Survival jobs sometimes become permanent -- there is no formula to succeeding, nor is there any magic time you work the survival job before everything comes together. I once saw a conference where the B.C. government found six FSW immigrants to come talk about their success; it was very nice, but every one of the 6 had gone into real estate and not the 'useful skill' for which they immigrated!
Think very carefully about where you go -- consider ONLY employment. If your relative is living in Halifax or Victoria but the IT jobs are in Toronto . . . then, my friend, you go to Toronto and survive by yourself.
Also, here's the thing about world class experience -- it doesn't exist. Suppose you've been managing the most awesome investment bank in London; the biggest investment bank in Toronto has plenty of locals 'just below' the level of manager. They will look at your application, but they will also look at the application of people they know, who have already been doing the work, and they will hire one of those. So you go to Thunder Bay instead -- does Thunder Bay need world class experience? Hell no, World Class Experience will leave Thunder Bay as fast as it can. Thunder Bay hires the bank manager from the bank assistant managers who already live there and like it just fine. If you have World Class Experience you need to think very carefully about how you are going to compete at the World Level with Canadians who are also World Class. It's the same as having a PhD and applying for a job with a masters.
Sometimes I see a very interesting job that I'm qualified for -- it pays a lot of money, it looks great. Then I tell myself, "There are people who worked just under the person who just quit. What do I have that would make me more attractive than those people?" (Because everyone likes to get a raise and a promotion, do I think they won't apply?) If the answer is 'nothing', I don't apply. This is what it means to be an immigrant, you are a stranger with qualifications, you have to go where you are needed, not where you fit best.