Path to Canada for freelance or part-time / temporary work?

[agusus]

Is there a path to Canada via permanent residency if you only want to do freelance work or part-time / seasonal contracting type work? The "gig economy" / freelancing has become the new thing in the last 10 years and there are many jobs this could mean: Uber driver, Rover dog walker, freelance software programmer on Upwork or other platform, etc. In the pandemic era we'll be in for the next few years, freelance / remote / flexible work is even more important.

But I only have about 417 CRS points on the Express Entry calculator - or 437 if my wife takes the language test too and aces it. This isn't enough for the typical ~470 cut-off. The cut-off has been as low as 437 but that's only for CEC (Canadian Experience Class) which requires already having a job in Canada. It's hard to get a job in Canada if you can't get a work visa for part-time freelance work (as I understand work visas are mainly accessible only for full-time permanent jobs, unless you're a farm worker or Hollywood actor).

All the BC PNP programs require a full-time permanent job offer, or significant investment funding from angel/VC funds in the entrepreneurship / start-up programs.

So am I misreading the situation or is there not really a path to Canada for people who don't want to do a traditional full-time permanent job? (and are no longer in our 20's, when the points bonus might have tipped the scale over 470).

 

[scylla]

Is there a path to Canada via permanent residency if you only want to do freelance work or part-time / seasonal contracting type work? The "gig economy" / freelancing has become the new thing in the last 10 years and there are many jobs this could mean: Uber driver, Rover dog walker, freelance software programmer on Upwork or other platform, etc. In the pandemic era we'll be in for the next few years, freelance / remote / flexible work is even more important.

But I only have about 417 CRS points on the Express Entry calculator - or 437 if my wife takes the language test too and aces it. This isn't enough for the typical ~470 cut-off. The cut-off has been as low as 437 but that's only for CEC (Canadian Experience Class) which requires already having a job in Canada. It's hard to get a job in Canada if you can't get a work visa for part-time freelance work (as I understand work visas are mainly accessible only for full-time permanent jobs, unless you're a farm worker or Hollywood actor).

All the BC PNP programs require a full-time permanent job offer, or significant investment funding from angel/VC funds in the entrepreneurship / start-up programs.

So am I misreading the situation or is there not really a path to Canada for people who don't want to do a traditional full-time permanent job? (and are no longer in our 20's, when the points bonus might have tipped the scale over 470).

What is your gig / occupation? We would need to know that to answer your question.

 

[agusus]

What is your gig / occupation? We would need to know that to answer your question.

Software engineer mainly (15 years experience. Age 38 currently. Master's degree, which helps a bit with the CRS points but not enough)
I've also done other gig-type part-time work though - dog walking, and technical writing / editing.

 

[scylla]

Software engineer mainly (15 years experience. Age 38 currently. Master's degree, which helps a bit with the CRS points but not enough)
I've also done other gig-type part-time work though - dog walking, and technical writing / editing.

How much you plan to work in Canada once you arrive and if you plan to take a full time role or do the gig thing or not work at all is not material when it comes to immigration. What matters is how many points you have based on your age, past work experience, level of education and other factors - or if you can get a nomination from one of the provinces.

You are right that your score is too low to be selected directly through Express Entry. However you can still set up a profile and hope to be selected by one of the provinces. Do what you can to max out your score, including having your wife set up a profile to see if points are higher with her as the primary applicant.

 

[agusus]

...
However you can still set up a profile and hope to be selected by one of the provinces. Do what you can to max out your score, including having your wife set up a profile to see if points are higher with her as the primary applicant.

Thanks, yes, I understand Express Entry seems like the best option for me because it doesn't necessarily require a job offer and is more flexible once you arrive.

But the BC PNP instructions seem to indicate you need a job offer and need to actually apply to the PNP (with associated $800 CAD fee). Are there PNPs that invite people without job offers? In that case how do they select people? Do you have a link with specifics?

 

[scylla]

Thanks, yes, I understand Express Entry seems like the best option for me because it doesn't necessarily require a job offer and is more flexible once you arrive.

But the BC PNP instructions seem to indicate you need a job offer and need to actually apply to the PNP (with associated $800 CAD fee). Are there PNPs that invite people without job offers? In that case how do they select people? Do you have a link with specifics?

Not all of the provincial programs require job offers. You can find links for each of the programs here:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...migrate-canada/provincial-nominees/works.html

 

[agusus]

Hmm, I'm looking through the PNP programs and most or all of them seem to require job offers.
The only one I could find that doesn't is Nova Scotia's "Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry" Category B. But that program is closed currently and only opens at certain times. It's hard to figure out what the probability of success is through that path.

So it's certainly looking like it's difficult (or impossible in my case) to immigrate if you want to do a non-traditional job (freelance / non-full-time / non-permanent). That's disappointing but I can understand why Canada might not want those kinds of people.