Intro of a Soon To Be US Expat (I hope!)

[SouthernPinko]

My name is Christine, and I have recently decided to pursue a citizenship in Canada, in the Toronto area, if possible. I currently live in Alabama, and I wish to escape this hillbilly teabagging hell I currently live in. I'm a college-level English instructor with a Master's degree in English, so I'm hoping I'll qualify on merit. I've given myself about a year to arrange everything, I'm hoping that's enough time because I don't want to renew my lease and stay here even longer.

I have just begun my search, but if anyone here has some tips or pointers to help send me in the right direction, I sure would appreciate the advice. I'm 32, but this past week of researching has been a bit overwhelming. I can't even think of what questions I should ask of you guys.

Thanks for your time,
Christine

[structured01]

Christine,

Just introduce myself, I am a Canadian citizen with a US citizen partner (Southern Indiana, close to Louisville) who is hoping to bring her to Ottawa in the next few years. You may already know this but the best way to gain residency to Canada is either through a job, or through schooling. For example, applying for teaching positions at the University or College (Junior College) level or taking some post-graduate classes at a Canadian University. Temporary Work/Study visas can translate to Permanent Resident status through successful employment for a period of time or successful employment obtained after graduation from a legitimate course of study. Either that or if you have a Canadian citizen partner, he/she could sponsor you for permanent residency after living together for one year (marriage is not a requirement). With my partner I briefly considered the green card route, but it made much more sense for her to come to Canada, plus she is so tired of the toxic political polemics that keeps America from moving forward. Also, Toronto may be a fine city (I lived there for seven years), I encourage you to consider cities outside of the GTA (greater Toronto area): Ottawa, London, Peterborough, Kingston, Kitchener are all great cities in Ontario that have several well-regarded colleges/jr colleges each and is still drivable to Toronto. I would be happy to help in whatever capacity I can.
Cheers, John

[SouthernPinko]

Wow, thanks John! I had (sort of/kind of) figured out some of that in my research, but you make it seem possible. Would a person need to get a job or a temporary work permit first? That's the problem I keep finding: which comes first? The chicken or the egg? The only thing I am certain of is I will need a passport to get out of here.

I don't blame your partner one bit. The political climate here has gone completely mad. It's rather terrifying in some respects, and I hope I can get out of here before it's too late.

Best,
Christine

[mikejb]

Sorry Christine,

I would have to admit to having little knowledge in the area in which you plan/hope to make a career in Canada but wish you luck in both your research and hopefully, final success.

I would however heap praise on your English abilities which shine through in the presentation of your question(s)

On a sarcastic note, I might hope you are also able to spell colour.....lol

Good luck

Mike

[SouthernPinko]

I can spell "colour," and also "behaviour." (My spell check is having fits. LOL)

[mikejb]

Originally Posted by SouthernPinko

I can spell "colour," and also "behaviour." (My spell check is having fits. LOL)

Good on yer..... I should not have expected anything less from an English Masters ..... Next you'll be tackling Cockney rhyming slang.....

On a serious side I will keep my fingers crossed for your success which, with perseverance I am sure will come.

Best wishes

[structured01]

Christine,

If you plan on coming to Canada through the employment route, you must obtain a written offer of employment first from a Canadian company willing to hire someone from outside of Canada because they could not find someone in Canada to fill the job. They must have something known as a Labor Market Opinion (LMO) which gives the employer the okay from the government to hire abroad. This is not as bad as you think, Canada is bringing in thousands of people in all kinds of fields due to job shortages, especially for skilled labor positions or those requiring a higher level of education. Once you have that written letter of offer from an LMO approved employer you can just show up at the border or at a Canadian airport and obtain a temporary worker permit (or you can apply for it while you are still in america, as long as you have the offer letter, the choice is yours). Then, you can apply for the permanent residency when you have one or two years on the job (I forget which). Three years of permanent residency gives you the opportunity to apply for citizenship.

I highly suggest visiting Canada to help with the job search. Now the key thing is, when visiting, you must not show your intention to stay in Canada permanently to the border officer! One of the times that my partner came to stay with me in Canada, she had a terrible experience crossing over from Windsor because the border officer had suspicion that she might just cross over and stay forever illegally!! You may be asked to prove your ties to America via bank statement, mortgage statement, lease of rental property, pay stubs or all of the above! This is especially true if you are staying in Canada longer than a couple weeks.

Now you may have the ability to just apply to immigrate through Canada without a job offer. This is via the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program. This program allocates a certain number of points to your immigration application based on your fluency in English (or French), your Education level, your amount of work experience, your age, previous employment/study in Canada, etc. You need 67 points to be successful. However, you have to wait until January 1, 2013 to apply for this one. The application for this program may be longer than the temporary worker permit route, however they just revamped this program to speed up the process. I think an educated person coming from America has a good of a chance as any of getting into Canada through the FSW.

There really is a lot more to this topic, but I think this might be enough information for now. You can always call the Canadian Immigration hotline at the New York City office for the most exact up to date information: (212) 596-1783.

Christine, I know this sounds really long and complicated but it really is doable! I read somewhere that there are something like a million Americans living in Canada or staying in Canada temporarily at any time... and personally, I welcome any American that wants to come to Canada to try living here or otherwise! Good luck once again and hope this all helps! John in Ottawa

[canadian citizen]

I will just add this......

Consider applying for a position with a Canadian University, as faculty, under the NAFTA agreement. Do a google on Nafta visa terms.

My wife is a long time administrator, at the University of Toronto. Many of the vacancies are filled by Americans, who have the appropriate academic qualifications, when a suitable Canadian citizen or Permamnet Resident cannot be found.

As to location in Canada....... Be mindfull that Quebec is a French speaking Province, and any academic opening there will ONLY go to a Francophone. SO unless you are 100 percent fluent ( read speak write at a University level ) in French, forget it.

On the bright side, Canada has the MOST educated population in the world, expressed as a percentage of the adult population. Fifty three percent of adult Canadians hold at least one four year degree, and many have more than that. The USA stands in 17th position on that same scale. So, as you can see, post secondary education here is the norm, and therefore we need more educated persons, like YOU. You may be interested to know that in our Federal Government budget, the top item is education, and the next line is health care. Military spending is 11th place.

I strongly suggest a VISIT, but please do ot try to see this huge country, all at once. Just like a good texas bar be q, you cannot eat it all, on one visit !!!

After all, we are the second largest country , in the world, after Russia, ar 5500 MILES across. And did I mention six time zones.........!

Cheers, and think about what I have written.

Jim B

Toronto.

[SouthernPinko]

Wow, I'm not sure the NAFTA connection would have occurred to me, so thank you! Do you or your wife have an tips/tricks/ideas on ways to find faculty positions in Ontario? In fact, I've already put U of Toronto at the top of my "would really like to work THERE" list. (Or go to school there; I'd like to get my PhD at some point.)

[canadian citizen]

Originally Posted by SouthernPinko

Wow, I'm not sure the NAFTA connection would have occurred to me, so thank you! Do you or your wife have an tips/tricks/ideas on ways to find faculty positions in Ontario? In fact, I've already put U of Toronto at the top of my "would really like to work THERE" list. (Or go to school there; I'd like to get my PhD at some point.)

The U of T is the largest University in Canada, with over 14000 staff, on three campuses, in the Toronto area. Full time student body is about 65 000, with a further 35 000 doing part time studies. An interesting fact, the largest U of T alumni group is located in Hong Kong, with over 6,000 members. Last year's graduating class was 15 percent American.

Here is a link to the U of T employment website.

Careers at U of T | Human Resources & Equity | University of Toronto

If you would like to continue this in a more private way, you can send to my email, at jimbunting@rogers.com

Jim b

Toronto.