Shuggy42

Me (almost 34), my wife (32) and my daughter (<2) are exploring the idea of EE to live in Ontario.
Looks like we’d only get a CRS of around 419 so as I understand it, the best chance of success would require job offers? I’m a mechanical engineer/manager and my wife does data analysis.
What’s the scenario here, is it likely to find companies that give job offers to those in EE and if so are they usually prepared to wait around for numerous months until you get PR and move?
are there potential options I’m missing?

christmasoompa

Thanks for posting here.

No, most companies won’t wait, so you’d usually got out on a work permit first to get there quicker.

What are your NOC codes? There’s a chance you may come under one of the prioritised categories for EE, which have a lower points requirement.

Shuggy42

That clears that initial thought up, thanks.

I’ve looked at the list and I think my wife would be 21223 albeit her degree isn’t a computer/maths degree so I don’t know if that throws it out.

For mine, I’m not sure how to pin it down. I got given a new job in our business in July but it’s kind of a new idea “Resources Manager” whereby I study a lot of forecasting and work output to determine if we have people to meet the objectives. When I read 20010, it looks pretty close. Prior to that I was probably still in 20010 but under a completely different role.

christmasoompa

OK, so in which case both of your occupations qualify, as they are both on the list of eligible occupations for STEM draws. The last STEM draw went down to 486, so still a good chunk higher than your points though, but lower than normal. Which of you has the higher points and when does that person have a birthday? As your points will drop further then.

Have you looked at the IEC program? The age limit changes to 35 from next year so that could be a good option to get you over there, and working to get your points score up.

Shuggy42

Looks like my wife’s score would be 436 so a little better but not much.

We looked at IEC briefly, I noticed that it doesn’t allow you to have dependents so I wrote that idea off fairly promptly. Unless I’ve misunderstood or there’s a workaround? The other thought I had with this is does it expire the moment I turn 36? I’m 34 in January, my wife’s 33 in May.

The only other option we’ve contemplated is my wife getting a study visa which she’s thought about further education any way. I believe if she got that then in theory I could get an open work permit. Quite an expensive approach but if we really wanted to I suppose it’d work.

christmasoompa

IEC does allow you to have dependents, but they just have to apply for their own status separately i.e. if you had an IEC and then got a skilled job, your wife would need to apply for her own open work permit (which would be for the same duration as your IEC). And you'd need to get visitor records for your children. And you'd get the full visa validity (increasing to 3 years next year too), you only need to have received an invite to apply before your 35th birthday.

A study permit is a good idea if you have the funds, but personally I'd go down the IEC route as a preference unless she is really desperate to study (and if she is, she may be better off waiting until you get PR so that she can pay local tuition rates rather than international).

cardozolto

I understand there is a C41 exemption for your spouse and dependent children once the person on the IEC has secured a skilled (TEER 0,1, or 2, which it looks like you'd have) job, and earnt at least one paycheck? Your spouse should then be able to get an open work permit tied to the principals, same length of time. (https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...y/c41-c46.html)

Theoretically you could get 6 years of work permits out of that with one sponsoring the other then vice versa, is that correct forum users?


You just need to get invited out of the pool to apply for a work permit before you turn 36 - https://ircc.canada.ca/english/helpc...num=928&top=25


Do you have any advice on this? You get a good chunk of CRS points for Canadian work experience, but in case it isn't enough (and the point requirements only seem to be getting higher), is there anything else you can do by yourself? A lot of the other options, valid job offer, and most of the PNP schemes depend on your employer as I understand it? This is kind of my situation as well and I'm hoping once you have a working relationship with an employer it won't be so difficult to get them moving on LMIA's and such, but it's still a risk.

christmasoompa

Unfortunately not, at age 33 and 34 next year, only one of them would be able to get the IEC - by the time that expires, the other will be too old. But 3 years would get their points up enough to then be able to potentially qualify for PR via EE.

christmasoompa

The best thing in all honesty would be to forget Ontario. The toughest province to get PR in IMO. As you say, anything that relies on an employer sponsoring you is a risk. It's ultimately a choice though, between applying for PR before you go (much more secure, but for a lot of people, not possible in the more popular provinces), or going on a work permit to a province you really want to live in, and taking the risk of being tied to that employer with no guarantee of being able to stay.