Teaching in Canada

Hi,
Does anybody have any information on working as a Primary School Teacher in Canada? I am Irish trained and would like to spend some time working in Canada, possibly from January next.
How easy/difficult is it for non-Canadians to find teaching jobs?
I understand I am probably arriving in the middle of the year. Is there the option to work in a substitute capacity?
How do you find teaching jobs? Agencies or directly contacting schools?
Also what type of money can you expect to earn?
Thanks for your help!!
Any other information regarding living and working in canada is more than welcome!!

There are three things you'll have to do before you can teach in Canada:

1) get authorization to work in Canada (ex, Skilled Worker Visa)
2) become certified to teach in the province you wish to reside in
3) find a job

Teaching in Canada isn't something a foreign-trained teacher can easily or, better yet, quickly do. It will take a lot of time and paperwork. Speaking specifically of the first two steps above,

1) Applications for Skilled Worker Visas take a long time to be processed. For example, the current processing time for such applications submitted in London is 31-38 months. You could try a working holiday visa, but some provinces have rules which limit teaching certificates to permanent residents or citizens.

2) Education is a provincial, not federal, responsibility so each province will have its own teacher certification procedures and qualifications. You'll have to contact the teacher regulatory body in the province that you wish to teach in. They'll provide you with the application procedures for foreign-trained teachers. After you submit your application, they'll evaluate all of your post-secondary coursework to see if it is equivalent to that done by teachers trained within their province. All of this can take several months, possibly even years if they find you are missing some coursework (ex, Canadian Studies, university-level math, or a science course where lab time is required).

I'm not trying to dissuade you from teaching in Canada, but it will take a lot of time and patience to do so. This isn't just something you can casually do in a year. Think long-term.

If you have any more questions, just ask. I'm an elementary school teacher in BC so I can point you in the right direction. I think that there are a few more Canadian teachers lurking around here also.

The above is correct. Your first hurdle is the visa. No visa, no work.

I am a Primary/Elementary teacher (currently pursuing my Special Education degree) and even being Canadian it is hard to get a job teaching Primary/Elementary depending on where you were looking to teach. There are a lot of jobs posted in Northern Alberta, Northern Ontario & Northern Quebec but in my opinion if you are going to go teach up there you are better off going to rural Australia where the conditions seem like they would be similar but the weather is a whole lot better :)
If you decide to come over and teach visit websites for the various provinces and their policies and procedures, as everyone is different.
Here is a link that might help: http://www.mun.ca/educ/undergrad/certification.php</a>
And to answer your questions:
Is there the option to work in a substitute capacity? Most teachers start out substituting.
How do you find teaching jobs? Agencies or directly contacting schools? It all depends on the school district. Some post them on district websites while others advertise on websites that contain teaching jobs from all over Canada
Also what type of money can you expect to earn? It all depends on what qualifications you have.

Hope this helps!

I will finish my B.Ed (post-B.A) this April, and I have already been hired for a full-time probationary contract in Calgary starting next September. This means I will not be substitute teaching or covering maternity leave. I'm going to be working for the public board, but if you're Catholic (and have proof!) you've got a great chance of being hired by the Catholic board if you have a visa and you are able to become certified. In my final practicum our department included two foreign-trained teachers: one from England and one from Australia. It can be done... but it's a long, laborious process.