Hi,

Has anyone noticed employers in Canada protecting their jobs for Canadians?
Does coming from the UK (or anywhere else) make it harder to get a job in this economy?

I would like to know if anyone else has had this experience or if I am just getting paranoid!!

Coal.

For Real, its no different from anywhere else

I think Canadians will always employ Canadians first, same for any country - the locals know local business practice etc! Think of it from an employers point of view, are you going to employ someone that is newly emigrated that has to learn news ways, get homesick and flee back to their homeland (possibly it does happen) or are you going to employ an equally qualified person from within country?

It definitely happens, but is understandable why as well. Nova Scotia is having a huge push to get employers to abandon these philosophies, as the population is aging and they are desperately trying to get immigrants into NS, but they find that a great many that arrive have to move to ontario, due to this small minded attitude.

Employers have been very open about it to me, I have been told on 4 occasions that while my experience is what they are looking for, they only employ Canadians. Thats life and you just have to get on with it and work around it.

I would say that networking here is huge.

You could have the excellent qualifications and experience but if someone else is going for the job who is freind's with someone in the company you are done for.

For the faculty among us new to the net.

http://www.wowjobs.ca/BrowseResults....ofessor&s=r&l=

www.kijiji.ca can also be useful.

Aim High....

My experience is that UK work history is irrelevant to the employer as are many of the qualifications, as it is hard to confirm. The preferred method that I and many other ex-pats have adopted here is to aim low be keen and get the Canadian experience that then puts you on track to start climbing the ladder again here.

Absolutely, it is pretty much the only way. I had to start at the very bottom again but was soon moved up, although even for the lowest paid minimum wage jobs I was turned down as I was not Canadian.

We moved here in sept with work exp and qualifications and none of the 3 of us can get jobs! So we are thinking of going back where we can get jobs. Daughter tried to enroll in a 2 yr nursing course at community college. She is a trained nursery nurse, worked in a special care baby unit for 2 years and 1 year with health visiting team, her high school grades not high enough! Neither work experience or college diploma taken into account! She's baby sitting for minimum wage! :

Yep I agree , I was an Operations manager for Yoplait , counted for nothing ended up making tank parts in a machine shop for 8 months. Got the knowledge, labor law, health and safety , whimus etc and am now a supervisor in a bakery , still well below i did in the uk but a decent wage and good company.... I have seen it with my boss too many time it is a friends network a lot more than the uk.

Good luck just keep pluging away and it will come good.