moving from Portugal to Canada WITHOUT a job offer (yet)

[scylla]

so for somebody with academic degrees byt no guarantee to find a suitable job right away, I could pretty much do anything right ? Say, work at Startbucks to get me started ? I wouldn't mind doing something else in the beginning while settling down.

To work anywhere, you need a work permit. To get a work permit, your employer needs to obtain an approved LMO. The kind of job doesn't matter. The process is the same.

So for the Starbucks job, Starbucks would have to advertise the job for a few weeks and prove they couldn't hire a Canadian for the job. Then they would have to submit the LMO paperwork for approval.

The LMO processing then takes several months. And there's no guarantee the LMO will be approved (if Human Resources Canada feels the company should have been able to find a Canadian for the role they will refused the LMO). So the reality is that most employers aren't willing to go through the LMO process because it takes too long, there's too much paperwork involved and there's no guarantee of approval.

 

[Riq85pt]

thanks for the info !
So the reality is that it's really hard to get a job in Canada because not a lot of employers wanna bother themselves with the whole Labour Market Opinion thing ? Let's say I move to Canada and look for a job. I would need to wait several months only to secure a job position ?

 

[Canooknic]

Have you considered this? http://www.international.gc.ca/experience/intro_incoming-intro_entrant.aspx

If you're under 30 you can get a 1 year working visa, see how you like it here and go from there. If it all works out you can apply to extend the visa!

 

[scylla]

Have you considered this? http://www.international.gc.ca/experience/intro_incoming-intro_entrant.aspx

If you're under 30 you can get a 1 year working visa, see how you like it here and go from there. If it all works out you can apply to extend the visa!

Canooknic - I believe the OP is from Portugal and I don't believe Portugal is on the list of qualifying country for the working holiday visa.

 

[scylla]

thanks for the info !
So the reality is that it's really hard to get a job in Canada because not a lot of employers wanna bother themselves with the whole Labour Market Opinion thing ? Let's say I move to Canada and look for a job. I would need to wait several months only to secure a job position ?

Correct. Unfortunately many employers aren't willing to go through the LMO process.

Probably a few months to find an employer (if you're successful - no guarantee you will be) and then another few months for the LMO to be processed.

 

[Riq85pt]

well it's def. harder than I thought. I'm willing to move without any guarantees as I have enough cash to survive for a few months.