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Short-term working visa (Montréal)

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Hi all,

My girlfriend and I are both British citizens, currently living and working in Bahrain in the Middle East. After visiting Canada late last year, we are very keen to visit again for an extended period, with a view to possibly moving / emigrating permanently in the future. We are now trying to determine if it's possible to obtain short-term visit and working visas to allow us to explore Canada for six months or so, and would appreciate any help / guidance anyone could give!

I have obtained a six month sabbatical from my company, so we are hoping to spend this time as a 'trial' period to immerse ourselves in Canadian culture. While we are there we would both like to work if possible. Having done some initial research, it seems there are some positions for which work permits are not required. However, I suspect we would still require permits, since neither of us are trained in the exempt areas indicated. We are both 35, and so would not be eligible for the youth work experience programme. I work in the branding / design industry and my girlfriend is a trained interior designer, though we would be happy with any employment opportunities during the time we are there.

Our initial idea was to try Montreal, but as our French is not great we are also considering alternatives including Toronto and Vancouver.

Can anyone help us with some advice about this - first, is it even possible to obtain a short-term visit and working visa appropriate to what we are looking for? Second, what are the requirements / applications we would need to complete and how do we apply. Any other relevant information would also be very helpful!

Thank you in advance.

Hamish

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