4 Steps to Apply for Unskilled Jobs in Canada with Visa Sponsorship

With close to a million vacancies available due to a sizeable retiring population and low birth rate, Canada is set to welcome foreign nationals from across the globe to fill labor gaps across sectors. The country has over 100 visas and immigration programs available to make it possible for foreign workers to assist in bridging the ongoing skills shortages. And if you don't have a degree or a big relocation budget - no problem! This article will take you through the 4 Steps you need to follow to apply for unskilled Jobs in Canada with Visa Sponsorship.

Can You Work in Canada as an Unskilled Worker?

Does Canada Need Unskilled Workers?

If you have always wanted to live and work in Canada, but are concerned that your skill level falls under the unskilled category, fret not! While it is true that highly skilled workers are in great demand in the Great White North, it should not be forgotten that unskilled workers play a huge role in the Canadian economy. Canadian employers are desperately in need of immigrants with a variety of skill sets to keep the wheels rolling.

Steps to Apply for Unskilled Jobs in Canada with Visa Sponsorship

Step 1: Find Out More About Jobs in Canada with Visa Sponsorship

Regarding sponsorship, while you may sometimes be lucky enough to find a company to full-sponsor your move to Canada, you should note that Canadian employers won't always sponsor you in the literal sense. They may apply for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) from Employment and Social Development (ESDC) Canada for you. An LMIA document gives a Canadian employer the green light to hire a foreign worker. A positive LMIA will conclude that there is a need for a foreign worker to fill the job.

If you are set on working in Canada via visa sponsorship, you'll have to find an employer keen to sponsor your visa application and carry you through the process.

If you do find an employer that will fully sponsor your visa, here are some of the responsibilities they could agree to:

• Paying for your airline ticket
• Helping with accommodation arrangements
• Offering medical insurance for a set amount of time
• Helping you sign up for a provincial occupational safety insurance plan

Top tip: Look out for global corporations or businesses in remote areas with a major skills drain.

Step 2: Find Out if There's a NOC Code For Your Job

Canada uses the National Occupational Classification (NOC) system to determine an occupation's skill level. The updated NOC consists of a Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities (TEER) system that ranges from 0 to 5, with TEER 0 for management-level occupations and TEER 4 to 5 for low- to unskilled occupations.

Canada’s top unskilled occupations include:

• Nurse aides, orderlies, and patient service associates - NOC 33102
• Caregivers - NOC 44101
• Butchers, meat cutters, and fishmongers-retail and wholesale - NOC 65202
• Food And beverage servers - NOC 65200
• Transport Truck Drivers NOC 73300
• Construction trades helpers and laborers - NOC 75110
• General Farm Workers - NOC 85100
• Fish and seafood plant workers - NOC 94142
• Laborers in food, beverage, and associated products processing - NOC 95106
• Machine Operators Major - NOC Group 94

Step 3: Find Out How to go About Getting a Job in Canada

The infographic below has great tips for landing a job in the Great White North.

Remember: To be able to work in Canada, you'll need a job offer and a Canadian work permit. Many of Canada's vacancies are filled through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), which has special worker streams for caregivers, agriculture workers, and other low-wage workers. If you have a job offer in Canada, you can apply for a Canadian work permit through one of these streams.

You can visit several sites to find a job. This includes:

• Job Bank
• LinkedIn
• Glassdoor

Step 4: Find a Program that Matches Your Needs

Quite a few provincial programs allow foreign employees to apply for residence in Canada as unskilled, low-skilled, or semi-skilled workers under the terms of their employment contracts. The industries or sectors in which these employees are needed vary depending on the province in which they live. You may apply to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program if you want to live and work in Canada temporarily.

Let's review all the program options for unskilled workers.

Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP)

The Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) was established to aid Canada's economic growth by bridging the gaps in labor shortfalls by employing skilled foreign workers. Canadian employers use this program as a great source of assistance when hiring temporary foreign workers.

Home Care Provider Pilot

Home care providers, you'll find two immigration pilots for you in Canada. If you work as a home care child provider, you'll help parents care for their children. You may also have to assist with household duties. Jobs that fall under this category include:

• Babysitter
• Nanny
• Au pair
• Child care live-in-caregiver
• Child care provider - private home
• Foster parent

If you choose to work as a home support worker, your work involves assisting people with disabilities, the elderly, and those recovering from an illness or operation. Duties may include feeding, bathing, preparing meals, and administering medication. Jobs in this category include:

• Housekeeper
• Home support worker
• Personal care attendant - home care
• Doula
• Family caregiver

Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program

Another stream to obtain an employer-specific work permit and work in the top LMIA available occupations up north is the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program. This program allows Canadian companies to employ temporary foreign workers if Canadians cannot fill the positions. An employer can hire a foreign worker for eight months. You would be eligible for a work permit under the agriculture workers program if you're from a participating Caribbean country.

Participating countries include:

• Mexico
• Anguilla
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Barbados
• Dominica
• Grenada
• Jamaica
• Montserrat
• St. Kitts-Nevis
• St. Lucia
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines
• Trinidad and Tobago

Your Journey Starts Here

Additional Pathways to Permanent Residency for Unskilled Workers

With over 100 visas and immigration programs for foreign workers, you're bound to have plenty more options, should you decide to take the leap to Canada. Let's tackle a look at some others you can consider.

Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)

As the Canadian government plans to welcome more than a million immigrants to join the workforce in the next three years, there is a lot of scope for unskilled and semi-skilled workers. One top option is applying for a stream under the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).

Provincial Nominations are for candidates who wish to live and work in a specific province of Canada. There are specific streams you can apply for (if you meet the criteria) underneath each program that start the process towards being nominated by that province. Once nominated, you are invited to apply for permanent residence.

Alternatively, you can apply for a category that falls under the Express Entry system or goes directly into this pool. If you apply through Express Entry first, you must either submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to your chosen province or wait for them to send you a Notification of Interest (NOI), depending on how that province works. If you succeed, you are invited to create a separate application for a nomination. Achieving the nomination adds 600 points to your profile in the Express Entry pool, which uses the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) to rank you. For the programs listed here, however, no fast-track system is used.

Alberta

if you’d like to work in Alberta, you can apply to be considered for permanent residence under this Provincial Nominee stream if you already have a temporary work permit, you completed high school, and you have a job offer from a Canadian employer under one of the following occupations in these sectors:

Food and Beverage Industry	Hotel and Lodging (Hospitality) Industry	Long-haul Trucking Industry	Food Services Industry	Manufacturing Industry
Food and Beverage Production Worker Bakery Production Worker Food and Beverage Processing Equipment Cleaner Industrial Butchers and Meat Cutters Poultry Production Workers	Food and Beverage Servers Room Attendants Front Desk Agent	Long-haul truck driver	Food and Beverage Servers Food Counter Attendants Kitchen Helpers	Shipper and Receiver Production Clerks Other

British Columbia

British Columbia is filled with opportunities for unskilled workers. To apply for permanent residence under the following stream, applicants must have been employed full-time in one of these occupations on a temporary work permit. Below are some of the most in-demand jobs within the British Columbia province.

Entry Level + Semi-skilled Pilot Project

Unskilled Occupations Offered
Industry	Occupations Available
Food Processing	Process Control and Machine Operators Industrial Butchers, Meat Cutters, Poultry Preparers Fish Plant Workers Food Testers and Graders Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Processing
Travel and Accommodation	Hotel Front Desk Clerks
Tour and Recreational Guides & Casino Occupations	Tour and Travel Guides Outdoor Sport and Recreational Guides Casino Occupations
Long-haul Truck Drivers	Long-haul truck driver
Food and Beverage Service	Hostesses Bartenders Food and Beverage Servers Food Counter Attendants Kitchen Assistants
Cleaners	Light Duty Cleaners Specialized Cleaners Janitors, Caretakers and Building Superintendents
Elemental Services	Dry Cleaning and Laundry Hotel Valet Other

Saskatchewan

If you'd like to work in Saskatchewan, you'll find that this province has more of a focus on industries such as hospitality, food services, and truck driving. The following are streams dedicated to applying for these positions and offering specific jobs.

For the province's Hospitality Sector Project, you must have a high school education, work in Saskatchewan for at least six months on a temporary work permit, and be proficient in English. The following positions are on the list of occupation vacancies that need to be filled:

• Food/Beverage Server
• Food Counter Attendant/Kitchen Helper
• Housekeeping/Cleaning Staff

With the province's Long-haul Truck Driver Project, you can start working in Canada as a truck driver on a temporary work permit. You need to have a Class 1A driver's license, have an offer of full-time employment from an approved trucking firm, and have been working in Saskatchewan for six months. Another perk of this program is the wages for long-haul truck drivers, which can be as much as 70,000 CAD annually.

Yukon

Yukon has a serious deficit of unskilled workers because the province is known for its tourism appeal more than the corporate industry. The program below invites candidates to apply for several streams in these sectors.

To qualify for Yukon’s Critical Impact Worker Program, you need a full-time position on a temporary work permit in fields that don't require intensive skills training or further studies. This could be in hospitality, construction, industrial work, or other sectors. More importantly, you must be proficient in English or French, as many roles involve interaction with customers and clients.

Start Your Journey as an Unskilled or Semi-skilled Worker in Canada

Now that you know how to apply for unskilled jobs in Canada, it's time to start your journey. Some employers may consider visa sponsorship simply getting an LMIA on your behalf. In contrast, others may sponsor your application process, along with other elements, like airline tickets, accommodation, etc. When considering your pathway to Canada, you can opt for a temporary program or something more permanent if you wish to reap all the benefits of living in the Great White North. With over 1 million vacancies to fill, Canada does need you!

Am I Eligible? Check Now

FAQS

Which Unskilled or Semi-skilled Jobs are the Highest Paying in Canada?

• Truck drivers
• Train and tram drivers
• Home care workers
• Sales managers
• Construction manager
• Hazardous waste manager

What Other Options do I Have to Immigrate to Canada as an Unskilled or Semi-skilled Worker?

There are quite a few options. Let's go through them.

The Atlantic Immigration Program is for immigrants who want to settle in one of the following provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador; Prince Edward Island; New Brunswick; and Nova Scotia. If you are applying for a semi-skilled worker, ensure you meet all of the criteria, including a full-time offer of employment in Canada.

The Immigration Pilot Program for Rural and Northern Areas is for foreign employees who want to move to one of 11 participating cities and towns in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. You would have to be interested in living and working in the rural and northern parts of these provinces.

The Agri-Food Pilot Program allows you to work in agriculture, meat processing, and animal production industries. You'll also be able to apply for permanent residence in Canada via this pathway. You'll need an offer of employment for a full-time position and a minimum of one year's non-seasonal work experience for this program.