Hi Guys,

I am an Expat currently living in Dubai and have really had enough of it and would like to move to Canada.

I have a few questions...

How do you find jobs there? (Are their any websites, recruitment agencies etc you could reccomend?)

Where to go, which city is best, I like my nightlife and bars etc so don't want to be miles from civilisation but would like to be in driving distance to nature.

Visa - What is the process, where do I start?

Accomadation, again where do I start?

Thanks in advance for any advice or tips you can give me.

Regards

Bison

Jobs go to the canadian version of the job centre which is http://jb-ge.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/Intro_en.aspx.

Visa the best way is to get a job offer get your employer to apply for a labour market opinion then apply for a temporary work permit. If you look at the imigration part of the forum there is loads of information on there and on the Wiki though it wasn´t working the last time I checked. Once you are there you then apply for permanent residence.

As for where to live can´t say as I have been looking for the oposite somewhere quiet to bring up kids.

If you look at google earth and wikipedia you should get an idea of the areas then you can search for properties in whatever areas you like.

However they are now focussing on giving visa´s for skilled workers in certain occupations in certain areas. So maybe you should start by finding out what province needs your specific skills and go from there.

Hope this info gives you a place to start, good luck it is a long hard slog to get there and it does´not happen easly but it will be worth it in the end.

If you have any further questions then please ask.

Thanks for the info so far, keep it coming!

Regards

If you are skilled enough to get a visa then sites like monster.ca and workopolis.com will be a better bet than the government job bank. Maybe its just my particular field, but Ive never found a decent job link on the government site, its all low paid stuff.

Having been to both, you're in for one massive culture shock!!!

Also, Canada is HUGE, so it's not easy on advising areas... You need to read, read, read.....!!! Also, the weather is a major issue for people moving. I for one was not going to be able to suffer the Calgary weather of -35 or lower inthe winter... depends what you want...

good luck, and onces you're read all the Wiki articles, be good to come back with specific questions.

Why you leaving Dubai anyway? I must say the last time I was there, I didn't like it. Having been in 2001 I liked it a hell of a lot more than 2007... Far to 'footballers wives' for me :-)

Bx

If I were you I'd deal with them in this order:

1) Where: Canada is a huge country and you haven't really given us much to go on. If you want city life then most head for:
Montreal - do you speak french or are you willing to learn?
Toronto - Canada's financial hub - this is where most immigrants end up. More corporate head offices located here. Can't comment on the area as I've only been once but it's in lake country..
Calgary - oil & energy industries are big here. At foot of The Rockies so good if you're into skiing and hiking etc.
Vancouver - Less severe weather, good for access to mtns for skiing/hiking etc. Crazy house prices

Choice will depend on what you're after and to some degree what work you're looking for.

2) Visa - once you've decided on where, and that Canada is indeed the place for you, find out if you qualify and how to get here. Bottom line you'll need a job offer to get over here within the next 4 years. Check out the CIC website and read the wiki.

3) Job - start sending out resumes and using contacts. Theres a wiki written on this also.

4) Accommodation - the least of your worries right now. As part of where you might want to check out house prices.

THIS http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Category:Canada is where you start.

Read all the info on there and follow the links, and you should find all the info you need.

Hi Bison,

Have sent you a PM

I agree if your a proffessional then the job bank is a waste of time, monster and workopolis are best. All you find on job bank are blue collar jobs.

Cool thanks guys this has been really useful and I guess I have a lot of reading to do on the subject.

Don't speak much french but sounds like it would annoy me as does France.

I think Toronto sounds good so far so might look into that in a bit more detail.

Thanks again.

Andrew

Wallace, was there some information that couldn't be shared on the forum?

Bison, if you've received an unwelcome PM containing advertising, please forward it to one of the mods.