Vancouver 2013- student work

extremebogman

Greetings Boardsies. I am a University Student in Ireland who has got an offer to stay with relatives in Vancouver this Summer, probably around July for 3 to 6 weeks. I hope to find some work out here and make some cash. Mainly I want to find out how difficult it is to find jobs out there and what sort of industries are most likely to take me on.

Should I be looking into bar work, manual labour, retail etc.? My only experience is a few years part time retail work. I also hold Canadian Citzenship but what is the situation for non-citizens? Is there a possibility of casual work that wouldnt require a visa? (have a friend who is interested in coming).

I'll be doing my own research but please impart onto me any relevant info you may have, any advice about how to apply for jobs, what employers seek, what areas of the city area are best to check out and so forth. In fact, any info about this area is welcome! All help is very much appreciated.

againstthetide

You are golden being a Canadian citizen but even for short term work your friend will need an IEC

http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/ireland-irlande/experience_canada_experience/index.aspx?view=d

This might be a bit of a waste for them though to just use a few weeks of a 24 month Visa, though he could still work in Canada up to the expiry if he could afford to be hopping back and forth between college or whatever.

As for industries and jobs have no idea what the job market is like in Vancouver

Sinfonia

Make sure you have at least your Certificate of Citizenship (usually a card about the size of a credit card).

It'd be a good idea to get a Canadian passport if you don't already have one.
Form here: http://www.ppt.gc.ca/form/pdfs/pptc040.pdf
Once you apply it takes 3 weeks (or less) to get the passport.
If you're in Dublin, take the completed form to the Embassy on Wilton Terrace, they'll go through it with you and make sure there aren't any mistakes (there usually are a few small ones, but they matter). Read the application carefully, many things are different from an Irish passport (picture size for example is different and very specific).

To work in Canada you'll need a SIN card (equivalent to PPS here). You can apply here for that too (http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/sin/apply/how.shtml), but you can get it quite quickly in Vancouver too, when you're there (I got it quickly when I was there anyway).


Like anywhere else, most employers don't really want to hire someone on for only 3 to 6 weeks, so that could be a problem. A lot of students who go over in the Summer get work for three months, and many of them will claim to be around for a year etc. in order to convince the prospective employer that they won't be going home at the end of the Summer.
So unless it was for some specific short-term project somewhere, I wouldn't imagine 3 to 6 weeks work is easy to come by.

extremebogman

Thanks for the replys. Big help

I understand what you mean about the difficulties of short-term work, Sinfonia. However I am willing to empty wheelie-bins (trash cans?), scrape chewing-gum off pavements, or any manual labour. I presume such jobs are actually available? whether or not they are plentiful.

Also, what are the specific benefits of having a Canadian passport rather than just a Citizenship card?

Sinfonia

extremebogman wrote: »

Also, what are the specific benefits of having a Canadian passport rather than just a Citizenship card?

The main reason I got one was (well, besides the fact that I might as well have it) because the photo on my citizenship card was of me when I was about 3 or 4! So I figured it better to have a current picture.
Also I travelled on it, so I skipped the non-citizen queues at YVR
Don't think you can do the same with a citizenship card if you're travelling on your Irish passport.

Overall, I'd just consider it a more failsafe form of ID in Canada, so I felt better for having it with me.