Hello,
I work in the Film/Television industry in the US and am looking to immigrate to Canada. I am having trouble figuring out if I qualify for Express Entry due to the nature of my industry and how there are usually gaps of a few unpaid weeks between Productions.
I've worked consistently under NOC B (Job Code: 5226) for almost 4 years. I am a member of a union (IATSE) for this position. The major film studios hire us per project and provide full time employment that lasts anywhere from 3-8 months. When the project ends, I list myself as available with the union and there is usually a window of about one month where I am unpaid before I am hired onto a new Production/Project (usually with a new company). As a result of this - I technically never have 100% "continuous" work. Does this mean my 4 years of professional skilled union labor is worthless to the Canadian immigration system? Is there any other way to make my work qualify?
The best option I can think of right now is that in the last year, I had a 1 month unpaid gap between two projects that were both for NBC/Universal. Since I came back to work for the same company - could I theoretically count that month as unpaid time off and qualify for the OINP Human Capital Stream (having that be my one year of continuous work experience)? It's a strange business to be in since we're technically freelancers (going gig to gig) but not contracted or self employed.
Happy to provide any other details necessary. Thanks.
I work in the Film/Television industry in the US and am looking to immigrate to Canada. I am having trouble figuring out if I qualify for Express Entry due to the nature of my industry and how there are usually gaps of a few unpaid weeks between Productions.
I've worked consistently under NOC B (Job Code: 5226) for almost 4 years. I am a member of a union (IATSE) for this position. The major film studios hire us per project and provide full time employment that lasts anywhere from 3-8 months. When the project ends, I list myself as available with the union and there is usually a window of about one month where I am unpaid before I am hired onto a new Production/Project (usually with a new company). As a result of this - I technically never have 100% "continuous" work. Does this mean my 4 years of professional skilled union labor is worthless to the Canadian immigration system? Is there any other way to make my work qualify?
The best option I can think of right now is that in the last year, I had a 1 month unpaid gap between two projects that were both for NBC/Universal. Since I came back to work for the same company - could I theoretically count that month as unpaid time off and qualify for the OINP Human Capital Stream (having that be my one year of continuous work experience)? It's a strange business to be in since we're technically freelancers (going gig to gig) but not contracted or self employed.
Happy to provide any other details necessary. Thanks.
