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Teaching Jobs in Canada
Canada has been, and still is, a very attractive
destination for teachers looking for a new life, a working holiday,
or just to expand their teaching expertise and experience. Canada,
like most Western countries, is facing an aging problem with its
current teacher work force and ways of attracting new blood into
the industry is uppermost in administrator’s minds.
If you’re looking to find a teaching job
in Canada from outside it’s borders, you will need a written
job offer if you hope to secure immigration through work related
criteria. This can be a long, arduous task filled with many rejection
letters and knock-backs.
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This
is not to say that it cannot be done just that most schools will
be unlikely to sponsor a teacher and go through the lengthy Canadian
immigration process unless your skills are extremely sought after.
If you’re applying from within the country your task is
somewhat easier, but it can still take a while before you obtain
the job you want. To get a general overview of the immigration
rules and processes for entering Canada to work, including information
about working holiday visas, click
here.
If
you’re seeking a teaching job from outside of Canada you
should prepare yourself for a lot of work and possibly little
success. You should plan your approach meticulously and be absolutely
committed to achieving your goal.
Have a clear idea about which schools you want to approach, and
how you will approach them. Bear in mind that the Internet has
made it possible for people from all over the world to send job
requests unsolicited with relative ease, so the institution you’re
thinking of applying to may receive dozens of enquiries weekly
and may not give your application much consideration as a result.
Think
carefully about how you intend to approach them and make every
effort to stand out from the crowd and to make the employer remember
who you are and what you have to offer. Have a look at our section
on ‘Finding
Overseas Jobs’ for some ideas.
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Each
state or province in Canada has it’s own rules regarding
teacher certification so you should make yourself familiar with
them before looking for work. You can find a list of the registration
offices where you can request more information here.
In all cases you will be required to submit evidence of your work
history and qualifications to the relevant registration body in
the state or province you wish to work. You may also be required
to provide evidence of your immigration status if you are not
a Canadian citizen. You must also be competent in one of Canada’s
two official languages – English or French. English is the
main language taught in states and provinces across the land with
the exception of Quebec. You may find some institutions outside
of Quebec that have French as the primary language however. You
may need to provide evidence of your language proficiency if you
come from a country where English or French are not recognized
as the official mother tongue of that country.
Obviously
if you are flexible where in Canada you can live and work your
chances of finding work will be greater. If you are limiting yourself
to just applying to institutions within a specific area then you
are limiting your chances also. One of the best things that you
can do, particularly if you’re hoping to move to Canada
on the long-term, is to go there on a vacation first in order
to get a feel for the job market and to make face-to-face contact
with potential employers. Education institutions often have job
fairs and you may be able to time your trip with such fairs in
the area you wish to live. Face to face contact will be far and
away the best weapon you can have when it comes to finding a job.
As the saying goes, it’s often not what you know, but whom
you know that counts.
The
ways of locating teaching jobs in Canada can be extremely varied.
You should use everything at your disposal including the Internet,
newspapers, associations, online job boards, direct calling, and
employment agencies. If you undertake the services of an agency
that specialises in employment and immigration while you are still
outside of Canada make sure it is a legitimate agency and that
any fee you pay them is money well spent. With enough planning,
research, and the right information, you can do everything yourself
that most of these agencies claim they can do for you - so use
your discretion when contemplating the use of such agencies.
Newspapers generally advertise teaching positions between the
months of January and June, with the starting date around September
of any given year. As you might expect, schools will most likely
insist on a face-to-face interview which makes applying for such
positions from abroad extremely difficult. With an idea of the
times of years that schools generally recruit for the coming school
year you may be able to line up a number of interviews in a short
period of time and then visit Canada to conduct those interviews
– being seen to make such an effort might be the deciding
factor in any decision an employer makes.
Generally speaking the prospects are good for overseas trained teachers
wishing to look for work in Canada. To help you further we have
collected a comprehensive range of links to online job boards, employment
agencies, and the relevant government departments and associations
that will be of assistance to you in finding a teaching job in Canada
- click on the 'Useful resources' link in the 'related articles'
section below to view them and good luck!. |
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