# Job Situation in Toronto



## Mistersalisbury (Jun 27, 2010)

I'm an Australian that has been currently bumming around BC working on farms that last 3 months on the woofing programme(I have a 2 year working holiday Visa). Initially I didn't have much luck finding work in Vancouver and am thinking about making the move to Toronto, but am wondering what the work situation is like?

I'm 27, a graphic designer by training and experience (but I have also worked retail). What sort of work would I be likely to get in Toronto, any chance of design work or would I run into the old "we hire Canadians before foreigners" problem again? Happy to do monkey work like retail or serving (which surprisingly you need experience to be a server over here? weird).

Also just on another note how hard is it to get work in Montreal being a non french speaker?


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

Mistersalisbury said:


> I'm an Australian that has been currently bumming around BC working on farms that last 3 months on the woofing programme(I have a 2 year working holiday Visa). Initially I didn't have much luck finding work in Vancouver and am thinking about making the move to Toronto, but am wondering what the work situation is like?
> 
> I'm 27, a graphic designer by training and experience (but I have also worked retail). What sort of work would I be likely to get in Toronto, any chance of design work or would I run into the old "we hire Canadians before foreigners" problem again? Happy to do monkey work like retail or serving (which surprisingly you need experience to be a server over here? weird).
> 
> Also just on another note how hard is it to get work in Montreal being a non french speaker?


Firstly it is completely understandable that Canadian employers hire Canadians first before working visitors and yes, you will experience this all across the country. You need to change your attitude. Calling hard working retail or serving workers as doing monkey work is insulting and will only get you enemies. A good server in a decent restaurant is worth his/her weight in gold to the owner.
It will be difficult for a non-French speaker to function well in Montreal, particularly in retail and the restaurant business.
As far as Toronto is concerned it is sufficiently larger to have more job opportunities.


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## Mistersalisbury (Jun 27, 2010)

Auld Yin said:


> Firstly it is completely understandable that Canadian employers hire Canadians first before working visitors and yes, you will experience this all across the country. You need to change your attitude. Calling hard working retail or serving workers as doing monkey work is insulting and will only get you enemies. A good server in a decent restaurant is worth his/her weight in gold to the owner.
> It will be difficult for a non-French speaker to function well in Montreal, particularly in retail and the restaurant business.
> As far as Toronto is concerned it is sufficiently larger to have more job opportunities.


Whoa, Tough crowd. Get a sense of humour mate.

I accept that they hire Canadians over foreigners, however I don't have to like or agree with it. I can assure you this is not always the case in other countries.

Do you honestly think I am referring to servers and retail people as monkeys? ( I was kidding, I often used to joke that sometimes repetitive minimum wage jobs feel like you could train a monkey to do them, also not actually serious about that point).


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## MarylandNed (May 11, 2010)

Mistersalisbury said:


> I'm an Australian that has been currently bumming around BC working on farms that last 3 months on the woofing programme(I have a 2 year working holiday Visa). Initially I didn't have much luck finding work in Vancouver and am thinking about making the move to Toronto, but am wondering what the work situation is like?
> 
> I'm 27, a graphic designer by training and experience (but I have also worked retail). What sort of work would I be likely to get in Toronto, any chance of design work or would I run into the old "we hire Canadians before foreigners" problem again? Happy to do monkey work like retail or serving (which surprisingly you need experience to be a server over here? weird).
> 
> Also just on another note how hard is it to get work in Montreal being a non french speaker?


Remember that you're on a working holiday visa. By it's very nature, the work is supposed to be temporary (e.g. seasonal). It's assumed that you'll be transient and that you're only going to be working to supplement your travel funds. Not every employer is going to want to hire someone in this situation. Graphic design doesn't seem to fall into this category of work.

The law of supply and demand also applies. If there are more applicants than jobs then employers have the luxury of restricting offers to those who have experience. Canadian residents will also have an advantage as they are more likely to hang around after being hired/trained. From an employer point of view, working holiday visa holders are a good way to supplement their workforces on a temporary basis at short notice. Again, not every employer has this need and not all lines of work are suitable for this anyway.

My brother, sister and nephew all went on working holidays to Australia in recent years and it was exactly the same deal for them there.

I think it's a good idea to travel to Toronto and other parts of the country - after all, travel and seeing different parts of the country is the whole point of a working holiday. Without a good knowledge of French, jobs in Montreal will be restricted to those where you'd have little or no interaction with the general public.

Advice: go to Toronto. It's a great city. You'll meet lots of ex-pats there. Check out the bars/restaurants/stores along Yonge (especially around Eglinton and Lawrence where you'll meet a lot of Brits, Irish and Aussies who can probably help you out). Also check out Aussie bars. For example:

The Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5S 2M7

Good luck!


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## oddball (Aug 1, 2007)

Mistersalisbury said:


> Whoa, Tough crowd. Get a sense of humour mate.
> 
> I accept that they hire Canadians over foreigners, however I don't have to like or agree with it. I can assure you this is not always the case in other countries.
> 
> Do you honestly think I am referring to servers and retail people as monkeys? ( I was kidding, I often used to joke that sometimes repetitive minimum wage jobs feel like you could train a monkey to do them, also not actually serious about that point).


 I would suggest you take the advise given by Auld yin seriously , he is a mine of information on Canada and is aware that the Canadian attitude and humour is far different than what you grew up with , all the assurance that this is not what they do in other countries has no relevance . In most countries , attitude can take you a long way or shut you out , because many interviewers can pick it out during an interview .

Be nice , be pleasant to people and learn the ways of a new country , I am English , but did not find it particularly easy to get accepted and I am an easy going guy that makes friends easily .


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