Looking to move to Victoria, BC from UK

[stefox]

I am 22 years old and have decided I don't want to stay in the UK anymore... I have always fancied moving to Canada just because it looks amazing and family/friends who have visited Canada said it was terrific... How do I qualify for a working visa/ temporary visa... I just want to see how much different the lifestyle is going to be... I have been researching and found a points calculator to see if i'm eligible and I just want to know how to boost my points up...

I was a glazier for 3 years and have also had a heavy goods vehicle license for 2 years, also been employed driving the lorries for 18 months till present...

I completed secondary school (12 years) and obtained GCSES, I however, did not continue onto further education...

I want to emigrate by myself with no spouse or whatever..

Does it also boost my points/increase my chance of getting a visa if my current employer offers me a permanent job in Canada? If so, if I was in that job for say 6 months and then I was made redundant, would that affect my visa if I were to go and get a job elsewhere?

Any answers/advice would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[oz_brex]

You can get approved to come to Canada and work much faster if you apply as a temporary foreign worker - you'll wait weeks/months rather than months/years. It is hard to say what your chances will be under the point system - your education and experience unfortunately are not valued very highly under that system (which I think is totally unfair) but your age and language will work well for you. The downside is that temporary status makes you vulnerable to sketchy employers and is, of course, temporary. But that might be ok with you if you just want to go and check it out. You can also look into which provinces have a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) where the provinces will nominate "low skill" (their words, not mine) workers for permanent residency after a certain period of time - I know Manitoba has such a program, but Ontario doesn't.

Your employer's job offer would help you (and be necessary) if you want to come as a foreign worker - they need to obtain a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) saying that, among other things, they advertised but couldn't find Canadians to do the job. If you lost that job, you would not be able to work elsewhere (legally) without a variation of your work permit. I don't think it'll help you in the point system but I could be wrong.

Hopefully that helps!

 

[Pippin]

Google working holiday visa. Being in the UK and young you should check out the requirements of this programme. It sounds like this could be your lucky day!!!!!!

 

[GMcLean]

Good luck! I think you'll find Victoria BC an excellent place to live and work.

To learn more about the city search for: living in Victoria BC

This blog is valuable source of information for people who are considering a move to Victoria.

 

[scarletsally]

I've been living in Victoria BC for the past 3 years (I'm 25) and I just love it here. I'm on a work permit as well. I believe you'll qualify for a working holiday visa so you can start with that and once you're here and have a job, you can then apply for a longer work permit and/or permanent residency.