canada-Immigration

Monday, April 24, 2006

Jobs in Canada in the field of Construction and IT

I am not in the IT or the construction field. I have friends in both fields. Whatever, I am saying is personal knowledge and should not be taken as the truth or as a rule of thumb. I am not an expert at any of this. Just another immigrant who got here before some of you and have risen from the ranks.

First in construction ...

right now there is a boom and there are plenty of jobs. Having said that it depends on which field of construction one is looking for a job. Architecture/mech engg/elect engg/frame work/drywall etc or just as casual labour. NO matter what the job is, it is not easy for an immigrant to start immediately in their field of expertise.
Every immigrant has to start a notch or two lower than they are used to back home. Then prove themselves to go up the ladder.
A good thing to do is to have your education evaluated as soon as you land in Canada. The evaluation helps you equate your your education to canadian standards and then you can decide how much you may need to upgrade your studies. In some cases these courses can be taken on a part time basis while you work at a job.
Learning is a lifetime experience and as you keep working it in Canada you need to keep updating yourselves continuously unless ofcourse you get in to your own business which again requires a different type of learning.
Construction Jobs are in plenty right now especially for casual labour and yes they pay well.....but beware the construction boom can end at anytime (anywhere from 6 months to 6 years) It is very unpredictable. The last time this happened in 1989, a lot of people lost their jobs and houses. They all eventually came back but this is something one should be aware of.


Now IT jobs...

there are still some IT jobs out there but mostly on contract.
BUt before one can get started one needs to have some Canadian experience......yes it is a chicken and egg story. How can one have Canadian experience when they are unable to get a job. That is the reason every immigrant needs to realize that they have to start at a lower position and then prove themselves.
There have been a few individuals who have started at their current positions and levels in India. Those people generally are working for International companies and can ask for transfers to Canada if their companies have branches in Canada.
The transfers are not real transfers because no Canadian company can offer employment to anyone who is not a permanent Resident of Canada unless they have approval from HRDC.

In short getting started is difficult but once you get started most hard working people work their way up the ladder and settle down comfortably. And yes it takes about 5 years before an immigrant starts feeling at home in Canada.

This is a long time but it has more to do with the ties one has with their country of origin and how they adapt to the diverse cultures in Canada. This is a lot, however it is better to know some of this before you land in Canada than to find out about it after one is here.

Friday, April 21, 2006

Immigration to Canada

Hi Friends,
I recently crossed the border from USA to Canada to make an entry as a permanent resident of Canada. Then I thought of sharing all my experiences of applying for canadian immigration with you.
To start with, I will give a little background of my self.
I am from India and did my bachelors in civil engineering in 1992 from M S University of Baroda, Gujarat,India. I was an officer with Larsen & Toubro Ltd where I worked till 2000.

I came to USA in 2000 to do Masters in Computer Science and after finishing am working in USA on H1B visa.
However, looking at the excessive backlogs in USA for greencard process, I decided to apply for Canadina Immigration in 2004 and voila by April 2006, I already have a Canadian P R Card (Premanent Residency Card) with me.

The exact time line goes at follows...
June 2004 applied for Canada PR.
July 2004 received AOR(Acknowledgement Of Receipt - which lists your file number)
Feb 2005 received interview waiver notice with advise to submit police clearance, medical and financial statements.
March 2005 submitted medical
July 2005 submitted police clearance and financial documents. (it took me a while to collect police clearance for India and USA)
Nov 2005 paid the RPRF (Right of Permanent Residency Fees)
Feb 2006 received letter from embassy to submit passport for visa stamping.
Feb 2006 submitted passports and received them back within 15 days with visa stamped.
April 2006 made an entry to Canada to get my PR Card, SIN Number and Health Insurance Card.

As you can see, I took a long time in submitting the police clearance certificates and also took a while before paying the final RPRF which caused a little delay in the process otherwise, I could have been canadina PR within 18 months.

I will write more about the immigration process within the coming days.

thanks

Nanku