Here in Windsor, Ontario things are okay... Some firms in the city are busy, some arn't.. There are still jobs but most of them are lower budget than usual.. The federal stimulus is helping some developers fund some long term care facilities and health care stuff...

you can be canadian, and not work in canada...

i want to be canadian!

i'm canadian.

i work in tokyo, where times are tuf, but last time i visited (spring 09) my friends were happy and working like there was no recession. they said somehow their part of the world was just fine thank you very much...no idea why, but their office was busy and they were making good architecture too. only downside was that it was in winnipeg. since i'm from there is not a downside but for many i think might not be so much fun...

anyway, yeah, canada. why not?

Wheres the best place to look for architectural vacancies?

architectural offices are a good place to start.


sorry couldn't help myself. honestly, find a place you want to live, then try finding work. nothing worse than a good job in a place you hate. me, if i spoke french better i would love to live in montreal. but most of my friends are in vancouver.

calgary is probs doing ok still too, thanks to the oil sands...but prairie towns are not very nice to live in in my opinion (i love the prairies, but the cities? not so much)

I know a couple ex-pat's that left the states because firms in Manitoba were hiring. They were also at high risk of getting laid off since they had work visas.

My family in Alberta says that the recession is starting to show up there. Still the scene in Calgary and Edmonton is pretty robust. A family member works at a major firm in Edmonton and says they are hiring, and has offered me a job every chance he gets. The drawback is living in Edmonton. Calgary is a bit more cosmopolitian (and has a mountain backdrop) but I can't say if firms are hiring or not. One worry is that Alberta's economy is just lagging behind the rest and a major downturn could be in their future.

Oddly enough everytime we are visiting north of the border everyone is asking how they can get work in the states. No matter where one is there is always the grass is greener view.

How can I get a job in Canada if I am American Citizen?

as far as i know working from as american in canada and vice versa is not a big deal. maybe that is a myth...?

Yeah, that's a myth. Actually, under NAFTA there are some work visa things that are supposed to make it easier for Canadians/Americans to work in each other's country. That said, in a global recession it would probably be tough for a firm in either country to proove that they can't find anyone willing to work that is already a citizen. That's probably your best shot outside of getting married to a Canadian citizen. Still, marriage only speeds things up, not an automatic in, very similar to the same in the US. Still is a major PITA to go through the process, but at least you don't need a work visa.

hm, didn't know that aqua. i always thought it was like the EU, as long as it was done above board, at least between canada and usa. we certainly didn't need a passport until recently to head down south and i know lots of americans who were working in canada. i guess they needed to get a work permit and never mentioned it. that's a bummer.

Yes, it's pretty stupid that it's not easier for Canadians/Americans to cross over for work. A couple years back when the Alberta economy was humming they were begging for workers, labor jobs especially. People came flooding in from places like Eastern Europe, but hardly any from the States thanks to immigration hurdles. Go figure?

Likewise, coming into the US many Canadians work under a TN visa sponsored by their employer. That visa has a clause stating you have "no intentions to stay in the country." Well, life events like buying a house or getting married can be called intent to stay and get you deported. I know an ex-pat that just got engaged and suddenly is in a hurry-up marriage to get the immigration green card process rolling.

Also have a very good friend in Calgary that married a woman from the states almost 3 years ago. They have a child together, yet she is still going through the Canadian immigration process so she can work up there without getting a work permit.

As someone who's been through the long, expensive drawn out mess that is immigration I'm quite the opponent of illegal immigration and all the calls for amnesty, etc. The system need reform, but circumventing it all together is wrong. That said, it's pretty ridiculous that there cannot be a more open border policy between Canada and the US. If any two countries should have it, those would be the two IMO.

i went through all that with my wife aqua when we were living in canada for awhile. it was expensive but not difficult.

for me in japan it is so easy you would cry. married to japanese national? check, here is your 3 year visa. apply for residency in 10 years if you want...that's it. takes like 2 weeks to process even, and costs less than a hundred bucks. nothing like canada at all.

i think the economy is hitting canada some, but it's probably not quite as bad as in the states... for one, canadian banking was not as retarded as american... its generally more conservative lending in canada which helped them...

that said, this is a global economic crisis, and anything that affects the u.s. affects canadian economy too, the u.s. being the major trade partner... i know layoffs are happening in the major canadian cities as well... i think vancouver was doing better recently on account of the upcoming olympics, but i've heard that work is winding down now, and there are layoffs happening in vancouver...

i'm not sure there's anywhere that isn't hit by the downturn...

also generally, in good times, there aren't as many jobs in canada, firms tend to be smaller, with a few exceptions of firms that are part of larger AEC companies... and the unemployment rate is typically higher in canada than the states, although i'm not sure about now... taxes are higher also... that said, some nice firms there, but i'm not sure how the firms are coping with this downturn...