wbexpat

Hi gang

Here's the summary...

I came to Canada about Easter on WP. My company, for reasons that need not detain us, fired me. Here's what happened next. I hope it is useful for others.

I was fired Aug 5 2008. A quick check with immigration showed I was good to stay on Canadian soil for the remainder of my work permit. Good. OK until 2011. Now to get a new job.

The normal sequence of events for this is:
1. Apply for job as usual
2. Get job offer as usual
3. Get LMO from provincial human resources dept HRDC
4. Write to Vegreville
5. Get new work permit
6. Start new job
7. Profit!

However, there are several practical problems with this. They are:
a. At step 3, the LMO application requires a lot of work from the potential employer: work they generally do not want to do. It also takes several weeks depending on the province.
b. Vegreville takes 6 weeks to turn around the new work permit

This is not insurmountable, except employers generally don't care to get bogged down with lots of forms and a wait that in some provinces can take three months.

I got my WP in 3 days. Here's how.


Firstly, I have Nova Scotia Nomination Program Community Identified status. This is absolutely key. Basically they will write a letter of support that you present to immigration. It said something like:

=====
Dear Immigration

please give wbexpat a new work permit because:

(a) he has a job offer for "role" from "employer"
(b) his employer needs him to start urgently
(c) he is nominated by the province with "case number"

thanks

Nova Scotia Immigration
=======

NS were REALLY helpful. They turned around the letter in a couple of days. I just had to provide a copy of my job offer which had to contain the usual particulars about me, the company, start date, salary etc. The job only had to pay more that $10/hr and $20K a year.


Next, I took a road trip to St.Stephen (a New Brunswick town with a bridge over the river to Maine, USA). I asked the border guards what the procedure was. I literally was told to walk halfway across the bridge (a sort of no-mans-land) and come back into his office when I was done. Once in the office I had to show passport, job offer letter and NS letter of support. I had to answer a few simple questions and pay my $150 bucks. ScotiaBank debit card worked fine. My wife and kids didnt need to be there. Only me.
My wife's open work permit (she got this when we first arrived on my 0xxx series management WP. My new job WASNT management but it didnt affect hers thank God.

He gave me a new visa with the new employer, job NOC code etc on it. We had a pleasant what and I was on my way. 1000Km round trip. From central NS.


My observations:

My new employer (and other interviewers) asked loads of times about my status. They seemed very keen to hire someone with minimum fuss to them. I had to kind of fluff it, so without lying outright I gave them the impression I was PR. I said "I am not PR but a new WP is a formality becuase of the provincial nomination". That was good enough for them.

Secondly, the 9990.x series NOC codes are more or less useless. These are the IT jobs that in theory bypass the LMO requirement. My new job title is "senior IT consultant". I had a tough time hinting that the employer give a job title that complied with the 9990.x series job titles as their internal job titles just were not compatible. To pursuade them otherwise would expose my lack of status (see above). Tricky. If you are in the IT game its one to bear in mind.

Thirdly, NSNP community identified status was WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN GOLD. I suggest if you are here on WP and your current job looks dicey try and get nomination - community identified nomination. Talk to your local regional development folks. The process is a bit onerous: you basically have to fill in all the PR docs.

Fourthly, yes there is a bit of an issue with work permits in general. Immigration has to walk the line between answering business' need for bodies and the politics of immigration. I think they do a good job but it takes precious time for each individual case to be heard. And that's the problem. ANY steps you can take to speed that up is essential.

Finally, yes you can just go to the border and bypass the "change of status" thing with Vegreville. Saves six weeks of buggering about.


NOTE -
OK, I was lucky because of the Community Identified status. If I hadn't had this my plan (B) was to pursuade a firm to give me a job offer that complied with the 9990.x series IT NOC codes. This, I think, would have been tricky. And obviously this is a plan (B) that only works for IT bods.


Summary -
I was lucky. Not everyone might be, Here are my tips:
(a) Before you get a job in Canada be 100% sure it's for you. If you have ANY qualms about the firm or the job or the boss then don't take the job.
(b) If you HAVE YOUR DOUBTS but take the job anyway be sure to:
(i) Network like crazy when you get there to dig up alternatives
(ii) Don't buy a house
(iii) Don't locate anywhere too far from the US border
(iv) Assess whether you are in a profession that qualifies for expedited LMO (eg the IT jobs or job under pressure in your province). If you are NOT qualified for expedited LMO you may well have a big problem.
(v) Apply for provincial nomination ASAP.

I hope this helps someone in the similar situation. I start work tomorrow. Thanks everyone for your thoughts.

Cheers

wbx

nikki dreaming

Hi wbx

Thanks so much for your post, I am sure this will be useful to so many people.

Best wishes and Good Luck with your new job tomorrow, I hope this one works out well for you

lof

thanks for sharing.

all the best with your new job!

Judy in Calgary

This is fabulously useful information, wbexpat.

I have added a link to this thread in the Wiki article entitled Work Permit Complications-Canada.

I also have created a new Wiki article entitled Losing job while on Work Permit-Canada. All it does is refer the reader to the Work Permit Complications article. However, I thought it would help people who used different search terms.

And, as lof said, all the best with your new job.
x

BenB2

what is community identified status - is this an adjunct in addition to PNP?

Thanks

Ben

lof

did you try a search on that? i'm sure there has been at least one special thread about ns ci stream.

it is one of the categories of the NOVA SCOTIA provincial nominee program. the provinces set their own rules for pnp and unlike bc or others ns chose to have an additional stream which doesn't necessarily need a job offer / employer willing to go through the skilled worker pnp. there are still criteria to be met though.

in bc you would be in the situation of finding an employer who is willing to either get a lmo or going through bcpnp with you.

wbexpat

Hi Ben

lof helpfully already replied.

Yes "Community Identified" is a "stream" of PNP available from Nova Scotia. I was unaware it was ONLY NS. But please check.

Basically, CI is for folks with "long established ties to Nova Scotia" that are not work or family orientated. Lets say you have holidayed here for a couple years every summer and become part of the furniture but dont have a job or family as such... bingo. Community Identified. You get your local church, school, youht club, brass band or whatever to write a letter showing your community ties.

Its a great way to go here in NS.

wbexpat

No worries.

Thanks for everything Judy.

kate white

your a star this will mean a lot to people us included and good luck with the new job

nikki dreaming

you make it sound easy

lof

which part?

seriously, i didn't intend to make it sound like a sunday afternoon stroll .
being a bcpnp myself (had my first pr-anniversary last friday though) i know that there is a lot involved in that route and that some employers can be quite reluctant to go through the process with you... something that could probably be said for the guarantors for the ns ci stream as well? i could go on but i don't like to hijack this thread...

Judy in Calgary

To add to the other responses you've already received, there's a Wiki article on it:

Nova Scotia Community Identified Stream
x

Gales2Canada

Quote:
Finally, yes you can just go to the border and bypass the "change of status" thing with Vegreville. Saves six weeks of buggering about.


So it's ok to just apply for a new LMO, wait for it to arrive (Please God) then do a flagpole run - no need to apply to Vegreville for the change of circumstances thing?

I know you have stated the answer to my question in plain simple English but just wanted to read confirmation again!!

If only we lived in NS. Shame Ontario does not have the same procedures.

deanjp32

Well done Wbexpat. Long time no hear and very interesting info.

We have the very same nomination and OH had inteview on Thurs re potential job so knowing that the turn rounds times could be this quick may well help us. thanks again

bhk

Interesting story, great post!

POE is the way to go. I found no reason to wait extra few weeks to apply WP to Vegreville.

At one time one of my WP was transferred from Vegreville to local CIC and waited 1 year and few months for a decision. In the end I was refused but turn everything around at border (POE).

I will NOT recommend anyone to apply to Vegreville unless you like delays after delays.