# Help with Arranged Employment



## tahoe775 (Dec 19, 2008)

1) OBJECTIVE - Permanent Resident Visa

2) QUALIFICATION TEST RESULTS - exceeded 67 until age was factored in (53 y/o)

3) OPTIONS - it appears that the only/fastest way of beginning the visa process is
to obtain pre-arranged employment approval/documentation.

4) QUESTIONS:
a) Could anybody help guide me with objective and assessment of the options?
b) I'm very skilled (Int'l logistics & start-up's). Could knowledge with regard to
foreign (and US) regulations/operating procedures be considered unique by
Canadian Immigration officials?
c) Are there firms that help match individuals with needed skills/arranged
employment documentation?
d) Any thoughts or helpful hints for me?

Thanks very much !


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## travelwriter (Mar 12, 2009)

*Best Bet for Work Visas*

Large employers are more likely to go through the process involved in hiring immigrant workers so look to the headquarters of large banks, consulting and/or accounting firms, pharmaceutical companies first. They usually have at least one person in the human resources department who handles the paperwork, etc.

Your knowledge and expertise (Int'l logistics & start-up's/foreign regulations/ operating procedures) would be of interest to companies which either are owned by US companies, export to the US or want to enter that market. 

The area of Canada to which you want to move will make all of the difference as to what employers are available to you: pharmaceutical companies are mostly located around Montreal and Mississauga (near Toronto); big banks and consulting firms are mostly in Toronto; hi-tec sector is around Waterloo (southern Ontario) and Ottawa (eastern Ontario) with some in Vancouver and some in the province of Quebec. As you can see, most headquarters and international companies are in large cities.

Keep in mind that work visas are tied to a specific employer (someone correct me if this has changed) and so you can't take a job in Toronto and hope that, once you have the work visa, you can move to Timmins to work.

Your international experience and knowledge is more likely to be valued by an international company who would actually need this in its business -- look to pharmaceuticals and IT. Traditionally, the auto manufacturing and auto parts sectors and all manufacturing companies would have been interested but most of these companies have either closed or are suffering. Look to Canada's export industries which are pretty well limited to mining, lumber and agricultural products.

Of course, the employment picture in Canada is not the best at this time so you will be faced with additional challenges: cuts in jobs rather than growth, cuts in exports to the USA (meaning your knowledge is less needed), and the preference people may have for hiring Canadians over foreigners -- especially true during hard times and very true around the world not just Canada.

There are many headhunting firms who would say they can match your skills to open posiitons but they usually deal only with fairly senior administrators -- may be worth a shot if you can find ones that specialize in your area of expertise. Professional associations in your field often have job boards (more often than not on-line) and may be worth the cost of the membership. 

I base this information on having lived in Canada for 38 years, working in government and business for 25 years, having my American husband immigrate to Canada during a recession, and being an expat in my third country. 

Good luck


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