Apply for Federal Skilled Worker Program after McGill graduation

[pauletainthehouse]

Hello,

I would really appreciate anyone’s input regarding my story, how common something like this is and what are my chances of getting approved/rejected. I know I will have to go through Express Entry, but I am unsure whether I should apply through the Provincial Nominee Program for Ontario, or directly through the Federal Skilled Worker Program.

- 27 yo, single male, 1 family member (uncle) in Quebec, no job offer in Ontario.
- Fully fluent in both English and French
- CRS Score (CIC website test): 540
- 2011-2015: Undergrad at Top 3 US School
- 2015-2017: High profile/compensation Finance/AI job at a bank in NYC
- 2017-2019: Master’s in AI/Analytics at McGill University
- October 2019: Graduation from McGill
- December 2019 : Received 1 year long PGWP, and applied for CSQ


Since graduation, I have been living in Montreal and I have been applying and looking for jobs in my specialty (financial sector) in Montreal and Toronto. My original intent was to stay in Quebec because I do have ties here (uncle, I speak french), so I applied for CSQ to get the process started two weeks ago and to 'be safe' just in case of another change in the PEQ laws.

However, I am realizing now after many weeks of job hunting out of Montreal, I have decided to continue my career in Toronto and move to Ontario for the following reasons:

1) Toronto has 5x more job offerings in the financial sector than Montreal. It is very clear from my CV/curriculum that my ‘skill’ is finance/AI, and I have much better prospects in Toronto than Montreal.
2) After the recent change of laws regarding the CSQ/PEQ process on November 1st, I have decided I do not want to reside in Quebec, a province that changes laws back and forth randomly and puts lives of hardworking and highly skilled people in jeopardy. Settling in Ontario has much higher chances for a stable career.
3) I am able to leverage a much larger McGill alumni network in Toronto than Montreal (which is largely dominated by the local French-speaking schools).

I currently do not have a job offer, but am applying for jobs in Toronto and will hopefully get interviews in the coming weeks. I have not applied for PR yet as I am evaluating the 'risk' of getting rejected first. Please let me know what would be the main concerns with my application and what I should be careful with when/if applying.

Many many thanks!!

 

[scylla]

Hello,

I would really appreciate anyone’s input regarding my story, how common something like this is and what are my chances of getting approved/rejected. I know I will have to go through Express Entry, but I am unsure whether I should apply through the Provincial Nominee Program for Ontario, or directly through the Federal Skilled Worker Program.

- 27 yo, single male, 1 family member (uncle) in Quebec, no job offer in Ontario.
- Fully fluent in both English and French
- 2011-2015: Undergrad at Top 3 US School
- 2015-2017: High profile/compensation Finance/AI job on Wall Street in NYC
- 2017-2019: Master’s in AI/Analytics at McGill University
- October 2019: Graduation from McGill
- January 2020: Application for CSQ

Since graduation, I have been residing in Montreal and I have been applying and looking for jobs in my specialty (financial sector) in Montreal, and Toronto. My original intent was to reside in Quebec, so I applied for CSQ to get the process started two weeks ago and to 'be safe' just in case of another change in laws.

However, I am realizing now after many weeks of job hunting out of Montreal, I have decided to reside/move to Ontario for the following reasons:

1) Toronto has 5x more job offerings in the financial sector than Montreal. It is very clear from my CV/curriculum that my ‘skill’ is finance/AI, and I have much better prospects in Toronto than Montreal.
2) After the recent change of laws regarding the CSQ/PEQ process on November 1st, I have decided I do not want to reside in Quebec, a province that changes laws back and forth randomly and puts lives of hardworking and highly skilled people in jeopardy. Settling in Ontario has much higher chances for a stable career.
3) I am able to leverage a much larger McGill alumni network in Toronto than Montreal (which is largely dominated by the local French-speaking schools).

Please let me know what would be the concerns with my application and what I should be careful with when/if applying!

Many many thanks!!

How many points do you have under Express Entry?

 

[pauletainthehouse]

How many points do you have under Express Entry?

I have just updated the original post. I got a score of 644 using https://www.ackahlaw.com/resources/check-your-express-entry-score

 

[scylla]

I have just updated the original post. I got a score of 644 using https://www.ackahlaw.com/resources/check-your-express-entry-score

Use the official one below instead. The non official ones sometimes throw out bad results. Make sure you aren't claiming points for having a job offer - you don't have one and it's pretty much a safe bet you won't get one (to get the job offer points, your employer needs to obtain an approved LMIA - just getting a job offer isn't enough). Also make sure you aren't claiming points for having a provincial nomination or points for family in Canada (only siblings count, not uncles).

https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/crs-tool.asp

Have you taken the language tests yet? If not, you'll want to get on that.

 

[pauletainthehouse]

Use the official one below instead. The non official ones sometimes throw out bad results. Make sure you aren't claiming points for having a job offer - you don't have one and it's pretty much a safe bet you won't get one (to get the job offer points, your employer needs to obtain an approved LMIA - just getting a job offer isn't enough). Also make sure you aren't claiming points for having a provincial nomination or points for family in Canada (only siblings count, not uncles).

https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/crs-tool.asp

Have you taken the language tests yet? If not, you'll want to get on that.

Hello, thanks a lot for your long response. I got 540 using the official test. I made sure I didn't input anything wrong. Regarding language tests, I did not take them, but I gave myself the maximum range, as both french and english are my first languages (professional + 'lingo' reading, writing and speaking everyday etc etc), so I am confident I will be at least in that top range.

What do you guys think?