What is the job market like in Canada?
Skilled individuals, especially in sectors of high technology, the sciences,
finance and engineering should be able to secure rewarding positions in Canada.
For an overview, it is recommended to look through the "careers" section of any
major Canadian newspaper. Additional employment resources on the internet are
also available on many Canadian web sites.
Canadian employment requirement for Immigration
A Canadian employment offer is not requirement for Immigration. Having such arranged employment may be beneficial in some cases,
however.
Related work experience
A minimum requirement for qualifying is that the applicant have at least one
year (6 months for Quebec) of working experience related to his/her intended occupation
in Canada. In certain instances graduate and post-graduate students may rely upon
their faculty related research etc. to satisfy this requirement. However, there
is discrepancy in the recognition of such experience from one immigration processing
post to another.
Full time vs. Part Time
The Regulations make no requirement that work be full time. That said,
it is reasonable to go off the assumption that 1 or more part-time (and/or non-consecutive)
positions over an extended period could satisfy the necessity of having obtained
at least 1 year of experience. As a guideline we would suggest that the accumulation
of 1750 hours of work in a related occupation, over a period of time equal to
or greater than 1 year, should suffice to meet the minimum requirements.
Evaluating previous experience
This issue is referred to as "transferability" of experience and is dealt with
in some detail in the Canadian Government Immigration Manuals at Volume I, Section
4.30. In an effort to achieve the maximum number of points or alternatively to
be evaluated in an occupation which appears upon the "open list" of occupations,
an applicant may indicate an intended occupation other than that in which he/she
is primarily qualified or has been predominately employed. Transferability of
experience will have to be considered in situations such as the following:
- An applicant declares that experience gained in an occupation not included
on the open list qualified him/her to adequately carry out the functions of
an occupation which is included on the open list. As the Manual points out,
each such case must be examined on its merits. One should not assume that experience
gained in a higher skilled, more demanding occupation can automatically be transferred
to a lower skilled, less demanding occupation.
- An applicant has carried out the functions of an occupation on the open
list in addition to his/her primary occupation, perhaps in the past or as part
of his/her current employment. If properly proved, points for this secondary
experience and occupation should be awarded if beneficial to the applicant.
- An applicant has during his/her employment carried out some, but not all,
of the functions of a particular occupation on the open list. Again , there
is no fixed rule and the applicant will have to demonstrate that the skills,
abilities and duties of his/her actual occupation match those of the intended
occupation in Canada.
When it comes to employment and immigration Canada- any situation where
transferability of experience is at issue, the applicant will first have to satisfy
the visa officer that his/her experience qualifies him/her for the intended occupation.
To do this effectively it would be helpful if the applicant could refer to and
rely upon the Canadian Classification and Dictionary of Occupations (CCDO) which
lists the essential elements of each occupation on the open list. However, gaining
access to the CCDO may be difficult for the individual applicant be cause it's
use in Canada in non-immigration matters has been phased out and as a result the
CCDO is no longer in print. In any event, let us assume that the applicant can
establish that his/her employment history included the performance of at least
some of the important elements of the intended occupation. In such cases, that
percentage of the relevant employment background will be credited under the experience
factor. The percentage must cumulatively add up to at least 1 year.
Applying prior to having minimum work experience in Canada
If you do not have a minimum of one year (6 months for Quebec) of experience
in an open occupation, you must obtain arranged employment, or be able and willing
to work in a designated occupation in Canada.
If you are just short of the minimum requirement for experience, and will have
completed such by the time of the completion of paper screening or the time of
a selection interview, then you may be able to submit the application, anyhow.
Various processing posts have differing policies regarding this, however, and
it is advised that confirmation be received prior to submitting an application
under these circumstances. |
