Not sure if this is the place to ask, but I'm in the middle of being sponsored by my wife for my PR. I'm just curious, for anyone who has been in a similar position, how did you handle finding work? Was anyone able to look for work pre-COPR, or do you pretty much have to wait until you land before job searching?
Question about finding work
- Thread starter sgp1986
- Start date
Unless you have a work permit, you can't work pre-COPR but there's nothing stopping you from applying for jobs; you'll just have to honestly answer that you are not yet eligible to work in Canada when that question is asked. If you get a chance, you can explain that you will eventually have permission to work, just not yet.
My experience may be somewhat dated, but I was sponsored by my wife in late ‘06 and started applying for jobs soon after getting COPR... As I recall, I had one interview before landing during which I explained that I would be landing around X date. I ended up having a second interview with this company/same manager after landing, and was offered a position. All other applications pre-landing resulted in radio silence.
In retrospect, it wasn’t a bad option, certainly better than completely waiting until after landing. I think I could have clarified my eligibility to apply better, more clearly noting that a COPR had been issued and that I intended to land on X date- but even that isn’t great because hiring officials may not be confident to waste time on the unknown.
In retrospect, it wasn’t a bad option, certainly better than completely waiting until after landing. I think I could have clarified my eligibility to apply better, more clearly noting that a COPR had been issued and that I intended to land on X date- but even that isn’t great because hiring officials may not be confident to waste time on the unknown.
Somewhat depends on what type of jobs you are applying for. Pretty common for many employers to screen out anyone not currently in Canada or who doesn’t have the ability to work in Canada.