If you want to immigrate to Canada, you should know that it is a project that requires time and patience to complete. There are several ways to move to Canada and work there:
For example, if you want to apply for an express entry visa, you will need to create a professional profile that is interesting for the labor market and the Canadian government. You need to have a good command of English or French if you want to go to Québec, (or even better, both). Make sure you have verifiable diplomas, certificates and work references. Remember that foreign diplomas and degrees are not equivalent, (unless they were obtained in an Anglo-Saxon country), so you will have to repeat all or part of the exams and complete internships. The same applies to driving licenses and professional qualifications.
Then there is the sponsorship, which means a Canadian employer hires you directly while you are still in your country, but has to prove that there are no people in Canada willing or able to do the work. This is a time-consuming and expensive process for the employer, and only really capable people are hired who cannot be found there. The first thing to do is to check the official Canadian government website to see what occupations are currently needed in Canada, or you can contact a regularly registered official immigration consultant. However, the costs for this are not insignificant.
Immigrate to Canada
There are several ways to immigrate to Canada:
- Use the Express Entry Visa
- Look for a job in your country and find a sponsor
- Apply for a job in the Canadian provinces
- Apply for the Quebec region
- Apply for the Atlantic provinces
- Apply for rural and northern Canada
1. Apply for the Express Entry Visa. The Express Entry program was created with the goal of expediting immigration applications from skilled and/or experienced foreign nationals to bring them to Canada as quickly as possible to work and contribute to the country’s economic development as soon as possible.
This visa guarantees those who practice certain professions the right to move to the country to look for work, but it is by no means easy, as the requirements are strict. One needs a degree in one of the professions in which there is a shortage in Canada, good language skills and also a fair amount of luck.
There are three different programs:
- Federal Skilled Worker Program, which is for professionals and managers and usually requires a bachelor’s degree
- Federal Skilled Trades Program, for skilled workers such as carpenters, mechanics, electricians, etc
- Comprehensive Ranking System,(CRS), once you enter your information, a score is calculated and you are included in a pool of applicants from which you are selected based on your score CRS.
Since finding a job is not a quick process, it is necessary to have sufficient funds to support yourself in Canada until you find a job. It is easy to find a job in Canada, but it usually takes months to find a well-paying job in your industry, and until then you have to support yourself, and since the cost of living is very high, you need to have a lot of money available.
2. In the case of the second option, Canadian companies (sponsors) can hire workers who are still abroad if certain conditions are met. If you manage to get a job offer from a company, and if that job is on the government’s list, that’s it. At first glance it seems like a no-brainer, but I assure you that it is quite difficult for a Canadian employer to sponsor someone who is in another country, unless it is for certain professions, such as nursing.
3. In the case of provincial programmes, the problem is that the provinces where staff are needed tend to be the most inhospitable and where people do not want to live, such as the Northwest Territories, which has only 40,000 people in an area of over a million km2 . Places where the largest cities are nothing more than villages, where you have to live most of the year with temperatures that easily drop to -30°C to 40°C. However, if you belong to one of the categories of workers that are in high demand in one of these inhospitable provinces, you have a good chance to emigrate to Canada quite quickly.
For example, if you have a job offer for the Northwest Territories, you can apply to the provincial government of that province.
You can also apply through the Express Entry system without a job offer by expressing interest in a particular province where you would like to work, or by submitting your application directly to the province.
4. There is also a special program of the French-speaking region of Quebec, the Selected Skilled Workers, which is used to recruit workers. In this case, one of the basic requirements is a perfect command of the French language.
5. The east coast of Canada is an area of low immigration. The provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland-Labrador and Nova Scotia have created the Atlantic Immigration Pilot, an immigration program designed to address labor shortages in specific sectors in these provinces.
This program is divided into:
- Atlantic International Graduate Program, you must have studied in one of these provinces for at least the last 2 years to be eligible for this program
- Atlantic High Skilled Program, which is aimed at highly skilled workers and therefore can be applied for by those who have the required qualifications and receive a job offer in one of the Atlantic provinces
- Atlantic Intermediate-Skilled Program, which is designed for intermediate-skilled workers and therefore may be applied for by individuals who have a high school diploma and vocational training and receive a job offer in one of the Atlantic provinces.
Unlike Canada’s major cities, where there is generally no shortage of workers, northern Canadian cities have difficulty finding available workers. The Rural & Northern Immigration Pilot is an immigration program aimed at bringing workers to these areas. Here you can find the lists of the communities participating in this program and their credentials.
6. In addition to all of these immigration options, there is also the Working Vacation Visa for Canada, which does not guarantee permanent immigration, but can be a good starting point for those who decide to move permanently. For more information on this type of visa, see this article: How to work in Canada
With all these different types of visas and programs, it can be really difficult to navigate. If you do not want to take on the bureaucratic part of the process, you can rely on an immigration agency.
Immigration to Canada – Immigration Agencies
As mentioned earlier, you can use an immigration agency if you want to save time and energy and avoid all the bureaucratic part. It is important that it is an agency approved by the Canadian government. Because there are several cases of fraud, where even thousands of dollars were scammed by so-called agencies that ensure obtaining the visa. A basic requirement for obtaining a Canadian visa is language proficiency: French or English. Do a simple test, if you tell an agency that you do not know either of these languages and they assure you that they will still be able to obtain the visa, it means that they are scammers, so do not trust on them, because the Canadian government will not issue, never seen to those who do not know at least one of these two languages.
Remember that agencies can follow the practice and do all the procedures correctly, but they cannot find or guarantee a job and therefore not obtain the visa. It is true that the Canadian government website is complete and you can find all the information you need there. However, the immigration process is not so simple, especially for certain professions or in special situations, such as moving an entire family with minor children in tow. In this case, the help of a good and reliable immigration agency could be important.
The most in-demand jobs in Canada
Some professions are constantly on the shortage list in Canada, so emigration to Canada is easier for those who practice one of these professions.
Below is a list of the occupations that have been most in demand in Canada in recent years
- Nurses, health assistants
- Truck drivers, bus drivers
- Professors, teachers
- Tig welders, mig mag welders
- Physiotherapists, rehabilitation therapists
- Computer scientists, IT experts
- Craftsmen, electricians, plumbers, etc.
Keep in mind that the hourly wage in this profession averages between $30 and $40
To the above mentioned occupations, I would like to add the work in forestry, considering that about 38% of the country’s surface is covered by forests, which is about 10% of the world’s forests. This sector is rather insignificant for the Canadian economy compared to others, but it creates many jobs, just think that it employs over 200,000 people, accounts for almost 10% of Canada’s exports and generates $3 billion in revenue.
So if you have experience in this area and want to immigrate to Canada, you have a good chance of making your plan a reality. Apart from areas in the far north, the forest industry is present everywhere in Canada, but the two provinces where it is most developed are undoubtedly British Columbia and New Brunswick. Working in this sector as a logger / lumberjack offers respectable wages, you can even earn $ 250-300 per day. For those who have the right skills and want to move to Canada, I recommend this website
Immigrate to Canada – conclusion
However, those fortunate enough to obtain a visa to emigrate to Canada must also consider the pros and cons of this decision. It is clear that moving to Canada is an option to consider if you have no job and no future prospects, but if you have job opportunities in your own country or in closer countries, the decision to emigrate to a country so far away must be weighed very carefully.
Immigration to Canada, you can live in a civilized, tolerant society where there is no corruption and there is certainly no lack of job opportunities, but on the other hand, you will find that you live with an extremely individualistic population where relationships and social life are kept to a minimum. Canadians are not very social, they smile at you, greet you, but then everyone goes home. People are generally polite and courteous, but minding their own business is an essential part of their culture. And let us not forget the climate, which reaches night temperatures as low as 30-35 °C in many areas of the country during the long winter. The only region of the country where winter weather is acceptable is British Columbia.
As for work, it’s certainly easy to find one if it’s hard work, like waiters, truck drivers, bricklayers, etc., or any job that pays minimum wage (which is not bad anyway, ($15 -$16 an hour). But keep in mind that in Toronto, for example, you need to earn at least $4,000 – $5,000 a month to live decently.
But for the more skilled jobs that offer good salaries, there is a lot of competition and they are really hard to find without Canadian experience and certifications.
So if you come from an extremely poor country and have no particular interest in social and cultural life, but the only thing that matters is work and being able to feed your family, Canada could be your Eldorado. Those who come from a European country will find beautiful nature and many job opportunities, but they will have to forget about the climate, lifestyle, food and atmosphere that prevail in good old Europe.