Hacker News Reader

Comment by rpm4321 | Hacker News Reader

This is a bit of a tangent, but I was wondering if anyone on HN has any experience moving from the US to Canada?

I'd like to live in Toronto at least for a couple of years, but I'm not sure how involved the redtape would be, especially because I'm a freelancer and I won't really have a Canadian employer, clients, or a business purpose I can claim for my residency.

View on HN

I moved from Austin, TX to Victoria, BC (still on work permit). To me, your simple plan seems nigh unachievable. From the Canadian government's point of view, what you have proposed sounds like taking a lot more than you give.

From the CIC website: "If you plan to stay longer than six months or intend to work in Canada, you may be considered a temporary worker and have to apply for a work permit." Self-employment wouldn't be an option for a work permit, even though software developers kind of fall into the skilled worker class (which helps with some bits but is a very long shot for you to bank on); you'd almost certainly need to be working full-time, and your employer needs to file for a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) to justify hiring you, which can take some time.

If you have further questions, email me at http://scr.im/amh.

ADD: Skilled worker info that I dug up.

"As of July 1, 2012, CIC will temporarily stop accepting applications for the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP). This temporary pause does not apply to those with a qualifying job offer or applying under the PhD stream. We will likely start accepting applications again when the revised FSWP selection criteria take effect. Proposed FSWP changes should come into force in early 2013." http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/skille...

List of non-LMO work permit options: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/apply-who-permit.asp

Side tangent to the tangent -> How do you like Victoria?

Family and I are moving there in a month (I'm US citizen, rest of family is dual US/Canadian). We live in Australia now but are making the move to Victoria nearly sight unseen. I visited it for a week scouting and liked it quite a bit, though living there might be a different story.

Feel free to get in touch with me too - check my profile for contact info. I've lived in Victoria for about 13 years - I moved here from other parts of Canada, so a bit of a different scenario than that being discussed.

See above :)

If you're okay with a slower pace of life and plenty of light rain, Victoria is great. Being in my late 20's and having moved from Austin, I miss having the abundance of late-night venues and stellar cultural events, but Victoria isn't without its charms. Email me at the address above if there are any topics you'd like to discuss further; I could buy you a drink when you get into town.

Awesome, thanks. I'll drop you a line when I finally get into town!

I did the move for school. In that case, it is very easy (and working after school is easy as well). For you, you'd probably need to find an employer sponsor your work permit. This is difficult unless you're highly qualified since they can find employees without the extra paperwork in Canada (and Canadian companies are legally obligated to fill slots with Canadians unless they can't find any, which is easy enough to get around but still a PIA for employers). Your other option is to have a canadian partner/family member sponsor you to move to Canada (not super complicated, but takes over a year). There are more options, such as 'skilled worker' immigration, but I forget the specifics. Basically you'll need to wait a long time (unless you can cough up half a million dollars for business class immigration). I am back in the US for a couple years but I intend to move back using my Canadian partner to sponsor my immigration (I miss Canada!).

What is it that you miss about Canada? Much of what I read on HN would point to advantages of being in the U.S. compared to pretty much everywhere else.

The "skilled worker" immigration is the ticket for anybody trying to move from the US. However, to qualify for this, you will probably need an employer to sponsor it. This route also depends on credentialing, so academic transcripts and whatnot will be scrutinized.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/special-business.asp

"Business visitors

A business visitor is someone who comes to Canada to engage in international business activities without directly entering the Canadian labour market. Business visitors usually stay in Canada for a few days or a few weeks but are able to stay for up to 6 months. A business visitor is a separate category with separate requirements. Business visitors do not require a work permit. For more information, see information for business visitors."

That might work as a freelancer.

And this wording is interesting:

"Business people covered by NAFTA do not need a labour market opinion (LMO) from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC). This means that Canadian employers do not need to have a job offer approved by HRSDC to hire an American or a Mexican business person, as set out in NAFTA."

I am not a lawyer and definitely not particularly familiar with Canadian law. Just found this page that seemed that it might have some answers to part of your question.

Frank

I thought the business visitor case might not apply because he was hoping to move for several years, but it might be worth looking into the conditions for renewal (though 5 renewals might be pushing his luck).

The wording on the NAFTA bit doesn't help as much as you might hope, though; GP doesn't match any of the long-term categories so his main sticking point is the 6-month maximum for business visitors.

Coming to Canada for 6 months or 12 months to work? I think that is really easy; those visas are available at the border. All you need is a passport. If you want to stay longer, though, there's tons of red tape.

Boston -> Toronto here. It wasn't as easy as you might hope. My wife's employer paid for an attorney to manage the paperwork, which was pretty awesome. Total time to permanent residency: about 3 years. Since our residency was finalized within the last 6 months, the 3-year estimate is pretty current; I think this should be considered the lower-bound.

I can't imagine how it would work for a freelancer. In my case, I tagged along with my wife who had a formal offer of employment. If not for her employer, I don't think it would have been possible to get the work visas and ultimately get residency.

I moved from San Francisco to Toronto this year. My move was very easy because my new employer sponsored me for a work visa, but my understanding is that it is fairly straightforward process even without an employer.

Skilled worker or some such, don't need a job to sponsor you, takes 16 months (sometimes less, although probably sometimes more).

Reply on news.ycombinator.com