Key takeaways
- Keep your resume to two pages, with a short summary and achievements with numbers
- Leave out your photo, date of birth, marital status, religion and full street address
- Job Bank is the Government of Canada’s free job board, with wage and outlook data
- Never pay an employer or recruiter for a job
- In a regulated job, apply for related work while you get licensed
Canadian resume template (copy and fill in)
FIRST LAST NAME
City, Province · Phone · Email · LinkedIn profile link
SUMMARY
Two or three lines: your job title, years of experience, two or three key skills that match the job ad, and your work authorization (for example “Permanent resident, available immediately”).
KEY SKILLS
6 to 10 skills from the job ad that you really have: tools, software, certifications, languages.
WORK EXPERIENCE
Job title, Company, City, Country · Month Year to Month Year
• Achievement with a number: “Cut month-end close from 10 to 6 days by automating reports.”
• Achievement: “Managed a team of 8 and a budget of $2 million (Canadian dollar equivalent).”
• 3 to 5 bullets per job, most recent job first.
EDUCATION
Degree, Field, University, Country, Year · “Assessed as equivalent to a Canadian bachelor’s degree (WES)”, if you have an ECA.
CERTIFICATIONS AND LICENCES
Include the status: “Application in progress with [regulator], expected 2027”.
VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE (optional, especially Canadian volunteering)
What to leave out of a Canadian resume
- Your photo
- Age, date of birth or marital status
- Religion, nationality or immigration story
- Full street address (city and province are enough)
- References on the resume itself (bring a separate list)
- Salary history
Canadian employers expect short, results-focused resumes tailored to each job. Our jobs guide explains interviews, references and networking in more detail.
How to tailor your resume to each job
Employers and their software scan resumes for the words in the job ad. One general resume sent to 100 jobs usually gets fewer interviews than a tailored resume sent to 20.
- Copy the job ad into a document and highlight the skills, tools and duties it repeats.
- Use the same words in your summary and key skills, if they are true for you. If the ad says “stakeholder management”, do not write only “client relations”.
- Move your most relevant achievements to the top of each job.
- Change job titles from your home country to a clear Canadian equivalent in brackets, for example “Assistant Manager (team lead)”.
- Save as a PDF or Word file named “FirstName-LastName-Resume.pdf”, unless the ad asks for a different format.
Short cover letter template
Dear [Hiring manager’s name, or “Hiring team”],
I am applying for the [job title] position at [company]. I have [number] years of experience in [field], most recently at [company] in [country], where I [one achievement with a number].
Your posting asks for [skill 1] and [skill 2]. In my last role I [example of skill 1], and I [example of skill 2]. I am a [permanent resident / work permit holder] living in [city] and can start [date].
I would welcome the chance to discuss how I can help your team. Thank you for your time.
[Your name] · [Phone] · [Email]
How to use Job Bank
Job Bank is the Government of Canada’s free job site. Use it to:
- Search jobs by job title, city and province. Set up job alerts by email.
- Check wages for your occupation in your city, so you know what to expect and ask for.
- Check job outlooks to see if demand is good in your region.
- Check if your job is regulated and who the regulator is, using the tools for foreign candidates.
Also search LinkedIn, Indeed and company career pages. Many jobs are filled through referrals, so networking matters as much as applying.
A simple 30-day job search plan
- Week 1: get your Social Insurance Number (SIN), a Canadian phone number and email. Write your master resume using the template above. Update your LinkedIn profile to match.
- Week 2: register with a free newcomer employment program. They offer resume reviews, mock interviews and employer connections. See Job Bank and employment programs.
- Week 3: apply to 3 to 5 jobs a day with a tailored resume. Ask for 2 or 3 informational interviews: short chats with people in your field.
- Week 4: follow up on applications, practise answers to “Tell me about a time when…” questions, and line up Canadian references, for example a volunteer supervisor or course instructor.
If your job needs a licence
If you are a nurse, engineer, teacher, doctor, pharmacist or in a compulsory trade, you need a provincial licence to work under that title. Start the process now, and apply for related jobs while you wait: for example a nurse can work as a personal support worker, an engineer as a technologist or project coordinator. Put your licence status on your resume. Our credential recognition guide explains the steps and loans of up to $30,000 for licensing costs.
Avoid job scams
- Never pay an employer or recruiter for a job, an LMIA, training or a “processing fee”. Employers cannot charge workers recruitment fees.
- Be careful with jobs that pay very well for little work, or that ask you to receive and send money or parcels.
- Never share your SIN or bank details before you have a written job offer from a real company.
Read more in our immigration and job scams guide. Once you have an offer, check your take-home pay with the net pay calculator.