First month in Canada on PR

[deepbrits]

Dear All,

It took me more than one month to get a survival job here in Canada.
First, as I thought when I came from New Delhi, India I got the cultural shock.
Native white people here are mannerly, polite and very humble.
Unlike the place I have been from, you will find a totally different approach to the civilized and well mannered society.
Even people unknown to you doesn't hesitate in wishing you hello.
Secondly, if you hired an immigration consultant please don't follow them blindfolded.
I got a bad experience even after paying INR80,000 for the gold package I paid to W***S based at Phase 6 Mohali, Punjab.
They offered a shared accommodation with single people who are working there in survival jobs. The address they offer you is different from what they offer when you reach there. They offered me an apartment in Mississauga but on reaching there they dumped me in a down town area with four more people to share with.
Third and most important thing is that don't think that the consultant will help you in getting a job even if they commit so. Their assistance means just verbal words and when you reach there they will send you a word document with the job openings that you can easily find relevant to your field on net yourself easily.
Government of Canada accepts our qualification and experience and offer us the PR to go there and work. But the native people don't entertain our qualifications as we immigrants are a good source of real cheap labor for them.
In third world, labor is underpaid. Only difference here is that unless you don't attain a good experience and education qualification locally, it's real tough to get in the local job market.
Fourth, don't rely on your immigrant consultant on financial issues. He advised to open an account with Scotia bank. They charged me an additional $5 for some insurance plan on the credit card they offered per month. It is because the local banks have tie up with the consultants and they act as a tout to refer clients to them. Every bank here now offers a credit card even if you are a landed immigrant. Don't believe on anyone because he was from your country. Mostly people from same origin are the one who cheat the most. TD and RBS are the top banks here.

Last piece od advise do extensive job search and find where can you find maximum job opportunities. Just try to figure out on a particular province and check for incentives government provides when you land there.
Now-a-days Alberta is fast developing and has the maximum job opportunities. Still try to search online and then only decide.

Get a survival job the moment you enter. Try to approach the employers, recruitment agencies and do net search. I was an automotive technical trainer with twelve years of experience and now I am working as a mechanic for 11$/hours. My friend who was a professor hasn't got employed yet. He was a doctorate and still looking for a survival job.

Initial one or two years are most toughest. But once you are determined, slowly things will start settling down.
I will keep you all updated but be prepared for some really tough time many of you have never encountered before.

 

[fuad1980]

Hi deepbrits,

Thank you for sharing your experience. Please keep continue sharing as we are also in our final stage of immigration and will get inspired from you.

Just a quick question - what is the system of getting loan for education in canada? I heard about OSAP scheme ........

Regards,
Fuad

 

[steaky]

Hey deepbrits,

1) Native people are not necessary whites. Commonly referring to first nation people.
2) It should be RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) but not RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland). Two different banks.
3) OSAP is only available in Ontario

 

[explorer101]

Dear All,

It took me more than one month to get a survival job here in Canada.
First, as I thought when I came from New Delhi, India I got the cultural shock.
Get a survival job the moment you enter. Try to approach the employers, recruitment agencies and do net search. I was an automotive technical trainer with twelve years of experience and now I am working as a mechanic for 11$/hours. My friend who was a professor hasn't got employed yet. He was a doctorate and still looking for a survival job.

Initial one or two years are most toughest. But once you are determined, slowly things will start settling down.
I will keep you all updated but be prepared for some really tough time many of you have never encountered before.

It is good that you learnt survival tricks pretty fast. Good luck.

 

[JustMarried81]

Hi what kind of a VISA did you get to be able to work any job in Canada?

Thank you.

 

[anuradha7326]

Dont worry Deepak.......It will get better. Become street smart, explore on your own, dont rely on too many people and I promise you that it will get better. Take Care.

 

[iblessed]

Dear All,

It took me more than one month to get a survival job here in Canada.
First, as I thought when I came from New Delhi, India I got the cultural shock.
Native white people here are mannerly, polite and very humble.
Unlike the place I have been from, you will find a totally different approach to the civilized and well mannered society.
Even people unknown to you doesn't hesitate in wishing you hello.
Secondly, if you hired an immigration consultant please don't follow them blindfolded.
I got a bad experience even after paying INR80,000 for the gold package I paid to W***S based at Phase 6 Mohali, Punjab.
They offered a shared accommodation with single people who are working there in survival jobs. The address they offer you is different from what they offer when you reach there. They offered me an apartment in Mississauga but on reaching there they dumped me in a down town area with four more people to share with.
Third and most important thing is that don't think that the consultant will help you in getting a job even if they commit so. Their assistance means just verbal words and when you reach there they will send you a word document with the job openings that you can easily find relevant to your field on net yourself easily.
Government of Canada accepts our qualification and experience and offer us the PR to go there and work. But the native people don't entertain our qualifications as we immigrants are a good source of real cheap labor for them.
In third world, labor is underpaid. Only difference here is that unless you don't attain a good experience and education qualification locally, it's real tough to get in the local job market.
Fourth, don't rely on your immigrant consultant on financial issues. He advised to open an account with Scotia bank. They charged me an additional $5 for some insurance plan on the credit card they offered per month. It is because the local banks have tie up with the consultants and they act as a tout to refer clients to them. Every bank here now offers a credit card even if you are a landed immigrant. Don't believe on anyone because he was from your country. Mostly people from same origin are the one who cheat the most. TD and RBS are the top banks here.

Last piece od advise do extensive job search and find where can you find maximum job opportunities. Just try to figure out on a particular province and check for incentives government provides when you land there.
Now-a-days Alberta is fast developing and has the maximum job opportunities. Still try to search online and then only decide.

Get a survival job the moment you enter. Try to approach the employers, recruitment agencies and do net search. I was an automotive technical trainer with twelve years of experience and now I am working as a mechanic for 11$/hours. My friend who was a professor hasn't got employed yet. He was a doctorate and still looking for a survival job.

Initial one or two years are most toughest. But once you are determined, slowly things will start settling down.
I will keep you all updated but be prepared for some really tough time many of you have never encountered before.

Congratulations on your new life in Canada and all the best for the future. Thank you for the valid information you shared, and i agree with you about the consultants especially about getting a job all i got was links where to look.

Gob bless

 

[RajeevPillai]

I will never encourage people to take up survivial jobs. The experience you gain will not help you in any ways!!!

 

[mikenz]

I will never encourage people to take up survivial jobs. The experience you gain will not help you in any ways!!!

Quite right.. I never understood why one would.

 

[sonea]

i must share my experience here. We landed in Edmonton, AB and had no trouble settling down here in a few days. gov of Alberta has many programs for new immigrants and people who need gov help at any later stage they give you affordable housing here specially for families with small children, you get education grants to improve your qualification according to Canadian levels not only you get free up gradation but you also get some money to support your family while you study, if you are unemployed. i don't recommend people to abuse these facilities and apply ONLY if you really deserve. However, we got settled so quickly with a full time job in a bank that we didn't need any of these ..

survival jobs are available here but you should know where to begin.... if you come to Edmonton you will see job vacancies everywhere these days specially in stores such as old navy, gap, Walmart etc.. in Edmonton there is a company called Manpower which hires on behalf of shaw you can approach them. Shaw gives you good pay as well as great bonuses.. there is another telecommunication company Telus. these companies usually have job vacancies all year round, I am not talking about any technical jobs in these companies i am mentioning about "customer service representatives" kind of jobs they usually pay $19 per hour here which is a good start and with quarterly bonuses based on your sales (which is not at all impossible even an inexperienced person can get at least $200 bonus) they give you full training so previous experience is not an issue if you have language skills and your are people friendly kind of person.

for housing and other things you can use www.kijiji.com this is a free classified website and you can post or see free ads from other people or you can search for accommodation but again be ware of fraudsters you should cross check before making a final decision on getting an apartment/house/condo or any other item..

another thing that people have in mind about Edmonton is that the weather is too cold .. well i moved from UK and i found it better because here we see proper summer unlike rainy England all year round ... but for winter it get quite cold but its bearable not really hard to get settled .. this year Toronto had more snow storms than Edmonton so i think its not too bad after all.. plus you get free heating here (Gas bills are included in rent) so you get 24/7 heating and you don't feel cold inside the house and also you don't have to worry about the gas bill..

mobile service is same throughout canada its quite expensive in canada.. but you should keep an eye on wind mobile deals they are usually cheaper than others..

i hope this will help you decide where you want to start your life in canda

 

[sonea]

Quite right.. I never understood why one would.

you don't want to blow up your savings without a job, do you?

you can't enter straight in your profession even if you do get interview calls they take upto 2 months to decide (online application->telephone interview->face to face interview) and sometimes the start dates are a few months ahead .. so why not try for a part time job to earn some money towards your basic expenses while you wait for your desired job call!!

 

[mikenz]

you don't want to blow up your savings without a job, do you?

you can't enter straight in your profession even if you do get interview calls they take upto 2 months to decide (online application->telephone interview->face to face interview) and sometimes the start dates are a few months ahead .. so why not try for a part time job to earn some money towards your basic expenses while you wait for your desired job call!!

Yes, I can and I am doing it right now.. I am in hotel management and currently negotiating a contract on General Manager level for a well known hotel chain. Money is the least of my worries, it is not the reason why I move to Canada. So circumstances are different for for all of us.

 

[sonea]

that's the way to go..

its good that money isn't your worry but people don't come here only to earn money its the lifestyle, children's education and other facilities which bring them here but to get going you need to plan wisely .. good luck with your job

 

[mikenz]

that's the way to go..

its good that money isn't your worry but people don't come here only to earn money its the lifestyle, children's education and other facilities which bring them here but to get going you need to plan wisely .. good luck with your job

Absolutely, planning is the key, cheers to you, too.. ;D

 

[natasha963]

Thanks Deepbrits and Sonea for the lovely posts. I n my husband, we are planning to move to canada to alberta in a few months. This is also for the fact that i will not b able to afford a delivery in any other state as i will b 7 months pregnant when we arrive there. Please comment is Alberta a good Option to settle? My hubbys into air conditioning n i m into customer service.