Pathways to Canada

[dglvrk2]

Hello,
Might anyone know of reputable organizations that help professional or skilled US citizens explore their Canadian immigration options?
TIA

[loira]

Our government website is fairly easy to follow. Unlike the giant cluster that is the US immigration system, we actually try to make it fairly easy for people to apply for visas, particularly if family reunification is needed, so I don't think you necessarily need a firm to help you with it. Pathways include skilled trades, study (then work after study), family class, investment etc. Assuming your spouse isn't a citizen, I'd say the easiest pathways are if you have a job that's in high demand and you can get a job offer from a Canadian company or organization and then you apply for a work visa. Or, more expensive, you pick a program of study at a reputable university, get a student visa and your partner, if you have one, can work on their dependant visa.

www.canada.ca/en/services/immigration-citizenship.html

Why are you interested in Canada?

[dglvrk2]

loira, I'm interested in Canada because I see the country offering more freedoms for my daughters than the United States, especially given the current political trajectory.

Thank you for this information. It's really helpful. My field is education and my husband is a mechanical engineer with several years management and business development experience. I'm exploring our professional options in Canada too.

Thanks again!

[heygrey]

If you are in public education, also know that the requirements between provinces vary greatly. I'm in BC and you'd almost definitely need upgrades before you would be hired by a district which would set you back 6-12 months after you arrive. I have a friend that just moved back (he's a dual citizen) and has a M. Ed. from UNLV and 20 years teaching experience in Las Vegas. He started his Ed. upgrades from the University of British Columbia this past January and hopes to be qualified to teach this coming January. It's long and expensive and his starting salary will be ~$50k in a city where median house prices are north of $1mil. I work in public ed, despite my BA from a Canadian university and certifications in Special Education, I still need almost 2 years of schooling here before I could be a classroom teacher. Other provinces will be easier, but it should definitely be part of your consideration.

I will also caution you about seeing Canada as a significantly better option than liberal states in the US. We have many politicians who are vocally pro-life. Many citizens in Canada hold similar views to the Republicans in the US. Research news stories from the trucker convoy and weeks long protests in Ottawa earlier this year. Yes, our current laws are better, but the attitude of your average neighbour or coworkers isn't guaranteed to align with your liberal ideologies. We also have significant issues with racism and historic (and current) treatment of indigenous people in Canada. This is not a liberal utopia.

I am a dual US/Canadian citizen. I grew up in rural PA. All of my family is still there and most are very much entrenched in the republican ideologies. I know how bad it is in the conservative bubbles of the US. But I also know how difficult it is to immigrate to Canada. Right now our immigration offices are backlogged by years because of delays caused by Covid. By the time you were processed and actually able to move here several years will likely have passed. Moving to a liberal state, or a different area if you're already in one, would probably be a much easier option.

[heygrey]

pandce.proboards.com/thread/633008/overwhelmed-current-events-moving-country

This thread from a month ago explores similar ideas that might give you more to think about.

[DesertMoon]

I’m an American living in Canada for 12 years. I really wouldn’t recommend anyone move here unless you are filthy rich or prepared to be homeless. The city (Toronto) is more expensive than New York, jam packed population in the Toronto area. Also if you have a good paying job, like 100k or higher you pay 40% to taxes. Aka you make 100k you only see 60k of it. We are having our own severe crisis up here. I would not recommend unless you are thinking to live in the back country.

I did bring my family here as refugees in 2017 I don’t think it would be very easy unless you have a secure job already prepared and a boss ready to vouch for you. Good luck!

[loira]

Jul 3, 2022 18:13:47 GMT -5 DesertMoon said:

I’m an American living in Canada for 12 years. I really wouldn’t recommend anyone move here unless you are filthy rich or prepared to be homeless. The city (Toronto) is more expensive than New York, jam packed population in the Toronto area. Also if you have a good paying job, like 100k or higher you pay 40% to taxes. Aka you make 100k you only see 60k of it. We are having our own severe crisis up here. I would not recommend unless you are thinking to live in the back country.

OP to this point I'd say do some research into where in Canada you might want to live. Toronto and Vancouver are extraordinarily pricey. Vancouver Island is almost as bad (actually all of BC housing is very expensive). You can live a much more financially reasonable existence in Saskatchewan or New Brunswick. Do you speak French? I think Québec might have a fast track program for people who do.

I imagine to Americans the taxes do seem high, but I for one don't mind paying them because I see what they go towards - decent public education, proper infrastructure, social programs.

No, it's not a utopia. I've lived in many other countries and have seen how they do certain things a lot better. But it's pretty good, although if all the good Americans leave their own country it's going to be shit because the US will eventually run out of things to ruin for itself and will finally start to notice all our clean water/natural resources etc (I'm not the only one with a tinfoil hat about this, there was literally a CBC show a few years ago called Water Wars with this exact premise).

[waverly]

Good point. I’m not the OP, but I’ve lived in NYC so Toronto doesn’t scare me. But do take a look at the housing prices even with the conversion they were higher than I expected and I was looking in the country. I don’t know what jobs are available in the country, but I grew up an hour from the border so it was pretty normal for us to cross the border even if we weren’t doing major sightseeing.

Australia also has pretty high housing costs. I think that was the only major complaint that my friends had.

[fernweh]

Look very closely at what area you intend to live in and what the job market is like. I live very close to the border and at least 50% of my coworkers are Canadians who commute daily into the US because they don’t have as many job opportunities there (they are primarily engineers), so your husbands skill may not be enough…

I obviously don’t know what the market is outside of the border area I live near but just something to think about.

[stever]

It’s super easy if you or your husband line up a job. My husband and I were still just dating when he got a job at a Canadian company which got us both work visas.

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That was forever ago, pre-kids, but I have a friend who got a job at a Canadian company a year ago and brought his wife and kids with him and it sounded about as painless for them as it did for us.