Starting Life in CANADA - Tips & Stories

[Tigershark09]

hello mga sis,

magtatanong lang ako, kasi yung sister and Aunt ko naka apply sila for Canada via recruitment agency..kaso ang tagal na almost 1 year na..lagi na ppostpone..natatakot kami baka na fake sila..hindi nila hawak yung sinasabi nilang ticket and yung documents nila..nasa CONSUL daw??is that possible?thanks for your kind replies sisses!!

nag agency ba kayo mga sis?how long did it take before you were able to get there??thank you so much!! 

ako nag-agency ako CIC sa may Baclaran about 8 years ago. they didn't do anything with my application. i prepared everything myself and then i submitted it to them. they can't even help me with the show money. you know what they did? they just file it, let a representative sign one of the forms, placed it in an envelope and send it. there goes my P50,000 processing fee! :-/ kung alam ko lang na wala naman pala silang ginawa, i could have just submitted it myself. hay.... sobrang na-scam ako talaga. kaya natuto na ako sa mga agency na yan. all the information you need is in their website if just read it carefully. and in the immigration websites, they clearly state there that a third party (representative/lawyer) will not help your application at all. kung hindi ka eligble, ibabagsak ka pa din nila. that's why if you want to apply, you have to be realistic kung eligible ba ang work mo at mataas ang chance mo makuha. huwag kang magbakasakali na matutulungan ka ng agency dahil hindi mangyayari yon. yung fee na ibabayad mo sa kanila, itago mo na lang pang pocket money mo.

[Tigershark09]

Hi All,

I'm a newbie in this site. Hope someone can help me in my inquiry.

We've recently received our visa for Canada. Can someone please tell me what airline they got for their trip to Canada and how was the experience?
Plan is for my family to go to Vancouver by June 2010.

Also, is there any IT person here that is in Canada. I'm an IT personnel and I want to know what's the most in demand job in Canada. I am targetting an Analyst or Programmer's job and I want to know what's the most in demand programming language in Canada.

I'm hoping someone can help me regarding these concerns.

Thanks & God bless.

ASP.NET, JAVA, etc. it really depends requirement ng trabaho na ina-applyan mo at sa experience mo din of course. you can either be a programmer or an analyst. you can apply for both at the same time and see which one will contact you first. the process of finding an employer if you don't have any experience in Canada can be a bit frustrating. swertihan yan. don't ask for big salary right away. dapat makapasok ka lang sa IT ok na.

if you want to see the available jobs in Vancouver. Go to Monster.CA, or to JobBank.gc.ca and search for available IT jobs in your province. more or less, malalaman mo kung ano in-demand sa lugar na yon. 

[chazin_dawn]

@curlytops56:

I asked my fiance about this and he said ASP.NET, Java, PHP and C# are in demand. I just visited our company's website (PNI Media, Inc. - Vancouver) and we are currently looking for programmers and developers. Hopefully these positions will still be available by the time you get here.

I also suggest submitting your resume to Sapphire Canada (http://www.sapphireca.com/) when you get here. Agency sila that will help you find a job in the IT field here in Vancouver. They were the ones who usually recruit employees for our company. I am actually one of them

[peachy2230]

^^ hello everyone..I am a newbie here...share ko lang application ko...November 2009 My husband and I started giving our application such as photocopies of documents sa CIC dito sa SM Baguio. Manila is their main office. Feb.2, 2010 we recieved our confirmation that our documents were received and evaluated by Novascotia.Then we submitted our original documents this week. Sabi ng mga nauna kung kasama sa Alberta, I will just wait for 3 months lang daw..darating na visa namin.. I just hope..well, we paid 60k sa processing fee. we didn't have complains kasi sa busy schedule namin ni hubby di namin maasikaso magfile ng documents, travelling to manila, kung may kulang sa papers..sinasabihan naman kami ng agent namin..they a good help to us..pero if u have enough time pwedeng ideretso nyo na application nyo sa manila canadian embassy. The disadvantage is, pag may mga kulang kang documents, signature, di rin ma process agad agad papers mo, so many application forms etc...madaming aberya..pero wala kang gastos, pamasahe mo lang..

We are worried at the same time excited going to Canada
I am starting to produce mga ibang gamit na dadalhin jan like plates, etc. Can you help us po what are the basic commodities na kailangan kung bilhin dito sa pinas? to be brought sa Canada baka I would end up regretting na may di ako nabili dito..mahal kasi bilihin dun for sure..thanks

[rics]

Dont bring plates and other kitchen utensils anymore, it will just add up to you baggage weight. Madami ka naman mabibilhan nyan sa Canada, even sa Dollar stores you can get those.

Just bring the usual - clothes, shoes para hindi ka muna bibili. Jackets, you can also buy when you get to your destination, cheaper pa during the sale season.

Maybe you can bring medicines like biogesic, those for lbm, ubo, etc. [textspeak!] yan medyo mahal ng konti and baka manibago kayo sa gamot here.

All the rest you can just actually buy here. Even pinoy foods, if there's chinese grocery in the place you intended to stay, for sure meron pinoy foods doon.

Just bring money and do the shopping here.

[chazin_dawn]

mukha lang mahal kasi minsan maiisip mo kung magkano yung binili mo sa peso. sa walmart and ikea marami kang mabibili na murang household stuff. sa nova scotia ba kayo sis? I dont know lang kung may ikea doon pero for sure may wal-mart. may makikita ka rin sa mga thrift stores (wag lang mattresses and sofa,IMO medyo yucky yun) temporary lang naman eh. pag nakaipon na kayo eh di palitan.

kelan ba kayo dadating dito? if this summer, maraming sale na winter stuff ka na mabibili (70%-80% off). yan ang ginagawa namin ng kapatid ko eh. kung kelan winter tsaka kami bumibili ng pang summer at kung kelan summer tsaka kami bumili ng pang winter.

[peachy2230]

rics,
sis, thanks sa suggestions mo ..kasi ngaun pa lang namimili na me ng mga gamit and this info you have given is very helpful..tanggalin ko sa listahan ang mga plates at baso..mabigat nga naman... could u share naman your experiences there most specially in finding a job...bakit may mga nababasa akong forums na puro complain ng mga chinese, mexican, indians..so far wala me na encounter na pinoy na nagreklamo sa buhay nila jan

Chazin_dawn,

sis sa Alberta calgary distination namin..we are still waitng for our visa, hope ma aprove cya so by august or september punta namin jan..if it is earlier the better hehe... sis share ka naman ng experiences mo most specially sa mga 1st hand job seeking mo jan...


***would you advice me to send my resume online while I am here or just float it when I arrive there...I am a teacher in profession but I never expect to have the same job there since I know I have to upgrade myself muna...thanks in advance!!! God Blezz to both of you

[chazin_dawn]

sis peachy2230 - hindi naman ako nahirapan maghanap ng work kasi hindi naman ako mapili. first job ko is call centre sa NCO then i worked as a graphic artist on the side, maliit lang yung sweldo pero pwede na rin. napapagkasya naman. then after a year nagsign up ako sa monster.ca then dito nadiscover ng Sapphire Canada yung resume ko. Sila na naghanap ng job para sa akin. I first started working as a customer service then I applied as quality analyst within the company. I've been working with pni na for 2.5 years.

Since teacher ka sa atin sis, I suggest that you work as a volunteer sa school board. yan kasi ang ginawa ng mom ko. she volunteered as an ESL assistant. maganda kasing experience ang pagvo-volunteer, yun nga lang walang pay. mas madaling makahanap ng work pag nakita nila sa resume mo na nagvolunteer ka (base ito sa mom ko)

I suggest na pagdating mo dito tsaka ka na magapply online. sign up at monster.ca, working.com and jobs.gc.ca

I want to move to Calgary para malapit sa rockies. namamahalan na rin kasi kami sa vancouver

[rics]

I have no actual experience in Alberta, but based on what i read and from stories of people we know, its easier to get a job in Alberta than here in Toronto where we currently live. Bec. here, although its the centre of business for Ontario, majority of new immigrants land here, plus, you compete with new graduates also.

For as long as hindi ka mapili sa work, like say, you get survival job for the meantime to get canadian experience and to help pay the bills, then thats good.

Madami rin nagrereklamo na pinoy, hindi lang nababasa sa forums. maybe you'll hear real life stories from people you will meet when you get here. My husband and I also had our fair share of hardships during the first year upon moving here. But so far so good for us, medyo nakaadjust na rin. Mahirap lang talaga sa una, atleast for some.

Pinoys naman kasi are very resilient. For as long as you are not very choosy in looking for work, you can definitely survive here.

Goodluck sis. Balitaan mo kami when you land in Alberta.

[peachy2230]

Chazin_dawn,
You gave me hope na pwede pala magturo ang mga filipino teachers jan. I never encountered pa kasi any pinoy teacher's story and their struggle there..meron nga pero they end up working not in a school setting. thanks sis for giving me an idea. Based sa experience ni mom mo mga gaano naman kaya katagal ang mag volunteer teacher jan? at pano cya naka pag aply as a volunteer? do you think I still have enough time to have another part time job when I volunteer? I am exactly an ESL teacher and P.E instructor here.One thing that stops me from immigrating to Canada is Ican't have the job that I am so happy with which is teaching. Minsan iniisip ko kung mali ba desisyon namin mag asawa na ma immigrate jan ang leaving our lives here then back to zero jan. Gusto lang naman namin mag abroad  since we really want to help our relatives here sa pinas. Kami so far sa family namin ang pinakaunang mag settle jan so we have little knowledge pa lang. Normal ba ang nararamdaman ko,Nasa kalagitnaan kami ng application, at napaka bilis ang processing kaya nagugulat ako. ngaun na malapit na ang end of processing namin parang ayoko na, di na ako masyadong naeexite, kinakabahan at worried sa magiging buhay namin mag asawa jan but for sure we don't have any choice kailangan ituloy para sa plans namin to help some of our relatives ang have a good start of our family there since we don't have a baby yet. malaki na din gastos namin in fairness.


Rics,

I hope my husband and I  made the right choice of settling there in alberta but I am positive because of your sharings. salamat ulit

[peachy2230]

Mga sisses,
I also need your advice pala on what kind of cell phone to be brought there? pwede na kaya itong mumurahin na samsung phone ko? needed ba na tri-band or quad band? How about  bringing a laptop there or just buying it jan na lang sa canada?.. thanks

[rics]

^mas adanced pa nga model ng cell phones sa pinas kesya dito. But medyo pricey rin to have a subscription. If you go pre-paid, both your incoming and outgoing calls will be deducted. Im not sure how it works when you get a subscription since for the longest time, I didnt have a cellphone.

If you already have a laptop, just bring it with you.

[loveavenue]

hello mga sis,

magtatanong lang ako, kasi yung sister and Aunt ko naka apply sila for Canada via recruitment agency..kaso ang tagal na almost 1 year na..lagi na ppostpone..natatakot kami baka na fake sila..hindi nila hawak yung sinasabi nilang ticket and yung documents nila..nasa CONSUL daw??is that possible?thanks for your kind replies sisses!!

nag agency ba kayo mga sis?how long did it take before you were able to get there??thank you so much!! 

what is the name of that agency, sis?

balak ko din to migrate in canada via an agency (may nakita akong ad sa newspaper before na meron sa makati area) pero after attending their seminar, parang ayoko na lang and i want to do it on my own. ang mahal kasi ng fees na hinihingi nila and i am not sure if they fake or real.

[loveavenue]

also, one of the eligibility requirements is to be fluent in English. we, as Filipinos who already live in an eng-speaking country, kailangan pa ba nating mag-IELTS and show them our IELTS results / documents?

if not, how can we prove that we can speak english fluently?  what are the other documents for that?

[Tigershark09]

^pag nasa canada ka na, you don't need that. when you go for job interviews, they will know once you start opening your mouth and answering all their questions kung libreng kumuha nito sa Canada, then kumuha ka pero hindi nila ito nire-require lalo na sa mga filipinos.

what they are looking for is not just understanding and knowing how to speak, but you also have to learn conversational english. they have their way of conversing in english. we pinoys, we have "proper" english. sa pinas, pag sumasagot tayo ng english sobrang proper, parang sumasagot sa isang pageant. like, for example, they ask you "what was your previous job?". ang usual response natin ay "my previous job was...".  this is not wrong pero they expect to hear something like "well, i used to work in so and so company back home..."

accent is also very important depending on the job you are applying for. if it requires you to communicate with a customer or a client, they want to hear their accent. but don worry about it, there are a lot of other jobs here that don't require that and you'll get the accent when you've been here for more than a year.

[gorgeous_mommie]

sisses,ask ko lang, pag meron relatives sa canada.. particularly in vancouver.. ano best way para mabilis makapunta kaming pamilya sa canada? hubby have 6 cousins and many aunts/uncles in ca.. paki explain din sisses pls yong provincial nomination program nila.. and pasok ba kami don? ty

[gorgeous_mommie]

sisses, we have a friend din whose interested in applying sa canada.. but meron naman sila dillema..

family ni guy kasi halos nasa canada narin.. and they are willing to help the guy sa fees to apply daw.. yong si guy, maayos work (ofcmate ni hubby abroad) pero the problem is his wife.. parang di highschool grad lang yata or di pa yata naka grad ng highschool.. would it affect sa application ni hubby nya or nila as a family? need pa daw ba ng docs din ni wifey to apply?kung si hubby ang principal? i dunno what to answer kaya i asked nalang here para ma relay ko nalang sa kanila if ever.. thanks sisses...

[allredndizzy]

^Kung FSW ang in-applyan nila, yung qualifications lang ng principal applicant ang mahalaga... dapat maabot nya yung required points. Pagdating sa dependents, wala na silang masyadong pakielam, basta walang sakit okay na.

[gorgeous_mommie]

SIS WE GOT 85 POINTS.. SA ASSESSMENT NG SKILLED WORKER CATEGORY.. KE HUBBY ALONE LANG YAN.. ARE WE QUALIFIED? SI FRIEND NI HUBBY GOT 80 POINTS DAW ALONE DIN.. ARE THEY QUALIFIED KAHIT UNDERGRAD WIFEY NYA? TY.

PS- ANO DIFF PO NG FEDERAL SKILLED WORKER SA SKILLED WORKER LANG AND ANY OTHER TYPES OF APPLICATIONS?TIA

[allredndizzy]

^Yup, as far as I know 67 ang passing so I'm sure qualified na kayo agad. Walang kinalaman yung credentials ng mga dependents kapag nag-aapply, ang mahalaga lang yung sa principal applicant.

Ang alam ko lang yung sa FSW. Pag FSW ang in-applyan mo, medyo mas limited yung mga occupation na pwedeng mag-apply. Like for example, dapat nasa managerial level na or professional or other technical occupations and skilled trades. Here's the link to the list: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-who-instructions.asp