Pykett

Hello all, I am posting today to try and clarify some things regarding the several processes in place for immigration, to determine which one would be best for my partner and I to be able to work and permanently live in Canada.

First off, a bit of background. We are both 25 years old, have been together 9 years (engaged since September, not married) and living together for a few years.

Education: I have completed a 4 year Mechanical/Electrical Maintenance apprenticeship with a large international company. I work with heavy duty mechanical equipment and have 7-8 years of experience. Through research, I believe I would fall under NOC 7312 - Heavy Duty Equipment Mechanic.
My partner has a Masters Degree in Sports Science, with <1 year of full time work experience related to her degree, with a further years experience as a Civil Servant in an unrelated field (Survey Manager), which is her current position.

We are both fluent English, though yet to take an IELTS examination.

We have yet to figure out which route would be best for us. We recently bought a house, therefore expending our savings. We are aware that to apply for PR without a job offer, we need a decent amount of cash (around $10,000?) which we don't have. However, we noticed that the requirement for a working holiday visa is $2500, which we can obtain over a short period.
My question here is, would applying for a Working Holiday Visa be a viable route to eventually gain PR for the both of us?

Location wise, we would like to work/live in either BC or AB.

All in all, we would like to know what chance we have of ever being able to work and live in Canada. It has always been our plan, but worry that having recently purchased a house may have scuppered our chances as we do not want to sell the house for atleast 18 months.

Thank you in advance for any replies, please let me know should you want more information.

Former Lancastrian

Both of you apply for the IEC and hopefully one or both of you get an invite for the WHV which will get you a 2 year work permit. This then would allow you more options of gaining PR status be it through Canadian Experience Class, Provincial Nomination Program. It also gives you time to figure out if Canada is right for you as many thought it was but it didn't turn out as expected for a variety of reasons.

Siouxie

+1 as that's an easier route but depends on you being lucky enough to 'be picked from the pool'.

I would also use the CRS calculator Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) tool: skilled immigrants (Express Entry) t o ascertain your points overall to see if you might be able to apply for Permanent Residency through Express Entry Trades (HGV Mechanic) - trades have a lower points requirement for an invite from the EE pool.

On which note, to work as a Heavy Duty Equipment Mechanic you would need to obtain a Certificate of Qualification for the Province you are intending on moving to (don't get confused between that and Red Seal - that's an endorsement on the CoQ) as it's a regulated trade.

BC: https://www.itabc.ca/apply-apprentic...llenging-exams

Alberta: https://tradesecrets.alberta.ca/expe...u-should-know/

I'd suggest doing both - apply for an IEC and get your CoQ and apply for FSW (Trades) under EE, if you can! If you were fortunate enough to get a 2 year IEC TWP then you could use that work experience in Canada to apply under Canadian Experience Class or possibly Provincial Nomination.

Pykett

Thank you both for your replies.

Is this process based entirely on luck? Or does having a skilled background help?

We have used the CRS score calculator and obtained a score of 424, with my partner as lead and of course, no work experience in Canada. We scored lower when I was the primary candidate, around 414 points I believe. 424 is obviously low, but you also mention that the requirement to be invited through EE is lower for particular trades. I will look into to this later, assuming I will be able to find what the point cut off was for skilled workers?

Thank you both once again for your information.

Former Lancastrian

The IEC is a completely random draw. Be aware there are limited spots however I have seen invites go on all year as many applicants haven't submitted complete applications or didn't accept the ITA or found to be inadmissible.

Read these links for more info on FST which I believe were provided

https://www.cicic.ca/935/find_an_occ...ch=&cat=1&tp=7

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...ed-trades.html

424 points for Federal Skilled Workers is not quite there as most recent draws are around 440 points but when they have draws for FST then the points are lower but fewer draws overall.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...-previous.html

Ministerial Instructions (MI6): Federal Skilled Trades Program

This set of Ministerial Instructions was issued to coincide with the coming into force of the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) on January 2, 2013. The Instructions specify that IRCC will process a maximum of 3,000 applications under this program each year, provided they meet certain criteria. Within the overall cap, a total of 43 occupations are eligible for FSTP processing under MI6. Of these, 26 occupations are not subject to sub-caps, while 17 occupations are limited to 100 applications each. FSTP applicants must also meet minimum language thresholds in order to be eligible for processing.

• Read the full text of MI6.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...tions.html#mi6

Siouxie

The last FSW (Trades) round of invitations point level was +289 but you may need your CoQ to enter the FSW Trades Express Entry pool.

Have a good read: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...ed-trades.html