Americans crossing the border for jobs...

[Radio-X]

Is it fairly easy to aquire any permits or papers neccessary for a U.S. Citizen like myself with about 3 years professional radio experience to work (and possibly settle down) in Canada? I love the Southern Alberta area and would love to eventually work up there...what a place!

If I just wanted to do part-time/weekend work, is it easy to find other non-radio jobs for non-citizens?

Thanks,

Radio-X<P ID="signature">______________
Formerly shocking, rocking, and angering the R-I community as radiodxrichmond!</P>

 

[Yeziknoradio]

> Is it fairly easy to aquire any permits or papers neccessary
> for a U.S. Citizen like myself with about 3 years
> professional radio experience to work (and possibly settle
> down) in Canada? I love the Southern Alberta area and would
> love to eventually work up there...what a place!
>
Immigration Canada is undergoing some changes, as there is a new federal Government (minority) in power now. Wait a few weeks, and see how things unfold.

Here's a site to keep your eye on: http://www.cic.gc.ca/

I wish you the best of luck.



<P ID="signature">______________
"If you never say NO, How much is your YES worth?"
</P>

 

[ctdavidbc]

Re: Americans crossing the border for jobs...CANADIANS PREFERRED

Please see my other post: "Canadians Preferred" in the Toronto section!Whether you qualify or not for a work permit isn't the issue. Getting a job is the issue. Many Canadian employers will pretty much ignore your resume/application.We have been in Canada for 18 months, my partner has applied for over 50 positions for which he was highly qualified, and he's not been interviewed once.While Canada does welcome immigrants, it is very hard to get interviewed for professional positions. Taxi driver, yes. Full time journalist or broadcaster, no.Many job listings actually say "Canadians preferred". You are in no way on level ground when applying, and most of the time, your resume will meet the circular file after it is [email protected]

 

[ctdavidbc]

Re: Americans crossing the border for jobs...CANADIANS PREFERRED

Please see my other post: "Canadians Preferred" in the Toronto section!Whether you qualify or not for a work permit isn't the issue. Getting a job is the issue. Many Canadian employers will pretty much ignore your resume/application.We have been in Canada for 18 months, my partner has applied for over 50 positions for which he was highly qualified, and he's not been interviewed once.While Canada does welcome immigrants, it is very hard to get interviewed for professional positions. Taxi driver, yes. Full time journalist or broadcaster, no.Many job listings actually say "Canadians preferred". You are in no way on level ground when applying, and most of the time, your resume will meet the circular file after it is read.~David

I should add:Finding a situation in which you either qualify to immigrate or qualify for a work permit may also be an issue, depending on your education, languages spoken, work history, family connections to Canada [or not] which make it easier, etc etc.But the big mistake [which we made and are paying dearly for] is to think that "yippie, he's got a work permit, now all he has to do is apply for jobs" The fact is that no matter how qualified you are, there is almost an unwritten rule not to hire a non-Canadian, or even a new permanent resident [who doesn't have a lot of previous CANADIAN work experience]Also, there are many places, including CBC as well as many well known radio stations and newspapers that have actually cut positions. I'm not a broadcasting person myself, but I've been through this for 18 months now with my partner, who has a resume most people would love to have, yet he hasn't been given the benefit of a job interview once in a year and a half, despite applying for over 50 positions that he was qualified for.

 

[dccanus]

Re: Americans crossing the border for jobs...CANADIANS PREFERRED

Please see my other post: "Canadians Preferred" in the Toronto section!Whether you qualify or not for a work permit isn't the issue. Getting a job is the issue. Many Canadian employers will pretty much ignore your resume/application.We have been in Canada for 18 months, my partner has applied for over 50 positions for which he was highly qualified, and he's not been interviewed once.While Canada does welcome immigrants, it is very hard to get interviewed for professional positions. Taxi driver, yes. Full time journalist or broadcaster, no.Many job listings actually say "Canadians preferred". You are in no way on level ground when applying, and most of the time, your resume will meet the circular file after it is read.~David

I should add:Finding a situation in which you either qualify to immigrate or qualify for a work permit may also be an issue, depending on your education, languages spoken, work history, family connections to Canada [or not] which make it easier, etc etc.But the big mistake [which we made and are paying dearly for] is to think that "yippie, he's got a work permit, now all he has to do is apply for jobs" The fact is that no matter how qualified you are, there is almost an unwritten rule not to hire a non-Canadian, or even a new permanent resident [who doesn't have a lot of previous CANADIAN work experience]Also, there are many places, including CBC as well as many well known radio stations and newspapers that have actually cut positions. I'm not a broadcasting person myself, but I've been through this for 18 months now with my partner, who has a resume most people would love to have, yet he hasn't been given the benefit of a job interview once in a year and a half, despite applying for over 50 positions that he was qualified for.

As a follow up, note my post here: http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,38011.msg262327.html#msg262327Unfortunately, there are either very few Canadians who are American expats, etc on this board who wants to share their experiences, or there just are very few period.

 

[SCRHack]

Well if you wanted to take a shot at it where would be the best place to look for Canadian radio gigs?

 

[Elwood773]

It is always harder to find a job in a country where you didn't grown up in. Yes, CBC/SRC has cutted jobs, but also hired lots of foreigners. Per exemple, in Winnipeg, well-known TV reporter Richard Madden is from Utah and french-speaking TV reporter Frederic Arnould is from Belgium.

 

[Geb]

Re: Americans crossing the border for jobs...CANADIANS PREFERRED

Please see my other post: "Canadians Preferred" in the Toronto section!Whether you qualify or not for a work permit isn't the issue. Getting a job is the issue. Many Canadian employers will pretty much ignore your resume/application.We have been in Canada for 18 months, my partner has applied for over 50 positions for which he was highly qualified, and he's not been interviewed once.While Canada does welcome immigrants, it is very hard to get interviewed for professional positions. Taxi driver, yes. Full time journalist or broadcaster, no.Many job listings actually say "Canadians preferred". You are in no way on level ground when applying, and most of the time, your resume will meet the circular file after it is [email protected]

What's your problem? Driving a taxi pays better than radio.

Some people seem to assume they are victims of discrimination of some sort and never to consider that maybe something about them is the problem. Lots of people want to work in radio and they all think they are highly qualified. There are not that many jobs to go around.

 

[DJKraze]

Hmm, so, do you know of any taxi driving jobs available in Canada? I'd prefer an area where speaking french is not really required (I say this even though my father was a canadian born french speaking person and english is his second language, though you wouldn't know it now, and for some reason most members of his family didn't teach thier kids french)

 

[SSUEKEY]

I don't know how hard it is now, but I do know that for years especially in the 70's, stations like 1050 CHUM in Toronto were hiring nothing but Americans! It sure tee'd off alot of people (around 2,000) per year coming out of broadcasting courses, and not being able to get a job. Of course I know you don't just work major market after coming out of school, but what about the Ontario and other Canadian provinces who have had broadcasters paying their dues for years, and not being able to get in?

Is it fairly easy to aquire any permits or papers neccessary for a U.S. Citizen like myself with about 3 years professional radio experience to work (and possibly settle down) in Canada? I love the Southern Alberta area and would love to eventually work up there...what a place!

If I just wanted to do part-time/weekend work, is it easy to find other non-radio jobs for non-citizens?

Thanks,

Radio-X<P ID="signature">______________
Formerly shocking, rocking, and angering the R-I community as radiodxrichmond!</P>

 

[Yeziknoradio]

I don't know how hard it is now, but I do know that for years especially in the 70's, stations like 1050 CHUM in Toronto were hiring nothing but Americans! It sure tee'd off alot of people (around 2,000) per year coming out of broadcasting courses, and not being able to get a job. Of course I know you don't just work major market after coming out of school, but what about the Ontario and other Canadian provinces who have had broadcasters paying their dues for years, and not being able to get in?

Is it fairly easy to aquire any permits or papers neccessary for a U.S. Citizen like myself with about 3 years professional radio experience to work (and possibly settle down) in Canada? I love the Southern Alberta area and would love to eventually work up there...what a place!

If I just wanted to do part-time/weekend work, is it easy to find other non-radio jobs for non-citizens?

Thanks,

Radio-X<P ID="signature">______________
Formerly shocking, rocking, and angering the R-I community as radiodxrichmond!</P>

Some of those "Americans" were actually Canadians with dual citizenship.
The late great John Major was working for 1050 CHUM in the 70's and then worked for CBS news in the States more recently until his passing, but he was actually a Canadain.
The late great Tom Rivers spent alot of time working in the States, but I forget if he is American or Canadain...
(Fired from CHUM, then picked up by CFTR, then went to states to work there...)

On the TV side, a current example of Canadains working in the states is Howie Mandel. He's from Toronto Canada, and is hosting both Deal or no deal and deal or no deal Canada right now.

Americans wanting to work in Canada may find it easier to work at a border station that brodcasts from the American side and targets the Canadain side.
As long as there's Can con and other regulations in place here in Canada there may always be an American station trying to target Canadains...

 

[Inventor989]

On every occasion where I was being considered for a job in Canada (I'm an American, but my father and stepmother immigrated to Canada in the early 70s and became citizens some years back), I was informed that CRTC regulation specified that radio stations could only hire an American if no qualified Canadians were available to fill the position. So, even though my father was a citizen and would sponsor me, I was not allowed by statute to work in radio, my chosen field of endeavour. This was the case even when Canadian stations sought me out!

I used to work with a well known Toronto radio production talent who emigrated in the 80s. We worked in Pittsburgh at the same station. It took the station who wanted to hire him three years to clear the CRTC and Immigration Canada hurdles.

My dad passed away in 2005, so I have no reason to seek employment in Canada anymore. But, frankly, I don't want to work in any place where I am not wanted. And Canada has proven to me time and again that, as an American, I'm welcome as a visitor only.

 

[CatFM]

I had the same experience in 1981 and 1983 when the same station tried to hire me. Canada Manpower refused to consider issuing a work permit for me because I would be taking a job away from a Canadian. The station made the case that I had more experience and education and was more qualified than any of the Canadian applicants they had heard from after advertising the position for several months in national trade magazines, but Manpower didn't want to hear it. They said it was quantity, not quality that mattered, so the station had to hire a less qualified Canadian than a more qualified American. The only way an American supposedly could get a work permit in Canada then was to prove that they were able to fill a position that no Canadian could do. Of course, the Canadian government is just as unfair as the American government about these ridiculous regulations for certains people... namely celebrities, sports figures, and the filthy rich with good connections. Keep in mind that around this same time, Ted Rogers had no problem importing Landecker for CFTR.

By the way, while some countries, such as Canada, recognize "dual citizenship" as it is called, the United States does not. My Canadian friends who have become US Citizens are still considered Canadian Citizens by Canada, but if an American becomes a citizen of any other country, the US will no longer consider them a US Citizen for any purpose.

 

[Radio_bored-Op]

funny answer, but :
(Commentary) I believe:


it may depend on "where' the station is in Canada:

for example, CKEY, seems to have an "easy" time ( thru the years,
and formats) to pick and choose the AMERICANs they have wanted
at the station; versus, any station , +2.5 hrs, or farther from the US/Canada border.

heck, CKEY is "WALKING DISTANCE" from the US...
a same-size market/or same size station say in :
( kitchener; >north bay; Edmonton, etc)
able to have the same type of draw(for Americans ? )

 

[Yeziknoradio]

funny answer, but :
(Commentary) I believe:


it may depend on "where' the station is in Canada:

for example, CKEY, seems to have an "easy" time ( thru the years,
and formats) to pick and choose the AMERICANs they have wanted
at the station; versus, any station , +2.5 hrs, or farther from the US/Canada border.

Oh, HA HA! Yes, I remember Ckey FM as "101.1 Key FM" back in its quiet and easy listening days...
(I also remember when the CKEY call letters belonged to another company in another market. "KEY590...Toronto's classic hits" )

 

[jefflaurence]

We are considering moving one of our production studios to Nova Scotia. to do so will require a "business immigrant status" as we qualify as a "self employed individual involved in cultural activities" by the immigration service. We may actually be bringing some jobs to the Maritimes. As a self-generating business, what would trigger a negative decision from the CIS? In fact we would be bringing money into Canada..however I have been told that if our primary income came from NON Canadien sources we "could" be taxed a premium rate (higher)

What do you know about that?

BTW the list of "self employed individuals involved in cultural activities" includes TABLE DANCERS and NUDE ENTERTAINERS, and EXOTIC DANCERS..check the list!