Re: Crossing the US/Canada border to work?DON'T BE CRAZY...YOU'LL BE UNEMPLOYED
GOOD MORNING:I hope that the author of this post reads my reply, and that it may serve as a warning to Americans, especially in journalism, broadcasting and academia as well....My spouse/partner is a seasoned expert in journalism and broadcasting. He has also taught courses in broadcasting and journalism at universities. He's held some pretty nice positions over the years.We also happen to be pretty liberal gay people. [Of course prospective employers don't know that he's gay or his views]After becoming disillusioned about the direction of politics and social trends in the USA ... and several other issues, we decided to look into moving to Canada. I hadn't yet finished my degree, and we had some money saved up, but certainly aren't millionaires. My partner was in his mid 50s at the time. Because of his age, even though he has a Masters degree, he fell short by a few points in the "skilled worker program" that is the main way most people immigrate to Canada if they don't have family connections [i.e. Canadian spouse or parent, etc] to sponsor them.Our immigration lawyer suggested I finish university, and that this would boost our points but at the same time, at least here in British Columbia [Canada west coast] my partner would be allowed to hold a job and have an "open work permit" for the duration of my studies.IN 18 MONTHS HE HAS NOT BEEN INTERVIEWED ONCE, DESPITE HAVING A STELLAR RESUME AND A VERY GOOD SHEET OF REFERENCES!Employers just will not consider him. They won't even interview him out here. He's also applied for a few positions near Toronto and Ottawa Ontario area.....no response. He's even tried to find casual work, with no response. Temp agencies for any clerical positions in any field, no response.WE FEEL THAT AS NON CANADIANS, WE ARE VIRTUALLY BLACKLISTED FROM FINDING EMPLOYMENT. Unless you are in a field that has some dire shortage of employees, forget it. Even then, be careful. After all, if an employer has a pile of resumes, and they sort through them, they think "why should I interview that American, when I have this stack of resumes from perfectly qualified Canadians?"We had done quite a bit of research before coming out here and we had visited several times. There were many superficially friendly people here. No one warned us how difficult it would be for him to get a job. [After all, who would? Unless you make a bunch of friends, you are mostly dealing with realtors, insurance agents, lawyers etc and they all want your commission]HOWEVER, once we got here, the reality of the situation began to set in after 7 or 8 months. We have now been here 18 +/- months and will probably eventually return to the USA.Most people who come out here and wind up in this situation return very disillusioned and quite frankly, bankrupt. There is a sentiment, which seems particularly strong in BC, but we suspect is in all of Canada, that you don't hire an American [or Non-Canadian] for a professional position, if you can absolutely do anything to hire a Canadian.This means that there are some people who feel so strong about this, that they'll even re-advertise a position several times and ignore the qualified newcomer....even though this person should theorietically be considered. It is true, that before hiring someone without a work permit or permanent residency, that they have to show they tried to find a Canadian. However, the employers usually take it a step further, in that they even avoid permanent residents or those with work permits.Be very very careful. Even immigration lawyers avoid telling the truth about this, because they of course will collect fees for consultations and filing paper work for work permits and / or permanent residency applications.Further on the social and political aspect, we have found just as much, if not more homophobia out here than back home. It's just more subtle, i.e. most Canadians won't "wear it on their sleeve" [i.e. go away you f-in ____] but they will be superficially friendly but not treat you the same way they would a fellow Canadian.We have been greeted with much suspicion and made to know that we're not welcome in many, many ways. I actually wound up switching schools because it was made clear to me that I didn't fit [email protected]
GOOD MORNING:I hope that the author of this post reads my reply, and that it may serve as a warning to Americans, especially in journalism, broadcasting and academia as well....My spouse/partner is a seasoned expert in journalism and broadcasting. He has also taught courses in broadcasting and journalism at universities. He's held some pretty nice positions over the years.We also happen to be pretty liberal gay people. [Of course prospective employers don't know that he's gay or his views]After becoming disillusioned about the direction of politics and social trends in the USA ... and several other issues, we decided to look into moving to Canada. I hadn't yet finished my degree, and we had some money saved up, but certainly aren't millionaires. My partner was in his mid 50s at the time. Because of his age, even though he has a Masters degree, he fell short by a few points in the "skilled worker program" that is the main way most people immigrate to Canada if they don't have family connections [i.e. Canadian spouse or parent, etc] to sponsor them.Our immigration lawyer suggested I finish university, and that this would boost our points but at the same time, at least here in British Columbia [Canada west coast] my partner would be allowed to hold a job and have an "open work permit" for the duration of my studies.IN 18 MONTHS HE HAS NOT BEEN INTERVIEWED ONCE, DESPITE HAVING A STELLAR RESUME AND A VERY GOOD SHEET OF REFERENCES!Employers just will not consider him. They won't even interview him out here. He's also applied for a few positions near Toronto and Ottawa Ontario area.....no response. He's even tried to find casual work, with no response. Temp agencies for any clerical positions in any field, no response.WE FEEL THAT AS NON CANADIANS, WE ARE VIRTUALLY BLACKLISTED FROM FINDING EMPLOYMENT. Unless you are in a field that has some dire shortage of employees, forget it. Even then, be careful. After all, if an employer has a pile of resumes, and they sort through them, they think "why should I interview that American, when I have this stack of resumes from perfectly qualified Canadians?"We had done quite a bit of research before coming out here and we had visited several times. There were many superficially friendly people here. No one warned us how difficult it would be for him to get a job. [After all, who would? Unless you make a bunch of friends, you are mostly dealing with realtors, insurance agents, lawyers etc and they all want your commission]HOWEVER, once we got here, the reality of the situation began to set in after 7 or 8 months. We have now been here 18 +/- months and will probably eventually return to the USA.Most people who come out here and wind up in this situation return very disillusioned and quite frankly, bankrupt. There is a sentiment, which seems particularly strong in BC, but we suspect is in all of Canada, that you don't hire an American [or Non-Canadian] for a professional position, if you can absolutely do anything to hire a Canadian.This means that there are some people who feel so strong about this, that they'll even re-advertise a position several times and ignore the qualified newcomer....even though this person should theorietically be considered. It is true, that before hiring someone without a work permit or permanent residency, that they have to show they tried to find a Canadian. However, the employers usually take it a step further, in that they even avoid permanent residents or those with work permits.Be very very careful. Even immigration lawyers avoid telling the truth about this, because they of course will collect fees for consultations and filing paper work for work permits and / or permanent residency applications.Further on the social and political aspect, we have found just as much, if not more homophobia out here than back home. It's just more subtle, i.e. most Canadians won't "wear it on their sleeve" [i.e. go away you f-in ____] but they will be superficially friendly but not treat you the same way they would a fellow Canadian.We have been greeted with much suspicion and made to know that we're not welcome in many, many ways. I actually wound up switching schools because it was made clear to me that I didn't fit [email protected]
spinjector said: