Securing a job offer for work permit

[Gemmaturtles]

Hi,

My partner lives in Canada and works somewhere that frequently hires immigrant workers and in general will hire pretty much anybody without requiring any experience in the industry. I live in Australia and am young enough to qualify for a working holiday in Canada as an Australian citizen. I am trying to get a job offer in writing from my partner's work to use for a work permit application, but my partner is still legally married to someone else and therefore they cannot sponsor me as their partner for work, or at least we think they can't? Not entirely sure on that. They can give me a referral, but that doesn't guarantee anything.

So I'm looking for any advice on how to secure a job offer in writing from their work despite not having an official sponsor.

 

[Naturgrl]

They need to provide you with a valid job offer letter, simple, that states your job, salary and that you will have job following quarantine. Have you even applied for IEC as processing was about 12 months a while ago. Start the application process and you can add your valid job offer later through webform. All the steps are on the IEC website.

 

[Gemmaturtles]

Thanks for the response. I was under the impression I didn't need to apply through IEC because Canada and Australia are both Commonwealth members.

 

[scylla]

Thanks for the response. I was under the impression I didn't need to apply through IEC because Canada and Australia are both Commonwealth members.

Do you hold a valid PGWP per your subject line?

 

[scylla]

Thanks for the response. I was under the impression I didn't need to apply through IEC because Canada and Australia are both Commonwealth members.

You need a work permit to be able to work in Canada regardless of where you are from. You can't work in Canada just because you are from a Commonwealth country.

It's not clear if you have a valid PGWP based on completing a recent university or college program in Canada. Or if it's your partner who is on the PGWP. If it's your partner, then you can only benefit from this if you are either married (which I can see you are not) or common law. Common law means that you have lived together continuously for at least one full year and have evidence to support a full year of cohabitation.

If none of the above applies to you, then best option is to look into the IEC program.

 

[Naturgrl]

Thanks for the response. I was under the impression I didn't need to apply through IEC because Canada and Australia are both Commonwealth members.

You need to apply for IEC. Being commonwealth members doesn’t give you a work permit. But your title says PGWP so are you a student in Canada or your partner?

 

[Gemmaturtles]

Thank you for all the responses.

That's my bad, I put the wrong acronym without thinking. (I was sleepy.) I haven't studied in Canada, I've never been to Canada. I don't have a work permit, that's what I'm trying to get. I'm aware I need a job offer in writing - I'm trying to figure out how to convince the employer to provide a job offer in writing.

I know being part of the Commonwealth doesn't mean I can work in Canada, but I was under the impression it meant I could travel to Canada for up to 6 months without a visa, just using the ESTA system or the like. And during that time, if I had a work permit, I could work. If I could get that situation to happen, my plan would then be to apply for an extension to my visit and eventually apply for PR, although I need to flesh out how that works more.

 

[Naturgrl]

Thank you for all the responses.

That's my bad, I put the wrong acronym without thinking. (I was sleepy.) I haven't studied in Canada, I've never been to Canada. I don't have a work permit, that's what I'm trying to get. I'm aware I need a job offer in writing - I'm trying to figure out how to convince the employer to provide a job offer in writing.

I know being part of the Commonwealth doesn't mean I can work in Canada, but I was under the impression it meant I could travel to Canada for up to 6 months without a visa, just using the ESTA system or the like. And during that time, if I had a work permit, I could work. If I could get that situation to happen, my plan would then be to apply for an extension to my visit and eventually apply for PR, although I need to flesh out how that works more.

You can come for up to 6 months as a visitor but you can’t work. If you want to work you need an IEC.

 

[scylla]

Thank you for all the responses.

That's my bad, I put the wrong acronym without thinking. (I was sleepy.) I haven't studied in Canada, I've never been to Canada. I don't have a work permit, that's what I'm trying to get. I'm aware I need a job offer in writing - I'm trying to figure out how to convince the employer to provide a job offer in writing.

I know being part of the Commonwealth doesn't mean I can work in Canada, but I was under the impression it meant I could travel to Canada for up to 6 months without a visa, just using the ESTA system or the like. And during that time, if I had a work permit, I could work. If I could get that situation to happen, my plan would then be to apply for an extension to my visit and eventually apply for PR, although I need to flesh out how that works more.

It's not that simple. A job offer in writing is not enough to get a work permit.

If you find an employer willing to give you a job offer, that employer then needs to go through the LMIA process (plan on this taking six months with no guarantee of approval) before you can apply for a work permit. The LMIA process requires the employer to prove no Canadian could be hired for the role and for this reason the employer needed to hire you. Generally speaking, it's next to impossible to find employers willing to go through this process because it's so long and also expensive.

Getting an IEC is your best bet if you want to work in Canada. This will get you an open work permit and will mean that no LMIA is required in order for an employer to hire you. Coming here as a visitor and hoping the job offer + LMIA + work permit thing plays out is not a good plan and has a very low chance of succeeding.

 

[Gemmaturtles]

Thank you very much for the help!

If I were to get an IEC + open work permit, would I need to secure an offer from an employer before entering Canada?

 

[scylla]

Thank you very much for the help!

If I were to get an IEC + open work permit, would I need to secure an offer from an employer before entering Canada?

Right now with COVID related travel restrictions - yes.

In normal times - no.

 

[Gemmaturtles]

Thank you!

Do you know anything regarding my partner in Canada sponsoring me with their work despite being legally married to someone else? Is there standardized legislature covering this sort of thing, and are there any kind of waiting times or other restrictions around changing who you have registered as your spouse or partner with your work?

Also somewhat related: do employers, insurance, and the government share information?

 

[scylla]

Thank you!

Do you know anything regarding my partner in Canada sponsoring me with their work despite being legally married to someone else? Is there standardized legislature covering this sort of thing, and are there any kind of waiting times or other restrictions around changing who you have registered as your spouse or partner with your work?

Also somewhat related: do employers, insurance, and the government share information?

Your partner can't sponsor your until you are common law. To be considered common law, you must live together continuously for at least one full year.

You can be common law while your partner is still legally married to someone else (obviously separated from that person).

I'm not sure I understand your question about employers, insurance, and the government sharing information. If your partner ends up sponsoring you, your partner will need to declare their status in the application truthfully including being separated (or divorced if that happens by then).

I don't know what you mean by changing who you have registered as your spouse or partner with your work. Are you asking about company insurance benefits? If so, your partner will need to inquire with his company's insurer.

 

[Gemmaturtles]

Thank you so much scylla, you've been super helpful. I'm really grateful.