Jinty332

I am a new member to this forum so looking for any advice on the current immigration process for Canada in particular Ontario.

My husband is 43 and a fully qualified electrician however has worked as a commercial manager within the facilities management section of his company for the past 10 years.

I am 40 and a police officer (Chief Inspector) not looking to transfer to the police (aware that you need PR status to join/transfer), I have no recognised qualifications outwith High School however completed my 1st year at University Before leaving at 18 to join the police. I would be looking to work in something related to my police experience (public protection and training) if we were to move.

We would be moving with our 14 and 11 year old children.

We have have some initial enquiries re what visa process would be best to follow and initially thought that the Express Entry on the Federal Skills Worker or Trade Programmes based on my husbands trade would be our best route however on speaking with a immigration lawyer (at a very expensive consultation cost) they advised that due to our age this would not be the best option as estimate we would only score Mid 300's without a job offer on the CRS which would not make us eligible for an invite to apply on the EE although when I go through the check list on the cic.gc.ca site it says we are eligible??..

She advised that the best option would be for my husband to secure a job offer and apply for an open work permit which if successful would also allow me to apply for the same if we were successful in moving. We are both highly skilled in our areas of work however my work experience has no cross transferable skills points or so I have been informed and I lack any formal recognition of further education (i.e. HND, HNC, BSC etc) Financially we are secure so can show proof of funds etc and would be looking to move if possible within the next 6-12 months (or sooner if we can)

Can anyone provide any advice on what is our best route to follow and if the job offer is the route we need to take how best to tackle this ( i.e. What sites, via a recruitment agency etc) as I am now very confused and don't want to get sooked into the immigration lawyer process early as I know this assistance comes at a great cost so any advice would be very much appreciated.

Aviator

This should answer your questions Category:Canada : British Expat Wiki

Jinty332

Thank you very much! 👍

geoff52

Firstly if you can read and write don’t use a immigration adviser/lawyer.
Before even thinking of moving to Canada I came for a 4 week holiday with my family to Ontario and only after the holiday we decided to see if we could move permanently.
I applied for jobs in Canada from UK, (I was not going to give up my UK job without having a job in Canada). I arranged my job interviews in various provinces in a two week period and I flew to Canada alone for the interviews. I made it clear at the interview that I would only move from UK if the employer arranged permanent immigration papers to Canada. I received several job offers and I accepted the one from Toronto.
Once I received the paper work from my Canadian employer I contacted the Canadian embassy in London. We had our medical done in UK, and received the permanent residence visa from the embassy six weeks after the interview.
We rented the house in UK in case we did not like Canada in the long term, we bought a house (we had the finances) in Canada six weeks after arriving and kids started their schools. So our life began in Ontario Canada. We have been back to UK many times but never regretted the move especially the kids.
It’s been awhile since we moved and some of the immigration process has changed but I suggest this is the general pattern people should follow.
Firstly visit Canada (the area you want to make home), then check out your job prospects in the country.
Don’t give up your job in the UK until you have a job in Canada. Immigration is very stressful and risky process. In order to make it a success, both partners have to be committed to the move, and be aware it’s going to be expensive.
I hope this general outline helps and good luck for the future.

Siouxie

I have to ask, how long ago was this? The process is much longer and more involved these days!

geoff52

It’s been awhile since we moved and some of the immigration process has changed but I suggest this is the general pattern people should follow.

Visit where you want to move.
Find a job in Canada that can pay the bills before giving up job in the UK.
Moving is stressful and expensive.

Jinty332

Thanks very much for the advice. We have visited both ourselves and with the children last year and very much still very keen to move so will take your advice re the job offers and begin the process of applying for jobs from the UK and will start to look through the advice in wiki re this.

I like yourself am very sceptical above moving without one due to the risk too both ourselves but more so our boys and will keep in our jobs until such an offer is secured.

Thanks again and will no doubt be back on looking for advice.

christmasoompa

It has changed quite considerably, so perhaps it's best not to offer visa related advice, as your process doesn't exist anymore!

Advising people to get a job before moving is a great idea, but unfortunately not likely to happen for most. Lots try, but most have to wait until they are in the country before employers will take them seriously.

Agreed!

Engineer_abroad

I assume this was to work out if you are eligible for express entry which is step 1 in the process. Next you need to work out your CRS scores (Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) tool - Skilled immigrants (Express Entry)) to see what you are scoring. This is then used to rank you in the pools for selection to apply.

Assume full scores for English testing for now (which should be ok with a bit of study).

If you getting between 400-450 you may stand a chance as point shave been falling recently. If not feel free to post back here and people may be able to help you find ways of lifting those points. Finding a job is certainly one way of getting this.

Aviator

Subjective. I did not find it so. Depends on the individual. Most of my working life was traveling, so living in one place was like another and the cost was not really any different to moving house in the UK. Took a while to settle into a routine once in country though. Like you my immigration process was in weeks, my OH took days, but these processes don't happen now.

Jinty332

Thanks very much! Will look into this and report back if we need further advice!

ScottyB

The other option in Express Entry is that a Province offers to consider you under a Provincial Scheme.


To be eligible you need 400 points or more and as part of the EE process you select the Provinces you would consider settling in e.g. Ontario or leave blank for all Provinces to consider you.


We left blank and Ontario showed an interest and we applied there gaining an extra 600 points and automatic Invitation to Apply for PR.


We have family in Ontario anyway and could demonstrate multiple visits.


Worth researching especially for those who get above 400 but not enough to receive an ITA in the Monthly selections

DigitalGhost

I'm amazed how many PNP invitations Ontario seems to send out these days. IIRC, it used to be the most difficult province to migrate to if you needed any kind of provincial government support.

I received a notification of interest from them a few hours after submitting my EOI a few weeks ago but I decided to hold on and wait for a general ITA instead since the Ontario process costs $1500 and apparently takes a fair bit longer.

geoff52

I live in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Doesn’t feel like there is a jobs boom in the province. The big story at the moment is the property boom. I hope the new immigrants to Ontario have plenty of cash.
My feeling is that the province wants immigration to keep the economy going. Sell to the newcomers houses (keep the construction industry going) sell furniture and fridges (to keep the retail industry going).
I don’t think Ontario is alone in this. Australia and New Zealand also use immigration as part of economic development strategy.

DigitalGhost

I agree. IMHO British and Chinese expat investment in Australian property has been keeping parts of the Aussie economy going for years.

Whenever I watch that Wanted Down Under show on the BBC, I'm always amazed at just how much cash so many young families with 2-3 kids in tow seem to be able to throw around.