Working Holiday in Canada

Hi all,

I am planning on going on a working holiday to Canada in March 2009 with my girfriend. We are both from Brisbane in Australia and are yet to travel as of yet, we have a small holiday planned for Decemeber to the US visiting LA, Las Vegas and Hawaii on the way back. We want to head over to Canada and work and travel for around 6 months or so, and see the sites of Canada and also venture in and out of the US as well.

We are both from warm climates, however my girlfriend has lived in Canberra before, which is quite cold. I am not phased by the cold however she is, can anyone tell me a bit about the temperatures and weather in the main capital citys of Canada, do they differ much? are some warmer then others?

I am considering just taking any odd jobs over there to earn money to support us, we are both planning on bringing a minimum of $5000AUD each to keep us going. Is this a suitable amount for this kind of trip?

Has anyone from Australia or any country for that matter done the same working holiday idea? any tips would be great? Where to go, what to see? where to stay/work?

Hope someone can shed some light for me, thanks guys

I'm not sure how cold Canberra is but there really is no clear cut answer for Canada. Because it is so large it really depends on where you end up going. The warmest areas would have to be S and SW Ontario, and S BC. I was living in Toronto for a few years and it tends to sit around -10 (all measurements in degrees C). I have moved to NW Ontario now and am awaiting winter, I have been told that with windchill it is around -30. The winters in ON are quite nice. I have never been to another province in the winter but I have heard that newfoundland is pretty rough in the winter, as is N BC. If your looking for work I would say S BC or ON are the places you want to look.

Alberta is in a boom but finding places to stay is hard, so finding a place to live/work there might pose to be difficult. I have heard the job market out east isn't that great either. If you don't speak French you won't find work in Quebec. Ontario is most densely populated province and is in Central Canada, so it is a bit easier to go to other provinces this way. Ottawa, Toronto, and London are some of the larger city areas (with Toronto (TO) and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) being the largest). If you need any help with ontario feel free to PM me. I have driven through/visited/lived in almost every town and city in ON. I only know other parts of Canada from my friends/family but haven't been able to experience it myself yet.

Also just keep in mind if your looking to travel from city to city or town to town out west is fairly wide open, with long stretches in between them. Traveling by air is way to expensive (it is cheaper to fly to england than to BC) so bus is really the only economical way. For example in NW ontario you will notice that there is only really 2-4 major roads and not a heck of alot inbetween. The largest city up here is Thunder Bay, and Winnipeg (in Manitoba) which is 800 km from Tbay is the next largest.

Hey I was just reading your entries here & wondered I want to get a working holiday visa for either Canada or the USA. How realistic is this? Ive heard the USA is pretty difficult & they only give out so many working holiday visas (WHVs) per year for Canada, is this true?
Where can I apply for WHV?
Thanks everyone.... when ive looked on the states websites... they look pretty confusing.

Cheers x

Canada is a large country most of which at some point in the year is covered in snow. as SIC2001 said southern Ontario is nice in that it doesn't get too cold but they do tend to get a lot of snow. Alberta ( specifically Calgary) gets somewhat less snow but can get significantly colder ( -50C with wind this past year) and it tends to be colder for more of the year. but it is the place to be if you like snow boarding, hiking climbing or other mountain sports. BC tends to be warmer, also has access to the mountains and is very beautiful. Alberta is currently the Provence undergoing the largest boom right now but it is slowing down a bit so jobs are still easy to find ( especially if you are a car mechanic ) but who knows. as far as things to see I would have to suggest seeing Ontario in the fall as it is very beautiful but other than that I really dont know.

on the topic of visas the government of Canada has a website for that. http://workingincanada.gc.ca/content_pieces.do?content=temporary_worker&lang=en
this is the QA page and you should be able to find what you need from here. I do know that Canada offers Visas for young people ages 18-35 from most of the EU country's and Australia... they all have some kind of treaty thing..

not sure what else to say other than if you find yourself in Calgary and need a place to stay for a bit give me a shout and I can probably hook you up with a couch till you find something more permanent.

happy travels

Quoting Cherries69

Hey I was just reading your entries here & wondered I want to get a working holiday visa for either Canada or the USA. How realistic is this? Ive heard the USA is pretty difficult & they only give out so many working holiday visas (WHVs) per year for Canada, is this true?
Where can I apply for WHV?

For Canada, it's a lot easier for Australians to get a WHV than it is for a British person. Pretty much the only way from the UK is through BUNAC - their non-student visas are currently non available until January as there is quite a strict limit to the amount of visas issued.

For the USA, there isn't really any such thing as a working holiday visa. There are some work/travel programs such as working at a summer camp available through organisations such as BUNAC, CCUSA, Camp America, as well some student programs.

Thanks very much for your advice.
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