Very nervous - PWGP expiring and no work experience

[Timrepy Duts]

Hi everyone,

I hope I'm posting this question in the right place, if not, please let me know and I will move it. I am currently an international Masters student living in Ontario with a PGWP that expires this year - I will only be able to extend it until early next year, since I was not initially given 3 years because of passport expiry.

I was planning to apply for PR, but I'm learning that I need one year of full time job experience. This is the only requirement I do not have, as all the work I did as a student at the university does not count for some reason. I finish my Masters in late April or early May, so I will have about 8 months after I finish to find a job and accumulate the experience.

What is the best way for me to immigrate to Canada and get PR? I'm in Ontario but I'm open to moving to different provinces. So far, I know there is a PNP for Ontario but the window is very small for Masters stream without a job offer. For a new graduate, I know that a full time permanent job offer is almost impossible to get. And getting two jobs (full time/ part time) is also pretty hard in time, especially since they need to be NOC. Are there any resources I can use to help me find jobs, or is there a province that better fits my profile (Bachelor and Masters degrees).

I have worked very hard as a student and have been in Canada for over 6 years, and I'm a little embarrassed I was not able to understand the entire process before this time. Thank you for the help

 

[scylla]

Hi everyone,

I hope I'm posting this question in the right place, if not, please let me know and I will move it. I am currently an international Masters student living in Ontario with a PGWP that expires this year - I will only be able to extend it until early next year, since I was not initially given 3 years because of passport expiry.

I was planning to apply for PR, but I'm learning that I need one year of full time job experience. This is the only requirement I do not have, as all the work I did as a student at the university does not count for some reason. I finish my Masters in late April or early May, so I will have about 8 months after I finish to find a job and accumulate the experience.

What is the best way for me to immigrate to Canada and get PR? I'm in Ontario but I'm open to moving to different provinces. So far, I know there is a PNP for Ontario but the window is very small for Masters stream without a job offer. For a new graduate, I know that a full time permanent job offer is almost impossible to get. And getting two jobs (full time/ part time) is also pretty hard in time, especially since they need to be NOC. Are there any resources I can use to help me find jobs, or is there a province that better fits my profile (Bachelor and Masters degrees).

I have worked very hard as a student and have been in Canada for over 6 years, and I'm a little embarrassed I was not able to understand the entire process before this time. Thank you for the help

I'm a bit confused by your timeline. It sounds like you may have finished your Bachelor degree and then applied for your PGWP - and then decided to take a Masters. Is that right?? If so, then unfortunately you don't qualify for a second PGWP based on your Masters degree and will have to do the best you can with the length of PGWP you have been issued. If the PGWP wasn't issued for the full duration due to passport expiry, then you should certainly apply to extend (once you have a new passport) to get the three full years.

Yes - you do need at least one full year of work experience to qualify for EE or CEC (for CEC that work experience must be in Canada) and you cannot count any work experience gained while you were studying. For both EE and CEC, it also matters how many points you have. You need to have at least 440 (ideally more) points to be selected.

Ontario PNP is an option through the Masters stream. However as you said, only a certain number of applications are taken each year and processing times are also long.

In terms of resources to help you find a job, you are typically on your own - however you can speak with your school to see if they have any resources that can help.

You haven't said what you studied - so hard to provide you with any guidance regarding provinces.

 

[Timrepy Duts]

I'm a bit confused by your timeline. It sounds like you may have finished your Bachelor degree and then applied for your PGWP - and then decided to take a Masters. Is that right?? If so, then unfortunately you don't qualify for a second PGWP based on your Masters degree and will have to do the best you can with the length of PGWP you have been issued. If the PGWP wasn't issued for the full duration due to passport expiry, then you should certainly apply to extend (once you have a new passport) to get the three full years.

Yes - you do need at least one full year of work experience to qualify for EE or CEC (for CEC that work experience must be in Canada) and you cannot count any work experience gained while you were studying. For both EE and CEC, it also matters how many points you have. You need to have at least 440 (ideally more) points to be selected.

Ontario PNP is an option through the Masters stream. However as you said, only a certain number of applications are taken each year and processing times are also long.

In terms of resources to help you find a job, you are typically on your own - however you can speak with your school to see if they have any resources that can help.

You haven't said what you studied - so hard to provide you with any guidance regarding provinces.

You got the timeline right. If I extend my PWGP with my new passport, I will have until March to get all the required job experience. Between June (at the latest) and March that gives me 8 months to accumulate all the job experience I need. I believe I could get enough points if I get the job experience, as I am planning to write a new English language test and I usually do pretty well on these.

I have a degree in Biology (Honours) and I'm currently finishing up a Masters in Biology too. I have some experience with research on the lab and in computer work (statistics/ data analysis). I will contact my school to see if they can offer me any resources too.

 

[canuck78]

Think there is some confusion. Aren't you currently under a study permit not PGWP?

 

[Timrepy Duts]

Think there is some confusion. Aren't you currently under a study permit not PGWP?

Sorry about the confusion. I am currently on a study permit, but I also have an open work permit too because I applied for one when I finished my first university degree in Canada. It's a mistake I made because at the time I didn't know you can only apply for PGWP once in a lifetime. If I knew, I would have applied after I finished my second (Masters) degree.

 

[Wonderland_1010]

Sorry about the confusion. I am currently on a study permit, but I also have an open work permit too because I applied for one when I finished my first university degree in Canada. It's a mistake I made because at the time I didn't know you can only apply for PGWP once in a lifetime. If I knew, I would have applied after I finished my second (Masters) degree.

You cannot hold a study permit and a PGWP permit at the same time. When you applied for your second study permit, your PGWP would be automatically voided by IRCC.

 

[Timrepy Duts]

You cannot hold a study permit and a PGWP permit at the same time. When you applied for your second study permit, your PGWP would be automatically voided by IRCC.

I have not been able to find any official information to confirm this.. Would you be able to show me a web-source on the CIC to confirm this? If it is true, does that mean I can extend my work permit for the remainder validity due to it becoming void? Thank you for the contribution

 

[Wonderland_1010]

I have not been able to find any official information to confirm this.. Would you be able to show me a web-source on the CIC to confirm this? If it is true, does that mean I can extend my work permit for the remainder validity due to it becoming void? Thank you for the contribution

You can either either study full time and work part time or work full time and study part time. You cannot work and study full time at the same time.

You can try to extend your PGWP as you were not given full 3 years expiration but its upto IRCC to whether they will approve it or not.