How do I relocate to Canada from the US to become a Paramedic

[emt3314]

Hello all, The reason I am writing is I am very interested in relocating from the US to canada to go to school to become a Paramedic.

My ultimate goal is to become employed with Toronto EMS upon my graduation but i have no idea where to start so I hope I can get some feedback and advice from everyone.

thank you for your time

Stephen

[rock_shoes]

First you will need to go through one of Ontario's 2 year Primary Care Paramedic programs just to work as a BLS provider. Then you will be entering a highly competitive job market as Toronto EMS is a very difficult service to get in to. It's also worth noting that there is an abundance of PCP's in Ontario at the moment.

[Dustdevil]

First things first. You're going to have to get clearance to legally immigrate to Canadia as a student. To do that, you have to prove major financial responsibility, showing that you will be able to support yourself for two years, without working, without becoming a burden on Canadian society. After you finish that, you then have to apply for immigration in order to work legally. In order to do that, you generally have to show that your profession is in major demand in Canadia, as well as having an employer who says they are ready to hire you. As Rocky already pointed out, there is no shortage at all of PCPs in Canadia, so that angle isn't likely to work out for you.

Canadia has some of the finest paramedical education in the world, without a doubt. But unless you have an "in" to Canadian citizenship, you're likely looking at a dead end, as far as going to work in Ontario. If you're bound and determined to do this at all costs, then you should probably start by finding a Canadian wife. Just beware. All Canadian women are crazy.

Edited March 11, 2009 by Dustdevil

[scott33]

First you will need to go through one of Ontario's 2 year Primary Care Paramedic programs just to work as a BLS provider.

It almost sounds surreal to read that out loud. But boy, is that progressive.

[BEorP]

It almost sounds surreal to read that out loud. But boy, is that progressive.

Keep in mind though that "BLS" in Ontario is not strictly BLS in a true sense of the word.

[scott33]

Keep in mind though that "BLS" in Ontario is not strictly BLS in a true sense of the word.

No doubt.

[WolfmanHarris]

The barriers keep mounting I'm afraid.

All public college EMS courses give preference to Ontario residents over even other Canadians and the programs are highly competitive. There were 700 applicants for 45 spots in my class. Of those who started 21 are currently expected to graduate and not all will get a job. I am scheduled for the second stage of hiring for Frontenac county (Kingston, ~3hrs E of Toronto). Hundreds applied and wrote the test, 100 moved onto this stage, 12 will move onto the next and form the hiring list. Only 2 will be hired, part-time at this stage.

For Centralized Paramedic Competency Recruitment Testing (that covers Toronto, York, Peel, Durham and Halton) had over a thousand write the written test. 299 moved onto scenarios and are now waiting to hear about interviews.

Obviously the job market will change over the next few years, but we're still churning out way more PCP's than there are jobs.

There are private college programs, but I would say steer clear. They are as close to medic mills as we have here. They do the program in half the time and charge three times as much.

If you do get your education here, be prepared to go right to ALS so that when you return to the US awaiting immigration, you can work as an EMT-P rather than a basic (where your education would be wasted) or in something else where you'd atrophy.

[mobey]

Honestly, if it is your idea to come to Canada to work EMS, pick a different province, Manitoba, Sask, and Alberta are all short medics and I dunno about the other provinces.

I hire Ontario BLS providers, and they move a 3 days drive away to Alberta because they cannot find work.

[WolfmanHarris]

Honestly, if it is your idea to come to Canada to work EMS, pick a different province, Manitoba, Sask, and Alberta are all short medics and I dunno about the other provinces.

I hire Ontario BLS providers, and they move a 3 days drive away to Alberta because they cannot find work.

I might be one of them. Depends how things go in the next few weeks.

[TDP]

Goodluck finding work,but if that's your dream then I suggest getting on it. The economy isn't getting any better,like mobey stated, most of the work for EMS providers is in the west.

cheers