as easy as I possibly could. I sent it to the company asking that it be forwarded to HR. Within a few hours I got another call with apologies, explaining that HR doesnt care, they've done it in the past and it was horrible and they will never do it again.

Is this normal? Is this the experience people have? I dont understand how anyone can immigrate here against these kinds of odds. My mom tells me it's a good sign, that at least they wanted to hire me. But I see it as a horrible sign. They wanted me and it still wasn't worth it to do the paperwork. Do I need to look for bigger companies? Do I just need to flounder around being broke for the- what, 9 - 14 months it takes to get an Open Work Visa? How do you do it? I feel so hopeless

 

[scylla]

Yes - this is normal.

The problem is that is order to hire you - an employer must prove they were unable to find and hire a Canadian citizen or PR for the role. It doesn't make a difference if you are the best / most experienced / most skilled candidate. If the can find a Canadian to do the job (even if this person can't do it as well as you can), then going by the rules, they can't hire you.

Graphic designers are not in short supply in Canada - and that's the crux of your problem. Human Resources Canada keeps careful track of these stats. And they are far more likely to deny a labour market opinion if it's for an occupation for which they know there are more candidates looking for jobs than jobs available. I'm guessing this is why the companies you've approached won't go through with the paperwork. They already know from past experiences that it's going to be denied. (Again, this is my guess.) If you still have a good working relationship with one of these companies, I would go back and flat out ask if they are hesitant to go through with the OWP due to the paperwork involved alone - or if the HR person said the request would only be rejected and there's no point. If it's the paperwork only - then I would try more companies and maybe you'll get lucky. If it's the latter (file rejected), then unfortunately you may have to wait until you have OWP approval.

Assuming you submitted an OWP application along with your inland PR application, you should have the OWP in-hand 9-10 months after submitting the application. It's definitely a long wait. I've read that other inlanders will pass this time by volunteering (note: make sure you don't volunteer as a graphics designer since it's illegal to work as a volunteer for a role they would normally pay someone to do), taking short courses, etc. If you haven't done so already, join one of the inland threads on the Family Sponsorship section of this site to discuss how others have spent this waiting time and find support from others who are waiting as well. Some of us choose the outland route specifically to avoid this long wait (and other reasons). However I know this isn't always possible/preferable for everyone.

Good luck! Maybe something will pan out.