Silverbug

Hi guys,

After all yr fab advice on here we have decided that the Bunac way is for us... Can you let me have your experiences? We would like to go sept next year after we have saved and the lease on our flat ends. Tell me it seems too good to be true... we are hoping that this fantastic experience will encourage us to apply for PR eventually

xxKellyxx

Hi there

We are BUNACers. Arrived here in Ontario in May for 1 year. Absolutely love it so far, no regrets. We were both selected at random to have medicals prior to coming out here, but all went ok and we have an open permit now meaning we can do any type of job.

We have our permanent resident applications in already so we've done this to help pass the time and use this as a kind of trial run to see if we definately want to live here.

We didn't go to the BUNAC orientation arrival meeting as we'd pretty much researched everything about jobs, accommodation etc by ourselves. They say that you should go to get your Social Insurance Number fasttracked, but we went to the offices ourselves and got it the same day.

So, any questions you have just ask. We would definately recommend it. It's a great experience.

Kelly & Lee

geo4

Send me an e-mail if you like.

live to ski

Hey Silverbug

Here's a thread with some talk about BUNAC. http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ighlight=bunac.

We were able to get on BC PNP whilst here so can stay on.

Apply as early as possible for your visa - December when they start taking applications is best. You will have until 31st Dec to arrive in Canada and your 12 months start ticking from then.

Good luck!

Silverbug

You guys are simply amazing and helpful!! The question i have is we would like to go in Sept next year - does the 12 months start from when we go or will we have to come hom in the dec? My OH is a welder and is hoping to find a job that will eventually lead to a PNP. I am an ex hairdresser however that was about 8 years ago, since then for the past 7 years i have been a retail manager. Im not sure if i would be able to qualify as PNP on these jobs. In that case would I have to come home and my OH stay out there or would i able to stay as Common Law? I hope i make sense!!

Also are you able to work for any employer that is advertising?

live to ski

You can work pretty much anywhere on BUNAC except with kids and maybe medical or something like that. But hairdressing, retail managment etc will all be fine. We're both engineers. I'm sure it is all on the BUNAC website.

If you are wanting to stay on then it is better that the job was advertised, as later your company will have to prove that they tried to get a Canadian and couldn't and what better way than to advertise.

When you reply to adverts make sure that you say that you are already legally allowed to work in Canada (I wouldn't mention 1 year BUNAC working holiday visas unless asked).

As for visa dates. The example below is for if you are coming out next year.
1) you apply to BUNAC in December 2007
2) You get accepted in February 2008 by the time all paper work goes through
3) You book your flights for September 2008 and fly out here for a big advetnure
4) You look for ways to stay on whilst out here
5.1) If no way to stay on then you go home September 2009 having had an ace year
5.2) If you have found a year to stay on, then come September 2009 you stay on with a different visa.

My boyfriend is staying on under my visa, and will get both both WP and PR (hopefully). He also got accepted by BC PNP as we both applied to cover all bases, but as we both got accepted he has come under mine.

I'm not sure whether it is possible for a common-law or spouse to get a WP for a welder though - sorry. Have a look on the NOC table and see what category eg A, B, C etc. welder is in.

Or else phone BC PNP (use Skype or something) as they are very helpful (604) 775-2227 http://www.ecdev.gov.bc.ca/ProgramsA..._contactus.htm

If you are allowed to stay on under your BF, then you will need to prove your common-law relationship. This is it in a nut-shell. For at least 12 months you need to have lived together with joint finacnes, joint tennancy agreement and anything else you can think of. Also show joint lives such as holidays together etc. Have both your names on big purcahses such as furniture, cars etc. There are lots of threads on here about how to do it, but in case you don't have a joint bank account yet, then it might be worth opening one as a start, or getting both your names on the gas bill etc. Keep all receipts, and Christmas cards sent to the 2 of you.

live to ski

It is 12 months from the day you arrive and collect your BUNAC WP at the PoE, even if that goes into the following calendar year, so in your case Sept 2009.

All the ski resorts would have a big cheap labour shortage if all the BUNAC'ers had to go home in December!!!

AdamF

I am thinking of getting a bunac, going there, and marrying a hot canadian girl, is this something anyone here has done before? Haha.

live to ski

I think Mr Live to Ski would object to me doing that!

AdamF

Since you are already in Canada, you could maybe get a hot canadian girl ready for me to marry upon arrival?

Checkmate

Guys,

this is my first post, but I felt compelled to write!
This seems too good to be true!

I was about to send off for my prp application - already had the draft written out in CAD and everything - then discovered the Quebec route.

I figured that it'd take me about 6 months to get my french up to speed to pass the TEF with a hig enough score and to conduct the whole interview in French - which I was fine with. However, i randomly browsed onto BUNAC, and realised that Work Canada was open for non-students!

My questions are as follows;

- If I apply yo BUNAC, would that automatically cancel any other applications (i.e.- can I have a PR application already waiting in the process simultaneously).
- How competitive is it to obtain a place on Work Canada? Is it more stringent with BUNAC, or with the Canada HC?
- Can one really do ANY type of work? I am a trainee accountant by profession, should qualify by December next year (although exams can be taken anywhere).

Many, many thanks to y'all. I really can't believe this!

xxKellyxx

Hi there

- No it doesn't cancel your other application. We have applied for PR and are now in Canada on a 1 year BUNAC non-student visa while we wait for it to be processed.

- It's not too competitive really, if you apply early (I think the new applications come out in December) you should have no problem at all. We put our BUNAC application in on the first day it was available, but after a few months there were still some places left.

- You can do most types of work, but for things like working in healthcare you will need to undergo a medical. Won't need a medical for accountancy, although be warned we were both chosen at random to do medicals even though we weren't planning any particular type of work. So it can work out expensive.

Hope that helps a bit

roxye3

Hey there,

I came out 6 months ago. I am in Nova Scotia. Got my Bunac visa. Love it here and now I have submitted my application for Provincial Nomination (PNP). The waiting begins again.

If you can try and arrange work before you come out in your field of profession. It will help you a lot if you want to eventaully push for PNP.

live to ski

roxye3 - what profession are you in?

live to ski

Hi Checkmate

Welcome to the forum and congrats on finding us and BUNAC! I hope we can all be of some help.

We came over in Sept 2006 on a BUNAC student visa (we had just finished MSc's in the UK, but had worked in engineer prior to that) with my boyfriend aka "common-law partner" (for CIC) and "Mr Live to Ski" to those on BE!

We got 'proper' jobs in engineering, and got accepted by the BC PNP program.

There are a few threads on here which may have info on BUNAC and job hunting which you may or may not find interesting.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ighlight=bunac

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ighlight=bunac

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...hlight=postage

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ighlight=bunac

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ight=godmother


In answer to your questions, xxKellyxx was pretty bang on.

Yes, as far as I know you can have BUNAC WP and PR application simultaneously, but I think you have to declare all visas you have applied for, or something similar. It might be worth phoning BUNAC to check, although when I do such things, I never give my real name to start with in case they say "no" and hence I would burn a bridge, rather than trying to find a solution.

There are also other routes, such as PNP that may be open to you once in Canada. make sure you explore all your options to find the best route for you.

BUNAC non-student isn't competitive as far as I know. They get a certain amount of WP for each year for non-students and it is pretty much first come first served. You can apply in December ready for the following year. They say that the earliest you can get out to Canada is February.

We found BUNAC very helpful, and sent us step-by-step instructions for filling in all the CIC paperwork.

We just got the visa through them, then arranged flights, accomodation, jobs etc. ourselves.

There are a few exceptions to the type of work that you can do in Canada on a BUNAC visa. These are listed on my WP as:
1) Child care
2) Primary or Secondary school teaching
3) Health services feild occupations.

So accounting will be fine from a WP point of view. You might want to check about Canadian accounting qualifications.

Most people in professions have had to retake their exams.