Work in Canada

An excellent option if you plan to get a job abroad on your gap year or career break is to work in Canada. Canada is a vast, beautiful country and if you work in Canada it gives you a far greater opportunity to explore the sights in-depth and fully experience Canadian culture. If you plan to work in Canada Real Gap can also guarantee you'll receive a definite job offer if you travel there with our ‘Work and Travel Canada - Canadian Working Holiday Programme.'

In order to work in Canada you need to be aged between 18 and 30. The other major rule to bear in mind if you plan to work in Canada is that you must have a place at University, currently be studying at University or have graduated from University within the previous 12 months.

If you do qualify for work in Canada there are all kinds of jobs you can apply for. If you want to work in Canada most of the work is seasonal and the main quality employers are looking for in potential candidates is simply enthusiasm. Customer service experience, though not essential, can also come in useful if you want to work in Canada. Examples of work in Canada that Real Gap has arranged for travellers in the past include a wide variety of positions in the retail, building and service sectors.

If you are a keen skier or snowboarder, work in Canada is an excellent opportunity to enjoy winter sports. There are all kinds of opportunities for work in Canada. Some of the world's best ski resorts, such as Whistler, are located in Canada and it's usually fairly straightforward to find work in Canada at a resort. Some resorts are open year round as well so, even when the snow has disappeared, it is still possible to find work in Canada in the stunning surroundings of the mountains. If you work in Canada at one of the ski resorts there is ample opportunity to get out on to the slopes in your spare time or on your days off - and the post-work social life is generally particularly good in these locations as well.

An important factor you need to bear in mind if you work in Canada on a gap year or career break is that, unlike with working holiday visas in some other countries, you are only permitted to work for one employer when you work in Canada. This effectively means that when you finish your work in Canada it's not possible to find another job and it's not possible to switch jobs either. Because of this, when you work in Canada it's important to choose your job carefully. On the plus side, however, Real Gap does everything it can to try and ensure travellers are placed in a suitable job when they work in Canada. Applicants to the programme are encouraged to provide a list of job preferences for their work in Canada and every effort is made to come up with suitable matches.

One major advantage of work in Canada is that most of the jobs Real Gap can arrange last for an average of six months (unlike, for example, Australia where the longest you can legally work for any one particular employer is three months). Once you finish your work in Canada you are then permitted to stay in the country for a further month, meaning you can get stuck in to some serious travelling before you either return home or move on to your next country. If you plan to travel for longer than a month you can also, of course, do some travelling before you start your work in Canada as well.

If you work in Canada with Real Gap's ‘Work and Travel Canada' programme the starting point is the cosmopolitan city of Vancouver, in southwest Canada. In order to work in Canada you will need to open a bank account and get hold of a Social Security Number and help is on hand when you arrive to fast-track this process for you. Travellers also receive loads of useful advice in order to help settle them in to Canadian life before they start their work in Canada. The first two nights of the programme are spent staying at a hostel with other travellers on the programme who plan to work in Canada, which helps participants to acclimatise by meeting like-minded people from all over the world who are doing the same thing.

If there is anything you are uncertain about regarding work in Canada on a gap year or career break then call one of the Real Gap Team for advice. All of Real Gap's expert travel advisers have taken a gap year themselves and will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Work in Canada - Work in Canada gap year programme


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