The International Schools Review Forum

Hi all,

I have a deal 95% done for next year, at a Canadian-accredited international school. The process of sealing the deal drags on because I need to be an Alberta-certified teacher. It has taken many months to submit all of the documentation, including the FBI background check that took 16 weeks. Only now do I find that I need a Canadian work permit to get the certification, even though I am an American and will not be working in Canada.

Has anyone else ever had to do such a thing?

The Ministry of Education has told me that they can give me a Letter of Authority (in lieu of the license) so that hiring me would be totally possible, but I'm still waiting to hear from the Director if he is okay with hiring me under that circumstance.

I am researching Canadian work permits, and I think there is an open work permit not tied to any one employer, but if anyone here has faced a similar challenge I'd like to read your feedback. Thanks!

You can not get an open work permit, they are essentially restricted to transitional applicants for PR (permanent residency). The option is to apply for a temporary permit (which wont happen without a Canadian employer supporting the application)and applying to immigrate to Canada, which it is far to late to do in May. The process takes about 6 months.

This is actually pretty common, each province has its own policy and procedure for certification, some Providences such as BC issue certification to foreigners, some like Alberta do not.

Your IS however knows this, I would find it very difficult for them not too. They may have neglected to indicate that the LOA is acceptable in which case this is a non issue. The LOA will only authorize you to teach at Alberta overseas ISs, and you must notify the Alberta regulatory authority if you move to a different IS, it is not a general Canadian license.

The concern is that your IS having known this, may be using the issue as a vehicle to withdraw the contract should they identify a preferred/superior candidate. They can always claim much later in the recruiting season that the LOA is not acceptable, sorry your contract is now voided. It could also be used as a wild card during the course of your employment, as they can claim at anytime that they received recent guidance that the LOA does not meet the accreditation requirements and they can no longer employ you.

Thank you for the response. I really did not believe, or want to believe, that the school knew I was ineligible for the Alberta certification to begin with, on account of the work visa. Now I'm beginning to wonder.

I do have contingency plans, of course. I'm not as naive as I once was. We will see how this goes. But as I have it in writing directly from Alberta Education that a LOA will allow me to be hired there, so I think it's safe to assume it is not really an issue for the school's accreditation.

I've received good news. No foul play here.

@Mr. Miller

Glad it worked out, I would still be weary, just less weary, your IS should have informed you that the LOA was acceptable. If they cant do that, what else cant they or wont they do?