For two and a half years. I worked (offshore) as Senior Software Engineer and Team Leader at Telus International Philippines, a subsidiary of Telus in Asia, where I directly worked and interfaced with the onshore counterparts in Canada (Software Architects, Managers, Developers, QA & Testers, etc). Can that be considered as part of the so called “Canadian Work Experience”?
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What does "...I worked (offshore)..." mean? Where were you physically located during this period?– DavidRecallsMonicaSep 11, 2018 at 2:36
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@David Good evening sir David, thank you for the clarification. I worked in the Philippines (offshore delivery center) of Telus International. Telus Communications (the mother company) is a Canadian Telecommunications company, and on all the projects, we worked on primarily with our Canadian counterparts on a daily basis. Since the work we do is 100% for the Canadian conglomerate and we worked together with (and for) the Canadian team 24x7, is this not considered Canadian work experience?– youincSep 11, 2018 at 4:10
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I suspect not, but the context probably matters. In what context are you asking about "Canadian work experience"?– phoogSep 11, 2018 at 7:21
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Good afternoon Sir @phoog, by that I meant the context of applying for immigration in Canada and getting credit for the work experience as a truly Canadian work experience as a software engineer.– youincSep 11, 2018 at 7:23
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1 Answer
The answer depends on what the government of Canada means by "Canadian work experience." It might include work one has done with a Canadian company, as you have done, or might require that the work have been done in Canada.
I entered "Canadian Immigration" in a web search engine; a list of results was presented. Then I clicked on the first entry posted by the Canadian government, I entered "Canadian Work Experience" in the search box on that page. That search showed that the phrase "Canadian Work Experience" appeared on this Canadian government webpage describing the "Canadian Experience Class (Express Entry)" immigration scheme.
Here's a screenshot from that page:
The text above includes this:
- have at least 1 year of skilled work experience in Canada, in the last 3 years before you apply. The work was: full-time or an equal amount in part-time
- have gained your work experience by working in Canada legally
(Note that the words "1 year of skilled work experience in Canada" are a link. Clicking on that link describes the kind of work required, but not where the work will have occurred.)
The text includes "skilled work experience in Canada, and working in Canada (my emphasis). These words indicate to me that this Canadian immigration scheme requires the applicant to have done qualifying work within the country of Canada, and not remotely or overseas.
answered Sep 11, 2018 at 13:58
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Nice answer. I was planning to do much as you by searching the internet and the Canadian government pages and expecting to find essentially what you found. I would just underscore that legally speaking, someone working for a foreign subsidiary of a Canadian company is of course not employed by the Canadian company but by the foreign subsidiary. I suppose that the requirement here is to be directly employed by a Canadian company (with appropriate work authorization, of course). The experience described in the question may be helpful in other ways but doesn't seem to satisfy this requirement.– phoogSep 11, 2018 at 15:24
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@phoog Thanks. But nothing on the Canadian government site says the work must be done for a Canadian company; it requires only that the work was done in Canada and was otherwise qualifying. I'd think that work physically done in Canada, for a non-Canadian company that was legally present there, would qualify. Sep 11, 2018 at 15:51
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Companies don't normally employ people in foreign countries; rather, they set up a subsidiary in that country that employs people. So a Canadian employee of Microsoft, for example, works for Microsoft Canada, Inc., which is a Canadian company headquartered in Mississauga, ON, or perhaps some other Canadian subsidiary. But if there is some exception to that general rule that applies in Canada then yes, you are surely correct.– phoogSep 11, 2018 at 16:12
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@phoog Well, I'm a retired lawyer. Pickiness comes naturally. <g> In California, for instance, a non-California corporation (here denominated as a "foreign" corporation) may become qualified to "do business" in the state. The other avenue, as you correctly describe, is creating a subsidiary. The same sort of choice in the international environment may be available to non-Canadian firms. Sep 11, 2018 at 16:31
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I suppose that's true. The point I was really trying to make is that "in Canada" is probably an oversimplification, as these public information pages often oversimplify things. If the person came to Canada repeatedly as a business visitor, while employed outside of Canada by a foreign subsidiary, for an aggregate period of 1 year, I suppose that wouldn't count at all, and if the person were employed in Canada for just one year but spent several months abroad in connection with that employment I suspect that it would count anyway.– phoogSep 11, 2018 at 16:59