Aiming for a work visa or citizenship?

"temporary work permit" looks like a good first step. From what I can tell, you can change to a "Skilled Worker Immigrant" rolling off the temp permit, if you decide to stay.

However, before you ever speak on the record to anyone about this, you really want to talk to an immigration lawyer. For all you know, saying "I would like to live in Canada forever, maybe" will make getting a work visa harder. I've heard this is the case in the USA.

i dont like alberta and i dont feel it has much to offer... i stayed there for 2 entire summers and yes... giant flies were biting me... and ants would climb onto my shoes as i was walking... i dont know how... but the bugs are horrible...

and as far as bc goes... you can go from the coast to the mountains within a day... you can go over to the island... BC is awesome

Bumping this up.

I've been going through the immigtation books that I bought, and it looks like I might go for the Skilled Worker visa (I'm sure I'll get all these names wrong) or maybe a Provincial visa. I have a degree in Marketing, and I've worked as a secretary for nearly 2 years now, but I'm willing to change career fields as well.

And I did work in a hotel before, so I might look into that again. Or the airline industry.

I'm going to try and talk to an immigration lawyer as well. Thing is, I don't want to have to pay $300 to talk to some guy for an hour or so.

You've gotta have 75 points on this scale to even be considered for a visa. Having about $10,000 in the bank or a job already lined up is a huge factor. Right now I dont have any of that money, and I'm not to the point of looking for a job yet. And I've heard that it's hard to find a job unless you have a visa. But you cant have a visa without the job.... Horrible cycle.

Unfortunately, that's pretty much the case, from what i've seen (and experienced) so far.

Yeah, the easiest way to get around that is to get the job lined up before you go. But then you have to convince the conpany that it's worth it to bring you in from another country, because once you're there, the company is answerable to that country's government about you.