[canadian1984]

Hi, I am looking for some advise.... to give you some history I have dual UK and Canadian citizenship as i was born in London, Ontario to British parents who moved back to the UK when i was just 1 years old.

For a number of years now I have been wanting to move to Canada as I feel there are much more opportunities and having returned many many times on holiday, love the way of life and feel that it is now time to take the plunge and try to make a go of it. I am 25, educated to degree level and have been doing Personal Assistant, Executive Assistant type jobs since leaving uni although my degree is in Forensics.

I have my proof of citizenship card and am in the process of updating my canadian passport, but am finding it hard to get responses from job applications whilst in the UK. my question is, am i being un-realistic in thinking that i can move over and look for a job once out there (Toronto / niagara region) - i would have enough money to take to last aprox 6 months so would hope that in that time i would have found something to tide me over until i could get soothing more permanent. I also wouldn't be totally on my own as i know some family friends who also live in this area

I realize that i would also have to apply for a SIN and there would be other factors to take into account (which i have began planning out), but do you think this would be a posibility or am i dreaming too much!

Thanks in advance for your comments

 

[Auld Yin]

Hi, I am looking for some advise.... to give you some history I have dual UK and Canadian citizenship as i was born in London, Ontario to British parents who moved back to the UK when i was just 1 years old.

For a number of years now I have been wanting to move to Canada as I feel there are much more opportunities and having returned many many times on holiday, love the way of life and feel that it is now time to take the plunge and try to make a go of it. I am 25, educated to degree level and have been doing Personal Assistant, Executive Assistant type jobs since leaving uni although my degree is in Forensics.

I have my proof of citizenship card and am in the process of updating my canadian passport, but am finding it hard to get responses from job applications whilst in the UK. my question is, am i being un-realistic in thinking that i can move over and look for a job once out there (Toronto / niagara region) - i would have enough money to take to last aprox 6 months so would hope that in that time i would have found something to tide me over until i could get soothing more permanent. I also wouldn't be totally on my own as i know some family friends who also live in this area

I realize that i would also have to apply for a SIN and there would be other factors to take into account (which i have began planning out), but do you think this would be a posibility or am i dreaming too much!

Thanks in advance for your comments

You're not being unrealistic but you should know that Canadian employers prefer face to face applications so getting a job from UK would be difficult. You may have to take jobs not in your field or for which you're overqualified until you get established. Having Canadian citizenship will prove a boon for you in obtaining employment.

 

[Bean]

You're not being unrealistic but you should know that Canadian employers prefer face to face applications so getting a job from UK would be difficult. You may have to take jobs not in your field or for which you're overqualified until you get established. Having Canadian citizenship will prove a boon for you in obtaining employment.

Hi Canadian1984

It sounds like a good plan – why not make the move!!

As you said there are a few factors to take into account.

Applying for a SIN is easy. You just have to turn up to the appropriate department and they give you an official letter with your SIN number on the same day, which you can show to any employer until your official card comes through.

Medical coverage you have to apply for once you get here. This is also straight forward. However you have to be in Canada for 3 months before you are covered under their system. So you will need to take out private medical insurance to cover you for this period. You have to pay your own medical coverage! Usually employees will not pay this for you until you pass the probation period which can be from 3 – 6 months.

You said that you are a PA, so it might be worth researching Canadian English. The differences are subtle, but there are differences! It may make a difference in the job market if you are working as a PA or at an Executive level.

Recent research re new immigrants to Canada concluded that the recession in Canada is hitting new immigrants more than Canadians, you are more likely to loose you job and less likely to get re employed. It is a difficult time like most places at the moment. however I would just bare in mind that you may end up at the bottom of the job market. I know several new immigrants working night shifts and stocking shelf’s that have PhD’s.

Employers here also seem to pool staff on a casual basis, then from being a casual employee you can then apply for a permanent position when one becomes available. Causal means you do not work a fixed amount of hours and are basically on call, it also means you get no benefits like holiday, sick pay, medical plan etc.

You said you have a degree. If you think you may use this or mention it on your resume it might be worth getting it assessed before you arrive here. There is a general policy to do this as it shows your qualifications are equal to that of a Canadian under graduate degree. I am unsure if this is necessary for your profession, it might be worth looking into, as it can take a bit of time.


Good luck!!

 

[jakram]

Hi Canadian1984


You said you have a degree. If you think you may use this or mention it on your resume it might be worth getting it assessed before you arrive here. There is a general policy to do this as it shows your qualifications are equal to that of a Canadian under graduate degree. I am unsure if this is necessary for your profession, it might be worth looking into, as it can take a bit of time.


Good luck!!

Hi Bean,

Would u plz tell the process of getting foriegn degrees assessed in Canada before arival.

Thx!

 

[Bean]

Hi Bean,

Would u plz tell the process of getting foriegn degrees assessed in Canada before arival.

Thx!

Hi Jakram

Each credential evaluation service may have it’s own process, but for me I had to provide information such as transcripts and certificates.

It gets a little more complicated as they had to be sent straight from my universities to the evaluation agency. My first attempt got rejected as my transcripts were not in an acceptable style to that of a Canadian transcript. So I had to ask my universities to re write out all my transcripts in a particular format that fitted what the evaluation agency wanted.

My qualifications are in English so I didn’t need to get them translated. The process can be expensive

Here are names of credential evaluation services. I would check that they cover the state you hope to move to! Sorry I couldn't add them in as links as the site wouldn't allow it.

.credentials.gc.ca

.bcit.ca/ices

.cicic.ca

Good luck