Unless you have a work authorization, there is little to no chance of finding a job from outside Canada. But, you can always try applying to jobs, talking to people on LinkedIn. Because you never know what luck you have.
FSW WORLDWIDE
- Thread starter js555
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You can find a job as a Finance manager (I operate in the job search space with my current job), but most Finance jobs are not remote and the locations would be GVA and GTA.
110% with you here. We are the ones that have to change. A country can decide INDEPENDENTLY who they wish to bring in or not. That's their choice. All we can do is to adapt. Those who say Canada should "respect" them - they are wrong! They were invited on a temporary VISA with no promise of permanent residency - they should respect the temporary VISA conditions instead. Imagine saying the same thing in other countries (USA? lol) - Canada is exceptionally tolerant.
Agree with you - They were invited on a temporary VISA with no promise of permanent residency - they should respect the temporary VISA conditions instead.
definitely improve your scores if you can do French. I missed my ITA in 2020 because of 1 point (then lost due to ages for subsequent years) and I started French, 2022 and I was done with French and had a 500+ CRS. I also had other plans layered in if FSW was dead by this time e.g. C-11 or self-employed pathways - had both options open to me.
Now if you are worried, do work on your CRS score with French. Get B2+ if you can, A2 is easy and iirc adds zero to your score if not a max of 3. While you do so, explore other streams (e.g. self employed, start-up visa, province specific immigration schemes for investors, etc). Be ready for what you can. If you aren't getting invite over the next few years, pivot your immigration strategy. Nothing is 100% predictable at the end and adding a plan-B for immigration is always a good strategy.
True. I lived in US for a decade and I knew that I am not permanent there. I accepted the reality and moved on.
100% this
I started (seriously) thinking about moving to Canada in very early 2020.
Then Covid happened.
Spent 10 months learning French from complete zero to B2+/C1 (even C2 in listening).
Passed my TCF, got my CRS above 500 points, happy days....
Then no FSW draws for months and months.
I even done my PCC and upfront medical in summer 2021 because I was so sure that FSW will be resumed any day now.
Lost hope in early 2022 and started considering options in the USA, as even immigration lawyer told me that when FSW is resumed, it will take 12+ months for application to be processed.
Re-took my IELTS in June 2022, while also planning to go for E-2 USA visa.
FSW draws were resumed but numbers very low, so I wasn't sure if I would make it (lost 5 points in 2021 due to age and was about to lose another 5 in November 2022).
A couple of weeks before my birthday, got my ITA in October 2022.
Was prepared for at least 6-8 months wait to get COPR but got one within around 10 weeks.
Flight to Vancouver booked for 30th April.
This is my long way of saying that you just can't take anything for granted. If you want to move to Canada, learning French is by far your best option.
But start working also on plan B. When I started considering USA, it reduced my anxiety massively because I suddenly had options.
I checked and it adds 1 point per skill. Yeah, my goal is b2+ as it adds tons of points. I currently have a private tutor for 3 days a week (1.5 hours each).
In total, I'm spending 15-20 hours a week on french. However, I started just 2 weeks ago so it's gonna take a long while before I reach b2+.
BTW if you don't mind, how long did it take you to reach your goal in french? How did you go about achieving it? Any tips or resources?
Yup, having a plan b is always important. I myself am considering other options, issue is there are few countries that offer PR right out the gate and getting a student visa for someone like me (Iranian) is nigh impossible. My work area is also not really hot like SWE as I work in supply chain so that is also an issue.
BTW any advice on learning french? Any resources you enjoyed?
So, a few things about me:
1. I work excess number of hours each day (day job + side hustles).
2. Had to spend a long time trying to figure out how to consistently learn French even in a busy day.
3. I'm FSW-O from Asia - so not a lot of good french teachers here.
I took 1.5 years in total to reach C1 in all. Missed in a few TEF exams by 5-10 points and had to give again. The wait was primarily because TEF in my city is conducted very infrequently. So, had 3-4 months of delay after each TEF exam. Gave a total of 4 TEFs. First one was all B1. Took a break to understand where I wasn't performing well and took time to give second. Second was two C1s, two B2s (not all B2s lead to 7 CLB!), third was three C1s and one B1 (the person who took my TEF asked me "how much score do you want" and gave me a B1 in speaking. God knows how professional was this evaluator!).
For the last TEF where I got all C1s, I went to a completely different city and gave my exams (given my experience with the last evaluator and their degree of professionalism in assessing my French skills). The person who took my speaking was a native french speaker. Crazy journey though. My third TEF should've easily been all C1s imo.
That's my journey. Regarding my TEF tips and resources, I'll dig into what I had later tonight and share it with you. I think @mushymush's guide is also pretty solid to begin with: https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/a-high-level-guide-to-learning-french-from-scratch.784800/
Honestly, everyone should try for French and increase their scores. Not worth waiting on 470s-480s. When we were at 460s - it was assumed to be competitive enough in 2020, just how 480s are in 2022-23. But look at what happened. People who stayed at 460s in 2020 and never improved it are only going to lose scores with age and never become competitive enough.
Yeah getting PR straight away was the main benefit for me in comparison to USA. E-2 was an option but it required huge financial commitment and it was very risky. Plus, although you can keep renewing E-2, it will never lead to PR in itself, which was a big downside.
Regarding French - the main thing was having a French tutor (5 sessions per week, 1h each, so similar to you) - I asked her to give me enough homework to do additional 1.5 per day. I was aiming to spend around 2.5h in total every single day (in between work and running a photography business, and working out a lot - basically I sacrificed ALL my spare time for 10 months).
Grammaire progressive du francais is a brilliant book covering all grammar.
I listed to various French podcasts and read French news.
I used a couple of apps to practice conjugating verbs (literally in every spare moment).
Once I got to strong B1/low B2 level, I started practicing a LOT of exams. You tutor may have some, you can also find some free and paid ones online.
This last point is key. I don't think my French was ever above strong B1 (maybe reading around B2+) but I got B2+ in speaking and writing (just 1 point short of C1), C1 in reading, and C2 in listening - this was purely because I practiced exams so much.
BTW - I was preparing for TCF but also took TEF as a backup. Messed up speaking in TEF (B1), the rest was B2+/C1. Personally I found TCF a tiny bit easier but it's mainly down to personal preference.
No problem
I used Conjuu. I remember trying a couple of different ones but I think this one was my favourite.
I also learned French and got an ITA in January. I am 39 years old . So I lost a lot of points on age. I had around 430 points before French and after French I had 490. It took me 1.5 years to learn and I tried everything, group classes, private tutors, books and online resources. I had to take TEF 4 times before I got min CLB 7s. The test is not offered frequently in my country so I flew to Paris FOUR times to take it (I live in Europe). It was a lot of stress and hard work but I think it is worth it. I think immigrants who know French have a better future in Canada anyway, so I think it will be useful for my future beyond just the CRS score. I have continued my weekly French lessons even since the ITA.