Thinking of moving to Canada.

Moving to a new place let alone a new country is never an easy feat. If you have any questions whatsoever, please do not hesitate to post them here.

Hi Philipyeo,
Thank you for your reply. I see you are in Nova Scotia, Halifax

My biggest question is can I find work In Canada, Toronto ? Will It be difficult or Is the job market saturated.

I'm also looking to make friends, friends who will be able to advise me and assist me with Info and place where I can look for work, agencies and general advice.

What is important is papers. Even though, as you mentioned earlier that you work with your hands as a property renovator, you'll still need some kind of proof like a certification or something. Unfortunately its hard to prove if you had acquired your knowledge through the "university of hard-knocks". Even though sometimes, folks with experience may be better than those fresh out of college. I do not know what is the market like for folks in your line. Typically people in this line are self-employed and they get their jobs through the word of mouth.
As part of your research, try using jobbank.gc.ca

Here's a link from their site, http://www.jobbank.gc.ca/report-eng.do? … container2
that takes a look at jobs for home renovator in Toronto.
You can play around with the portal and search for surrounding regions like Mississauga, Brampton, Niagara, etc.

And here's an analysis of the its job outlook throughout Canada
http://www.jobbank.gc.ca/report-eng.do? … or#outlook

Personally I think it is an industry that should always have a jobs as homes will always need some work to be done.

Hi Philipyeo,
Thanks for your reply.

It's the same here If you don't have papers you can't really do much. However I do not have any certs to say I'm a qualified property renovator, I am self talk, and have worked for many years here in the UK, with references in hand and far to many pictures of my work..
I can apply for a work permit from here or I can wait till I arrive inn Canada, I use the Canadian Embassy here in the UK for all paper work

I appreciate you taking the time to send me the links, and I thank you very much. What line of work are you in ?

I may also have to search for accommodation too, as I was meant to be staying with my uncle in Milton, but I'm not sure if that will be the case, or I could stay with him until I find somewhere.

Iv'e looked on Kijjijji and I am contemplating putting a premuim advert on to find a place to live just incase.

Are there any other sights I can look at instead of Kijjijji ?


Cejay

Typically you might want to view the area first before deciding if its for you or not. Which is why its good to get boots on the ground first. In most cases, I know newcomers (whether they are students or professionals) may choose to stay in http://www.hihostels.ca/Ontario/176/HI- … page=rates Hosteling International which charges a lower rate per night. But you'll stay in a shared room of course. Its a place that backpackers normally choose to stay if they have no other choice. YMCA use to have cheap accommodations but I am not sure if that's still available.

If you choose to secure a place prior to coming over, then most of the time, you'll have to make payment for your security deposit and all that stuff before hand. Fortunately, Canada is very well "street mapped" by Google, so you could do some research and view the location first before making a final decision. You will want to find out things like how close it is to a bus stop, transit station, basic amenities etc. To help with that use https://www.walkscore.com to see how much does the place rate in terms of convenience.

I am not sure about advertising yourself. I think its a renters market. I would keep the money and hunt on my own. But if time is of a concern, you could post online for free though. I am sure you'll get a lot of replies since Toronto and GTA are saturated with condos/apartments. There's a lot of rich Torontonions with investment properties that they buy for renting out. Other sites to try, although not as popular are:

http://www.gottarent.com/http://www.rentboard.cahttp://craigslist.com   <--- US's version of kijiji

I would just stick with kijiji as that's Canada's default classifieds portal of choice. For folks in the states, they use craigslist. People in Canada do use Craigslist, but I find that its mostly Americans living in Canada

As for using the embassy for paper work, foreign embassy are only friendly if you are Canadian yourself or a Foreigner with a Canadian Permanent Residency status. So I am not sure how much you can get done there. Depending on how you want to approach getting you have to go at it in different ways. 2 popular methods are: (1) Get a work permit first (2) Get a permanent residency status first

The former requires that you have a job offer from a Canadian company. Then go through getting LMIA (previously LMO, stands for Labour Market Impact Analysis). See if your profession requires one - http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/apply-who-permit.asp

If the later, then you'd go for the Express Entry System (I would think so). You could expedite the process if you were to choose to settle in a smaller province, say for example Nova Scotia or PEI and apply for Express Entry via a nomination program of some sorts. If you were nominated, then you'll be fast track.

Another service that one can use is http://www.accestrain.com Access Employment which is a service based in Ontario. Unfortunately its most likely only available for Canadians or Permanent Resident only

Hi how are you today ?

I can't thank you enough for all the info and links you have sent me. I think I will come over to Canada in March and I guess I will need to look around and see what the city has to offer. I've been told Alberta is an up and coming place, something which I am interesting in exploring, then of course Nova Scotia i heard is really a good place to settle too.


As soon as I get time i will sit down and have a serious look at the links you have sent me Philip. I'm having to work all weekend so as soon as I'm off I will be on to it.

How long will it take to get a work permit , Is it something you can get very quickly ?


Its a pleasure talking to you and once again thank yo so much for your time and all the info you have sent me

Cejay

Hi everyone! i am Mireille from Cameroon. i am a new member to this forum. I really intend moving to Canada to look for a job, i believe its a good country with many opportunities and very good standards of living as well and please i need information and advise on how to go about it. i have a diploma and a bachelor of technology in marketing and i greatly believe Canada has got alot to offer as far as Marketing is concerned.it will really be my dream come true if i get the opportunity.Thanks wishing to hear from u guys soon

Hello Sir

Thanks for your discussion. You know Canadian government  taking application by EXPRESS ENTRY 2015 Canada. I hope you can proceed this way and get very faster  permanent residence

Have a nice day

I will add some points to what Phillip said...

Based on my experience as newcomer in 2013, Canada is not a "friendly" place for newcomer, ESPECIALLY without any (Canadian) credentials. So before you come, you ought to :
1. Have proper residency/immigration status. (Hint : I put as #1 as it is important as it's illegal to work without proper status and also most of employer do not want to be bother to apply work permit for you UNLESS you have a very specialized skills which desperately needed by the company)

2. Have (Canadian) professional credentials. Canada is very "proud" of their credentials, so if you have international credentials, please make sure you convert/take necessary steps to get the Canadian equivalent credentials. For newcomer, its always the #2 barrier when you apply for job. Even though you have the right (Canadian) credentials, do not also think you can get your dream job. Canadian company also wanted to see your "Canadian Experience".

3. If you have those two points above, you have to prepare 1 year of savings to sustain yourself in Canada. "Normal" timeline for new comer to get a job is between 6 months to 1 year (case by case basis). How to derive the number? You can do research about cost of living 1 month in province that you want to root in and then multiply it by 12. Remember that each province has different cost of living and/or tax. (Speaking of tax - you might want to compare the income tax of Canada with your own country )

4. After you have those three points above, think carefully of the province you wanna go. Surely big cities like Toronto and Vancouver is beautiful - and new immigrant always think that they can confident enough to get a (proper) job there. But unfortunately, new immigrant is not only yourself..Hundreds and thousands of newly landed immigrant (combined also with university fresh graduate) will fight for your "dream" job. Less popular cities will certainly advantage new immigrant as less competition (again, depends on the type of job)

5. Do not get conned by bogus employer agencies. There is no such thing you have to pay $$$ to get your job. Lots of free job agencies (sponsored by government) to help new immigrant to adapt and give directions on how about to apply for jobs.

6. Be very careful of statement "I heard Canada is a good country with many opportunities". That was probably a statement by people who have enjoyed Canada after several years (e.g they have a job and everything) . Of course everything is good when you have everything, right? Many opportunities? Depends on what opportunities..Job opportunities? Probably yes, but competition is also "fierce" - remember that i mentioned lots of new immigrant as well + fresh university grads? Lots of (new) immigrant has lots of credentials and had professional jobs previously, some of them get their dream job...some of them not so fortunate....this is what i experienced and discussed with my fellow new immigrant.

I'm not trying to discourage, but rather to give a proper picture of Canada...Good luck with you application (for those who is applying) and welcome to Canada (those who will come)...

It's a very good thing that you want to move. Most of the time,the fear of starting over is a big problem we don't want to take risk,fear of leaving certainty for uncertainty. I had. Such fear too and my husband too but I kept pushing until we agreed to apply for QSW but at a time we got discouraged cos of the waiting period but I'm still waiting expecting a miracle.