Finding a job, building a future
In Canada,
full-time jobs are common. However, a growing number of people
have part-time or short-term jobs. Women make up a large
portion of the work force and many have important, senior
positions.
Canadians may
change jobs and careers several times. This is often a
personal choice. Sometimes people must change jobs because the
economy changes. For these, and other reasons, getting a job
is not easy. Many people are looking for work.
Newcomers to
Canada rarely enter the job market quickly and often must
start with jobs below the skill level they worked at in their
home country. Once they have Canadian job experience and their
ability in English or French improves, so do their job
prospects.
International educational
assessment services in
Canada
Even if you
have many years of experience, you do not automatically have
the right to practise your trade or profession in Canada. In
most cases, you will need to have your credentials assessed to
see whether you need more training, education or Canadian work
experience before being qualified to practise. You may wish to
get your credentials evaluated before you leave for Canada.
The following organizations can tell you how to get your
credentials assessed:
The Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials Web site (www.cicic.ca) has
information on academic and occupational credentials for all
of Canada and lists nearly 150 professions and trades, in
alphabetical order. When you click on your profession or
trade, you will find a link to the address and telephone
number of the professional or trade association, the addresses
and telephone numbers of provincial evaluation services and
regulatory agencies, and labour market information (for
example, whether there is a demand for people with your
particular trade or profession). You will also be able to find
out whether your profession or trade is
regulated.
The Centre
does not grant equivalencies or assess credentials. It gives
advice and refers newcomers to sources of help. To contact the
Centre by mail, write to:
Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials
95 St. Clair Avenue West, Suite 1106
Toronto, Ontario M4V 1N6
Telephone: 1 (416) 962-9725
Fax: 1 (416) 962-2800
E-mail: info@cicic.ca
URL: www.cicic.ca
Provincially mandated credential assessment
services
Provincial assessment services
assess academic credentials for a fee. The assessment will
tell you how your education compares with educational
standards in the province where you are planning to settle.
You can give your assessment to any employer in Canada. It may
help you in your job search.
World Education Services -- Foreign
Academic Credential Evaluation Service
45 Charles Street East, Suite 700
Toronto, Ontario
M4Y 1S2 Canada
Telephone: 1 (416) 972-0070
Toll-free: 1 866 343-0070 (within Canada)
Fax: 1 (416) 972-9004
E-mail: canada@wes.org
URL:
www.wes.org/ca
Education Credentials Evaluation
(Service des équivalences d'études)
Ministère des Relations avec les citoyens
et de l'Immigration
Suite 200
800, De Maisonneuve Boulevard East
Montréal, Quebec
H2L 4L8 Canada
Telephone: 1 (514) 873-5647
Toll-free: 1 877 264-6164 (within Canada)
Fax: 1 (514) 873-8701
E-mail: equivalences@mrci.gouv.qc.ca
URL:
www.immigration-quebec.gouv.qc.ca/
anglais/education/educational-report.html
International Qualifications
Assessment Service
Ministry of Learning
Government of Alberta
4th Floor, Sterling Place
9940-106 Street
Edmonton, Alberta
T5K 2N2 Canada
Telephone: 1 (780) 427-2655
Fax: 1 (780) 422-9734
E-mail: iqas@gov.ab.ca
URL:
www.learning.gov.ab.ca/iqas/iqas.asp
International Credential Evaluation Service
4355 Mathissi Place
Burnaby, British Columbia
V5G 4S8 Canada
Telephone: 1 (604) 431-3402
Toll-free within B.C. : 1 800 663-1663
(local 3402)
Fax: 1 (604) 431-3382
E-mail: icesinfo@ola.bc.ca
URL:
www.ola.bc.ca/ices/
Manitoba Credentials
Recognition Program
Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Citizenship
Settlement and Labour Market
Services Branch
5th Floor, 213 Notre Dame Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3B 1N3 Canada
Telephone: 1 (204) 945-6300 or
1 (204) 945-3162
Fax: 1 (204) 948-2256
E-mail: immigratemanitoba@gov.mb.ca
URL:
www.gov.mb.ca/labour/immigrate/newcomerservices/7.html
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan provides evaluation services
through an agrrement with Alberta.
New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Northwest Territories, Nunavut or Yukon
You may contact any of
the credential assessment services listed
above.
Employment in regulated
professions and
trades
In Canada, about 20 percent of jobs are regulated by the government to protect public health and safety. For example, nurses, doctors, engineers, teachers and electricians all work in regulated professions. People who want to work in regulated jobs need to get a licence from the regulatory body in the province in which they live. If you want to know more about how to enter a particular profession or trade in a particular province, you should contact the provincial regulatory body for that job. The professions are self-regulating and they administer the provincial laws that apply to their profession. Rules for entering professions also differ from province to province. (For more information, visit www.cicic.ca.)
Language skills
It is
important to learn English or French as quickly as possible.
Many newcomers begin life in Canada by looking for a job that
will allow them to learn or improve their English or French.
The Language
Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program gives eligible adult immigrants the
chance to take basic English or French classes at no
charge.
People with
foreign credentials need a Test of English as a Foreign
Language (TOEFL) score to enter Canadian colleges and
universities. Colleges and universities offering courses in
French use various French language tests.
Job
opportunities
- Human Resources Development Canada Centres: Counsellors at these
centres can give you free advice and information about job
and language training and work creation programs for
newcomers. They can help you plan an effective job search
and prepare a résumé of your education and experience. Each
centre also has listings of available jobs on computer or on
bulletin boards.
- Classified advertisements: Every daily newspaper in Canada has
a classified advertisements section where you will find a
variety of jobs listed. In many areas, there are also weekly
or monthly employment papers that advertise jobs.
- Local help:
To help newcomers prepare to enter the Canadian work force
or to gain access to their profession or trade in Canada,
immigrant-serving organizations have a variety of programs.
Some give workshops on job search skills, where participants
get an overview of the job market where they live.
Participants learn, among other things, how to write a good
résumé and how to behave in an interview. In some areas,
there are job-finding clubs, mentoring programs, programs to
help you get volunteer work experience, and wage subsidy
programs.
- Your personal "network": One of the best ways to learn about jobs
is to talk to people. They can be people you know well, or
people you have just met. Even if they cannot lead you
directly to a job, they can provide you with information,
ideas and names of other people who might be able to help
and encourage you.
- The Internet: Many Web sites have information on job
opportunities. You can search for a job on-line in any part
of Canada. Some sites also give practical advice on how to
plan your job search. Others allow you to apply for a job
directly on the Internet, or to post your résumé (in English
or French). When you do this, your résumé goes into a
database that can be searched by employers. Try visiting the
following Web sites, run by the federal government:
- www.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca: This is the
national Web site of Human Resources Development Canada, a
federal department. It is also the gateway to many of the
sites mentioned below.
- ele-spe.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca: This is an
on-line database of jobs and work or business opportunities
across Canada. It matches work to people and people to work.
You can click on the province where you plan to settle and
submit a list of your skills to the database to find work
opportunities that match your profile.
- worksearch.gc.ca:
This site will take you through all the steps needed to
choose a career and to carry out an effective work search.
- www.workinfonet.ca: This is a national site for career and labour
market information. It will link you to job information for
each province and territory. It also includes information on
self-employment, education and training.
- jb-ge.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca: This is the
"Job Bank" Web site. It contains an on-line database of
thousands of job vacancies across Canada.
- lmi-imt.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca: This site will link you to
detailed labour market information for every city in Canada.
- www.SkillNet.ca: This is a
large network of job and career information Web sites. It
can link you to full-time and part-time job opportunities.
- www.canadait.com: This site is a gateway to job opportunities in the
information technology and communications sector. It has
links to company directories and associations that will help
you find potential employers.
- www.jobs.gc.ca: This site
posts federal government jobs available across the country
and accepts on-line applications.
- www.integration-net.cic.gc.ca:
This site is run by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. It
includes links to many different types of jobs and other
useful information for newcomers.
Employment laws
Federal and
provincial laws protect workers and employers by setting
minimum wage levels, health and safety standards, and hours of
work. They provide for maternity leave, annual paid vacation
and protection of children who are working. There are also
human rights laws that protect employees from unfair treatment
by employers based on sex, age, race, religion or
disability.
Discrimination
There are laws
to protect workers from discrimination. For example, an
employer must hire employees on the basis of their
qualifications. Employers cannot refuse to hire you because
they don't like your skin colour or your religion. This is
discrimination. It is also discrimination if you are refused a
job because of your age, sex, marital status, disability or
sexual orientation.
DEDUCTIONS AND
TAXABLE BENEFITS
Whether you
are a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident, when you are
hired, your employer will deduct money from your pay cheque to
pay for the following:
Income tax
All Canadian
residents who are old enough to work must file an income tax
return each year, whether they earned any money or not. That
is the law. If you are working for an employer, a percentage
of your pay cheque will be deducted and sent to the federal
government to cover the income tax that you owe. If too much
is deducted, you will get a refund. If you paid too little,
you will have to pay more. This money helps pay the cost of
government services.
Canada Pension Plan
A small part
of your pay cheque goes into this plan. When you retire, you
will receive a monthly pension from the federal government.
The amount will vary according to how many years you worked in
Canada before retiring and what your salary was. Residents of
Quebec pay into the Quebec Pension Plan, which works the same
way as the federal plan. These plans also include survivor's
pensions for the spouses of deceased pensioners, disability
pensions and death benefits.
Employment Insurance
When you are
working, a small percentage of your pay cheque will be
deducted each month to go into the Employment Insurance
Account. Your employer contributes to the account as well.
Employment Insurance gives money to eligible, unemployed
Canadian residents for a short time, while they look for a new
job or take some training to learn new skills.
Taxable benefits
Your employer
may provide some benefits (for example, life insurance,
special medical care, a dental plan or a private pension plan)
that are taxable.
Union dues
If you are in
a union, and the union has an agreement with your employer,
some money will be deducted to pay for the union
dues.
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