Positive experiences finding a job in Canada?

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srp10

Registered Users (C)
Folks,

I am getting tired of hearing the usual "Canadian experience", "you will work as a driver / security" complaints in any thread that starts discussing jobs in Canada.

So, why not, for a change, post a few good experiences when looking for a job in Canada?

I am interested in (others are welcome to post too) people who were in the US, wanted to move to Canada and found a job in a reasonable amount of time in their respective fields (esp. Software) ...

So, please,spread some cheer and hope for guys like us :), wanting to move to Canada but stlll on the fence because of the job situation...

TIA,
SP
 
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When I moved to Canada in 1997 from Kuwait, I had two 60K plus offers within 6 weeks of moving there. I had interviewed with 3 firms only and 2 offered me a job. I had no Canadian or US experience at that time. I only had 4 years of experience (IP Network Analyst) then and all of it Kuwait based. The same Canadian firm then offered me a job in their US branch in 2003 when I married a US citizen and informed them that I will be leaving Canada soon. Moving to Canada was once of the best decisions I made in my life.
 
It is great to hear that from you. I got mixed messages from people I met in Toronto. I have a few family friends there and some of them are waiting to get their citizenship to come to US.
Me and my wife both have MS degrees from US and have decent work experience here in US. Is it that difficult to find an IT job in Canada that is well paid? May be not as much we are getting here, but atleast around 70K?
I really want to move there because of the medicals, family life, 3 yr citienship option etc... But really confused with all the mixed messages from friends and family.
Ofcourse to be frank, friends and family in Canada donot have US or Canada (not claiming that US experience is an advantage) exp, non IT field (not claiming that it has more job opportunities) etc... May be that is the problem in finding a well paid job?
Also how to go about finding a permanent fulltime IT job in Canada? Is it through employee references or browsing through company web sites and applying directly?

Hmmm.. Lots of questions and confusions....
 
Unfortunately there are a lot of people who stay in Canada just long enough to become Canadians and then leave for the US. I wasn't one of them. I loved my stay in Toronto. I stayed in Canada for another 2 years after becoming Canadian. I only moved to the US because I fell in love with an American. Once my firm learnt about my intending move, they moved my position from Toronto to Chicago so that I can continue to work for them.
Just like any other place, you will hear successful and not so successful immigrant stories about Canada. Keep your spirits up and good luck in finding your dream job in Canada.


Thomas_Varghese said:
It is great to hear that from you. I got mixed messages from people I met in Toronto. I have a few family friends there and some of them are waiting to get their citizenship to come to US.
Click to expand...
 
Well, India does not allow dual citizenship yet. So, for somebody from India, they have to surrender Indian passport for getting canadian one. There is not a whole lot benefit of having canadian citizenship if they want to work in the US. They have to go through the h1b route. Further, for GC considerations, what counts is the country of birth.
I would like to hear more about better family life and medicals. I hear that medicals (although free) comes with long waiting times for specialty care.
As regards to better family life, one can get that in small cities and towns in US.
Thomas_Varghese said:
It is great to hear that from you. I got mixed messages from people I met in Toronto. I have a few family friends there and some of them are waiting to get their citizenship to come to US.
Me and my wife both have MS degrees from US and have decent work experience here in US. Is it that difficult to find an IT job in Canada that is well paid? May be not as much we are getting here, but atleast around 70K?
I really want to move there because of the medicals, family life, 3 yr citienship option etc... But really confused with all the mixed messages from friends and family.
Ofcourse to be frank, friends and family in Canada donot have US or Canada (not claiming that US experience is an advantage) exp, non IT field (not claiming that it has more job opportunities) etc... May be that is the problem in finding a well paid job?
Also how to go about finding a permanent fulltime IT job in Canada? Is it through employee references or browsing through company web sites and applying directly?

Hmmm.. Lots of questions and confusions....
Click to expand...
 
There is not a whole lot benefit of having canadian citizenship if they want to work in the US.

-- Ever heard about the TN status (no quota) as compared to H1B (quota, which fills up within days)?

They have to go through the h1b route.

-- says who? I am bypassing H1b..

Further, for GC considerations, what counts is the country of birth.

-- True.
 
Canadians can use TN to work, which is exclusively for them. That is one advantage. With a job offer, you can go to the border and apply for TN status. If approved, you can immediately work. No need for LCAs.

tusharvk said:
There is not a whole lot benefit of having canadian citizenship if they want to work in the US. They have to go through the h1b route.
Click to expand...
 
What about living in Canada and working in US. Like Windsor/Detroit or Fort Erie/Buffalo.
You could get best of both worlds
 
Actually taxes will be as bad as the higher of the two. Ottawa/Ontario will give a tax credit for whatever is paid to Washington/Michigan.
 
Triple Citizen said:
Actually taxes will be as bad as the higher of the two. Ottawa/Ontario will give a tax credit for whatever is paid to Washington/Michigan.
Click to expand...


-- Actually, it is not a total credit. This is what they have (as per my experience):

Example:

step1 in the return: Enter the amount you paid in taxes to the foreign country. (suppose it is $5000)

Other step: Do the math like divide this amount by some other ampount. Multiply the result by XXX and blah...blah...The result of this step is something like $100/$200 (something way less that the amount in step 1 above).

Last step: Take the tax credit - subtract the smaller of the two amounts from your total tax - which is always way less than the actual amount you pay in taxes to the foreign country.

Therefore in my opinion, claiming this cdn "credit" is not worth.....You are much better off staying and earning money in either of the countries...
 
Bigboy,
Can't beat your personal experience. My information is solely based on theory. I have lived (and earned) in both countries, but one at a time :)
So I guess the OP cannot have the best of both worlds. He needs to make a tough decision!!!
 
contrary to what people say,there are plenty of jobs in Ontario. I lived in the US for 8.5 years, studying here now while spouse works..everyone I know got a job easily..am not in IT myself but all the IT people I know got jobs..this notion of driver/factory worker is old news, and probably applies to a lot of people coming straight from their home countries..among the ones coming from there, the ones with good work exp and tech degrees have been well placed..other than that, work exp from US is a further advantage

srp10 said:
Folks,

I am getting tired of hearing the usual "Canadian experience", "you will work as a driver / security" complaints in any thread that starts discussing jobs in Canada.

So, why not, for a change, post a few good experiences when looking for a job in Canada?

I am interested in (others are welcome to post too) people who were in the US, wanted to move to Canada and found a job in a reasonable amount of time in their respective fields (esp. Software) ...

So, please,spread some cheer and hope for guys like us :), wanting to move to Canada but stlll on the fence because of the job situation...

TIA,
SP
Click to expand...
 
Jobs in Canada

I know a friend of mine who works in Mechanical engrg.. and no way related to IT who decided to pull the plug and move to Canada.. he was in US working for the past 10 years in the same firm.. who applied for the GC only after a few years..

He was able to find 3 jobs.. 2 of which he was keen about.. He ended up taking one and he loves it there in Calgary..

Lots of Open minded people.. He is enjoying the stay there.. He said he loves to play Badminton (lots of places to play) and criket (some places for indoor )

This is a chap who lived in Texas for 12 years.. school + work.. and the weather is something he has come to cherish.. and the Rockies are breathtaking..

It's all in the attitude folks..

There are jobs out there.. It's open for the people with the right attitude
 
puvathoor said:
It's all in the attitude folks..

There are jobs out there.. It's open for the people with the right attitude
Click to expand...

Huh!? I am a Cdn citizen with cdn university education. Could not find a job in my (engineering) field and finally had to move to the US. Nothing against your friend's abilities, but he was at the right place and at the right time.

The truth is that in Canada, too many people fighting for a few jobs...It's hard to accept the "right attitude" stories that you are telling.
 
CourtneyEM

Hi CourtneyEM ,
Thanks much, that is a cool tool it consolidates job postings from all the sites :)

-zen
 
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