Path: utzoo!lsuc!sickkids!mark
From: mark@sickkids.UUCP (Mark Bartelt)
Newsgroups: ont.jobs
Subject: Re: Job Hunting in Ontario: looking for advice
Message-ID: <92@sickkids.UUCP>
Date: 29 Feb 88 11:36:56 GMT
References: <463@spectrix.UUCP> <90@sickkids.UUCP> <1988Feb28.223251.25666@lsuc.uucp>
Reply-To: mark@sickkids.UUCP (Mark Bartelt)
Distribution: ont
Organization: Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
Lines: 63
Summary: 


	>>>	Chris Lewis (original)
	>>	My reply to >>>
	>	Chris's reply to >>

>>>                                                                   You have
>>> to decide whether you are contemplating becoming a Canadian Citizen or
>>> not.  If not, it's probably not worth the bother.

>> Definitely not correct.  See below.

> What I was driving at was that the difficulty in obtaining landed-immigrant
> status is such that you should treat it as an irrevocable commitment to move
> here permanently (or at least 5-10 years).  Work permits are far easier to get
> and are more appropriate if you intend to go back to the US when a job
> opportunity arises.  (In other words, do you want to be a Canadian or just
> work here?)

Well, even with that clarification I have to disagree, except for the case
of someone who wanted to come for a year or so, then move back.  For folks
who want to move here for, say, three or four years, or even an indefinite
period of time, I think it's well worth the effort to get landed.  There
are many people who have been here for decades, and haven't bothered to
take Canadian citizenship.

The problem with the bloody work permits is that they expire, and have to
be renewed.  And if, say, your employer drags its feet and fails to get all
the necessary paperwork in on time, or if Canada Manpower loses your file
(yes, *both* happened to me), you're stuck without a valid work permit, and
it's illegal for your employer to pay you until the renewal gets processed.
This is *definitely* more of a hassle than dealing with the bureaucracy to
get yourself landed.

>>>                                                    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).

>> This isn't the comment that I thought needed correction, but as long as
>> I'm being picky (:-) ...  Actually, the province *requires* that you get
>> an Ontario driving license within some period of time after moving here
>> (I forget how long; it's been nearly six years since I moved here, and
>> besides, I don't drive anyway!).

> Isn't that what I said?  I hedged a little ("I'm pretty sure").  I know
> that you can't get a driver's license on a Work Permit.  With all the
> Chinese visitors we got we tried to get some of them licenses (after
> the training and so on) so they could drive to and from work for the
> 12-18 months they'd be here.  The province wouldn't allow it.

Hmm, interesting ...  Maybe they treat Americans differently from people
from overseas; some sort of driving-license reciprocity?  We were here
on work permits for the first year and a half or so, and, as I said, the
province insisted that my wife dump her California license and get an
Ontario one.

PS:  I suspect that by now everyone else is probably getting bored by
all this.  Maybe mail would be more appropriate from this point on ...

				Mark Bartelt
				Hospital for Sick Children
				598-6442
				{utzoo,utgpu,lsuc}!sickkids!mark