Canadian visa for language learning and job searching

Canada offers many options for getting permanent residency for a wide variety of applicants. However, there are two conditions under which your chances of immigration will increase manifold — a good level of English and a job offer from a Canadian employer.

When I first came to Canada, my wife and I came on a regular tourist visa. And it's a great way to "get hooked" on the country so that you can stay there later on. If you want to search for a job, it is better to do it while you are in Canada, not abroad.

Why come to Canada as a tourist

I will tell you about my own experience. We applied for permanent residency in 2011 and chose the province of Quebec because that time it had one of the easiest immigration programs. This is no longer the case. Back then you could put any level of language proficiency in your application, and then, while the application was processing, you could learn it. I knew absolutely no French, but I wrote I had an intermediate level.

So my wife and I decided, why not travel to Montreal, a French-speaking city, and learn the language there? And also combine it with vacation and see the country to make sure we made the right choice. I advise everyone to visit Canada and see how things work here, what the people are like, what the roads are like, and so on, so it won't be a shock to you.

At that time I was unprepared, had not traveled abroad much, and was afraid to apply, so we contacted a company in our hometown. They offered to enroll me in a language school. I paid for their services and an additional 5 or 10% of the school's tuition fee.

If someone offers you similar conditions, don't agree. We are language school agents, too, and on the contrary, through us, you can enroll for cheaper than if you book directly with the school.

Obtaining a tourist visa

If your language school studies are short, you can obtain just a visitor visa. So, although you will have to collect statements from the pension fund, take references from your employer, and evaluate diplomas, the package of documents will be much easier than for other types of visas. And if you contact us, we can help you arrange everything.

The most important thing about getting a visa is that you will return to your home country. Even if you plan to immigrate in the future, for a tourist visa you still need to show some ties to your home country. In our case, it was our children — my wife and I were traveling together, and the children stayed with their grandmom. By the way, the Canadian embassy called grandmom and asked if she was really staying with our children.

The second condition is that you must have money in your bank account to show your financial self-sufficiency. It is also desirable to have some real estate in your home country, such as an apartment, house, or land plot.

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We fit all the criteria, so we got the visa without any problems.

Accommodation during the study period

We ordered a transfer service in the language school, that is we were met in Canada by a representative who drove us to our accommodation.

If you are going to study in a language school, you can choose several options for accommodation:

• in a residence;
• in a Canadian family (homestay);
• at a hotel.

We chose a homestay with two meals a day, so we could immerse ourselves in the language and see some Canadian customs from the inside.

It was my first trip to language school, and I went three times in total: once to Montreal to study French and twice to Toronto to study English. I lived both with a Canadian family and in a residence.

Study in a language school

A little bit about studying at the language school. There are several groups of different levels studying in parallel. On the first day when you start school, you take a short test to determine your level.

Usually, you can start your studies on any Monday. We sometimes had new students added even in the middle of the week. That is, you don't have to wait for a certain date, you can come and start studying at any time.

We chose an intensive French program, and we had three classes every day. You can choose two classes or one, it only affects the speed of learning the language.

Finding a job while studying

If you want to go to Canada to search for a job and declare it when applying for a visitor visa, you are likely to be rejected. That is why language courses can be considered as a basis for obtaining a visa.

If you, for example, pay for tuition with two classes a day, you will be free at 12 or 1 p.m. This will allow you to work hard on your job search until the evening. You will need to monitor postings, call companies, register on numerous job search sites in Canada, and have in-person interviews.

I think this is much more productive than being in your own country and sending out CVs, which will often just be ignored. You have to show yourself live, that you are a real person, that you really have some skills, and then there is a chance that an employer will be interested in you and start to process documents on hiring you as a foreigner to work in Canada.

Note that it is still possible to find a job from abroad. Even on our website, there are examples that it is real. But in person, your chances will naturally improve. In some cases, once you successfully find a job, your tourist visa can be changed into a work visa right in Canada.

What shocked us

On our first trip, of course, we had quite a few shocks. The time difference with our hometown was 7 hours. We woke up at 4-5 a.m., couldn't sleep, then went out at 9-10. The houses are mostly one-, two-, three-story, but there are no people. Yes, very clean, but no people. There are cars parked near the houses. They are kind of normal, but they are all rusty. When we get to the subway, homeless people are lying on benches.

To take public transportation, you have to buy a ticket. There you can pay for the subway at once, and you don't have to buy a second ticket if you change from the subway to the bus. But the fare was CAD 3! And the Canadian dollar at that time was more expensive than the American one. In my country, the fare was very cheap.

People were finally showing up in downtown Montreal. But right on the street were concrete blocks painted with graffiti, and that was the fencing for the bike lanes.

When we decided to have lunch, we went to the cafe and paid CAD 70 there along with the tip. It was just unthinkable! Now that we live in Canada, it is really a CAD 50 minimum for us to go to McDonald's once with our family. But the wages here are high, too. And compared to our home country it was very expensive.

The positives

During our month at the language school, we began to notice other things. For example, Canadians don't spend a lot on beauty, they spend more on practicality. For example, in Montreal, in Toronto, and other, I think, big cities, they have an underground city, which means you go out, you get on the subway, you arrive, and you don't have to walk in the cold in winter and freeze. You can just use the underground city to get to work. Universities and large companies have entrances and exits underground.

What else we noticed was that the people were very friendly. Once we exited the house where we lived during our studies, a car stopped in front of us. An unfamiliar woman offered us a ride to the subway. We were shocked and didn't know what to do, but that's normal. The woman just knew the owner of our house and really drove us to the subway.

There was another funny situation. While we were in Canada, we bought a lot of gifts for the kids and relatives and had no place to put them. We decided to buy another suitcase. We got off the bus and walked, talking to each other in Russian. An African American came up to us and asked us in Russian how we were doing and if we needed help. We were surprised but told him we were looking for a mall to buy a suitcase. He offered to walk us out. And on the way, he told us that he had studied in Kharkiv and now lives in Montreal.

I was unaccustomed to strangers wanting to help us. But now, after living in Canada, I am more relaxed, trust people more, and am not as intimidated when people offer me help.

Once we got to some cycling event where everyone was riding bikes, and the police were blocking off the streets. And once we even caught a naked bike ride.

I was also struck by the number of elderly people and the fact that many of them lead an active lifestyle — roller skating, bicycling, Nordic walking, playing soccer, and other games. And Canada has all the conditions for that.

If you need help obtaining a visa to Canada, applying for permanent residency, or enrolling in a language school, college, or university, contact our company. We work legally in Canada and are licensed to provide visa and immigration services.

Alex Pavlenko, founder of Immigrant.Today