How does an ersatz Canadian go home?
June 11, 2013 7:33 AM   Subscribe

I've lived outside Canada for all my professional working life (grad school> jobs) and am now thinking about going back, how easy/hard will it be to find a job? How do I do that and can I do it from outside the country?

The long story is that I've been on various kinds of work permits elsewhere, currently on a TN in the US and that's where I have most of my experience, but I'm tired of being a temporary resident and am thinking about what it would take to move back to Canada in a couple of years. Because it's been so long since I've lived there and haven't done it as a professional adult, I have no networks and really no knowledge of the job market. My profession is in social science research (no quant though) - I don't want to be too much more specific (you know, anonymity...).

My resources in Canada are really low. People I went to undergrad with became school teachers and some ended up in university administration (I'm only in touch with a few people). Family connections are all construction, real estate/trades type jobs and from that group, all the immigrants I've encountered have uniformly said that they had trouble getting jobs because employers didn't accept non-Canadian experience.

Couple of other data points: I didn't have a Canadian bank account, so in anticipation of a possible move, I opened one last year. It was a giant PIA. They treated me like a brand new immigrant and my Canadian passport seemed to mean very little (down to ID - I only had one form of Canadian ID, the passport and they had to call head office to accept me with that because they wouldn't accept my US driver's licence). Similarly, when I enter the country, they shuffle me into the non-resident line and the passport means little there - they always ask me why I'm "coming to Canada". WTF, can't I come in anytime? (FYI, this is all West Coast).

Anyway, this very outsider treatment makes me nervous about finding employment and re-settling. Has anyone done this themselves? Even if you haven't, if you have any experience in Canada with these issues, I'd really appreciate any tips/thoughts.
posted by anonymous to Work & Money (4 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
I'm a Canadian living in the United States now -- I lived and worked in the U.S. once before and went back afterwards, about ten years ago. My situation was a little different from yours in that my work experience at the time I returned was mainly Canadian, not mainly outside. But fwiw I found it very very easy to go back.

My experience is that Canadians tend to over-value work experience outside Canada, not the contrary. (There is also tall poppy syndrome though -- if you are moving back to a smaller city, people may treat you with some suspicion.) But I don't think you'll have any trouble, and I'd advise you just to apply for jobs as you normally would, making it clear in your application that you're a Canadian citizen.

Also unemployment is slightly lower in Canada compared with the U.S., and I am guessing in your field jobs will be fewer, but might pay more. If you're in California your taxes will be about the same, and you will get more and better services for them.
posted by Susan PG at 8:18 AM on June 11, 2013


It's going to be very hard to answer this question without knowing which cities would be acceptable for you to live in and being more specific on the kind of job you want / salary you would expect.
posted by modernnomad at 8:29 AM on June 11, 2013


Don't accept non-Canadian experience is not too veiled code for "don't accept experience that doesn't come from Canada, the US, western Europe, Australia or NZ, with maybe a few other countries here and there considered acceptable".

When I was in school in the US, I was asked why I was returning to Canada. When I go on vacation and return to Canada, I get asked about why I was on vacation. I don't think you're getting weird responses from border control agents, it is the standard question. And opening Canadian bank accounts is a huge pain for everyone.
posted by jeather at 9:02 AM on June 11, 2013 [1 favorite]


Seconding jeather. US experience isn't what your immigrant friends are talking about. And you're not an immigrant. You're talking to the wrong people.

My partner runs a market research practice here (Calgary) and I'm a sociology professor. You should consider moving here. Tonnes of work. Feel free to PM me.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 8:44 PM on June 11, 2013


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