dbcctbc

"Canadians Preferred"GOOD MORNING:I hope that my post here may serve as an education for Americans, especially in journalism, broadcasting and academia as well as most other professional white collar fields....My spouse/partner is a seasoned expert in journalism and broadcasting. He has also taught courses in broadcasting and journalism at universities. He's held some pretty nice positions over the years.We also happen to be pretty liberal gay people. [Of course prospective employers don't know that he's gay or his views]After becoming disillusioned about the direction of politics and social trends in the USA ... and several other issues, we decided to look into moving to Canada. I hadn't yet finished my degree, and we had some money saved up, but certainly aren't that well off. My partner was in his mid 50s at the time. Because of his age, even though he has a Masters degree, he fell short by a few points in the "skilled worker program" that is the main way most people immigrate to Canada if they don't have family connections [i.e. Canadian spouse or parent, etc] to sponsor them.Our immigration lawyer suggested I finish university, and that this would boost our points but at the same time, at least here in British Columbia [Canada west coast] my partner would be allowed to hold a job and have an "open work permit" for the duration of my studies.IN 18 MONTHS HE HAS NOT BEEN INTERVIEWED ONCE, DESPITE HAVING A STELLAR RESUME AND A VERY GOOD SHEET OF REFERENCES!Employers just will not consider him. Our lawyer did us a lot of harm by telling us that my partner would find a job right away...and letting us uproot our lives to come out here.

They won't even interview him out here. He's also applied for a few positions near Toronto and Ottawa Ontario area.....no response. He's even tried to find casual work, with no response. Temp agencies for any clerical positions in any field, no response.WE FEEL THAT AS NON CANADIAN, HE IS VIRTUALLY BLACKLISTED FROM FINDING EMPLOYMENT. Unless you are in a field that has some dire shortage of employees, forget it. Even then, be careful. After all, if an employer has a pile of resumes, and they sort through them, they think "why should I interview that American, when I have this stack of resumes from perfectly qualified Canadians?"We had done quite a bit of research before coming out here and we had visited several times. There were many superficially friendly people here. No one warned us how difficult it would be for him to get a job. [After all, who would? Unless you make a bunch of friends, you are mostly dealing with realtors, insurance agents, lawyers etc and they all want your commission]HOWEVER, once we got here, the reality of the situation began to set in after 7 or 8 months. We have now been here 18 +/- months and nothing has worked out..Most people who come out here and wind up in this situation return very disillusioned and quite frankly, bankrupt. There is a sentiment, which seems particularly strong in BC, but we suspect is in all of Canada, that you don't hire an American [or Non-Canadian] for a professional position, if you can absolutely do anything to hire a Canadian.Newspaper ads for jobs many times say "Canadians Preferred". Have you ever seen that in a job ad in the USA? We haven't.This means that there are some people who feel so strong about this, that they'll even re-advertise a position several times and ignore the qualified newcomer....even though this person should theorietically be considered. It However, the employers usually take it a step further, in that they even avoid permanent residents and those with valid work permits issued by the government of Canada.Be very very careful. Even immigration lawyers avoid telling the truth about this, because they of course will collect fees for consultations and filing paper work for work permits and / or permanent residency applications.We haven't even gotten that far. If in 18 months, as temporary residents, he hasn't be interviewed once, after applying for more than 65 positions, why bother? We'll just be giving Canada another couple of thousand dollars for a worthless piece of paper!Further on the social and political aspect, we have found just as much, if not more homophobia out here than back home. It's just more subtle, i.e. most Canadians won't "wear it on their sleeve" [i.e. go away you f-in ____] but they will be superficially friendly but not treat you the same way they would a fellow Canadian.We have been greeted with much suspicion and made to know that we're not welcome in many, many ways. I actually wound up switching schools because it was made clear to me that I didn't fit.

I attended a university on Vancouver Island, and I encountered a lot of anti-American statements, as well as a general suspicion towards me. Then, when people realize I was gay, I got homophobia too!

Canada markets itself as being somehow more tolerant than the USA. This is a myth. It really is a total myth. The only places in Canada that are liberal are the very large cities. Even with that considered, it is impossible to get work even in most cities in Canada. They also greatly overestimate the strength of their job market. It's really only Alberta that is having so many jobs created that they might hire a lot of newcomers. Even then, most white collar positions are probably reserved for Canadians only.

It's also a myth that you can immigrate here and make a new life. Most people don't succeed, unless there is an employer that specifically goes out of his/her way to make it work out.

Most work permits are not worth the paper they are printed on.

Permanent residency applications are the same.

I hate to be sooo negative about our experience, but there has not been one positive or happy thing in the time we've been here. If we hadn't made so much effort to come here, and if we weren't so concerned about the social trends back home, we'd have left here long ago.

My question is why does Canada let people in temporarily or permanently if there is so much sentiment against hiring newcomers?

Sure there may be some exceptions, but I'm willing to bet that more than 50% of newcomers have trouble getting a job for several years.

D in British Columbia.

tagpicpac

so this is weird!

theres nothing canadian about me except my citizenship. i moved to the usa when i was six. now im 22, graduate from unc, decent resume. i look, sound, 'act' american. do you think they will discriminate against me? i cant work here because i visa expired but i am a canadian citizen. this will be interesting. im moving in a few weeks. what do you think

dandxg

I am real sorry to hear about your situation. Out of curiousity, have you talked to other Americans with similar results? I am an American, considering applying for citizenship, based on my Canadian father and I would be self employed most likely. It's still scary though, in case things didn't work out with my business I don't want to end up like you. I hope things improve for you.

Dan

TIO

dbcctbc,

I've read several of your posts over the months and I must say there are some very negative undertones in what you say. You seem very bitter about your experience and I hope that it doesn't put too many people off.

While I understand that these forums provide an opportunity to share our experiences and offer an balanced point of view, you seem to make some sweeping generalisations which I don't think are fair. Your partner obviously works in a highly specialised field (journalism), and I don't think you can compare this to other "white collar" jobs.

I am pretty sure it is a lot harder to find jobs in journalism than accounting or IT.

It is a shame that your partner hasn't found work, but I get the impression that you are bitter about your experience and that you want to pass that negative vibe around.

It seems as though you have an axe to grind. I just don't understand why you can't just state your case and leave it be.

Ken W.

I have to say that I am very sorry to hear about your bad experience to date in Canada.

As a Canadian though, I can say that the company I work with has employees who are gay, and/gay and married and no one could care less. Really, its their business entirely--no hints of discrimination anywhere. People in those situations can talk openly with all workers, managers, etc. I see it all the time and its perfectly natural and normal in the working environment.

I went to school with a girl from the US recently and she made out very well in Canada (Toronto). After school some people found better jobs than her, some found jobs that weren't as good. That's life.

You always have choices, perhaps you've been job-hunting in ways that are not consistent with what companies are looking for? Perhaps you've had bad luck and just ran in to lousy people? Perhaps his skills could be transferred to a different line of business where he could be in greater demand?

In Canada, you really have to keep plugging away to get where you want to go. As a well educated Canadian with positive work references and an University and Post-grad education it still took me over 9 full months to find a solid job in my field. Sometimes you have to repackage yourself and try something new. I did.

Here, I don't think you need to keep being gay a secret at all, nor being American as some type of target for discrimination. I hope your situation improves.

Hippie40

dbcctbc, I sympathize with the frustration of not being able to find a job in Canada. I'm a Canadian citizen and spent my working life in Toronto...16 years and it was a constant struggle to get and keep a job. My sister was there longer than I was and had similar trouble. Now she is in Victoria and is still having trouble.

I briefly looked for work in Victoria and Vancouver and was told that BC is volunteer-driven. The kinds of jobs in Toronto, say, that would pay a salary are volunteer only in BC. I don't know why this is but it's the way the province was set up.

Has your partner applied to CBC yet?

xyankee

You know I am going to have to agree with the first poster. I moved to Canada (the Plains) 7 months ago and I am a professional and you really have to know someone to get a job. My experience has not been a total disaster - I do have a temp position and my Canadian partner has a job as well. On the flip side to this situation I think back to when I moved to Seattle 15 years ago from the East Coast - it took me a while to find the right job. I had to work in fields and areas that I was not partial to but it took me a good 3 years to find the right job for me at that time and I guess I have to apply that situation to having just moved to Canada 7 months ago. It takes time to get to know people and establish yourself. Another issue that the first poster had was the field you cited is a rather difficult field to find a job in regardless of what country you are in. I refuse to give up and I will continue to look for jobs in Canada that suit my needs and in time I know that I will get something that I enjoy and can prosper in.