Can I find work as an educator?

MY sister lives in Saskatchewan and says that she would help me to get to live in Canada, but I’m not sure how the system works. She says she sees a lot of job postings for teachers near her home. Would I have to go back to school even though I have a bachelor’s degree in education? I have five years’ work experience at a prep school in Jamaica. Would I qualify as an early-childhood teacher there and be able to live and work there? – K.E. Dear K.E., There are many opportunities for trained teachers to become permanent residents of Canada. Once you have been granted permanent residence, you will be authorised to live and work anywhere in Canada.

Although there is no strict occupation list under the express entry system, you should note that many provinces, including Saskatchewan, have Provincial Nominee Programmes (PNP) that offer permanent residence to individuals who are able to bolster the province’s workforce.

Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Programme (SINP) announced recently that it has an expanded list of 43 “in-demand occupations” and they are encouraging qualified individuals worldwide, who would like to live in the province, to apply to be considered for permanent residence.

The list includes many occupations such as teachers, engineers, web developers, doctors, medical sonographers, land surveyors, biologists, financial and investment analysts, and professional occupations in advertising, marketing and public relations, to name a few.

There are significant differences between the express entry system and the SINP. The processing fee for SINP is CDN$300, which is non-refundable. Details about the application process can be found on the provincial website.

To submit an application under the express entry system, you do not need to pay to be admitted into the pool of applicants for the government of Canada to evaluate whether you qualify. However, once you are in the pool and if you have the required scores-based on your language, education and work experience, then you could be granted an invitation to apply (ITA) for permanent residence. Once you have received an ITA, have submitted all supporting documents and deemed qualified, you will be required to submit an application fee and a right of permanent residence feebased on the number of persons in your immediate family.

Under the express entry system, you are not required to provide proof of licensure prior to submitting an application. The only strict requirement is that you will need to provide an education credential assessment report from one of the authorised bodies such as www.wes.org/ca. This report will indicate whether your bachelor’s degree in education is equivalent to a Canadian certification.

You should note that once you are in Canada as a permanent resident, you may be required to apply to the Ministry of Education to get certified as an earlychildhood educator prior to accepting a job as such a professional.