Teaching Holiday in Canada, where should I start?

Question

I am a teacher in Vic Australia. I wish to holiday for 3-6 months in Canada and teach (around xmas 2007). Interested in staying in one location, part or full time job that I can use as a base to travel the country. I'm not sure where to start my search though. Where should I locate? How should I go about job hunting? Where can I stay? When is the best season? I've done the preliminary search online, found: http://jobsearch.educationcanada.com/ but really need advice of where to go next? Holiday out of country novice, should I talk to travel agents? Any help appreciated.

Answer 1

You can't just come to Canada and work, you would need a work visa for the time you are here and considering how hard it is for teachers who live in Canada to get and maintain a good teaching job I would think that teaching for a few months would be difficult at best.
Check out these sites:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/index.html
Or you may wish to come as a student try this site
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/study/index.html
http://www.trailcanada.com/travel/planning-working-holiday.asp

As for experiencing Canada I would avoid living in Ontario and Quebec,great to visit but I really wouldn't want to live there and go to either the East Coast which is famous for its hospitality, friendly people, and rugged coastline or the West Coast which has some of the coolest and oldest wilderness in North America, the Rocky Mountains, skiing and alot of great outdoor activities and a flavour all of its own. Basically there is so much to see in Canada that it is almost impossible to see it all, just get a taste of it. Check out this site to help plan your trip:
http://www.canadatourism.ca/
Good Luck

Answer 2

If you are coming around christmas, I would come out to Calgary and use that hub. WestJet flies out to the east, and west coast from there, but seeming you are from Australia, you'll probably end up in Banff traveling and partying with your fellow countrymen who are working up there.

You should check out some of the Australian ski chat rooms about coming to Canada to ski and work. Up in Banff there are many Australians and New Zealanders who come to Canada to work nights in the town and ski during the day.

Down in Calgary, you will get to experience both the Canadian winter (it can reach -30 C), and the Southern Alberta Chinook (a weather condition that will raise the temp by as much as 20 C in a few hours in the winter). If you stay until July, you can catch the Calgary Stampede and the chuckwagon races. Calgary has so much to offer, especially in the Winter months that it is a great choice.

As a second choice.....Vancouver or Victoria because of the high number of private schools which will make it easier to get a teaching job (all Canadian Public schools are unionized, unlike the private schools). Vancouver is gearing up for the 2010 Olympics and has a very mild winter, but with great skiing close by. Also, with Seattle being a mere 3 hour drive, you can experience a bit of the US as well (Seattle is a wonderful city).

Answer 3

Newfoundland is a lot of fun, though PEI would be really interesting. Though, the weather isn't the greatest all the time. If you want a city I'd recommend Ottawa, Montreal (if you can speak some french), Vancouver, and Toronto if you want a really big place. However, if you speak French Quebec City is really historically interesting.
For weather: Toronto or Vancouver (except recently for some reason). Toronto is fine during the winter and there's a nice cottage country a few hours north. Vancouver is usually pretty mild all year round, but you can still play in the snow in the mountains, and has really good skiing.

However, please do not go to Victoria, BC unless you love the idea of sewage going directly into the ocean.

Answer 4

I would stay in Ottawa, the nations capital. There is alot to do here, but the added bonus is that you are close to Toronto and Montreal that you can visit both as well as the east coast. The only down fall is that you are far from the Rockies, which if you ask me is a must see. Jobs right now are easier to come by in Alberta but the cost of living is high. Depending on what you like depends on the season, if you like snow, we got it (mind you not too much this year). Ottawa has the longest outdoor skating rink, there is skiing in Quebec. Summer is quite warm here, with alot to do, great bike paths. You will find below some web sites that I hope will help you. Good luck with where you choose, and welcome to Canada!!!

Answer 5

My favourite holiday meal has to be the traditional Ukrainian vegetarian Christmas Eve dinners my grandmother used to host at her house. We'd start with the traditional wheat pudding dish - of boiled wheat - like a cereal to which was added honey and ground poppyseeds. IT's an acquired taste for those who are not Ukrainian. Then we'd eat borsch, a bean soup, a wild mushroom soup, gefilte fish - yes... a kosher Jewish delicacy because my grandma worked for a Jewish lady who taught her how to make it - and she loved it so much it became the fish course, This would be followed by pickled herring, and then the favourite... verynyky with a mushroom gravy. There would be a variety of fillings - potato and cheese, cottage cheese, saurkraut and the best ever blue berry ones for dessert. My brothers and I would have contest to see how many verynyky we could eat. After all this came desserts. Honey cake made with buckwheat honey, Christmas fruit cake and chrysytky - the lovely delicate and lifght fried pastry covered in icing sugar. As each grand child turned 16 we were allowed the shot of rye whiskey with the adults to toast the start of the meal. I've tried to re create the meal for my family - and on occasion have done the entire 12 courses but because it's just the four of us, I've scaled back to about 4 or five.

Answer 6

Yeah you're best bet is Toronto, with Montreal being second. They are Canada's transportation "hubs" so it would be easy for you to get around. They are also big enough that finding work should not be a problem. Montreal is officially French, but you would get along just fine without being able to speak a word. Both cities have hostels if you are looking for a cheap way to accommodate.

Unfortunately the country is so damn big that seeing the gorgeous west coast would be hard to pull off (depending on your travel budget anyway). But from Toronto and Montreal you could pull off central Canada to the east coast, which would be a nice area to cover

If you are arriving in December, expect crappy weather for a couple months at least. Toronto and Vancouver are the least sever

Answer 7

Contact the nearest Canadian consulate or high commission in order to get all the requirements for working legally within Canada. So-called immigration consultants have a dreadful record for putting out incorrect or misleading information.

As a second step, start writing to the ministries or departments of education in the Canadian provinces in which you would like to work. (In Canada, "provinces" are the equivalent of Australian states.)

Answer 8

Come to Calgary. Mountains an hour away, prairies not much farther. You'd get to experience a huge variety of areas, attractions, people, food, everything! You HAVE to see Banff and the West Edmonton Mall before you die!

Answer 9

Start in Toronto, Ontario (center of the universe). School is from September through to June, then the weather is awesome (warm) till September. http://www.tdsb.on.ca/

Oh hey my brother in law is a history professor at Laurier University! Dr. Spooner!