If you are migrating to Canada, it is extremely difficult to succeed without a job offer, and you really do need to use a job placement company offering a different service to a recruitment Agency.

Recruitment agencies normally act on behalf of an employer, and charge a fee (equal to 25% of the employee’s annual salary) to the employer.  When applying through a recruitment agency, your application would be just one of many they put forward to that employer.  Most, if not all, other applications will be from Canadians.  If the person a recruitment agency they places with an employer leaves within three months of starting, then they will be replaced at no further charge to the employer.

As a foreigner without a valid work permit, the recruitment company will see you as being a high risk placement and so may not put you forward at all, or, at the very least, include many reservations in their assessment of your application.  Your application will be relegated to the bottom of the pile, and only chosen if they simply cannot find someone locally.

As you need a job offer to obtain the visa, you find yourself in a chicken and egg situation.  You cannot get the visa without a job offer, no one will want to employ you as you are several months away from arriving, and an employer will really expect you to have a visa before they offer you a job!

Relocation Unit Inc. organizes a job search specifically oriented towards migrants.  This service is free of charge to the migrant.

Unlike a recruitment company, we do a lot more than just look for available jobs.  Firstly, we help you rewrite your CV in the Canadian style at a professional level, and help school you in local networking, interviewing and job search techniques.

We market you only, directly to employers, and so your application does not get lost amongst the applications from Canadians.  The employers are happy to obtain an employee without having to pay a recruitment company, and they save a great deal of money.  They also get an employee coming from a much tougher and more sophisticated business/work environment than in Canada and so are obtaining staff of an excellent caliber.  We will market you only when you are close to being able to start the job, so that the employer knows they can expect you to start quickly.

Immigration Unit assists the employer with the application to employ a foreign worker without charge to the employer.  Both Immigration Unit and Relocation Unit are able to assure the employer that you can be employed legally, quickly with no agency fees to pay.  This encourages them to take you on when they would be most reluctant to do so if they were dealing with a normal recruitment agency. In the unlikely event that the job does not meet your expectations after an initial three month trial, we will re-market you and arrange for a new application for your work permit to be changed to a new employer at no additional charge.

It is only necessary to job place one person in a couple for you to obtain a visa.  However many migrants wish to have both adults job placed as this is economically very beneficial.

A trade training program is designed to provide trades instruction to international students with the intention of coming to Canada to work for a contractor.  The program was developed to meet the growing need for employers in specific industries.  Students undergo the training while still in the UK, through accredited institutions in Canada, and they are supported in their courses by Relocation Unit and our associated colleges.  Students move to Canada and undertake “localisation” using our relocation services.

We assist people in matching their credentials to Canadian standards.  We undertake this for people from most backgrounds and industries ranging from professional classes to associate professionals and trades people.  We assist with choosing further educational assistance, where our help is sought.

In conjunction with Immigration Unit, we help you prepare and undertake the move to Canada.  We will supply you with a relocation guide book full of useful information before you arrive.  We also help you to:

Open a Bank account in your new country.

Relocation Unit Inc works with Canadian National (retail) Banks to set up your account and credit services.  These banks will open accounts and to allow you to move money to the account before arriving in the country.  Upon arrival, you will be able to go to the bank with your ID, and collect your new credit cards and cheque books that are waiting for you at your new branch.  This will also help establish your new credit rating in Canada.

Move your money abroad.

Eventually you will probably need to move you local funds into you new bank account in Canada.

If you tell your local retail (high street) bank to send the money overseas, they generally absorb 2% to 2.5% of your money in this transaction by giving you a lower exchange rate than they obtain.  Some also charge additional “commission” and “fees”.  They do not wait for the rates to peak before sending your money, and this means you receive a lot less when the money arrives, rather than waiting a short time for a peak rate before transfer. 

By using the money brokerage system, you can maximise the money in your overseas account in a more effective way than simply using a retail (High Street) bank.  Immigration Unit will help you make suitable arrangements with a good money broker, setting a suitable timeframe within which to move the money.  The brokers will advise on any anticipated markets influences that are likely to increase or decrease the exchange rate in the agreed timeframe.  You then agree a rate and when the rates peaks to your agreed rate, they will organize for a merchant bank to buy in your currency.  You then pay the merchant bank the agreed amount and they then send on the currency to your pre arranged bank account in Canada.  The Merchant bank will deduct the agreed brokers commission of 0.5% (with no other “commission” or “fees”).  Overall, you will get between 2% and 10% more money in your overseas account.  That is £2,000 to £10,000 more per £100,000 transferred.  It is simple, safe and quite profitable for you.

Move your furniture, other goods and pets. 

It is important to use reputable people for these different services, and paying more does not guarantee a better service.  We will refer you to companies our clients have successfully used (without any complaints) over the years.

We recently heard of a family (not our client) who used a removal company and paid them for their services.  They moved and some weeks later, when their goods had not arrived, they contacted the shipping agent in their home country and discovered that the removals company had not paid the fees to the home country shipping agent.  So their container was still sitting on the docks along with 22 other containers in the same situation.  The family then had to pay all over again.  The home country removals company had closed, the managers disappeared, and it appears that all of those people lost their money.

Find initial Accommodation

Before departure, we will discuss your requirements with you and arrange a suitable list of properties for you to choose from.  Where possible, we will send you viewings via internet to assist you in your choice.  Normally the properties will be fully furnished and equipped with linen, cooking utensils and equipment, crockery and glasses and so forth.  We will even stock your home with a welcome package of tea, coffee, grocery essentials, etc.

Meet and Greet Services

Relocation Unit Inc.  provide a “meet and greet” service that will smooth your way by providing you with choices of short term initial accommodation before you arrive, meet you at the airport and provide a wealth of information on life in your new local area.

This will help you to familiarise yourself with your destination city before you arrive.  We try to provide plenty of localised information, such as the location of local supermarket(s) and a comparison of their goods and services, etc.  We show you where to find your local doctor and dentist etc. and the many other things you need to know.

We help you settle in and deal with the million and one “how to” and “where to” kind of questions, and even stock your refrigerator with the essentials for your first day’s arrival, right down to English teabags!

Canadian Mobile Telephone

When you are met at the airport, you will be given (free) your new Canadian mobile/cell phone SIM card along with $50.00 on board calling credit for the second (old) phone you bring with you. This ensures that you are contactable by Canadians on a Canadian phone number, and also by people from home on your old mobile number.

Automobile Rental/Purchases

Relocation Unit has contracted with National Car Rental to provide rental vehicles at discounted rates when you arrive in Canada.  We can also assist with locating and purchasing the car of your dreams, and obtaining the necessary financing approval needed to make the purchase.

Initial Accommodation and subsequent rental accommodation.

When you first arrive you move into the pre-arranged accommodation we have helped you to select.  This will be a fully serviced home, complete with linen, crockery, cooking implements etc.  This will your base until your furniture arrives.  You will look for an unfurnished home in a good location close to your employment.  Our staff will explain the rental process in the region where you wish to rent initially, and help you find desirable neighborhoods and rental properties.  We can also guide you through any lease negotiations.

We supply accreditation to estate agents showing you are legal migrants with sufficient capital and income to afford to rent a home.  This, together with your previously set-up bank accounts, will help you overcome any doubts the agent may have.

Home Search

We will provide you with guidance as to the purchase process in your destination region and assist you in locating a good local real estate agent best suited to serve you and your family’s needs.

Mortgage Assistance

We work with reputable mortgage lenders to assist you in acquiring the best possible mortgage in accordance with your needs.  This can help you to buy a better home than if you simply relied on the cash you already have.  You should bear in mind that you will already be earning a substantial income, and it may be a better investment decision to buy a more expensive home with a reasonable mortgage, than to buy a lesser home without a mortgage.  Always remember the number one rule of real estate investment: location – location - location!

Utility Services

We can help you with advice on which service providers to use for sensible lower cost telephone and utility services connections.

School Search

Assistance is provided in identifying the right school for your children, based on their academic and emotional requirements.  All necessary information required for school registration is provided.

Community Connections

Relocation Unit staff are a phone call away to provide you with hands-on assistance at your new location.  We are here to help your family settle in to your new home and community.  Assistance is available for obtaining all necessary documentation such Drivers License, Medical Insurance, and so on.

Spouse Education/Training consulting

With many years of Canadian experience in helping people with training, education and relocation, our staff are well suited to guide and assist clients’ spouses in selecting and registering for education and re-training courses and programs suited to their needs.

Immigration Unit and Relocation Unit work together to help people move and migrate to Canada, Australia and New Zealand (all Commonwealth countries).  Both companies employ staff in many of the major migration destinations and expect to have a presence in every major city in those countries very soon. We are increasing our network of staff, and the subsequent provision of services, on an ongoing basis. 

We develop long term relationships with clients, from the start of the process through to citizenship and also take great care to develop good long term relationships with the various associated companies who supply services to people migrating.  We maintain good contacts with associated firms by regular face to face meetings in order to ensure that you are dealing with reputable people and companies throughout your move.

We do hope we can help you further but, in any event, we wish you the very best outcome in your move to Canada.

Using a good agent will help smooth the way and, for most people, this will actually be less expensive than doing it yourself.  You are moving from one country to another and, while it is not impossible to do it on your own, there are many visa problems and practical pitfalls that you may not understand or be aware of.

You may already have a friend or relative in your new location who is helpful with providing accommodation and showing you around when you arrive, but, unless your friend is an Immigration professional, that is about all they can do, even if they themselves migrated under older systems.

Think how hard it would be to explain to someone how to make a legal migration to this country from Canada if they did not have an EU passport?  Can you really explain the complicated rules for legal migrants from a western country, plus how to use those rules to allow them to live in your country?  Could you recommend freight companies and money brokers in Canada?  Yet all of these factors are either important or critical to success and making the wrong decisions could be frustrating, expensive and possibly lead to total failure.  Using a good agent locally is important.

The Consultants at Immigration Unit Ltd. are fully qualified and trained professionals. They are Legal Practitioners, Public Accountants and Migration Agents with many years' experience of consulting.  All staff undertake regular professional development courses and other training designed to keep up to date with the very latest information on migration laws and regulations.

They will help you all the way from first visa preparation, temporary work permits, permanent residence visas, right up to your citizenship application, and stay with your case until this is actually granted.