handy-man special

[GNO]

Maybe Jinx can chime in and clarify a few things.

[Manitou]

A temporary work visa can be issued.
My American "girlfriend" came up here to live with me and was able to get one to teach at the school I where I worked. Temporary is the key here and the school would have been forced to hire a Canadian eventually.
We got married, solved that little problem.

If I tried to run a business by bartering work for accommodations I would be in trouble. But I would think a private individual having American friends stay at the guest cottage is a different thing. If those guests bang some nails or cut some grass to show their appreciation for the hospitality I doubt the Immigration department is going to show any interest.
I have also worked with an American who was up here and tried to work illegally. I was playing bass for him in a blues band, and after two nights in this bar the Immigration boys showed up and ended the night early. His mistake was that he actually tried to get a work visa and was denied so he was on the radar.

[nubote]

As a Canadian, I work in the US all the time. But I'm working for a Canadian company, and getting paid by them. I would think it would be the same coming the other way.

[Kmanster]

Just put some poles out with bobers and worms. Have a frisbee, a football and a bag toss game set up. If they stop by, you can try and convince them that along with all the other games, you are playing "Who can pound the most nails in an hour" game.

p.s. Now can we get this back to a reports board and other fishing related stuff plzzzzzz.

[v-bay gord]

Originally Posted by Transporter

Hey. I drive a big rig in Canada all the time for a paint supplier to the auto industry. I cross the boarder sometimes 3 days a week. Never had a "work permit". If all this work permit banter were true you'd think I'd have to drop off the trailer after crossing or be in prison already. Typical message board know it alls spewing only enough information to be unreliable and/or dangerous. Obab's take is nonsense because as with many posters it is over the top and not applicable to many many situations. I painted my cottage last year on the north shore of Lake Erie. My wife and her 2 brothers helped me. Nobody went to jail or got deported. Amazing, eh? They even brought their own paint brushes from......shhh......PA.

Maybe they don't consider driving a truck to be "work" .......

[Obabikon]

Originally Posted by Transporter

Hey. I drive a big rig in Canada all the time for a paint supplier to the auto industry. I cross the boarder sometimes 3 days a week. Never had a "work permit". If all this work permit banter were true you'd think I'd have to drop off the trailer after crossing or be in prison already. Typical message board know it alls spewing only enough information to be unreliable and/or dangerous. Obab's take is nonsense because as with many posters it is over the top and not applicable to many many situations. I painted my cottage last year on the north shore of Lake Erie. My wife and her 2 brothers helped me. Nobody went to jail or got deported. Amazing, eh? They even brought their own paint brushes from......shhh......PA.

It's not my "take" on the issue. It's what immigration officers have told me/warned me. Maybe you should ask next time you cross the border. Deliveries might be a different issue all together. But, for a Canadian business to employ an American citizen... even if it's a barter system... they MUST have a work permit or landed immigrant status. Otherwise, you are breaking the law. I assure you, I'm not being "unreliable" or "dangerous". I would love to be able to employ my friends and family here. However, I am not.


You're allowed to paint your own cottage. You're even allowed to have your friends and family paint your personal cabin. As that is not a business. A resort is not the same as a residence. A business can not employ (and it is employment, even if it's bartering) a worker without the correct documents.


Again, I'm not stating any of this to be a jerk, or even tell people they shouldn't do it. I'm just stating it, so that they know going into it, that they could be breaking the law. Also, if your family friend asks you to come up and help him paint his cabin... by all means, do it. That'd be a great way to spend a week. However, working for a COMPANY is a very different situation.


Also, just because you don't go to jail for breaking the law, doesn't mean you didn't break the law. There's millions of illegal immigrants in the United States. Many of them have jobs. They and their employers are breaking the law. (even if they don't get caught)

[4JawChuck]

I had an American coworker come up here to do some installation assistance on a surgical light at a Canadian Hospital, we corresponded by email extensively to arrange equipment/parts/tools etc.

He shipped his tools FedEx and flew the same day, he told immigration he was coming here for a holiday at my cabin. They had his blackberry and searched through it finding all our correspondence,,,he was sent back and came back the next day after getting a temp work visa.

I was interviewed as well, luckily I played dumb and just said I was there to pick him up. What was even stranger was the immigration officers sister worked as a nurse at the hospital we were going to work at, he contacted her for info and even the hospital administrator to verify reality.

If I had attempted the same thing going the other way across the border I have no doubt I would have been arrested and charged, worst thing that's going to happen to you coming to Canada is sending you back.

Truck Drivers are exempt from this type of situation under a different set of laws, they are not comparable to tradesmen or other workers due to the free trade arrangement that covers the movement of goods across the border.

[tooski]

"searched through it finding all our correspondence"

Kind of curious as to how you could have "just played dumb".

[4JawChuck]

Originally Posted by tooski

"searched through it finding all our correspondence"

Kind of curious as to how you could have "just played dumb".

At that point I had no idea he had been detained, I was standing in the airport at customs and he was a no show...when I went to customs to ask his whereabouts when they questioned me.

What would you have done?

I only found out details when he arrived back in Chicago and returned my calls, all they told me at customs is he was being sent back.

I'm sure I am in some database somewhere with photos alongside other known terrorists trying to smuggle Americans into the country...you know how dangerous these type of people are.

[rwl]

I've been to and send other employees to Canada all the time for work. Flying in with tools usually Toronto or Montreal. No problems at all, no work visa. The only thing we've ever been required to have is a letter from the company we are going to work for, Kraft, Frito-lay Canada, SC Johnson etc. requesting our presence. Its usually for 2-3 days at a time.