FAO People of Canada!!! (no pics :( )

yak.h'cir

yak.h'cir

yak.h'cir

Soldato
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Now I know there are a few people who frequent these photography pages that are currently/have in the past, worked in Canada. I've been offered work over there so am currently looking into the whole visa application process and was looking for as much input as possible!

I was applying for short time work in Canada, for the experience of working there really. But now they have offered me a long term position, providing I can get the visa. It's very tempting!!!

So I have two options it seems:

Option one: Student Visa, I finished uni over a year ago but my student card was valid until this year, the company says I can still apply for a student visa but I’m not too sure after reading around. However since this visa is only short term (1 year) the job would be quite minimal, only about 4 months as they wouldn’t want to invest any more money in me knowing that I'd soon be leaving.

Option two: Get a full work visa and commit to a 3 year minimum stay. This would be my dream option! But I'm concerned about the visa, they seem very rare, and hard to come by! What are my chances? Does anyone have advice on making the odds of a successful application greater?

Will applying for a full visa mean i cant apply for a student visa later?

The job is with an engineering firm designing, building and testing pressure valves used all over the place, from oil refineries to nuclear power stations.

Any advice greatly received!



Also, to make this more photography related, which do you regard to be the best area to live regards photographic opportunities, Toronto or Alberta???
 
Sorry I can be of no use regarding work visa (although it's a topic i need to learn about as i'm planning on working there in 6 months), however I love Canada and would say DO IT!

Personally I only have experience of the west cost, Vancouver and primarily Whistler. British columbia is a beautiful state (are they called states in canada? i can't recall). You ski/snowboard iirc? anyway, make sure you get out to whistler blackcomb for some snow action, amazing mountains. I'm going to be there January through to April, cannot wait to be back on the snow.

Good luck
 
stayed in canada for a month when i was a young lad working for my uncle ( i use the would work losely lol) wish i could have stayed it was just amazing but it was kind of scarey staying in a small apartment on my own when i was 15
 
Hi there,

Lucky for you, I know all about visa's - although technically I have yet to receive one. :)

I went to Canada on the "Work Canada Programme". This allows a student (and separately a non-Student under 35) the chance to experience Canada. It is designed as a cultural exchange program and is exactly 12 months long. This kind of visa allows you to work anywhere in Canada (no studying allowed). This kind of visa is non-extendable. Details at BUNAC.org

The student visa you are referring to is only if you want to study in Canada. This type of visa will not allow you to work in Canada.

To work in Canada you need to get HRSDC approval. You cannot apply for this, your company must do this for you. You will need a formal job offer with an expiry date to prove you are working in Canada for a short period of time. You said your contract is 3 years, but I have been told by people here that it is best to apply for 12 months at a time, so make sure your work contract reflects this.

Some jobs do not require HRSDC approval - you will have to check. You can apply for a visa without this approval, but you are less likely to get the visa.

Once you have the HRSDC approval, you need to apply for a work visa. Remember these visa's are only designed for temporary stays in Canada, but you can reapply for each 12 month period as needed.

Once you have been working in Canada for over 12 months (which will be true for me soon), you can then apply for permanent residence if everything is working out for you.

Permanent residence is a totally separate application to the work visa, so it's still possible that although you are applying for permanent residence, your work visa extensions might be declined and you have to return home.

Oh, if you read anything on the CIC website about Temporary Resident Permits/Cards, don't worry - people from the UK are exempt from that stuff. :)

If you have any more questions, let me know as things can get exceptionally difficult to explain - as my family and friends will testify to!
:eek:

Good luck!
 
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Really do it. Myself and the wife were going through the process for permanent residency in Toronto until she got pregnant, and decided she wanted to move nearer her family in Yorkshire.

I fully intend to resume the process once the sprog is a few years old.
I love Toronto and the surrounding area.
 
emailiscrap said:
Really do it. Myself and the wife were going through the process for permanent residency in Toronto until she got pregnant, and decided she wanted to move nearer her family in Yorkshire.

I fully intend to resume the process once the sprog is a few years old.
I love Toronto and the surrounding area.
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yea but yorkshire is great as well speaking as a yorkshire man myself :p , but yea i would really go for it i mean working in canada even for a year would be amazing and something to tell the grandchildren :)
 
Awesome!

I should have probably been more specific regards the student visa, it was actually called the "student work abroad program". Is this the same non extendable method you used to work in Canada TerraS?

Is it possible to goto canada with the program and then apply for a work visa before the program is up to stay there for more then one year?

I'm reading up about it on the cic website but theres a lot of info! And it doesnt give much help regards which one carries the greatest chance for success for me!
 
Yes, the BUNAC program is what you need to do. Just don't make out that you are using it to stay in Canada for longer than 12 months. It's not technically designed for that purpose. ;)

You have to apply for a work visa before the 12 months runs out. Remember that the BUNAC program is a once in a lifetime opportunity too, so don't waste it. :)
 
I lived in Whistler for eighteen months, returned in May of this year.

I also went out on the BUNAC one year work visa scheme. I wanted to stay another year so asked around about what other people had done and checked out some really good forums on Canadian Immigration. The BUNAC work visa is strictly 'no extensions', so you can't apply for more time to work like a normal work visa. Instead I applied for a tourist visa, which mean't I couldn't work, but could remain a further six months in the country. You can either go to a border and try re-entering the country to do this, otherwise you pay $75 and do it by mail.

Thing is though, I never recieved my new visa certificate in the post. It was something I was worried about when it came to me leaving the country. However in Vancouver airport the only people who look at your passport are the check-in staff. The customs/security officers only wanted to see a boarding card to go through the checkpoint. So I wasn't even asked about it and still have my original work visa in my passport. So I've never really been sure whether I was there legally or not for the last six months of my stay.

As has already been said, it's very difficult to get a Canadian work visa. The company who offers you a job (if they do) has to prove that they have advertised the position for long enough and no Canadian is capable of doing it. The only way of having a little more of a chance is having a trade skill which is in demand. You can take a test online at the immigration website http://www.cic.gc.ca which will tell you how likely you are to be accepted for a visa, or immigration.

Immigration is the more serious option if you really want to try and work and live there. It takes a long time and you can't do anything to jepoardise your chances, such as overstaying your visa, as even if you were dating somoene there or running a business, you would still have to hop back to the UK each time before your visa runs out while you wait the years for it come through.

A couple I am friends with have *immigrated* and run their UK based business out there. Their daughter was born in Canada so has a Canadian passport, however they have not got permenant residency yet because they are still waiting for it. They have overstayed their visas by nearly three years now. I think they were a little nieve really as they staked everything on moving out there and should have left the country when their regular visas expired. They are just clinging onto their daughter as being Canadian.

It would be well worth trying to immigrate to Canada though. I can't even begin to describe how much I loved living there, really miss it.
 
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So if i got there with the BUNAC visa I can't then apply for a work visa whilst I'm already there in order to overlap and let me stay for longer?

I think getting the job verifed is about to be done, they're confident it can be done easily as there are a multinational company which facilitates many canadians working abroad with them, which makes it easier for them to then allow immigrants to work in canada. Well, i guess i'll have to see with that.

If I get the BUNAC visa does the job still needs to be verified?
 
yak.h'cir said:
So if i got there with the BUNAC visa I can't then apply for a work visa whilst I'm already there in order to overlap and let me stay for longer?
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You can apply for a work visa and then go out to Canada or before you go, but if you are going out there on the BUNAC scheme you will have to leave the country first, as the visa application has to be done outside the country, you aren't allowed to do it when already a tourist or restricted working visa.

I think getting the job verifed is about to be done, they're confident it can be done easily as there are a multinational company which facilitates many canadians working abroad with them, which makes it easier for them to then allow immigrants to work in canada. Well, i guess i'll have to see with that.
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It's up to the government. It doesn't really matter if other countries let Canadians work there; Canada has a very strict immigration policy, so unless you have a skilled trade that is in demand or you can get a job offer that the company has gone out of their own way to prove to the government can't be filled by anyone else, then there isn't much else you can do.

I knew a girl in Whistler who was from the UK and her Dad is a multi-millionaire who owns all kinds of businesses. Now she wanted to remain in Canada to live with her boyfriend. Her Dad owns a chain of shops all over Canada, which employs Canadian citizens and brings revenue to the country. He turned over that entire business to her and her name and even then, Canadian Immigration still refused to give her a proper work visa or permenant residency. So as you can see it's not that easy, even if you want to try and 'buy your way in' so to speak.

If I get the BUNAC visa does the job still needs to be verified?
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Yes, the job would still need to be verified. It's best to just think of the BUNAC work visa as totally different to a normal work visa.
 
I have to disagree with Nexus unfortunately.

In my experience it IS possible to apply for a work visa whilst in Canada. As long as you apply for a new work visa before the BUNAC one runs out, you can stay in Canada whilst the application is going through. It is true that you cannot extend a BUNAC visa, but you can certainly apply for a work visa from within the country. I know people who have been here as normal visitors who can apply for work visas. :) It's all about "having status" in the country. Currently I have "implied status" which means I am still technically on the BUNAC visa which has been 'extended' until they give me a decision on my new visa application. So even if they stay No, I will have already been here for the time it takes them to decided (approx 60 days).

Also, you DO NOT need HRDSC approval for jobs on the BUNAC visa. The visa is unique and allows you to work in any job (except Child Care and stuff like that) for a period of one year in total. It allows you to switch jobs as often as you need without applying/changing your visa.

A normal work visa would be linked to a particular company, so if you switch jobs on a normal one, you need to apply for a new visa.

Hope that helps!
 
Wow! That sounds exactly like what I was hoping for, and its extremely helpful!!! :) :) :)

I've visited the BUNAC site and unfortuatly the 2006 non student application has finished for this year. But that shouldnt be a problem the job was scheduled to start until January. How long did your BUNAC application take to be processed?

I was tempted, but not going to risk it blagging their student status, as I have a student card that is valid until July of this year. But as I had changed courses at uni I finished in July of 2005 so I dont think I can apply for the BUNAC student program...
 
TerraS said:
I have to disagree with Nexus unfortunately.

In my experience it IS possible to apply for a work visa whilst in Canada. As long as you apply for a new work visa before the BUNAC one runs out, you can stay in Canada whilst the application is going through. It is true that you cannot extend a BUNAC visa, but you can certainly apply for a work visa from within the country. I know people who have been here as normal visitors who can apply for work visas. :) It's all about "having status" in the country. Currently I have "implied status" which means I am still technically on the BUNAC visa which has been 'extended' until they give me a decision on my new visa application. So even if they stay No, I will have already been here for the time it takes them to decided (approx 60 days).
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http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/worker-3.html < Bottom of the page explains the rules.

The 'implied status' thing is a bit of a funny matter. When I was working in Whistler, I'd been told that people in the past had stayed on working because they had applied for an extension, which, on the BUNAC visa will get turned down, but with the processing time being at least three months, you can carry on working until you get a response. My employer, Whistler Blackcomb however would not allow me to carry on working, despite having applied for the extension. I spoke to CIC on the phone and also to the CIC guy who is on the expats forum; both said that you would not get a work extension on the BUNAC visa as it is not allowed and that 'implied status' does not mean you can carry on working and to do so would be illegal.



Your best bet is to take the bunac visa and get into a job where you might have a chance of them trying to sponsor you for a visa. In Whistler, they would sponsors good ski/snowboard instructors if they could speak Spanish or Japanese. I knew an Australian whose company managed to sponsor him because there was a demand for skilled construction workers and he was a really good carpenter.

Processing time for my visa took about four weeks, applied for it in September.
 
I have a related question. What did you work as nexus?

I'm going to go back to Whistler in January (I went for 2 months in '05) and i'm planning to do my level 1 & 2 CSAI qualification. My course is 3 months, but i would like to start instructing, if possible, for a month are so in April.

Would it be best to apply for a working visa before I left even though i'm not entirely sure if i'm going to work? Would i have trouble applying again for a work visa in the 07/08 season if i hadn't worked on my last visa?

Sorry to take it slightly off topic.
 
olv said:
I have a related question. What did you work as nexus?

I'm going to go back to Whistler in January (I went for 2 months in '05) and i'm planning to do my level 1 & 2 CSAI qualification. My course is 3 months, but i would like to start instructing, if possible, for a month are so in April.

Would it be best to apply for a working visa before I left even though i'm not entirely sure if i'm going to work? Would i have trouble applying again for a work visa in the 07/08 season if i hadn't worked on my last visa?

Sorry to take it slightly off topic.
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I worked as a Ski Lift Operator and also a snowboard instructor.

Instructing for one month doesn't really sound worth it to be honest and by the time it comes to April, they are giving out less shifts to staff then as it is, so even if they take you on, you might not get any work.

If you don't think you are going to work, it would be a waste of the visa. In my own opinion, if you are just going out to Whistler or another ski resort, just try and save money here in the UK before you go. Working abroad in a different job can be fun, but it's soooooooo much more fun if you can ski/snowboard everyday without having to go to work.

Are you doing an instructor course? Like Non-Stop Ski? Base Camp Group?
Just a heads up, but they are a complete rip off. It's much cheaper to just take your CASI/CSIA level 1, apply to Ski School and then get your level 2 through them. Especially as they aren't always that keen to pass people who don't have real teaching experience.

I knew a guy on Basecamp group last year as he briefly lived with us before starting his course and moving in with them. He was in a house with some really up their own arses rich kids and there were only a couple of normal down to earth people living there. You get a lot of tuition, but it seemed like more of a chore because they had to go up the mountain and learn everyday as opposed to just having fun. The only days they got off were powder days.

So my honest answer is, one month isn't worth it, especially doing an instructor course as well. Unless you are intending to come back to Canada to work/teach. CASI/CSIA doesn't hold much weight outside of North America.
 
You're turning into a right star in this thread. you've just answered so many questions i had without even knowing it!

I was in Whistler in '05 for March and April, not working, just skiing everyday and i had a fantastic time (despite the snow being the worst in a while). So I know how good it is to just be able to ski everyday :)

I was looking at doing the base camp group or peak leaders 11/12 week course but starting at ~£6000 I am very apprehensive of value for money. I'm saving enough now that i will easily be able to afford to live out in Whistler for 5 months without working. My plan is to be well qualified enough so that I can work in North America every season and New Zealand during the summer. I'm aware that CSAI won't be regarded that highly in Europe but I have no intention of teaching in France/Austria/Switzerland so that's not really a problem.

So would you recommend just going out there with a work visa, doing level 1, then applying to ski school then doing level 2 through them? My goal is to return and do level 3 at least in the 07/08 season.

Sorry to take your thread off on another tangent yak.h'cir.
 
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