I worked in Ottawa this past week. Almost didn’t get into the country. I was pulled aside at immigration and required to explain why someone in Canada couldn’t do the job I was flown in to do. After hanging out with the young immigration official (they were ALL really really young…I wanted to ask if there was an adult in charge anywhere, but thought it would do my case no good) for over an hour, I was finally given the opportunity to purchase a 2-week work permit for $150. Others on the team have flown back and forth to Canada and not had this rich experience. I might have to beef up my traveling appearance. There might have been a visual reason why they couldn’t figure out what skill I could possibly offer that a Canadian couldn’t perform much better!
On the other hand, it is interesting that I never gave a thought in advance to any problem there might be in my working in Canada. Working in a foreign country without a visa? Why would I worry about that? I’m an American. If I had heard about a Latin American trying this same stunt, I would have thought they were completely out of touch with the reality of border crossings these days.
pictures from my journey:
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