Path: utzoo!yunexus!spectrix!clewis From: clewis@spectrix.UUCP (Chris R. Lewis) Newsgroups: ont.jobs Subject: Re: Job Hunting in Ontario: looking for advice Keywords: job search, citizenship, questions Message-ID: <463@spectrix.UUCP> Date: 25 Feb 88 18:01:01 GMT Article-I.D.: spectrix.463 Posted: Thu Feb 25 13:01:01 1988 References: <8701@sunybcs.UUCP> <5285@watdragon.waterloo.edu> <1988Feb22.121808.11474@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu> <17045@watmath.waterloo.edu> <17047@watmath.waterloo.edu> Reply-To: clewis@spectrix.UUCP (Chris R. Lewis) Distribution: ont Organization: Spectrix Microsystems Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada Lines: 73 In article <17047@watmath.waterloo.edu> gamiddleton@watmath.waterloo.edu (Guy Middleton) writes: >And of course, if you 'give up' your Canadian citizenship to become a U.S. >citizen, you are *still* a Canadian, since the renunciation is made under >American law, which does not apply here in Canada. Do we really do this? I was under the impression that dual-citizenship in this country was only due to some "grandfather" clauses w.r.t. the Commonwealth and/or British immigrants. Further, in Canadian law I thought you can renounce your citizenship anytime you want without formal intervention. Surely we're not quite as wierd as Italy or the Eastern Bloc in this respect. Eg: Canadian citizens born in Italy are still subject to the draft if they vacation in Italy. Most of the Eastern Bloc considers even grandchildren of Canadian citizens born in the Eastern Bloc to be citizens of the Eastern Bloc. - My wife is of Ukrainian extraction and has been warned by External Affairs to *not* visit the home country while still of draft age - a few more years to go ... ;-) External Affairs can usually extricate people from these predicaments, but it ain't worth the couple of months being in jail. Regarding working in Canada: there are two routes: one is Work Permit (similar to "Green Card", the other is Landed Immigrant. I don't think either of them allow you to take Civil Service jobs or in CSIS (Canadian Intelligence Service). Other than that you should be able to take just about any kind of job. Landed Immigrant is "better", but considerably harder to obtain. You have to decide whether you are contemplating becoming a Canadian Citizen or not. If not, it's probably not worth the bother. Work Permits have further restrictions - for example, I'm pretty sure that you cannot get a CDN driver's license while on a Work Permit (though your US one will be honoured for a while). Also they need to be renewed every so-often - depends on the terms - I've seen them with periods of anything from 30 days to 2 years. You cannot usually renew more than twice and each time gets harder. Another thing to consider is "customs". Say you bring your car over the border. Well, good luck. Believe it or not, you may have to post a bond equal in value to the vehicle. (Isn't the Auto-Pact wonderful?) And god help you if you sell it here. No different going to the US either. There is a lot of public screaming going on about Landed Immigrant status. At the moment since you're from a Western country you would probably have a great deal of difficulty getting one. (The formal "regs" seem not too bad, but the usual interpretation seems totally backwards. Many of my friends have had run-ins with immigration over the years - you seem to have better luck if you're a convicted terrorist :-( For both Landed Immigrant and Work Permit you will need to be "sponsered", though the requirements differ somewhat. Either way you will probably have to have a prospective employer sign something saying that after some searching they weren't able to find someone with the qualifications they needed. Work permits are actually pretty easy to obtain as long as some company really wants you (a place I used to work used to bring in a couple of dozen per year from mainland China.... Outnumbered everyone else most of the time). While under the permit, you can take just about any job you want. Hire-Canadian policies are, except in a few places in Government, not mandatory (they're usually Union-driven where they exist) and are enforced if at all by the employer. (you're not trying to be the Dean of a University are you? ;-) Finally, the actual application must be made while in the US. Immigration takes a very dim view of people coming to this country on a visitor's permit (or, in your case you just decided to drive across the bridge) and attempting to change their status. You have to apply whilest in the US through a Canadian Embassy or Consulate. Good luck! -- Chris Lewis, Spectrix Microsystems Inc, UUCP: {uunet!mnetor, utcsri!utzoo, lsuc, yunexus}!spectrix!clewis Phone: (416)-474-1955