Myself and my partner have only recently been looking into moving to Canada. My partner is a scaffolder, he decided to contact some firms to see if there is much call for scaffolders over there.

Apparently there is, he was offered a job on a 2 year contract in Edmonton Alberta.

They are gong to put through his Temporary foreign worker application.

They have said once he gets together his documentation (copy of passport, qualifications, criminal record check) it can be as son as 5 days before he's approved.

Is it really that quick?

They haven't mentioned yet what I need to do, will we go on the same application. The plan is, he'll go over first and myself and our 1 year old daughter will join him a month or 2 later.

If it works out we'll be applying for permanent residencey with the backing of his employer.

I feel everything is so up in the air at the moment. Has anyone else gone this route? Can you offer any advice?

Hi Vikty,

Don't panic this is a perfectly normal route to take, one I am going through right now.... I am at the end of that road awaiting the call from CIC to submit my passport for the rubber stamp.. We have been in Canada for almost 2 years on a WP and it has been a blast.

Can your OH's employer get an LMO in 5 weeks - yes probably if they have a bulk call off agreement with CIC. My employer does and it takes about 2 weeks for an LMO.... LMO is a Labour Market Opinion that needs to be presented to the border guards when you land in Canada. Does it guarantee entry into Canada to work - NO but I have not heard of anyone being turned away as long as you have the correct paperwork with you, which I will assume your OH's employer will arm you with before you leave.

I trust this helps?

Cheers

DOBBIE

Construction Labourers are eligible for Expedited Labour Market Opinions (E-LMOs), so the prospective employer's claim about speed is plausible. An E-LMO is supposed to be issued within 5 working days if all the paperwork is in order. However, a member of this forum who supposedly was eligible for an E-LMO recently found that it took 7 weeks (or maybe even more?) for his E-LMO to come through, so I can't make any promises.

I'm not entirely sure how your husband's prospective employer intends to assist him in obtaining permanent residence. A Scaffold Erector belongs to Skill Level D on the National Occupational Classification Matrix. As such, a person in this kind of occupation is not eligible to apply for permanent residence as a skilled worker.

As far as I am aware, semi-skilled workers in the construction industry are not eligible for Alberta's Provincial Nominee Program, which is another route that some people use to gain permanent residence.

But perhaps your husband's prospective employer knows something about the immigration process that I don't know.

If your husband does apply for a temporary work permit (TWP), he should list you and your daughter as accompanying dependents on his application form.

This may not make any difference to you, since you may want to stay home and take care of your daughter, but your husband belongs to a skill level for which spouses are not eligible for spousal open work permits.

You do not have to enter Canada with your husband. It's okay if you follow him later.

There is more info in the Wiki section of this website. There's a link to it in my signature, below.

Hope that helps.

Edited to add that I hadn't seen DOBBIE's message when I posted mine.
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Yes the woman at the company that wants to hire Sam (my other half) said

"We have what is called an E-LMO. That's an Expedited Labour Market Opinion. The government of Alberta recognizes there is a shortage of Journeyman Carpenters (scaffolding is a sub-trade of this category in Canada) and has approved our hiring foreign workers.

the LMO is for temporary workers. It's the quickest way for immigrants to become eligible to work in Canada. (The last individuals I brought in took 5 days). We could assist with permanent residence assuming everything works out."

5 DAYS!!!!!

Its all so confusing though. Everytime he mentions me and my daughter she just responds talking about him.

Will I just be on his application or apply seperatley?????

There is so much info around but it just doesn't seem relevant to my situation!!

If scaffolding is indeed a sub-trade of carpentry, your husband would be classified as a skilled worker. He would be eligible for permanent residence via the skilled worker route.

Also, if you wanted one, you would be eligible for a spousal open work permit (SOWP). If you want one, you should apply for it at the same time as your husband applies for his TWP (unless you follow your husband to Canada later, in which case you should apply for it at your Canadian port of entry). If you apply for an SOWP, you'll need to pay $150 for it.

If you and your husband apply for your work permits together, you should pay $300 ($150 for his work permit and $150 for yours).

You don't have to apply for a work permit. I'm just mentioning what you should do if you want one.
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Oh, thanks, we were panicking for a minute there! I'll be following him at a later date.

I wont need a work permit to begin with. Can I apply for that whilst I'm over there if I decide I want too?

I'm exited about his but terrified at the same time.

Do you know of a helpline number in the UK, where I can get advice from an actual person? (not a recorded message)

Thanks again

Hi

1. Scaffold Erector NOC 7611 Noc Skill level D, so spouse not entitled to Open Work Permit. So it may fall into semi skilled.

Wow I just searched on that. I'm really suprised. Maybe when your skilled in his occupation it has a different job title?

I'll get googling.

OK, I figured out the difference. He will be classed under carpentry. Its because of the difference in the actual work he'll be doing there.



See its all just confusing the heck out of me already.

You can, but it takes longer to do it that way. If you apply for an SOWP once you're in Canada, you can expect it to take a couple of months to come through.

We are your help line. This is as good as it gets.
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I was looking on the NOC classifications guide. Looking at that I get the impression that in Canada people can do certain jobs with a lot fewer qualifications than are required in England.

Can you direct me to a site that can explain if UK qualifications are taken into consideration in Canada?

Myself and my partners skill levels are alot higher here than they are classified to be in Canada.

Hi there if you look here it will tell you all you need to know about qualifications and their relevance in Canada.

It may be that you both need to get Canadian qualifications as strictly speaking UK ones aren't recognised as such, but they do go some way towards proving you know what you are talking about!

Look upon your brit quals as your "apprenticeship" in readiness for you to gain the Canadian equivalent (and I use the term loosely because as far as I am aware there are very few if any jobs in Canada that convert UK nquals to Canadian - I could be wrong though and someone will be here to ut us both right!)


mmmmm just tried that link and it didn't work for me - go into the Wiki, into the Canada bit and type "qualifications in the search and it will come up with the info you need

hi vicky..im a scaffolder from manchester aswell who is looking to work away same as ure hubby: how did he go about finding wrk over there? or u have any links or any help for me...if i got a job tommorow id pack up and leave:P

He just googled scaffold firms in canada, then sent emails to them to see if they were in need of scaffolders. He got a few replies. They class scaffolding as carpentry over there, so you can get the work permit as a skilled worker then apply for permanent residency as a skilled worker.

Alberta seems to be the place in need of scaffolders the most.

many thanks