CapeBritain

Hello!
I'm a newbie to this forum, though I have been reading through occasional posts every once in a while. I'm going to start with a little bit about the situation, and I'll then go on to the problem.

I live in England, and I have been dating an amazing guy in Canada for just over a year now. We have met several times; him flying to England and myself flying over to Canada. We've met each other's families, and things are going wonderfully! Obviously, one of the first things a couple may think about for 'taking the next step' is to move in together. This would be much much easier if we both lived in the same country, but much to our dislike, we don't. Granted, this has not in any way put a strain on our relationship, as we're determined I will be living over there with him in due time! He currently lives in Nova Scotia, but is planning on moving to Ottawa later on this year, (2017).

Now on to the problem. I am only 18, and despite having traveled a lot as a child, (me and my family even moved to Kuwait when I was 9 years old because my dad got a job offer), I still have no idea where to start. How do I even approach companies in Canada and tell them about what I am hoping to do? I need a solid starting post because right now, I'm completely and utterly lost, there's been times I've just randomly started crying because part of me believes I won't even get over there at all.

Unfortunately, I had to miss out on my second year of college due to reasons I won't go into. This means I pretty much only have half of a degree. I have 3 AS-Levels, (I'm not entirely sure what they're equivalent to in Canada), so getting a further degree or a solid career is the one thing I'm so worried about. I've recently started to apply for a work permit, only to hit a bump in the road. I need a job offer for it to even be considered. (If I'm wrong on this, don't hesitate to correct me!)

I know there's the marriage sponsorship program we could consider, but my boyfriend and I have both agreed that we don't want our marriage to just be a gateway for me to move to Canada. We want it to happen when we're ready and when we're settled down.

If any of you have any advice, please share! I'm at wits end and I don't know which direction to go in anymore. Everything I look into always needs a previous step that seems too out of reach for me.
How do I go about applying for a job and ensuring that position will be open when I eventually move there?
Any extra information that you think may be helpful will be greatly appreciated. And sorry if this post is a little long-winded. I just don't know where to go from here, and I fear the longer I leave it, the longer we'll both be apart.

Snowy560

If you're a British citizen you apply for IEC. It's a 2 stage process but I can't link from my phone. Perhaps someone else will be kind ...

christmasoompa

Hi, welcome to BE.

You have a really simple solution, no need for a job offer or spousal sponsorship - the IEC program. It's a Working Holiday Visa program, for those aged 18-30, and would give you a 2 year open work permit so you can get over there and work in any job without the employer having to do anything.

Don't delay applying though, as the 2017 program is already open and there are only 5000 visas available each year (around half of those have gone so far iirc), but look in to it and get an application in asap. Once you've got the visa you've got plenty of time to get out there (a year from when it's granted).

Only having secondary education (your AS levels won't be seen as anything other than completing high school) is another matter entirely in a country that seems to need a degree for most jobs, but at least the visa side of things is easy!

HTH, best of luck.

CapeBritain

Is the IEC something I can apply for before getting a job offer, or do I need to look into jobs first? Also, on the Government of Canada website it says I can only apply if I have been invited. Do I need to do anything specific to get said invite?

christmasoompa

As above, no job offer is required. And yes, you need to enter a pool of applicants, once in the pool then people are randomly selected and given invites to apply.

Loads of info is on the CIC website and the IEC thread on this forum (a bit further down the page), grab a cuppa and get reading!

CapeBritain

Thank you so much! This has definitely given me a piece of mind! I'll start looking into it all right now.

SchnookoLoly

+1 that IEC is by far your best route to Canada in the shorter term.

Worth also then mentioning that once you move to Canada, assuming you then move in with your boyfriend, once you have lived together in a marriage-like relationship (not just as roommates) for one full year (with no breaks!) he can apply to sponsor you for Canadian PR as his common-law partner. It's the same application process as the marriage/spousal sponsorship, but without the requirement to be legally married.

The wiki article has a lot of information about what exactly common-law means and what kind of evidence CIC will be looking for, so have a solid read: Spousal Sponsorship-Canada : British Expat Wiki It will help you make sure that you have an appropriate paper trail established when you move in together, so that you aren't then scrambling after a year to try to get the relevant paperwork in order. (For example, make sure you have a lease, get paper statements of your bank accounts, open a joint bank account, put utilities in both names, or half-and-half instead of all in one name, and so on.) This process will make you a Canadian Permanent Resident, which gives you full right to live and work in Canada. The only limitations of PR is that you can't vote and there are a handful of jobs you can't do (like hold a position of office and such). PR then leads to Citizenship, but that's further down the road.

But first step is to get into the IEC pool ASAP!!!!

Best of luck!