i would like to move to Burnaby VC, what should I know and to expect?

[Chris]

I met a really wonderful person on Vacation in Jamaica while on vacation. Am American, she is Canadian.I dont want to get married right now but would like to later on. I feel like this is faith and I would move to canada to be with her. However, I dont want to marry her to move there,I want to accomplish this on my own. Can anyone tell me- or at least give me and idea of where I should start? I need a new job at least so this is something thats at the top of my list. I am currenlty in property mangement here in Chicago, for a real-estate firm and so I would like to try and stay some what in this field should I move there. How do I go about getting a work visa, or do I need one for Canada?
So many questions I feel lost. I need a steer in the right direction.
Help anyone!!

Thank in advance!

In- Love:-)

[Karen L]

Start here, where it explains the various ways you may apply to live in Canada: http://www.cic.gc.ca

[bw022]

Sorry, but Canada have some serious immigration requirements and it enforces them.

Americans are free to visit Canada for a maximum of 180 days per year -- at the discretion of Canadian Border Services Agency. Visitors may not attend school, work, or look for work while in Canada. Nor can visitors obtain driver's licenses, social insurance numbers, apply for health insurance, open a bank account, etc.

In order to temporarily live and work in Canada you would have to have a work permit. In order to apply for a work permit you must have a job offer from a Canadian company which has permission to hire foreign workers. That company must obtain permission by obtaining a labour market opinion (LMO) report from HRSDC which shows a shortage of Canadian workers in that profession and proof that the company advertised in Canada and no Canadians applied. Positive LMOs are only issued for extremely skilled professions (doctors, engineers, nurses, specialized trades, etc.) or highly temporary work (seasonal farm workers, off-season hotel workers, some ski resorts, etc.). Such jobs are insanely hard to find. Even skilled workers can spend years if not decades looking for such job offers and most never find any. Limiting your job search to a specific city is typically utterly pointless. Competition for such jobs is normally extreme. Property management isn't an in-demand profession in Canada. You must also past background, medical, and financial checks. Work permits are temporary... lasting a few years or until your job offer ends.

In order to stay in Canada permanently you must apply for permanent residency, you would need to meet the requirement for one of the categories. These include: marrying a Canadian willing to sponsor you; having a skilled job offer (as above) in specific professions and then completing for one of 5,000 positions based on education, work experience, age, language testing (English and French), etc.; completing certain university degrees in Canada and finding skilled employment shortly after graduation; having a net worth of $1.6M and investing $800k in Canada; being nominated by one of the provinces (doctor willing to work in a remote community, buy and run a farm in certain provinces, world-class performing artist, etc.); etc. The process also takes three to five years in most categories.

Living in Canada illegally is extremely difficult due to its integrated tax, social, and health care systems. If caught, you would be deported, banned from the country for a year, lose your visa-exempt status for visiting, will likely never get a visa to enter the country again, and can be subject to various criminal charges depending on your activities in Canada (i.e. income tax evasion, fraud, etc.). Anyone aiding you is also subject to criminal charges as is anyone employing you -- which extremely few Canadian companies would risk.

Only about 9,500 Americans obtain permanent residency in Canada each year. 70% of these are through family sponsorships (i.e. they marry a Canadian or at children of someone marrying a Canadian).

Realistically... other than marriage... it is unlikely that you would ever qualify for a work permit or permanent residency.

[kamaole3]

*B.C. (abbreviation for British Columbia)

[Jim B]

I saw your post about this on City Data, and sent you a private email.

Contact me at the email I sent you.

Jim B.

Toronto.