I am taking a trip to Canada in July. It would be great if I could get some interest from employers before I go with a view to talking to them when I'm out there. I accept this may be a long shot. But can anyone give me advice on how I'd go about this? From what I've read in the Wiki, Canadian employers work differently to the UK and prefer the face to face approach. But obviously being out of the country this is difficult but when I'm there I'd like to try and see if anyone is interested enough to give me a job.
I'm a mechanical engineer by the way.

I am trying to apply for the experience Canada visa, but my passport needed renewing before I could apply so I've sent off that this but it's looking unlikely I'd get one. I'm 31 in May so this is my only chance of obtaining one.

Im not sure of your status? do you have permanent residence? because with out that its pretty much impossible to obtain employment in Canada without inside contacts, especially in the short time frame of a week or two visit. Its hard enough with PR and living in Canada!

Your right that face to face is more productive, but you need to be in the right situation to get that opportunity in the first place, ie having permanent resident status, I dont think a working visa will be sufficient for obtaining employment in the field you are looking in.

I dont know much about a working visa, but id imagine they are more suited to casual work, or temporary work where you already employed by a company and are being transferred within that company internationally.

You do not need a job offer to obtain a International Experience Canada (IEC) work permit, unless you are applying via the Young Professional or international co-op internship programs. You can apply for the jobs once you arrive. Also as there is no guarantee you will be offered one (it is a lottery now) it may be unlikely to find a job without having at least been accepted.

You may also want to check out whether there is any availability this year for IEC, I know 1 draw has been made already. If this is your plan you want to apply now, like right this second.

I know I don't need a job offer. I mean I will apply for the IEC visa, but I'm 31 in May, have to wait 6 weeks for my passport to be returned and then will be able to apply but by that point I think my chances of being selected are pretty low as the places historically have gone quickly (although I know this year is different with stages releases of visas to applicants).

I'll more than likely be applying through one of the other visa routes, such as provincial nominee program or express entry. But I'm aware that with express entry its difficult to get sufficient points without a job offer.

I'm hoping to just speak to some Canadian employers to get a feel for the market and hopefully make some contacts and then down the line when I'm closer on one of the other immigration methods I'll be able to get in touch or use the information to get work. In the wiki article on this site it says this is the best method of gaining employment if you're not actually resident in Canada. But I'm not sure how up to date that information is as the article also says fax the companies rather than email.

I'm not sure why you can't just apply for IEC now? Or has your passport completely run out?

Either way, it shouldn't take anywhere near 6 weeks to get it back, 2 weeks would be the norm or even less. So you might be lucky.

My passport will run out early next year and the IEC is attached to my passport so I need to renew it just incase I'm lucky and manage to get an IEC.

The website said up to 6 weeks but like you say I'm sure it was only about 2 weeks last time. Fingers crossed!

If I do get in I'll be making a thread about nightlife and moving the London. Just to warn you in advance...

I still don't understand why you're holding off applying - sorry! You can apply now (thereby giving you more chances to be selected) and just update your passport number at a later date - I got a new passport after submitting my IEC work permit application. What do I do?

The passport website says up to 3 weeks for a renewal, not 6, so you should get it back very soon but I would apply now for the IEC rather than waiting. Over 3000 invitations have already been issued, so I wouldn't risk leaving it personally.

As for London nightlife then you'll find it's great- as long as you mean London UK. London Ontario, not so much.

On the form I have to input my passport number before I submit it but the website warned that the visa will be attached to that passport number. Thanks for the link! I'll apply now and do as the link says to change my passport!

I was joking about London... I hate the place to be honest!

I recently renewed my passport, took about three weeks to get new one. Hope it goes alright, applying for Visas is such a pain

But you won't have the visa until you get to Canada anyway, so that's going to take far more than the 3 weeks a new passport will take. And even if it is in an old passport, you can still use it, that happens quite often, you just have to travel with both the old and new passports.

HTH, good luck!

Last month I sent my UK passport for renewal. Out recorded delivery on a Thursday evening, new one back through the mailbox the n Wednesday morning. 3 days!