Siouxie

You can also access your RoE (presuming they filed them electronically) by registering for a My Service Canada account. https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-...y-account.html

You can see what documents are required regarding EE work experience here: Applications received on or after January 1, 2016, for permanent residence programs subject to the Express Entry completeness check

DigitalGhost

Thanks, I'll try the Service Canada site. I did find an online RoE portal this morning but it looks like that is just for employers.

I did try to email the address that I had for the guy who hired me in my first position there this morning but unfortunately I received an undeliverable notification back.

I then, albeit reluctantly, signed up for a LinkedIn account and sent him a message through that but so far haven't received a response (although I am obviously conscious of the fact that it is still Monday morning in Ontario atm). He does seem to be quite active on LinkedIn and social media though so if he doesn't reply then I'm guessing that it's either because he can't help me or just plain doesn't want to.

DigitalGhost

It isn't allowing me to register for an account on that Service Canada website and I don't recall ever signing up for one before. Could that because my SIN has since expired? There is a contact number for international enquiries so I could try them later today.

Additionally I just received notification from the company who hired the firm who hired me and apparently because I signed my contract with this other outfit, they can't help. To their credit it does seem as though they made a bit of an effort internally before turning me away though.

Siouxie

You're most welcome. You could also supply copies of any T4's or Notice of Assessment that were issued - you can obtain copies from Revenue Canada

Get a copy of your tax slips

However, I believe you will still need letters from the former employers or else supply information and proof of why you couldn't provide them. (but hopefully others can confirm!)

I was going to suggest you joined LinkedIn - it's popular here (also for networking).

Snowy560

One thing: keep all records and proof of having tried to get in touch with your previous employer eg dated emails, responses, evidence you tried to contact via LinkedIn etc.

DigitalGhost

I did actually have an account when I lived there for that reason but I closed it when I left. In the UK people seem to have a tendency just to use it to spam or gloat unfortunately and that got tiring for me very quickly. Current situation aside, I also found recruiters in my line of work to be much nicer and hospitable people in Canada than many of their British counterparts.

I will try to get my T4's through that website, thanks. Can emails constitute evidence if worst comes to the worst? E.g. the reply I got from HR at the parent-contracting firm today said (edits in brackets):

And

DigitalGhost

Thanks, I definitely plan to do that. Fortunately I am a bit of an digital hoarder anyway and always have been which is why I still have copies of email conversations that I had with them back in the day and digital copies of the contracts.

My problem has always been that I am terrible when it comes to paper files. I have an unfortunate instinct to try to reduce clutter whenever I can.

DigitalGhost

Unfortunately I can't use that online T4 portal because you need to have filed tax returns for at least one of the last two years to be eligible for it. The fact that my SIN has been dormant for the last 4 years+ might also be why that other Service Canada portal isn't working as well.

Siouxie

Sorry, I hadn't read that far.

On checking, it says if you haven't filed for the last two years you can contact them by phone - they give a number for international enquiries.

Telephone numbers (Individual Tax Enquiries section)

Call this number for tax information for individuals, trusts, international tax and non-residents, including personal income tax returns, instalments, and RRSPs or to get our forms and publications. Also call this number for assistance with our electronic services for individuals such as My Account, Represent a Client and NETFILE.

DigitalGhost

Please don't apologise. I really, really appreciate all of the help that you and others have provided with this. I know that it is a bit of a unusual situation.

I can try to give them and Service Canada a call tomorrow and hopefully I should be to get something out of at least one of them.

Via Linked In I managed to find the new head of recruitment at the agency who hired me but I'm weary of reaching out to him because I've never spoken with him before and I don't want the other guy to think that I'm undermining him or anything.

They have changed their trading name but as far as I can tell the agency itself is much the same, with the guy who hired me listed as the MD. There's a URL for a company website but it just returns a blank.

DigitalGhost

OK, so here is where I am at the moment after trawling through as much correspondence from back then as I can find and driving myself slightly mental in the process.

I have the following:

A) An initial employment contract to cover 1 calendar month (I didn't take any days off during that month apart from Family Day and I'm assuming that doesn't count) plus the job title and hourly rate paid to me.
B) Emails that state the number of hours worked, names of contacts at the client site and outsourcer, an email from the agent confirming that my contract was extended (I never formally signed a second employment contract), and the email that I sent to the agent when I handed in my notice.
C) Emails from this week sent to the agent and a local supervisor at the client who according to LinkedIn still works there but I received undeliverable auto-replies from both.
D) Message sent to the agent via LinkedIn that (so far) has not received a response (I'm not holding out much hope there tbh).

What I don't have:

A) Job description
B) Payslips or tax documents

I was never given a formal job spec for that role. I emailed the agent after seeing an ad on Craigslist and I was called a couple of days later and offered the contract after a short phone interview. The process was very quick because they needed someone to start the next morning.

Even if I can get copies of the tax documents from the Canadian government (assuming they were filed by my employer) then, without a job specification, how difficult is it going to be to prove that what I did there fitted into a relevant NOC code?

What I was paid along with the job title suggest that it was a reasonably skilled job as do some of the companies and job titles mentioned in correspondence between the agency, the onsite team and me, but I know that there is often little room for interpretation where visa applications are concerned.

DigitalGhost

OK so I've been in contact with a guy who I worked with there. He was contracted at the same time as me and he is happy to write a letter stating that I worked there with him, the dates that I was there, what our duties were etc.

Is that going to be sufficient in place of a reference letter from the recruitment agency or job description and if so is there any kind of notarization process that I would need to go through? He is obviously happy to provide his contact details etc in case anybody from the visa processing office wants to call him to verify anything.

DigitalGhost

This is starting to grind my gears. I called the number that I had for the department that deal with duplicate RoE copies and was told that I would need to direct my request to Employment Insurance Canada.

The problem is that Employment Insurance Canada seemingly have no section for dealing with non-domestic enquiries. The only phone number on their web page is the free toll number that I was given and there is no international department. Also it says that opening times are in local time so who the hell knows what that means when you call from outside Canada.

https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-...ndividual.html

I tried to call them last night and was told there was a wait time of 40 minutes. I then attempted to call them again at 1:30 this afternoon (8:30am in ON) and was told that they are closed. I can try again at 8:30am AB time but I don't really want to wait for 40 minutes and pay the cost of a 40+ minute international call only to then be told that I've contacted the wrong people again.

Could anybody possibly offer any advice? The person I spoke to yesterday confirmed my suspicions that online portals are only available to those with a currently active SIN.

Siouxie

You could send the form by mail, perhaps?

Request for Record of Employment

You could also contact Service Canada directly - it's a freephone number for them, however, you should probably select the Province/City that you last lived in.

Find a Service Canada Office < you can find out here what time they are open (I think generally it's 8.30 til 4).

You can find out local time easily = select whichever Province you are calling! http://www.worldtimeserver.com/curre..._in_CA-ON.aspx

(Sorry, can't think of any other way - and I've only just woken up, lol)

Did you manage to get hold of your T4's or Notice of Assessment? Those would work for proof too, I believe, and may be easier to obtain.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/t...tslps-eng.html

DigitalGhost

Thank Siouxie.

I did speak to a nice lady at the international tax enquiries office today and they are sending copies of my T4's over in the post. It does seem like that first employer were above board because they submitted a T4 for me to the tax office so that's one weight off my mind at least.

She has given me a number for a department in Montreal who might be able to provide an RoE copy because she did say the options for internationally obtaining RoE's from the government are limited. I'll give them a call and see if there is anything that they can do.

I have that request form bookmarked however when I researched this on another forum a lot of people have apparently been told that they need to file those requests in person and have had to either go to an SC office or appoint someone to go on their behalf (neither are an option for me). In Canada I only ever lived in Ontario so I'm guessing if I do have to deal with a province directly then it will be Ontario.

I'm a bit reluctant to mail any requests via fax or through the post in case they don't actually reach the intended recipient or I just wind up having to sit around for weeks waiting for a response. Incidentally would I need both T4's and RoE's or should just T4's suffice? I did find a copy of my second RoE in a storage box over the weekend but I'm pretty positive that I never received one from my first employer over there.