Does anyone know the order of things for someone moving from Germany
to Montreal? E.g. what does one need first; visa, appartment, social
security, job? (What about freelancing?) Like, do you need a visa
before a company even thinks about taking you, or do you need a job to
apply for a visa? (I know in Germany you can run into a kind of
vicious circle.)

Thanks!

The answer to this would depend on a lot of factors, such as whether
you intend to live in Canada permanently, long term or short term;
whether you want to come as a student or not; and personal history,
such as level of education and specialty skills.

Take note that French-speaking Quebec (which is where Montreal is) has
its own visa requirements that are different from the rest of Canada. 
As one site notes:  "The Quebec Government selects applicants based
upon factors relating to age, education, work experience, French
language ability and ties to Quebec. The selection system is, in
theory, designed to indicate the likelihood of succeeding in settling
in the Province of Quebec."

A good place to start would be the source of the above quote: 
http://www.canadavisa.com/documents/quebec.htm.

The site has a good deal of information about visa requirements, and
offers to do a free assessment of eligibility.

Another source worth checking is the very optimistic: 

http://www.workpermit.com/canada/canada.htm

They note that "Canada is one of the few countries in the Western
World that is actively looking for immigrants. Not only is it easier
to emigrate to Canada than to other lands of opportunity, it is also
probably one of the most attractive countries in which to live. The
United Nations recently gave Canada the top rating for the best place
to live in the World."

Send us a postcard after you settle down...and best of luck.

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Request for Answer Clarification by j_philipp-ga on 10 Jun 2002 12:19 PDT

Thanks, Davidsar.
Do you know specifically about the order of things: e.g. does it help
for the visa to show a paper of a company telling they're interested
to take one? Or do companies say, before you even show up, get your
visa straight? This is the question I'm specifically after (e.g. I saw
some job postings in which the company specifically emphasized only
canadian citizens need apply).

---

Clarification of Answer by davidsar-ga on 10 Jun 2002 13:33 PDT

Again, it depends a lot on your particulars.  If you're a highly
skilled IT worker, then you're in good shape.

As the www.workpermit.com site notes:

"The term work permit is not officially used in Canada. You need to
obtain an Employment Authorization (EA) and then travel to Canada on a
visitor's visa. In order to obtain the EA you must have a job offer in
Canada, which should be validated by the Human Resources Development
Canada (HRDC). This means, generally speaking, that your employer has
to prove that your position could not be filled by a Canadian citizen
or resident. The validation process is usually somewhat complicated
unless you are one of the following: a Software professional, a member
of the Youth Exchange Program or a Spouse of Highly Skilled Temporary
Worker."

So the answer is...job offer first, but it can hard to come by, but
there are exceptions (all of which are explained on the sites I
mentioned).

Hope this is helpful...and best of luck.  Montreal's a splendid city.

Thanks. The two sites provided are great.