Hello my names Pierce im 23 and i have recently decided that i want to move to Canada for a while to live and work. I have two canadian friends who came over here for a while a few years back and now have gone back. After encouraging me to go out there, i have decided that moving to Canada and finding work there is what i want to do with my life.
Anyway me and a friend have decided to move out there together this year, we found a working holiday visa which is handed out through a company called Bunac called (the working holiday visa program B) Program B allowed me to move to canada and find work whilst im there for up to 12 months i believe. I fit all the requirements for program B as unlike program A i am not a student. So it was decided that i would wait until the next Visa transfer which i believed to be January 2010 but infact was December 2009, and when i came to apple in january i was too late and Bunac had sold out! I couldnt believe they had sold all of this specific type of visa and asked when more were going to be released and they told me as far as Bunac were concerned no more were to be released by the canadian high commision until december next year!

I told my canadian friend in canada about what had happened and she told me that the only other way would be to try and find an employer in Canada to sponsor me before i came out to Canada. So she is working her contacts out there to try and find me an employer who is willing to sponsor me. I have a couple of contacts who she has given me that look promising. But, i was wondering if there was any other way i could get out to Canada this year, i had planned to go there in June.

Another option i was told about by my canadian friend was so go there as a visitor, which i am legally allowed to stay for up to 6months in Canada with. I have a place to stay for rent free so thats not a problem and then i could start looking for work that doesnt require a SIN? She seems to think that there are employers out there who will take you on without this, and are willing to pay you in cash or check, they are rare but they do exist. She said its not an ideal way to go about it, but my thinking is this.

If i go out to Canada in June as a visitor, i stay at my friends place for as long as i like, meanwhile i search for work where i dont require a SIN and they will pay me in cash or cheque, i earn my money this way until my six months are up, and by then the (working holiday visa program B) which i missed out on this year should be available again, and i can just apply for that and go back.

You might be thinking why not just wait until next year to go, but i am sick of waiting around. I worry that if i dont go now ill never go, and plus my work is inconsistent here in the U.K so i figure if im going to have to struggle for work here in England then why not struggle doing the thing i want to do which is move to Canada. If worst comes to worst i go there on a 6month holiday and cant find a job and have to come back. I will have savings to go with, I live with my parents here in England and am welcome to come back anytime i like.

One other thing i forgot to mention was i used to be a professional football player in Spain, i played pro for 6 years in the spanish second division, but am currently injured, i could play again one day but not this year. But i have coaching badges which i have been told might be of use in helping me get ahead in Canada?

If anyone has any information that i have missed out or they want to tell me im being stupid or they agree with what im doing, im just looking for genral feedback on it all and would welcome your comments.

The main things for me is that by the summer of this year 2010 i am living and working in Canada, i dont want to have to wait another year.

Thanks, sorry for rambling.

Pierce

I think you'd be working illegally as a visitor, the terms of it state you cannot work.
And from what I've heard it's almost impossible to get into Canada with a working visa unless it's through BUNAC or with another working scheme.

One thing to watch out for is that if you were discovered working illegally on a visitors visa you could receive a permanent ban from entering Canada at all.

I realise that you don't want to wait, but most of us have been there done that and survived the ordeal.

Is it worth risking a lifetime ban just because you couldn't wait a year?

Stay in the UK - work legally and save up some money - we're only talking about 10 months now. Then embark legally on spending a year in Canada - where you can stay, work, earn money, have fun and not look over your shoulder.

So sick that you've only just looked in to the Bunac option? If you'd done something about it a month ago, you'd probably have one by now.

Wow, you're really committed to this I can tell.

C'mon lad do me a favour. There are people that applied for permanent residency three YEARS ago and still waiting.

Have a look at the links I provided in these 2 threads - they may give you some alternative ideas on how to get over here.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...=652625&page=2

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=652683

You may be able to get a job working under the low skills project.

Reading the CIC website for "Bunac" it states..
" Programme B
General Working Holiday Programme
This programme is open for 2010. However, due to overwhelmining interest, there are no spaces available at this time. The High Commission anticipates additional spaces to be made available for this programme. "

http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca....aspx?lang=eng

So it may still be possible to get one.


Good luck!

This thread http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=654294 might be of interest ....

Just remember that anybody that wants to employ you first has to apply for a Labour Market Opinion (which can take up to 6 months) to prove they've advertised the job across Canada and been unable to find a Canadian willing, or able, to do the job. LMO's have been much harder to get recently with the economy being as it is, and I'd imagine for a 23 year old without much experience it's going to be even trickier to get one.

'Not ideal' is an understatement. It's illegal. And if you're caught, as Alberta_Rose said, you'd be banned from Canada. If you have plans to stay long term in Canada, then frankly it would just be stupid to risk it. Plus you may not be given 6 months as a visitor (it's up to 6 months, you may not be given the maximum).

Can't see how you're going to do that unless you do go there and work illegally which would just be daft imo, especially as you'd be jeopardising your Bunac visa by doing that. Even if you find a job straight away (highly unlikely, it takes most people on here months or years to find a job offer), as I said the LMO can take months. Nobody on here is going to encourage you to work illegally, especially when it's just due to impatience - there are some on here that waited 5 years for a visa to move to Canada so 10 months doesn't seem very long in comparison!

Why not just visit for a few weeks over summer, and then go via Bunac? Then you'd be legal and giving yourself the best chance to stay in Canada longer term if you want. You can just save up whilst in the UK and look forward to it even more!

Good luck, and welcome to the forum.

hi pierce,
i went there for one year with bunac and didn't want to leave when the year expired. i wasn't aware about LMO's and job offers at the time and had to just pack up and leave!
i had an offer to stay on and work illegally but as i knew i wanted to immigrate there in the near future i wanted to do everything by the book!
it has been just over three years since i left there and i'm finally getting back there within the next couple of months as a pemanant resident!!

i know a couple of guys who were in a similar situation as my own and who stayed on and worked illegally. they didn't have too much trouble finding work to be honest because they made good contacts during the time they were legally alowed to work.

you may want to look more into what you can do with your football/coaching as (I THINK!!) professional players and coaches do not need a Labour Market Opinion so there may be a work around if you can get taken on in a football club as a coach for one year with the intention of being a player for them the following year!
maybe someone else could shed some light on this!

hope some of this helps.

in my case and the case of the guys i mentioned, we all played rugby so the rugby club had a large network of people that were willing to help us!

do the right thing and either wait for next year bunac visa to open OR find a job with an lmo...i always here that tim hortons give lmo's...i might be wrong though....maybe just go out there for a holiday and get a feel for the place, you may love it or hate it...people have waited years and years to get out there...its not that bad here in the UK...most of is the media creating problems and winding everyone up...maybe move a different area within the UK to find a stable job..save more money then when the bunac visa opens next year you will have more money saved and hopefully the exchange rate will be good and you will get more dollars for your pound.....like others said you may not even get 6 months entrance..you have to prove that you will leave after the time permitted and not do a runner or anything stupid...also if you start working illegally and immigration find out, ur stuffed, why throw it all away.....patience pierce patience....

MR79

Are you British, are you even eligible for Bunac?

he is 23 and from reading his post it seems like he is british....

Yeah, it's just with the Spanish football bit, I thought he may be dual nationality.

Ohh yeh...ohh well lets see what the poster says.

Seems like hes British and just played football IN Spain not FOR Spain.