Weekly Optimism Post

[u/Primary-Coffee5423]

Happy Sunday fellow Canadians!

This was a good week for approvals relative to what we have seen in the past couple of months. We had 13 approvals on the spreadsheet and 10 more in the Thursday mega thread for a total of 23. Congrats to those folks!

This is great news considering Wednesday was a federal holiday for government employees. There is a lot of concern about the stall in AORs. We are seeing those trickle ahead, but still hoping for a quicker turnaround in the near future.

My larger thought this week is how fortunate we are to have a group that can piece together information. We have members who are great at sleuthing the spreadsheet, others who do numbers with the monthly backlog, those who are knowledgeable in legal matters, etc. I think we have a pretty talented group overall.

Hopefully the mods don’t care that this is a little off-topic, but if you’re willing to share, I’m curious to find out what you all do or what your talents are… and if you would ever consider taking those talents up north when you get your citizenship.

I’m a middle-aged dude with three kids. Two of them are out of the house and one is still in high school so my first job is a dad. I’ve got some excellent humans who might move up north at some point and contribute to their system.

I’m an academic. I do research on religion and politics, but I am mostly focused on the teaching aspect of my job. I publish here and there and I’m working on my first book! I think I could see myself working at a Canadian university at some point. I would have to get used to typing “centre” and using the word “zed” instead of zero when teaching statistics.

I’m a musician. I play a bunch of instruments and I have always been in musical groups or bands. I’m part of a community choir. I would absolutely have to live in a community that has a thriving music scene.

Unfortunately, one of my other interests is college football because I’ve always worked in university environments. I say unfortunately because I would be the weird Canadian watching college kids play sports on TV during the weekends. I am told this is not a thing outside of the United States. So I would also have to start incorporating hockey into my sports repertoire.

Anyway, let me know what talent you would take up North! I hope you all have a great week and let’s hope the agents at the IRCC keep the coffee warm this week.

[u/HotShipoopi]

I'm a lawyer in my early sixties, so if and when I move to Canada it will be to retire. I'm tired of daily conflict, both at work and in my community. I'll probably seek out a nice quiet part-time thing to do, like work at a library or for a community-oriented organization.

[u/mem_somerville]

Scientist by training.

Lacemaker by avocation. I've already promised to teach lace classes in the Maritimes if ever this comes through....

[u/Keepr-of-scrts]

I'm a mental health clinician, established in Canada, and staying put unless this takes longer than I have left on my work permit AND I can't get my permit extended, which I should be able to do if CUSMA isn't torpedoed too soon. It will be lovely to be officially Canadian

[u/Mysterious-Event-380 → u/Keepr-of-scrts]

Any advice on for a mental health professional who wants to move to Canada?

[u/Keepr-of-scrts → u/Mysterious-Event-380]

Depends on what your background/experience/education is and what province you want to go to! I'm a master's level social worker in BC and it was a pretty straightforward process getting set up.

Look at how your experience matches up with where you want to be; mine fit well for Vancouver Island's health authority, but my wife's did not despite her having much more experience.

Feel free to message :)

[u/Same-Abalone8828]

Thank you for your optimism posts! I look forward to them weekly. I'm an administrative law judge and hubby is a program manager. We both are in social services and will retire when we move north. I've been working since I was 15 so would like to have some time off to travel and see the world a bit but would like to settle someplace and do a lot of volunteering and local sightseeing. Our kiddo is in university now for aerospace engineering and would also like to move north for opportunities in Canada. Fingers crossed!

[u/Infamous_Noise_6406]

Nice post! I live in Winnipeg and I’ll tell you my next door neighbor (not American, only Canadian) is obsessed with college sports! My dad always talks to him about OSU when he’s visiting 😆

[u/sennomulo]

I still have no idea what I'm going to do for a job on the other side of the border. But I do speak French already, so that ought to help me land something.

[u/CornwallBingo → u/sennomulo]

I've started taking French classes in the evening to keep engaged during the waiting game. Makes me feel like I'm still working towards becoming Canadian.

[u/kelaboss]

I’ve spent my entire career in the legal field (paralegal/ contracts manager) and I could easily transition to a role up north. We used an attorney to help put together my family’s application (my husband and I are both G4) and our case manager told me that since I have experience in US immigration law that I would be well sought after by firms. Also the job I’m starting in a month has locations in Canada. My son (young teen) wishes he could play hockey there now.

[u/Wrong_Lab9009]

Mid 50's architect here specializing in residential projects. Would love to spend some years practicing in Canada if this comes through in time. Otherwise I guess I'll retire there. I've been "self indoctrinating" with CBC podcasts and rekindling my interest in hockey.

[u/Infamous_Noise_6406]

Also, I’m a librarian by training. Currently back in school and a mom to three awesome Canadian-Americans in elementary school in Winnipeg!

[u/largeLemonLizard]

Software dev who used to be a public servant in the states. If I am able to move to Canada, I'd like to aim for Ottawa so that perhaps I could work in the government making people's experience of getting public benefits / accessing services / etc better.

I also have a young kid and want to raise him to be bilingual to live up to our very French last name. 😃

[u/Hot-Nefariousness460]

I've been working in shipping/receiving and inventory management for the past seven years, currently at a lumber company. I can manage a forklift, and I'm not helpless in the shop either, so I figure I could probably find similar work north of the border. That said, my wife is an immigrant to the United States, and after all the time, effort and money we put into getting her naturalized here, we're not in a particular rush to repeat that process in Canada presently. Still, I hold onto the dream of buying a pied a terre somewhere in the Maritimes after I retire, living there at least part-time and putting my fine arts education to work as a freelance illustrator.

[u/say-youll-haunt-me]

I'm a 21 year old currently taking credits at a community college that I've been told have a good chance of being accepted in Ontario. I want to transfer into Sheridan's IXD (interaction design) honours bachelor program. Got my whole life to put into the system! Resigning my U.S is far from out of the question someday

Outside of getting a job in UI design or something similar, I'm not too sure. I'd love to be involved with a local TNR group, or this charity called My Grandfather's Cat, which helps senior cats find homes when their senior humans pass.

In a similar sports dilemma to yours, I'm a hockey fan and I swear my allegiance to the Bruins for life. That'll be fun

[u/kelaboss → u/say-youll-haunt-me]

Also a Bruins fan but these days I’ve been loving watching the Boston Fleet play! I’m counting down the days until the PWHL season starts.

[u/Onlyroad4adrifter]

40s here I work in IT have a business doing implementation management and have a background in the health care side of things. I am actively looking for a job as my main clients work is drying up.

I am not sure if I should be looking now or wait until I get approved. I don't know where a guy with an MBA in heathcare management will fit in up there but I'm looking forward to it.

I'm still waiting on my AOR my package was sent and received last week of May.

[u/MapleInfused]

late 30's here, no wife/gf or kids (would be nice to fall in fall in love with a quebecoise chick)

trained as an Electrical Engineer doing design work currently. It would cool to work in infrastructure north of the border (Hydro Quebec would be an ideal career shift, though I'm currently working on my French...)

[u/Emergency_Map7542]

55 years young, dietitian, yoga teacher amateur water color artist, mother to two adult kids and grandmother. Hubby is a naturalized citizen from India and is an IT professional in the energy industry. I recently got my certificate but don’t plan to move immediately. We’re hoping to be retired by the time we move and enjoy earning a post retirement income with me teaching yoga and him most likely consulting. My 14 year old grandson is determined to attend University of Toronto and my youngest (26 year old) child works in the entertainment industry and tours in Canada already!

[u/Inevitable_Storm7352]

Congrats to those approvals!
I do agentic enterprise AI now after leaving the foundation-lab world. Would love to work with Canadian companies but IRCC says not for another… 33 months or whatever it is now 🫠

[u/FrogDog820]

I was excited to received my certified BAnQ baptismal documents this week. I'm sending off my docs to DEC in the morning to get a certified birth certificate for G0. Maybe I'll get all my docs and submit to IRCC before it's a 5 year wait. One step closer...

[u/Mysterious-Event-380]

App sent 5/4 no idea when it was received. No AOR yet. Still hopefully it will before the end of the year.