masters in Canada

hha31

New Member
Hello, I'm a 4th year chemical engineering student at the american university
of Beirut and I'm currently doing an internship in queen's university in
Kingston,Ontario . I'm thinking about doing my masters here in canada and
then find a job there and start a new life (imigrate there) . What are the
chances of being able to work in Canada ? Because I think I can't get a
Canadian passport without working there and paying taxes for a couple of
years right ? Can I apply to immigration from now? Or I should complete my masters then apply ?
P.S : i have a 4 years student visa to Canada :D
 

Riley Haas

Administrator
Staff member
Location
Toronto
Hi,
When you were granted your study permit, you were automatically given a work permit to work part time (20 hours per week or less) while you study (provided you got it it within the last two years). Once you graduate, you can apply for a "post graduate" work permit. This will let you work for anyone full time for a certain amount of time after you graduate. After you work in a skilled occupation in Canada for at least a year, you can apply for Permanent Residence. There are other ways to apply sooner, however, those depend on where you live in Canada, and Ontario is not a very favourable place for this.

Getting a "Canadian passport" (i.e. Canadian citizenship) is a long and complicated process. You cannot go directly from studying in Canada to apply for citizenship. You have to be a Permanent Resident for years before before applying for citizenship.

So, complete your masters. Work for a while. Then apply for Permanent Residence. Then, once you meet the requirements, apply for citizenship in 2020, or what have you.
 

hha31

New Member
Thank you very much. If I'll live outside Ontario and I want to try other ways. What suggestions can you give me ? Take care.
 

Riley Haas

Administrator
Staff member
Location
Toronto
Do your master's at a school in another province, frankly. You need to read up on what are known as Provincial Nominee Programs and find out which has the best PR stream for grad school graduates. That's where you should study.

Does that answer your question?
 

hha31

New Member
Yes! Thank you so much. This is my last question, what is meant by best PR stream for grad school graduates?
 

Riley Haas

Administrator
Staff member
Location
Toronto
Oh, my apologies.

So we have different types of programs for permanent residence and there are federal programs and provincial programs. The provincial programs differ from province to province (and territory to territory). For the most part, you still have to qualify for the federal immigration program requirements, but the provinces are allowed to pick candidates (nominees) who have some quality(ies) they want. For example, some provinces favour immigrants who have already studied in their province. That's what I meant. Sorry I wasn't clearer.

This page describes a number of the programs http://www.immigroup.com/graduates-canadian-universities-provincial-nominee-programs but please note that it's not entirely up to date.
 

Riley Haas

Administrator
Staff member
Location
Toronto
Because you are doing a Master's you may be okay in Ontario - but I would but Alberta's program is very favourable as is Saskatchewan.
 

hha31

New Member
Okay so let me get this straight, since I'm doing an internship now in Queen's(Ontario), and for Provincial program reasons, it would be better to continue my masters in Ontario( and probably the same university) and then work and apply for permanent residence. But if I wanted to make other options(refugee,marriage), Ontario is a bad option. Right? I'm sorry for asking a lot of questions. Have a nice day.
 

Riley Haas

Administrator
Staff member
Location
Toronto
You don't need to apologize. That's what this forum is for. We're glad to help.

You have it a little backwards: refugee, marriage, that kind of thing, is federal. It's the work experience and study experience in Canada that is (or can be) provincial.

If you stay at Queen's and graduate with a Master's degree, you may be able to get a Provincial Nomination for permanent residence, but you will need a job offer. If you completed your Master's degree in another province (Alberta, Saskatchewan for examples) you might not need the job offer. That's the key difference. Does that make sense?
 

hha31

New Member
Yes :D. Thanks alot. I had applied before to a temporary residence visa and I got 4 years visa (student visa). I'm currently in Lebanon and I finished my internship in Canada. Someone advised me to change my student visa and immigrate to Canada before doing my Masters there because it will cost me about 25,000$ per year and if I managed to immigrate before doing my masters (which is next year), I will pay much less. Is there any possible way (other than marriage) to do this ? Thank you :) .
 

Riley Haas

Administrator
Staff member
Location
Toronto
School is very expensive in Canada for international students. But unless you have one year of work experience in a "skilled" occupation (regrettably, your internship does not count for this), you will not be able to immigrate as a permanent resident (except by marriage, as you noted). There are exceptions to this, i.e. if you were recruited by a PNP through some overseas recruiting project, but this is true for the most part.

So then your alternative to coming here to study is to find a job and get a temporary work permit, which is also difficult.
 

hha31

New Member
Nah, I will apply for a Master's degree and work at the same time. I hope this would help my parents regarding $. After I graduate, I will try to find a job then apply for a PR. That's my plan and I think it is doable unlike other options which seem doubtful. Thank you very much :D <3
 

hha31

New Member
Hello again, for example if I applied for a graduate studies chemical engineering program in Alberta, and I wanted to work there after I graduate, am I eligible to receive a job offer inside Alberta even though I graduated from a university inside Alberta? I used the link you gave me before and it says I won't receive a job offer but another website says that I can receive a job offer after I graduate from a university inside Alberta. Thanks ! :)
 

Riley Haas

Administrator
Staff member
Location
Toronto
Actually, it's a condition of the program that you study in Alberta (or, in some cases, other parts of Canada), so this is good. You need a job offer now. I believe this was added to the criteria recently.
 

hha31

New Member
Oh okay. Can I have the newest edition of the province graduate students rules please? So only in Saskatchewan I wouldn't be needing a job offer to be able to apply for PR after completing my masters?
 

Riley Haas

Administrator
Staff member
Location
Toronto
It really depends on the province. I'm sorry to say that, though it's on our list to update, we haven't done that yet. So you'll have to look at the individual websites.
It's safe to say, though, that in many provinces you now need a job offer in addition to schooling in the province to apply for PR.
However, the good news it that, upon graduating from a university anywhere in Canada, you are eligible for an "open" post-graduate work permit. "Open" means that you do not need a job offer.
So, basically, you get the post graduate work permit and, once you have a (skilled) job, you apply for PR through the PNP.
Make sense?
 

hha31

New Member
Hello again, I have a temporary residence visa in Canada till 2019. I just wanted to know the benefits I could get from having such Visa.Can I apply for Master's with this kind of visa?
I'm willing to do masters next year in a University(I'm waiting the acceptance result).
Also, as we discussed before, if I want to get the permanent residence (PR), I need to apply to a certain University in a certain Province, and then apply to a job in the same Province, and then I'll be eligible to Apply to PR, right? I can't do masters in alberta for example and then apply to work in ontario right?
Last question, what is open post-graduate work permit and how can I benefit from it?
Thank you so much, merry Christmas and happy New Year!
 

Riley Haas

Administrator
Staff member
Location
Toronto
Hi,
Can I apply for Master's with this kind of visa?
You can apply for a Master's program, but you will need a study permit. So the thing to do is to apply for the master's first. Then, once you have been accepted, apply for the study permit.

Also, as we discussed before, if I want to get the permanent residence (PR), I need to apply to a certain University in a certain Province, and then apply to a job in the same Province, and then I'll be eligible to Apply to PR, right? I can't do masters in alberta for example and then apply to work in ontario right?
This depends on what you do after you graduate. There are two sets of programs you should be aware of:
[list type=decimal]
[*]Canadian Experience Class through Express Entry - you need to work at least one year in Canada as a "skilled worker" after you graduate, and you must otherwise qualify for EE. You could work anywhere in Canada, provided you work legally on a work permit.
[*]A Provincial Nominee Program - there are 10 (I think) and they all have different rules. But most of them favour people who have already lived (including studied) in their province. This route is probably faster, but that's more of a question for a consultant.
[/list]
what is open post-graduate work permit and how can I benefit from it?
If you attend a post-secondary program in Canada and you graduate from it, you can usually apply for an "open" work permit. Open just means you don't need a job offer and you can work for nearly anyone. It's available specifically to students who have studied here and graduated from their program.

Hope this helps.
 
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