How To Find Work In Canada If You Are Living In England

[nolanc00]

Hi, my name is Chris and I was born and live in England, I have been a Health Care Assistant for 4 years now, and have recently been promoted to a Sinior Health Care Assistant. I have worked in a Nursing Home and am currently working in a Residential Home. My experience is looking after the elderly, but I am always interested in all fields of Care Work. I have got an NVQ level 2 in Health and Social Care and am looking to further my experience in Canada.

I have got a girlfriend from the Philippines, and we both worked together as Health Care Assistants here in England, but unfortunately she had to go back home to the Philippines as her student visa in England expired. I have been over and lived with her in the Philippines for 4 months, but had to return as there are no jobs for Care Workers there. We are both just really tired of being seperated all the time, and being apart from each other for so long before seeing each other again.

This is why we are both interested in going to Canada to work, so that we can both be together, and work. A friend told us that Canada is calling out for Care Workers both from Philippines, and from England. This sounded like a very good option for us as we both have good experience and skills as Care Workers, and would love to further our experience in Canada. We both feel that we have got a lot to gain, and a lot to offer.
I would be deeply greatful for any advice that anyone could give me.

Thank you in advance.
Yours Sincerely
Chris

 

[scylla]

The program that person was referring to was the Live In Caregiver Program. This could be an option for you and your girlfriend as a way to move to Canada temporarily but it does have limitations. First of all, I believe the processing time for these work permits for individuals from the Philippines is now over a year (I'm sure someone else can confirm). So it will take a long time for your girlfriend to obtain a work visa. Also, there is no guarantee both of you will be approved for a visa.

Secondly, this is a Live In Caregiver Program. This means that you MUST live with the family that you are working for - which means that you and your girlfriend would have to live in different places and would not be allowed to live together. You can find out more about this program here - the first step would be for each of you to find an employer in Canada willing to hire you:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/hire/caregiver.asp

Why don't you just marry her and sponsor her to live with you in the UK? That will be much simpler.

 

[Yelsew]

The program that person was referring to was the Live In Caregiver Program. This could be an option for you and your girlfriend as a way to move to Canada temporarily but it does have limitations. First of all, I believe the processing time for these work permits for individuals from the Philippines is now over a year (I'm sure someone else can confirm). So it will take a long time for your girlfriend to obtain a work visa. Also, there is no guarantee both of you will be approved for a visa.

Quite right about the extremely long processing times (18-24 months) for LIC applicants living in the Philippines. It is so bad that agents/recruiters in Canada are not even accepting applications from the Philippines anymore, because employers don't want to wait that long. Traditionally, the Philippines has been by far the largest source country for LIC's in Canada, but new qualified applicants are, in effect, shut out. An extended family member of mine is in exactly that situation now, and it is very disappointing. Her only option (not very practical for her) appears to be trying to find work in another country first, and then applying to Canada.