Living and Working in Canada
David Hampshire & Sally Jennings
Living and Working in Canada, first published in 1999 and now in its 4th edition, is the most comprehensive and best-selling book available about daily life – and is essential reading for newcomers. What’s it really like Living and Working in Canada? Not surprisingly there’s a lot more to life than Mounties, maple syrup and moose! This book is guaranteed to hasten your introduction to the Canadian way of life, irrespective of whether you’re planning to stay for a few months or indefinitely. Adjusting to day-to-day-life in Canada just got a whole lot simpler!
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Other guides for Canada
Extracts from the book…
Employment Agencies
Employment agencies flourish in major cities and towns in Canada. Most large companies engage agencies to recruit staff, particularly executives, managers, professional employees and temporary office staff (temps). Most agencies specialise in particular trades, professions or fields, e.g. computing, accounting, publishing, advertising, banking, insurance, sales staff, secretarial and office staff, bilingual people, catering, teaching, health professionals, engineering and technical, nursing, industrial recruitment, construction, temporary workers and domestics, while others deal with a range of industries and positions. Agencies may handle permanent or temporary (e.g. less than 90 days) jobs or both.
Many agencies, often calling themselves ‘executive counsellors’ or ‘executive search’ consultants (head-hunters), cater for the lucrative executive market. Head-hunters are extremely influential and although many companies and managers consider it unethical to lure away a competitor’s top staff, most are happy to use their services. Critics claim that this encourages job-hopping, forces up salary levels and diminishes corporate loyalty. You may be required to pay a fee by some executive counselling or search companies, in which case you should make sure that you know exactly what you will receive for your money, as some make claims about what they can do for you which are over-optimistic.
Employment agencies must usually be licensed by provincial or municipal authorities. Check whether you’re required to pay a fee in advance and if you are, keep it to yourself, as some employers are sceptical of applicants who pay someone else to find them a job. This isn’t to say that all such agencies are charlatans, as there are many situations when an individual needs guidance in finding a suitable job, how to conduct himself at an interview or help in the early stages of job-searching from outside Canada.
Agency fees for permanent positions are usually equal to three months’ gross salary or 25 per cent of the gross annual salary and are usually paid by employers. Many agencies state in their advertisements that their services are ‘fee paid’, meaning that the employer pays for the agency’s services, not the applicant. Some agencies act as employers, hiring workers and contracting them out to companies for an hourly rate. Employees are paid either an hourly rate (with weekly wages) or receive a monthly salary, possibly including paid federal and provincial holidays and annual holiday after a qualifying period (like a regular job), but receive no benefits such as medical insurance. Temporary employment agencies usually take a percentage of employees’ wages, e.g. 10 per cent, or charge as much as your first two or three weeks’ salary.
Wages are usually negotiable, therefore you should drive a hard bargain and ask for more than you’re willing to accept. In cities, good temps are hard to find, so you may have a lot of bargaining power. Shop around different agencies to get an idea of the general rates of pay and fees.
Temporary agencies traditionally deal with workers such as office staff, domestic help, nurses and other medical services, security guards, cleaners, labourers and industrial workers. More recently, some agencies have begun to specialise in finding work for self-employed people on a contract basis, e.g. computer professionals, nurses, technical authors, technicians and engineers. Before you sign on with an agency, check that they’re ‘ISO 9002 approved’ and therefore ‘certified’ to provide staff for lucrative short-term government contracts, which are common in Canada. Typical of such agencies is Spherion (5450 Explorer Drive, Suite 102, Mississauga, ON L4W 5N1, 905-361 1550, www.spherion.ca).
For the larger picture, you can obtain a copy of the Canadian Directory of Search Firms (Mediacorp Canada Inc.) that lists over 2,500 search firms and 4,000 recruitment specialists in Canada by occupation, geographical area and those with offices in the US, Europe and Asia (as well as Canada). This book is available through Canada Employment Weekly or alternatively you can contact the Association of Canadian Search, Employment and Staffing Services (6835 Century Avenue, 2nd Floor, Mississauga, ON L5N 2L2, 905-826 6869, www.acsess.org) and ask for a list of agencies specialising in your field. An agency that specialises in finding jobs for migrant workers is Canada US Employment, 620 Wilson Avenue, Suite 230, Toronto, ON M3K 1Z3, (www.canadausemployment.com). Websites worth visiting to look for jobs before you come to Canada include www.workopolis.com and www.monster.ca.
Permits & Visas
Around 9 per cent of Canadian residents are foreign-born, which puts the country ahead of its neighbour, the US (around 8 per cent), in this respect. Countries with a higher immigrant share of the population include Switzerland (17 per cent) and Australia (20 per cent). Official immigration is around 250,000 per year. With the exception of certain visitors, all non-resident foreigners wishing to enter Canada require a visa.
Canadian immigration and naturalisation laws are enforced by the Federal Immigration Department of the Government of Canada, which is responsible for the processing of foreigners entering Canada and those seeking permanent residence. The Department maintains offices throughout Canada and in Canadian High Commissions, embassies and consulates throughout the world. Entry into the country is strictly controlled and anyone who doesn’t comply with visa requirements can be fined, jailed or deported. Canada restricts entry of undesirables and misfits and anyone who’s a threat to the health, welfare and security of Canada, by requiring applicants to undergo a medical and produce a police certificate declaring that they don’t have a criminal record.
Unlike the US, where possession of a visa isn’t a guarantee of entry into the country, it’s unusual for anyone with a visa or work permit (with the attached ‘record of landing’) to be refused entry unless their circumstances have changed since it was issued. For example, the holder of a visa may have got married or divorced since it was granted. The authorities don’t mind you changing your circumstances, but they expect you to inform them in plenty of time. Only holders of permanent resident visas and work permits may work in Canada, including informal work in a household as a nanny, au pair or mother’s helper. You need a full passport to enter Canada and if it’s close to its expiry date, it’s wise to renew it before leaving for Canada.
An immigrant visa gives you the right to live and work in Canada (and change jobs freely) on a permanent basis and to apply for Canadian citizenship after three years’ residence. Work permits are issued for specific jobs only and aren’t transferable between jobs. In certain circumstances they can be extended. The key to obtaining a work permit, apart from having a genuine job offer in writing, is that a prospective employer must prove that there are no unemployed Canadian nationals or immigrant visa holders who can do the job. The information you provide in support of your application to enter Canada for any purpose is collected under the authority of the Immigration Act and protected and accessible only under the provisions of the Privacy Act and the Access to Information Act.
Canada doesn’t have an annual immigration quota, but sets annual targets that can be exceeded if there are many high-quality applicants, and in years when there are fewer applicants officials may be more lenient regarding marginal applications. Note that, as in many areas of life in Canada, the immigration rules for the province of Quebec are different from the rest of Canada. Immigration to Canada is dealt with under the terms of the 1976 Immigration Act by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (www.cic.gc.ca) and general information, including links to immigration lawyers, is also available on the internet (e.g. www.escapeartist.com). Serious immigrants (you must be serious to pay around $1,500 in application processing fees for one person!) may wish to obtain a copy of Immigrating To Canada by Gary Segal (Self Counsel Press Inc.).
Note that immigration is a complex subject and that the information contained in this chapter is intended as a general guide only. You should not base any decisions or actions on the information contained herein without first confirming it with an official and reliable source, such as a Canadian High Commission, embassy or consulate.
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PRICE: £14.95
PUBLICATION: August 2009
EDITION: 4th
PAGES: 380
BINDING: paperback
SIZE: 230mm x 155mm
COLOUR PHOTOS: 100+
