With Vancouver repeatedly scoring as both the most livable and one of the most expensive cities in the world, a working holiday visa could be a great way to fund a stay in this particularly fresh and beautiful part of Canada.
With Vancouver repeatedly scoring as both the most livable and one of the most expensive cities in the world, a working holiday visa could be a great way to fund a stay in this particularly fresh and beautiful part of Canada. Here’s a few tips regarding the sort of jobs available if you don’t have a solid idea of what you’re looking for.
When’s the best time to find work?
Vancouver has a fairly booming seasonal tourist trade, which can prove to be a bit of a double-edged sword in terms of finding a job. One one hand, it means there’s a lot of tourism jobs available, but this also means people flock to the city on working holiday visas during certain periods, so you’ll have to compete with both them and native Vancouverites if you go in certain seasons. The two main holiday periods are summer and winter, so if you haven’t got a job sorted before you arrive and you’re looking to find something in situ, you’re better off arriving during April or May for summer jobs or October for the winter.
Seasonal Positions
Server jobs are a-plenty during the summer when bars and restaurants are at their busiest, whereas if you head over at the end of the year you could grab yourself an awesome winter job in one of the Ski Resorts surrounding the city. Cyprus and Grouse are two resorts that aren’t too remote, so you can enjoy the benefits of working in a resort without stepping too far outside the urban.
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Working in hospitality – the pros and cons
If you’re looking for something more transferrable like bar or waiting work, you might be shocked if you’re coming from Europe or outside North America: the biggest downside to working as a server in Vancouver is probably the pay check. You might already be aware that the base server pay is pretty atrocious in the US, and unfortunately this carries over to Canada as well. However, tips and service charge form a huge part of the salary, and Canadians are generally very generous in this respect – during busy seasons, competent members of the service industry can expect to make around $300 a night. On account of this, there’s a lot of competition for these sort of jobs during peak times, so a few year’s previous experience might be necessary if you’re looking for positions in this industry while on your working holiday visa.
Recruitment Agencies
If you don’t want to hunt for work independently or you’re not sure where to begin, you might want to consider using the services of a Recruitment Agency. They’ll charge a commission, but it might be your best bet if you want to find something tailored to your own personal skill set and potentially better paid. Appleone and Randstad are two well-connected recruitment agencies with offices in Vancouver and could be a good place to start; more details can be found on their respective websites.
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