|
Working
in Canada
If you find a
job get information on the social cover, medical
and pension schemes.
Their health and welfare system is similar to the
French social security. It is a very efficient
organization,
a numbered card gives you access to hospitals and
doctors, if you are enrolled in the administrative
system by your Canadian employer.
Make sure
that your contract gives all the details concerning
the working conditions.
Looking for a job :
There are
some teaching posts available. To qualify for them
you should have some skill which is difficult to
find on the Canadian market. Before going you have
to have a temporary work permit
or the status of a landed immigrant, that is to say
be a permanent resident in Canada.
Conditions for residence
Less than six
months : valid passport
Return air ticket
Letter of introduction from the enterprise
Bank reference
More than six months : idem + medical
certificate
To work : be a landed immigrant or be asked for by
a company
If you are neither landed immigrant nor Canadian
citizen, you have to have a work permit.
Job
finding sectors
Computer
sciences, electronics, mechanics,
telecommunications, paramedical,
biothechnological
Before
leaving :
Have a valid
passport, a resident's visa delivered by the
Canadian immigration service and medical
cover.
Immigration
:
Since the
beginning of the century, immigrants from more than
150 different origins have brought
a cultural and economic wealth to the country.
Immigration is an important factor in the economic
activity
of the country, to redress the demographic
developement, ensure prosperity and economic
opportunities.
More than
100,000 French people are installed in Canada. Each
year about 3500 French people choose to go and live
there, and more particularly in the province of
Quebec.
Chinese
immigration :
Canada now
proposes a visa-free entry to Chinese from Hong
Kong. Already more than 500,000 Chinese from Hong
Kong have settled in Canada bringing with them
their knowledge and technology.
Working in
Canada :
It is one of
the most requested destinations for French people,
especially Quebec, which is wide open
to immigration. It is also a way of getting in to
North America. However, the job market is going
through difficulties these days and immigration
candidates should be very careful and very well
prepared.
Preparing
your departure :
Even if
Quebec is French speaking, don't forget that this
province is part of an English speaking
country.
It is wise to revise or improve your English before
your departure.
You can start
to collect information by writing to the various
French Associations established in Quebec,
to economic expansion services, commercial services
of Canadian banks in France or of French banks
in Quebec.
A huge amount
of documentation about the country is available
from the cultural and economic services
of the Canadian Embassy in Paris or in the
consulates in other towns. A well-documented
library proposes professional directories, numerous
works, reviews and also a list of French
enterprises in Canada.
In Paris you
can find in specialized bookshops all sorts of
books, magazines and newspapers
from and about Canada. Other places and useful
addresses are available in the directory appendix.
Nevertheless
you can prepare your journey in a more accurate way
by making a personalized appointment with the
Franco-Canadian Chamber of Commerce to complete the
information that you have gathered during your
initial research and contacts, and get advice from
a professional.
We recommend
that you avoid the services of companies
specialized in immigration.
The tarifs are very high and the results often
disappointing.
While you are
looking for information you can contact companies
by sending unsollicited applications,
by proposing your services and stressing the fact
that you are waiting for a visa.
A Canadian
employer will only engage you if you already have
your visa and will not wait several months for you
to be available, except in particular
cases.
After you
have got all your information together about the
country and potential employment in your sector of
activity, you have to apply for a visa to the
immigration service of the Quebec delegation in
Paris.
This service
will consider your demand and make a decision on
the possibilites of your installation and whether
or not to give you a visa. Your level of education
will be taken into consideration, as well as your
knowledge of English and your professional
experience.
You should
provide a complete dossier which can eventually
include an analysis of your sector of activity,
copies of letters from employers who have answered
you, and a letter explaining your motivation
for wanting to settle in Quebec. The administrative
process is slow and can take from 3 to 6 months
and this makes contacts difficult when you are job
hunting and the offers are rare.
You should
know that any company which proposes to engage you
has to approach the Employment Centre in Canada so
that they can check that there is no one available
to fill the position in Canada.
The advert is posted in the Employment Centre for
several weeks. If the job offer is not taken up
within this time the Employment Centre will send
its agreement to the immigration service and to
your future employer.
When you
arrive in Quebec the Ministry of Immigration will
give you the necessary forms for your registration
with the local administrative organizations.
Staying for less than 6 months :
For stays
less than 6 months no formalities are necessary. At
the Canadian High Commission in Paris
you can fill in the form "demand for an
authorization for temporary residence".
This
temporary residence lets numerous hopeful
immigrants go and prepare their move while they are
waiting for a visa and a job. Local prospection
often makes things easier : calling in person on
companies and giving your cv directly and
consulting the press day by day are serious
advantages.
It is
advisable to have a return airticket and to budget
sufficiently for the time that you intend to
stay.
A credit card is useful.
You are not
allowed to work during this temporary
residence.
If ever you
find a job during your temporary residence, nothing
forbids you from popping over to the USA, to
Seattle or Boston, and depositing a demand for
immigration with the Canadian consulate
there.
If you have a
tourist visa don't make the mistake of working
illegally, it could wipe out all your hopes
of obtaining your work permit one day. When this
happens the immigration services expel the person
concerned with no possibility of
returning.
French-Canadian
bilateral agreements :
There are
other solutions which are based on agreements
between France and Canada, and which allow a
certain number of people, students aged from 18-30,
to go and work in Canada for limited periods,
without having to go via the Employment Centre, to
see a certain number of jobs, as varying as are
available,
and to use these agreements for a block visa which
depending on the year, could be for 400 to
1000.
These programmes are used for students looking for
training courses, temporary jobs or summer
jobs.
Programme
- IMO
The
International Migrations Office proposes programmes
of short term training courses
(from 3 - 12 months for 250 work permits), for
workers aged from 18 to 35 who want to
experience
a first job abroad.
AIESEC(International
Association of Economic and Commercial Science
Students),
proposes a programme of training courses for
students.
Other
agreements :
There are
other possibilities but reserved for students. So
candidates who already have professional experience
will find nothing of interest in these different
programmes or bilateral agreements.
Canadian
Nationality :
Canadian
nationality can be obtained on request and after a
residence of three years in Canada.
If you are 18 nothing can stop you from asking
Canadian nationality and obtaining double
nationality.
The
Sectors which recruit :
There are job
possibilities in the hotel and restaurant sectors.
Canadian is in 11th place on the tourist market
with 2.97% (France is first with 10.68%).
There is heavy demand for qualified personnel
(cooks, head waiters, waiters etc...)
In the
technological domain, data processing comes first,
with a big demand for programmers,
programme analysts, project managers and developers
of internet networks and multimedias.
There are
demands in other sectors, such as in electronics,
agri-business, chemistry, etc...
The
possibility of employment in Canada is also
dependent on the different economic policies
of the regions, which try to attract companies,
investments and the creation of new
enterprises.
You have to look in detail at the numerous
possibilities offered and especially if you have a
creative spirit, the economic market in Canada is
promising.
Recruitment
and our Advice :
Your cv must
be very clear and detailled and accompanied by a
hand written letter.
At the
interview, whatever position you are trying for, we
recommend that you always dress appropriately.
Canadian employers are very sensitive to your
manner of dressing and your
presentation.
Interviews
are often very short in the case of a preselection
but can last several hours if your candidacy
retains their attention, depending on the vacancy
and if you have to do psychotechnical tests
(graphological analysis) or aptitude
tests.
Be careful
not to appear pretentious about your know-how or
exagerate you professional competence.
Their
professional competence is very wide and their
recruitment methods are tried and
tested.
Don't forget
that the Canadian market has an unemployment rate
of 9.4% and so you mustn't let slip
a job interview which is so difficult to
obtain.
Rather,
stress your competence, your ease of adaption, your
mobility, your ability to work in a team
and your desire to contribute your experience if
you have any.
Modesty never
did any harm and may help you to establish a
dialogue with your interviewer which could give a
favorable impression.
Employment
Press :
The leading
local daily newspapers where you can find
international job offers are :
The Ottawa Citizen (English), La Presse (French),
le Devoir in Montreal, the Globe and the Mail in
Toronto.
Welfare
cover and Unemployment :
Health cover
Be careful :
The provinces have different health and welfare
allocation conditions.
Particularly
in Quebec, the health services are free if you have
a social insurance card.
In most
hospitals or doctor's consulting rooms you can take
out forms for medical care.
If you have
recently arrived in Canada you can try to get a
form for "urgent medical care"
from an employment centre.
You have to
pay for your own dental care.
Hospital fees
are paid for 100%.
Family
allowances are accorded if you have children under
18, and are taxed.
Unemployment
cover :
Workers have
a right to unemployment benefits, if they have
worked for a minimum period.
Health care is covered while you are on the dole.
Unemployment benefits are taxed.
Retirement
:
Whether you
settle definitely or temporarily in Canada it is
preferable to subscribe
to a pension scheme with the IRCAFEX in Paris (see
the information in the practical Guide).
Formalities to be
completed
Unlike the
USA, Quebec gives the possibilty to immigrants to
take Canadian nationality after 3 years
of residence in the country while keeping their own
original nationality. But before that you have to
ask
the Embassy for a permanent resident's visa and go
through a character investigation and a medical
test. Minitel Code : 3615 Quebec. To enter Toronto
you don't need a visa, a valid passport is
enough.
Prepare
your departure :
Check with
the Embassy if your dossier is complete.
Welfare
Protection :
The
Franco-Canadian agreement is for French or Canadian
citizens, employed or not in either of the two
countries. It provides obligatory affiliation in
the country of residence. However a French person
working in Canada can under certain conditions
benefit from the French welfare system. Find out if
you do or not have a right to the same social
protection systems as the Canadians while you are
employed in Canada.
This is also applicable to pension
schemes.
A personal
insurance is advisable against risks of sickness,
disablement, maternity costs, work accidents and
professional diseases.
In the case
of unemployment, take a personal insurance dated
before your employment or within six months of it,
as well as an insurance covering old age,
disability or death, from a French organization
which corresponds to the type of activity that you
are in (or a private old age insurance from the
CFE).
Retirement
:
If you are
not sure about the pension scheme proposed by your
employer then it is better
to take out a private pension scheme. Get
information about this in Paris.
The Tax
System :
There is a
federal government and a provincial government. The
provincial one manages local taxes and if you are
paid in dollars by a French or foreign company you
are liable for tax to the provincial
government.
Health & Medicine
Canada has no
endemic diseases, its climate is very healthy, only
people with heart trouble should
be careful because of the sudden temperature
changes.
Recommended
vaccinations are tetanos, polio, BCG.
Doctors
rarely make home visits. The price of a
consultation, if you are not covered by the local
social security is from 20 to 150 $.
Join their
health insurance scheme as soon as possible as well
as taking out a private insurance.
It is forbidden to import medicines.
|
