Working in Canada
Expats will find a multitude of jobs available for working in Canada. The country is riddled with skills shortages and in the past has made aggressive attempts to entice workers to relocate to within its borders.
This policy has been tightened in recent years, but with the right qualifications and experience it is still relatively easy to relocate to Canada. Many skilled workers even end up working in an unrelated field. Accepting a job before moving to Canada is ideal and also makes getting a work permit a great deal easier.
Canada's economy is driven by natural resources and skilled expat workers are especially welcome in the areas of oil production and logging. This is also true in the healthcare system, which needs healthcare workers and doctors to alleviate long waits and understaffing. Expats should make sure their qualifications are accepted in Canada, as many have to retake exams.
Expats moving to Canada from the UK or the US do so for a better quality of life, however you will have to expect lower wages. A great deal of your monthly salary will go to taxes in Canada. City and Provincial taxes can combine to take a 15% bite out of purchases, and taxes on earnings at the Federal level are also significant.
Business culture in Canada can vary from province to province, especially in Quebec, where speaking French is a significant advantage. Often employers will expect that expats seeking a work opportunity understand the local work culture, and ought to provide professional certification of past job experience within the country. In many cases foreign certification is not accepted, so double-check with your employer beforehand.
Despite Canada’s demand for workers, it must be noted that the Federal Skilled Worker class immigration options have been modified as of 2010 to limit the number of applicants; the new policy aims to ensure that potential expat employees more closely align with the needs of Canadian businesses.
Specifically, there are 29 approved professions in which applicants must have at least one year of work experience if they intend on applying for this work permit class. Also, there is currently a cap of 20,000 applicants per year across all approved professions, and no more than 1000 applicants per profession may apply.
The Canadian Experience Class is a system the Canadian Immigration authorities have implemented in order to allow temporary foreign workers with two years of employment in technical, professional, managerial or trade fields to apply to immigrate to Canada. There are specific language requirements that also have to be met. Another option is for expats to take advantage of provincially-based programs, which seek to attract workers and can be less stringent than their Federal counterparts.
This policy has been tightened in recent years, but with the right qualifications and experience it is still relatively easy to relocate to Canada. Many skilled workers even end up working in an unrelated field. Accepting a job before moving to Canada is ideal and also makes getting a work permit a great deal easier.
Canada's economy is driven by natural resources and skilled expat workers are especially welcome in the areas of oil production and logging. This is also true in the healthcare system, which needs healthcare workers and doctors to alleviate long waits and understaffing. Expats should make sure their qualifications are accepted in Canada, as many have to retake exams.
Expats moving to Canada from the UK or the US do so for a better quality of life, however you will have to expect lower wages. A great deal of your monthly salary will go to taxes in Canada. City and Provincial taxes can combine to take a 15% bite out of purchases, and taxes on earnings at the Federal level are also significant.
Business culture in Canada can vary from province to province, especially in Quebec, where speaking French is a significant advantage. Often employers will expect that expats seeking a work opportunity understand the local work culture, and ought to provide professional certification of past job experience within the country. In many cases foreign certification is not accepted, so double-check with your employer beforehand.
Skilled Worker Policy Change
Despite Canada’s demand for workers, it must be noted that the Federal Skilled Worker class immigration options have been modified as of 2010 to limit the number of applicants; the new policy aims to ensure that potential expat employees more closely align with the needs of Canadian businesses.
Specifically, there are 29 approved professions in which applicants must have at least one year of work experience if they intend on applying for this work permit class. Also, there is currently a cap of 20,000 applicants per year across all approved professions, and no more than 1000 applicants per profession may apply.
The Canadian Experience Class is a system the Canadian Immigration authorities have implemented in order to allow temporary foreign workers with two years of employment in technical, professional, managerial or trade fields to apply to immigrate to Canada. There are specific language requirements that also have to be met. Another option is for expats to take advantage of provincially-based programs, which seek to attract workers and can be less stringent than their Federal counterparts.
