Hi all

I arrived in Toronto last Thursday and wanted to let all you BUNACers (and everyone else) know how it went!

I flew out on my own with Thomas Cook (booked through Canadian Affair) and the flight was fine – dragged a bit though! Check-in at Glasgow Airport was a breeze. I would urge you all to take a separate ski boot bag (which you are allowed up to 10kg free!). I had my suitcase, hand luggage and the ski boot bag (filled with shoes and clothes – no ski boots!) and got through fine. They didnt check the boot bag's contents or weigh my hand luggage (thank you Jebus!) but weighed the suitcase which was 4kg over – so I had to pay £40. Not bad considering I had the 10kg free in the ski boot bag plus another 10kg in my hand luggage!

When we landed in Toronto the first queue was at Customs. This was really easy and I only had to wait about 10 minutes. The customs officer asked the purpose of my visit and when I told her I was there on an open work authorisation through BUNAC, she asked how much cash I had on me. I told her $1000 and she directed me to Immigration.

I had to wait about 30 minutes in this queue but when it was my turn all I did was watch while the guy printed off the work permit and stapled it into my passport. All he said during the whole thing was “Oh so this is like a working holiday visa thing, right?” and I said “yes”!

My only concern is that the work permit states “This does authorize re-entry”. I thought the BUNAC visa allowed multiple entries into the country within the 12 months? Oh well, guess I'm stuck here for the full year!

I then went to collect my bags and jumped onto the Airport Express bus (cost less than $20) and it dropped me about a block from my hotel The Days Inn. The hotel has been fine – pretty basic but clean enough and had no problems so far. At check-in I asked for an upper floor for good views so I was put on the 23rd (the top!) and I get great views of the CN Tower etc. The only slight niggle is the wireless internet connection in the room which can be a bit turd - but they did warn me about that at check-in. Apparenlty you can go to a conference room downstairs where the connection is better. I've not needed to do that though.

So far Toronto has been a lot of fun and the people are mostly very friendly. I've found an apartment on a month to month basis in Midtown and move in tomorrow. I'm paid up till the end of November which should give me enough time to see if Toronto is for me and if I can get a job!

Sorry this was so long!!!

Thanks for posting, I'll be arriving in Toronto on 16 October on a working holiday visa and this is the sort of landing I'm hoping for, painless and simple!

Oh and in regard to your multiple entries under BUNAC, my WHP (Australian) states (Letter of Introduction) this and I'm assuming yours will be similar:

THE WORK PERMIT:
* is a multiple entry document. Although it will have the notation 'this
document does not authorise re-entry,' this does not apply to Australian
passport holders. You may leave and re-enter Canada within the validity of
the work permit.

I've had another look at it and it just states "This does not authorize re-entry" in capital letters. It mentions nothing else about it...think I'll email BUNAC to check!

Mine says the same, but I've heard of plenty of people exiting and re-entering.

I assume that it means that the border official reserves the right to deny you re-entry with a valid reason (for example, they wouldn't deny re-entry to a drug smuggling Canadian Citizen, but boy they would for you).

But, I'm keen to hear BUNAC's take on it

Hi

The reason the statement is there is for those that require a TRV to enter Canada. If they leave and travel anywhere other than the continental US or Pierre et Miquelon, they require a new TRV to enter.

hi all

thought id let you know the response i got from BUNAC re the above:

"The statement at the bottom of your visa which says "this does not re-authorize re-entry" does not mean that you are not permitted to leave Canada and re-enter. It basically means that Immigration have the right to deny you entry if they see fit (ie: because you can’t show that you have money to support yourself or if you do not have a flight ticket home or travel insurance etc). The visa that you hold allows you to leave and re-enter but you just need to be prepared to show the same kind of documents that you may have had to show when you entered Canada originally."

although this might be irrelevant as i still havent found a job as yet. only been here a few weeks but getting a tad frustrated!

hey,
glad you landed safely and are enjoying toronto so far. I am hoping to do a bunac this time next year!


just wondering, what type of work are you looking for?

ive just been looking for office/clerical work so far but i think im going to start looking for retail or bar work too. hopefully there will be more vacancies for that type of work in the run up to christmas!

good luck job hunting

Yes, it's a good idea to broaden your scope as much as possible. Re: office work, have you contacted all the temp agencies?

Good luck and enjoy!

Adele

i just registered (today in fact!) with a few of the agencies online so hopefully something will come from that.

i also spent today creating retail and bar work specific CVs so they're ready for handing out from tomorrow...

im not TOO worried...even though Toronto is where i always envisaged myself staying, i wont hesitate to move elsewhere if it means ill get a job!

Hey guys, i'm travelling to Toronto in January on the Bunac WHP, can anyone help with my problem?

I've asked this question to a number of sources and gettikng different answers... I'm confused,

I'm travelling to New York first on December 20th, staying for 12 days and then leaving for Toronto on the 2nd January, where I MAY stay for up to a year, obviously depending on work. I'm a British citizen, and will be flying from London.

My question is that I have been told different things about whether I am eligible to travel under the Visa Waiver Program as far as the US are concerned, officially I have been told no, as my total stay in "North America" will exceed 90 days, however from most travellers and forums I've spoken with i've got the general picture that as long as I leave the US with the 90 days and hand my green form in at the border when crossing into Canada, that's fine, and even if they ask questions at the US Immigration point, the Canadian Work visa is prove I will leave the US.

To confuse me even more, one friend told me I must have the B-2 (tourist) visa, or even a transit visa, the visa waiver WOULDN'T be suitable as I staying longer than 90 days, so tonight, I called the US embassy in London to schedule an appointment, to be told by a visa official that I COULD travel under the visa waiver as the work permit entitled me to stay longer than 90 days because I would become a resident of Canada once I entered there!! So as you tell i'm totally confused.

Also, if it helps, my return flight at the moment is booked to return Febuary 1st (so even if I travel under the visa waiver I could claim that i'm going to stay less than 90 days, then just change the date of my ticket afterwards if I wanted), but I genuinely don't want to travel under the wrong type of visa. So if I need one, fine, but there's no point me getting one if it isn't needed!

Can anyone please help with their own information and/or experiences??

Many thanks!

Hi "deeb81" thanks for your post. I was just wondering if you had any further updates on your experience with the BUNAC scheme?

Hi Chris

So far its been pretty good. I've been to the BUNAC (well, the SWAP) office twice just to check their job boards but havent needed them for anything else.

I know BUNAC tells you that they "help" with getting a job but thats BS. All they have in the office (in Toronto anyway) is a job board with print outs of jobs from websites/agencies etc. If you have internet access, you dont need them at all.

The good thing about the office is that every time you go, there are lots of travellers there so its great for networking and making friends etc. I came on my own and have made friends through my roommates and just random people I've met but I think the BUNAC/SWAP thing is good too.

Aside from that I cant really comment on the whole BUNAC thing. I just used it as a way to get here and have really done my own thing since then.

I'm actually moving to Montreal this weekend as my brother was randomly headhunted by a company there and I'm getting to stay with him rent free! Plus he forwarded my resume to his HR people and they want to meet with me when I get there so fingers crossed.

But the BUNAC method is definitely a good way to get a taste of the country and I'd definitely recommend it. If you're worried about being on your own, I'd recommend coming over on one of the BUNAC flights. But if not, once you get here people are so friendly (for the most part) that I'm sure you wouldn't have any problems making friends.