Canada 2012
Canada 2012
I’d really like to head to Canada in 2012 on a working Visa but I feel like everything I’m reading isn’t making sense so I’d would appreciate some help!
I can see BUNAC is open for 2011 but it also says it’s allocation of Canadian visas is now full. Does this mean I’ll have to wait until January 2012 to apply for BUNAC now? I was hoping to go early 2012 so would have liked the visa in place by the end of the year but guess if they are allocated quickly I’ll have to wait until the next round.
Any guidance and advice would be much appreciate! Thanks.
I assume your in the UK? You can now apply direct with the Canadian Embassy here..
I’m also planning to go to Canada next year :D
Ahhh thank you so much! I’m realising now BUNAC is more of a third party that can help with everything in addition to getting the Visa?
Must get some more reading done on all this! Thanks for the link!
hey, im planning on travelling and working in canada next yr too
it was my understanding that the visa’s open in december for the following yr but looks like you can apply all year round now! does look like bunac is way more expensive than going direct as well.
good thing i’ve got a few months to get my head around it!!
:? x
just stumbled across this post!
Myself and my friend want to go to Canada in January too…but seems that there is nowhere to get a visa as they’re all closed now! I really hope it opens again early winter as I cannot wait to go! Don’t know whether to go with Bunac or just go independently! :)
xx
Hey, trying to read up on all the posts about Canada. Hopefully going for a working travel visa next year.
The visas are released in Januray 2012 for that year and there are only 2000 visas for UK residents, so they do run out quite quick.
Have any of you looked into gap year companies, like STA or realgap.com?
They have 5000 places not 2000 but you are right they go pretty quick.
New applications for 2012 opens in a few weeks don’t bother with BUNAC with the crazy costs when you can apply with the Canadian Gov direct and do it yourself ....
Hey everyone
I am also looking in to doing a Working Holiday in Canada around September time and will be flying over from America after doing Route 66. Does anyone know the best part of Canada to go to around that time and how easy it is to get jobs over there?!
I’ve done my working holiday in Australia and it was really easy to find work but i’m thinking Canada is going to be a bit more difficult!
I think the easiest and least confusing way to look at it is:
BUNAC is a support service. The money you pay goes to access to their SWAP offices in Toronto and Vancouver where there’s computers, internet, printers, job boards, housing boards, staff who will look over resumes and offer advice on anything and everything to do with Canada. They also organise events for BUNACers so it’s a good way to meet other working holiday makers. I’ve gone through BUNAC before and they’re good for these services, especially if you haven’t done a working holiday visa before or are nervous about not knowing anyone/meeting new people. BUNAC does NOT provide you with a visa.
You have to go through the High Commission to get a visa, even if you want the BUNAC package.
Kirgy, in October, reps from ski resorts go to job fairs to hire their winter staff, and those jobs usually begin late November. Otherwise cities are a good bet - Christmas retail staff get taken on in September, October time. Cities in general though always have a good supply of jobs year round in comparison to small towns, rural areas and tourist spots! If it’s between Vancouver and Toronto, I’d ask your self if you can put with the baltic winter in Toronto. If the answer is no, head west! Don’t consider work in Quebec (even Montreal) unless you’re fluent in French!
Hi All,
I signed up to the BUNAC Work Canada scheme around Christmas time, and applied for my IEC around then. I’ve just got my Letter of Introduction back so as long as I can prove I have funds its all go! Wooo.
Just a couple of q’s if anyone can help…
The BUNAC group flights (and insurance) seem quite expensive. Is it really worth paying the extra to fly with other BUNACers? Also.. anybody know any alternatives to the insurance available through BUNAC?
Cheers.
Now its just deciding whether to go to Vancouver or Toronto….
Is it worth paying the extra to fly with other BUNAC-ers? It’s down to the person I think. I didn’t pay the extra and the group flight that went the week before me had 5 people on it, one girl went travelling immediately afterwards and the 4 who were on the flight had met via Facebook anyway! Plus, if you still get put in the Global Village Backpackers, it’s not a good thing. The hostel was really gross and many people would move out after a few nights and go to the HI or Canadiana which are much nicer.
The numbers from what I’ve heard from other BUNACers don’t tend to be high, I think you’re more likely to meet people at a hostel or through SWAP events.
Insurance wise, when I went, a girl posted on facebook a pretty comprehensive stack of research and by far the best sounding was ACE travel insurance. It was mega comprehensive and cost about 205 GPB for the year which was a huge saving over BUNAC’s. I didn’t have to claim anything so I can’t comment past that though.
I went to Toronto and had a really great time, but if I was to do it again, I’d go to Vancouver and that’s not just because I’ve already done Toronto.
Vancouver will offer Seattle 3 hours on a greyhound to the south, Whistler 3 hours to the north and the island is a nice weekend trip. Over the water is Grouse mountain, cypress hill etc, excellent for walking, skiing, tubing, snow-shoeing etc. There’s the beaches and Stanley Park. From what I saw though, it’s a bit more sprawled and I’m probably going to get corrected, but I didn’t think there was as much ‘city’ stuff going on in comparison to Toronto.
Toronto on the other hand has everything a city could possible need and I felt like there was a lot more going on in downtown. The downside is that public transport to the ski resorts is a bit of a mare and nearby interesting cities (eg. Ottawa, Montreal, NYC) are 8 or more hours on a bus. Therefore without a car, you can sometimes feel a little bit trapped in the city, but as I say, there’s so much going on in downtown anyway, it’s not too much of a big problem.
I just stayed in Toronto for 8 months, really saw and did everything the city had to offer taking advantage of the free museum passes from the library, watched out for any one off or annual events and went to everyone of them. In the summer Toronto Islands was a nice place to go to get away from the hustle and bustle of downtown. After that, I went on a mammoth trip around North America, did Montreal and Ottawa then rather than wasting 16 hours on a bus over the space of 1 weekend - I look back and still think it was the best option!
Hi Caroline,
Thanks for the response! Think I will just book my own flight and insurance then. I think I’m leaning towards Vancouver now…really want to visit Seattle too…but I’ll probably change my mind again before long..
Thanks!
If you go to Vancouver, a weekend in Tofino is an absolute must, for me it’s paradise and I want to go back so badly. Don’t just rock up hoping to find accommodation though, it’s REALLY expensive, though there are 2 affordable hostels and they get booked up usually a week or two in advance. (This advice for me was a life saver). HI is the best as it’s in the town/village and is a really lovely hostel.
Um, Seattle, the Green Tortoise is supposed to be the best, sounds it too, but it was fully booked whilst I was there :( Go to the Gold Rush museum, it’s free and I was captivated by it - blew me away and now I desperately want to visit Alaska!
Will definitely have a look at these places! When did you go to Canada then? Im going at the end of May. Slightly excited. How easy/hard is it to find work?
I went to Canada in September 2009 and came back exactly a year later.
How easy is it to find work?
Depends on a lot unfortunately.
If you’re really determined to find something and fast, something with come along faster than if you’re not. I was focused from day one in Toronto and started my first day at work 2 weeks and 1 day after touch down. It was working for an insurance company through a temping agency and I had a lot of office experience prior to this.
If you have a lot of experience in something like office admin, bar work, waitressing etc, and you’re very proactive, I’d say anything from 2 weeks to a month.
If you have a skill that’s in shortage out there, you could potentially have a job lined up even before you touch Canadian soil.
If you’re a bit blazee and want to see it as more working HOLIDAY than WORKING holiday (and you’ll meet those who are), you wont be truly invested in finding a job and it can take months and months. Be careful with this though as I met a bunch of lads at the hostel who had taken a shed load of money out with them (many many thousands) so put next to no effort into finding a job. They went off on a couple of long weekends , but ultimately spent it all on food, drink, accommodation in just Toronto alone. When the money started to get thin on the ground, they found it hard to get a job when they only had 6 months left on their visa and nothing to show for what they did in the other 6 months.
The time of year can affect job prospects too. Unfortunately college kids in Canada break up for the summer at the beginning of May so you will possibly find that all the really cool summer jobs have gone. However if it’s not summer jobs you’re after, not too much of a problem.
September/October is when retail start taking on their christmas temps.
I’ve heard for the working holiday maker, January is the worst possible time to go. Plus throw in the fact that you don’t want to be trapsing around the streets of Toronto with resume’s with 10 feet of snow around you and -20 temperatures.
Ski resorts hire around October/November time. Many people head to the resort, sort out a job and accommodation for the season and go travelling for a month till their job actually starts.
