Hello,

I work in the UK as a teacher. I have recently been looking to emigrate and looked closely at the United States. Working as a teacher, my chances are slim to none in entering the job market and securing a permanent visa.

Several people have recommended Canada. I really am interested in Canada, and I have been researching recently alongside the US. I'm not ready to jump ship just yet, as I would like to research things a lot more, but I would like to get a bigger picture of where I stand.

I have read the information available about visas and entry into Canada (thank you to the writer of those) and it appears that my teaching occupation is not really that useful

I've taken the points test and passed, but I am aware that this is irrelevant at this stage.

What I want to know is, are there any teachers who have made the move from the UK to Canada? What is obtaining a teaching job like? (Is it possible?)

Any help or advice would be very helpful.

Welcome to the Canada forum. The news is not good though - The chances of getting a residency permit or work permit as a teacher in Canada are less than slim. Even with a residency permit getting into teaching is extremely hard and takes a long time. Even Canadians find it hard to break into.

Hello,

Thanks for your fast answer. It seems it does not look rosey for me as a teacher to emigrate.

I take it that teaching is not a job that is in high demand then?

What makes teaching hard to break into? I assume its because there are no jobs available like in many other countries?

Thanks again

There are enough home grown teachers so no need to import any. If you are under 30 you could look at Bunac as a way into the country and then see where it goes form there.

Welcome to the forum. This Wiki article may be of use............http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Teaching_in_Canada

If you look a lot further south I believe you'll find some great opportunities to get into Australia (and possibly New Zealand, I'm not sure). I'm pretty sure teachers are on the Aussie's "list", as in the jobs they are really seeking foreigners to fill.

Limited number of jobs, positions are unionized and seniority plays a big part in job assignments, loads of new teachers graduating every year means fierce competition for the few entry-level jobs that are available.

Alternatively, if you want to go way up North, or into more rural areas, you may have a chance of getting a job. Just depends what you are looking for.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I am looking at southern canada as I was looking for a more multi season climate.

I have a question though for everyone. My wife is a qualified nurse. She qualified a year ago, but decided that she did not want to work as a nurse over here. So she worked in a hospital setting but not as a qualified nurse (long story).

Anyway, I've been told that this would help our chances of emigrating as nurse is on the priority list.

However, it is not what my wife wants to do permanently for her career. I would like to know what our options are with this in mind. My wife has said she is willing to work as a nurse temporarily to ensure our chances are better at emigrating.

Can anyone advice us on our best options.

Thanks in advance

If your wife obtains PR status because of her nursing qualifications she doesn't have to work as one here. Once in the country she can do whatever and live wherever she pleases.

Ok, that sounds more promising.

My wife currently doesn't work as a nurse though so she is 'inactive' and would need to re-register to obtain her nursing pin number, so that she would be 'active' and able to get a nursing job in the UK. Would this be the same in Canada?

Would she be able to obtain PR status before we would move out, meaning that we could find employment before moving out?

Thanks

Search for nursing in Canada, there is much information in the wiki and on previous threads. Your challenge, even if your wife can be your route to PR, and assuming she gets a job in nursing, is keeping body and soul together for the 2-3 years it's likely to take you to get you into regular income from teaching. IMHO teaching only works for the immigrant if they have a partner, whose income can fund the family for this period.

Worth it though if you can break in. If you have a Master's degree and 10 years of teaching in say School District 69 - Qualicum in BC you get a very generous $81488. In BC all the Salary Grids are here: http://bctf.ca/SalaryAndBenefits.aspx?id=14758 and the Categories are evaluated by TQS solely based on academic qualifications.

Definitely worth it. Thank you for the link and info. My main obstacle now is to look at nursing work and information in here and on the net with regards to getting a job. I dont want my wife to be working as a nurse for long as i know that she does not enjoy it. I'm going to look at whether she has to work as a nurse in Canada to enter or if she could do something she enjoyed more and still obtain PR status.
It's a bit different from how I hoped. I wanted to be the main earner and support my wife.
But I do like the look of teaching prospects if the Market can be broken into.
Thanks for the information.

Economic migrants now fall into two immigrant categories (there are other routes, some quite contrived that can be explored, but these are the main two.)

Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) Category 1 requires that you have 1 year of experience in a job in "the list" within the past 10 years. FSW Category 2 requires that you have arranged employment as defined by Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulation 82(2). Both require that you have worked at NOC level 0, A, B (that is a university graduate level job..pretty much) for at least 1 year in the past 10 years.

Regulation 82(2) is worth reading though, as if you get a study permit your spouse can qualify for an open work permit issued under Regulation 205(c)(ii). Through this you could either explore the Canadian Experience class or apply under Regulation 82(2)(b) Federal Skilled Worker Category 2.

There are also Provincial Nominee Programs that can be explored too.