Canada recruits online

The Canadian Embassy in Paris is offering a virtual early childhood and teaching job fair on March 1 and 2. Registrations are available online until February 4. Many have embarked on the adventure like this French woman in the Vancouver area.

Anne Chanéac arrived in British Columbia, in the Vancouver region, a little over a year ago. At 55, she came to Canada to join her son, a restaurateur.

The Frenchwoman took five months to prepare her immigration file to Canada and gather all the requested documents. As throughout her career in Montpellier, British Columbia, the Frenchwoman is a kindergarten and first grade teacher in a French-speaking school. As soon as she arrived, she felt surrounded.

“When you arrive and you’re new like me, whether you’re French or from other regions of Canada, she explains, you have three days in August, where we train you, we get you started, and we explain a lot of things to you. An educational advisor is at your disposal all year round, if you have the slightest concern, we have people who are there to help you.”

The Frenchwoman may be a few years away from retirement, but she explains that upon arriving in Canada, she prepared to start from scratch, apart from her 33 years of experience in teaching. She also had to adapt to a much more intense pace of work than in France:

“We have fewer vacations and we never have our Wednesdays, she explains. These are five-day weeks, where we start at 8:50 a.m., and finish at 2:50 p.m., and we have an hour break from noon to 1 p.m. When we see it like that, we say to ourselves “it’s going to be cool, we’ll still be able to do things”, and in fact these are super busy days, you have to get used to it!”

His file under his arm

Even though she works in a French-speaking school, to live in Vancouver, she also had to learn English, thanks to weekly conversation classes, before coming.

“The people are mostly English-speaking, but very patient, she notes. There is a lot of immigration, like everywhere in Canada, and everyone is largely used to having to take the time to explain, to start again and so far, honestly, I have only met kind people.”

Even though she prepared for her departure for two years, her arrival in Canada was organized very quickly. Thanks to the French-speaking mobility system, everything went very quickly, even if she preferred to hire the services of a lawyer.

“As I waited until I had a teaching position at the end of June, and I was going to return in September, she remembers, I didn’t have time to make a written request. So, I had to leave on the plane with my file under my arm, and at the Vancouver airport, go through immigration. As I didn’t speak English, I preferred to prepare my case with a lawyer and as a result, it went very easily.”

Anne Chanéac has not yet cut all ties with France. His position in Montpellier is available. The demand for teaching in French across Canada has never been so strong. Schools and daycares are looking for professionals to fill thousands of positions starting next school year.

Go further

Register for the online early childhood and teaching job fair: Destination Canada Education

Facilitate immigration to Canada (outside Quebec) thanks to the French-speaking mobility system

Find this column on the site, the app and in the international mobility magazine “Français à l’enseignement.fr”