Bigbadger66uk

Hi, I just wondered if anyone out there has recently gone through the process of immigrating to Canada to join their Armed Forces?

BritInParis

You'll need to be a Canadian citizen in order to join. Do you have previous service?

Bigbadger66uk

I have a job offer with them, I just need to get my PR sorted. Has anyone else been through this process?

Former Lancastrian

Highly doubtful that any poster on here has done it. Many have been seconded to the Canadian Forces due to reciprocal agreements but as far as Im aware there is no specific way to get PR status by having a job offer via the Canadian Forces.
You would be looking at a minimum of 4 years to be granted Canadian Citizenship.

Bigbadger66uk

I’m not after a debate and I’d rather no response to this post other than from those that may have or are going through the process of leaving the British Forces for the Canadian Forces.

Former Lancastrian

Fair enough then don't expect an answer. There again what do I know about the Immigration system.

BritInParis

"Citizens of another country who have landed immigrant (Permanent Resident) status in Canada may also be considered for enrolment when the CF has need of their skill, when the position cannot be filled by a Canadian citizen, and if the national interest would not be prejudiced. However, only under exceptional circumstances will authority be granted to enrol a citizen of another country."

If you are being recruited in the manner you describe then presumably this is a question you should be asking your new employer. If the CF can't or won't sponsor you then you may hit a deadend. You could also try asking on a CF forum like army.ca

christmasoompa

OP - FL is a CBSA officer.

We have had a couple of people over the years join the Canadian forces I think, I assume you've searched the forum? There should be some relevant threads. There is no way of getting PR via the forces though, but you should find some info on transferring etc once you've sorted out the visa side of things.

Have you already applied for PR? Any questions about that process, you will no doubt find the answer in the immi section of the forum.

HTH and good luck.

Souvy

I guess a lot depends on what the offer is for. Is it something that is highly specialised and needs to be 'imported'?

I can question my wife about this. She released from the CF as a WO after 23 years (fair enough) and now works as a civvy at DND HQ. She has mentioned to me before that there are plenty of Brits knocking around. Given that it's HQ, they are probably officers, so it may well be that they are on secondment.

I'll try to find out.

Failing that, we have a friend who works in the recruiting office. She probably has a good handle on this question.

Almost Canadian

I met a Brit at a BBQ once that told me that he managed to transfer to the Canadian Army while he was still in the British Army. They had to sort out his citizenship for him before he was able to do so so, as he explained it, he went from British citizen serving in the British Army to Canadian citizen serving in the Canadian Army without ever having had to be a PR first.

In the British Army he was an NCO and, from memory, he was in the RA.

It can be done but I, and I doubt he, have no idea how it is done.

Shakyuk

I actually just deleted my response because I thought there's no point.
Your reply has just shown I was right.


For your information:
BritInParis told you of another forum you may be able to find help.
Souvy offered to find some information.
Christmas directed you to where you could find more information on emigration.

Siouxie

Some previous threads on the subject that may be of use - there's some specific posts within that have information that's pursuant to your question. (There's a really helpful post from 'Navyboy' in the first link)

http://britishexpats.com/forum/immig...cation-852920/

http://britishexpats.com/forum/immig...forces-776904/

http://britishexpats.com/forum/immig...forces-891805/

Bigbadger66uk

Thanks for those Siouxie, I’ll give them a look.

charlottyb

My husband did in 2009.
PM any questions and I will forward them on. He was in the RN and came over on PR with job offer. It can be done, and others
have too.

gaz_c2c

I did 8 years in the Intelligence Corps until 2015 and landed as a Permanent Resident in September 2017. I've approached the CF several times regarding full time and reservist opportunities.

At a unit level they are all very keen, but at a national/force level the system is heavily against us non-citizens. I've been told (informally) that medical practitioners and aircrew have a good chance of qualifying for a cirizenship waiver (which is what you would require) but every other position is unlikely/case by case.

My local reservist intelligence company are pushing up the chain of command to allow me to apply for the reserves but they think it's less than 10% until I'm a citizen (which I won't get until 2020 at the earliest).

This isn't to rain on your parade as such, it's just to let you know that CF aren't as forthcoming as say the British, Aussies or Kiwis are when it comes to recruiting commonwealth soldiers.