Hi everyone…Long time reader, first time poster…
I love straight dope, and I know there have probably been countless posts on this before, and it may fit somewhere else, so mods, do what you see fit…
I want to know about Canada. I am a college student in America. I am obtaining my teaching degree for a certification for teaching English to students grade 7-12. I can get a million job projections for here in the US, but I have started considering the idea of immigrating to canada. I’ve visited Canada when I was younger (we used to keep a boat near Sandusky, Ohio, so Canada was simply a day-trip we took every now and then)…I loved it there, but now my life is different.
So here are the questions.
What kind of training would I have to have once I got into Canada, as in a specific licensure program to be a teacher in canada or would the one I have for teaching here in the usa?
Would I even be eligible for moving into Canada to become a permanent resident if I am a teacher. I know that it is important to have an occupation that is in demand in the area you would be moving to, so I just wonder about how my future occupation fares in such a country.
Leaving the idea of Canada alone, what about moving to Europe. I’ve also considered this possibility and am more than a little curious about it. I know it would probably matter more on what country in Europe I planned on being in, but I don’t know what to look into as far as which country would need someone in my profession (sic)?
Keep in mind that at this time I am simply acquiring my licensure in general english, not english as a second language. I don’t believe my university even offers a course of study in teaching english as a second language.
Beyond that, you’d have to ask more specific questions about what part of Canada you were thinking about maybe moving to. It’s 3000 miles across, after all. Alberta would be your best bet if you wanted to minimize personal taxes, with the Vancouver area having the mildest year-round weather (but being an expensive city to live in). Beyond having to stick “u” in words like colour, honour and favour (and the practice is slowly dying out, anyway), culture shock should be nil.
Well, I live in Ohio right now, kind of near columbus/granville (yeah, I live in a hick town that no one knows of outside of it, unless you mention the big cities nearby) so I believe there would be little culture shock.
I would be looking into moving just north of the border (sorry, couldn’t resist) possibly on the other side of Lake Erie. Me and my girlfriend are both from a small town and wouldn’t want to live in too large of a city.
So this brings another interesting point to my questions…
Education in Canada is a provincial responsibility. So while your immigration application is determined by the government of Canada, getting a teaching license varies from province to province.
Since I assume Ontario is your closest destination (and of course has the most teaching jobs) you need to go through the Ontario College of Teachers. It IS possible to get your license based on American credentials. However, you will need to get a job offer before applying.
It’s kind of a chicken and egg situation, but your starting point should be trying to land a job with your American credentials; if they’re strong enough, getting the license will be a formality.
As to cities, “small city” isn’t a very clear request. What’s small? 50,000? 100,000? 250,000? I assume Toronto (2,500,000) Ottawa (1,000,000) and Hamilton (500,000) are right out.
I live in Burlington, pop. 151,000. Lovely city. But perhaps you consider that too big.
Woodstock, approx. 40,000, is doing very well and is quite nice. If you want to stay a close drive to Columbus, perhaps close to a border crossing is preferable, like St. Catharines (close to Niagara Falls) or Chatham (close to Windsor.)
I also forgot to follow up on Bryan’s point about immigration; economic immigration is based on a points system that gives you a score out of 100 based on various factors. Given that you would be applying as a young, educated, English-speaking person with a job offer (once you get one) you would get a very high score indeed, as those are pretty much the big ticket point scorers: age, education, job, language.
thanks for the links, I will start looking into them further after my next class…(gah! senior year is ridiculous)…
I also left a message with my advisor here and the office of carreer services director (an old friend of mine) about placement, and if the university could place me in an international setting.
More and more questions come up…
My girlfriend is in the process of obtaining her phd in criminology…market in canada?
also…how strong do credentials need to be for canadian standards?
Thanks so much for all the help so far…I appreciate it a lot.
Ontario would be the destination at hand, simply because my family is in northern ohio and I would love to keep contact close with them, and they are supportive yet curious about a move to canada…
Be back to check for answers after class…
Thanks again…
You should be able to get a test run with a student teacher gig in Canada. I know two teachers from Bowling Green, Ohio who did their student teacher work in Montreal. Neither stayed in the Great White North, but they weren’t looking to immigrate.
But as for other questions, I think you’ll need to contact the Ontario College of Teachers to get the specifics.
I think of small as maybe 40k or less…I’ve lived in smaller and I liked it, but with a town that size there is decent economy and diversity. I am not worried too much about the drive to columbus, as they were from near columbus and now live near Sandusky. My extended family is in New Phillidelphia, Ashland, and Mansfield, so Sandusky is relatively decent.
oops…forgot to address student teaching…
I’ve already been placed…I’m at a local high school, we are on spring break right now…so far, I love it…I’m working in 10th and 11th grade english…my certification from ohio will be 7-12 english/lang-arts…
that kind of puts canadian student teaching out of the question, since I don’t have much left of mine…but if I would’ve thought of it before this year, I absolutely would have looked into it.
thanks for the great suggestions and comments…all the help is really appreciated…
off-hand question: what about my puppy? will she require a visa as well? (heh) seriously, is there paperwork or any qualifications for moving an animal into canada along with myself?
Just basing this on the experience of my wife (well, she wasn’t at the time) who moved from the US to Canada with her cat. All she needed was a certificate from her vet saying the animal was healthy, and its vaccinations and shots were up-to-date. I got the idea things were pretty simple when it came to moving house pets across the border; although, of course, you should confirm this ahead of time also.
We just has a mass murder near London, Ontario. She’ll do great!
I would imagine any accredited American university is going to give you fundamentally the same credentials as a Canadian university. Unless you’re going to the unaccredited Junior Starter College Of Mike’s Web Site I would imagine the OCT would be fine with it. They have part of the web site dedicated to foreign applicants so it obviously must happen from time to time, and one would presume American schools are as similar to ours as you can find. You may be doing this at the right time; my understand is that Ontario is losing a lot of teachers to retirement over the next five to ten years.
Ontario is just slightly bigger than Ohio by population, and is economically quite similar, so the market is comparable in terms of size and opportunity.
I’m not a teacher so take this with a grain of salt. But a few years ago I remember a story about Canadian teachers going across the border to get their education degrees in the US because there weren’t enough positions available in Canadian schools (in fact some US schools were actively seeking Canadian students for this purpose). They would then be able to get all their required accreditation just fine for teaching back in Canada. So I don’t think your American education would pose any type of problem.
Also, it seems like tons of the additional courses and accreditation requirements for teachers in Canada (maybe USA too?) are done online these days. Perhaps you look into that to fill in any possible extra requirements you may have.
As to your girlfriend, she is out of luck, as there is no such thing as crime in Canada
Starting points for the UK: This is the Government’s website for overseas teachers looking to teach in England, and this is the Scottish Executive’s general recruitment site (the Scottish education system being completely separate). I’m sure there’s equivalent sites out there for Wales and Northern Ireland should you wish to find them.
The first step is to find out whether you will be qualified to teach here - follow the information and links in those pages, because undergraduate degrees can differ in content across the pond. A British BEd qualifies you, but the more common route is a normal Bachelor degree plus a one-year teacher-training course known as PGCE. Demand for teachers varies drastically depending on the subject, and unfortunately I don’t think English is a subject with particuarlar problems in this area. However, this still doesn’t mean there’s hordes of unemployed English teachers loitering around school gates.
I don’t know if this is still true but when we moved to Canada over 37 years ago, my wife was certified to teach English, French, and Russian and discovered that Canadian citizenship was an absolute requirement to teach in Quebec. I have no idea what, if any, other provinces have such a requirement or even if Quebec still does, but you should find out.
You mean my associates from Uncle Steve’s Roadside College-like Stand wouldn’t hold up in the great northern continent? That makes me comfortable to know that I’m at an accredited, state-funded university (we actually have a decently ranking education program at state level, I’d say top 5? maybe)
I don’t believe she’s looking to solve any crimes, I think she’d be more apt to teach at a university about the subject of deviance…I know she began by wanting to be a sociology prof. (specifically the more advanced, generally 300+ courses, not 101 type things) and she got into criminology in her junior year after taking a class called “Introspective into serial murders”
She is also working on her certification to be a school counselor, as she takes a special interest in children…
Just a quick note on terminology, especially since you want to be a teacher in Canada.
We don’t use “freshman,” “sophomore,” “junior,” and “senior” in Canada. At high school, years are referred to by grade (as in Grade Ten or Tenth Grade); while at university, years are referred to by…well, year: First Year, Second Year, and so on.
Just want you to sound like you’ve done your homework if you get an interview.
Obviously you’re going to want to know a European language quite well.
My stepdaughter is just finishing up a master’s degree at Teachers College of Columbia University, and she is all set to begin a two-year stint teaching in Germany in the summer. I believe she’ll be teaching English as a second language to some quite young kids.
One thing about teaching foreign language is that some schools or districts over there seem to have the notion that a native speaker is OK for conversational practice, but for the intricacies of grammar you want a foreign speaker who had to learn it consciously. For instance, when I took my German language immersion classes at the beginning of my own year in Germany, the grammar instructor was Belgian.
Well, I’m glad to hear that you’re looking out for me, spoons, because I’m convinced I’ll need all the help I can get…
The truth is, I mentioned England out of curiousity…let’s be honest, the practicality of a teacher having the money to come visit his family all the way across the pond is a bit far-fetched…but thanks for the info on that, as it may come put in the future (actually, a very good possibility)…just maybe after my guest membership here has run out, maybe I should subscribe now?
