IT Support Work
 

Hi All,

My Partner and I are looking into (the very first stages) coming to live and work in Canada. We have enquired via the Canadian Immigration Site about points and waiting for a responce to that, but my main concern is with work. We have choosen Ontario as the Province of choice and the City of London area as a home. Although we have not settle on a descision yet about where to live/work. We like nice rural areas, but must be reasonably close to big towns or cities, oh and neither of us speak any French...

I am a Windows Support Specialist with around 10 years experience in IT, from project work to everyday fault fixing, but I currently do not hold any IT Qualifications like an MCP or MSCE. Are these a must before applying?

Does anyone on the forums community currently work in this sector and do they know how easy or tough it would be to get work in IT in Canada. My main IT Support lies within support of the finacial sector (7 years), I also have done support in the Government (Military) Sector.

Any tips or advice would be much appreciated :thumbsup: .

Re: IT Support Work
 

Hi, RanSiD, and welcome to the BE forum.

I like your User Name -- cute.

RanSiD, if you want to get into Canada this century, don't bother finding out about points. They are relevant only to permanent residence visa applications via the skilled worker route. Those applications currently are taking about 5 years to be processed, and things may get worse.

I suggest you read the Wiki article called Idiot's Guide to Canadian Immigration.

It seems to me that you've put the cart before the horse. You say you're set on moving to London, Ontario. I feel it may be premature to have made a decision like that.

If you read the Wiki articles on immigration, you'll soon see that you need a job offer in order to get into Canada in a reasonable timeframe. Not just any job offer. It has to be a job for which the prospective employer has recruited across Canada and has been unable to attract a qualified Canadian resident.

There may be jobs for people with your experience in London. I dare say there are. But are they jobs that employers cannot fill with Canadian residents? My guess is that you are less likely to secure the necessary Labour Market Opinion in popular Southern Ontario.

Check out the Wiki on Labour Shortages. I notice that Computer Operators appear on the list of Occupations under Pressure for Alberta. I don't know enough about IT to know whether or not you could call yourself a Computer Operator, but I'm just using that as an example.

Perhaps you'd qualify for Nova Scotia's Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). I don't know enough about it to know if you'd qualify or not. But I seem to recall that a couple of this forum's members who are in IT went to Nova Scotia, either through that province's PNP or on temporary work permits that got upgraded to permanent residence visas. People speak highly of the quality of life in Halifax.

Most of Canada is English. Quebec is French. New Brunswick is bilingual.

So, RanSiD, if I were you, I'd keep an open mind about my Canadian destination. At this point I'd confine myself to researching my employment prospects. You've made a good start by asking questions here. Unfortunately I can't answer your specific questions about the IT field in Canada. But I hope someone else will come along and answer them.

Re: IT Support Work
 

Judy,

Your reply is much appreciated, thanks for your time.

Ontario is not set in stone, it really will come down to where the job market lies and where demand is. I am going through the Wiki atm on jobs/job hunting and networking as I type. Its a culture shock to say the least how laid back the process is and how uttterly different it is to finding a job in the UK. Here your CV does about 60 -75% of your work for you, without talking to or communicating to anyone. Canada is the opposite. So its fingers downand a CV and Cover letter rewrite.

Again Thanks.

Re: IT Support Work
 

Waterloo, Ontario is a bit of an IT centre. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterloo,_Ontario
I belive Google are moving their R&D there, and RIM have their HQ there. RIM are always advertising for network support staff.

dont know if that helps.

BTW, I'm on my 3rd MCSE, been renewing it since i did NT3.5, no one really knows what it is. I just do it for the training and to have a study goal.

Re: IT Support Work
 

Marclouis,

Every tiny shred of information at this point is helpful. Research takes time and any information pointing me in any direction lets me get a feel for what to do or where to go.

TBH I am not a fan of the MCSE Certification. It's because as soon as it hit Unis and Colleges it become under valued as everyone in the world could become certified. I think they should have stipulated at least 2 years on job before being able to go on a course or take an exam. But I suppose it makes Microsoft a little richer :P

Enough of that... have you had any luck on the job front or networking with Canada from the UK?

Thanks