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[chronicle75]

I am applying for a job at a Canadian university and was wondering about spousal hiring support. Does anything like it exist in Canada, or is any other help offered in finding jobs for spouses? My wife has many years of experience in a non-academic field. How difficult is it for Americans to enter the Canadian job market? Is bilingualism a considerable requirement in the Montreal area?

[ellipses]

I studied in Canada, though I now work in the US. According to friends who were hired in Canadian universities, institutions vary considerably in their support for spousal hires. Areas where retention can be an issue (cold, prairie universities) are generally more likely to have spousal hiring opportunities than big city universities, but your best bet is to check to see if there's an explicit agreement by checking the Faculty Association website for the institution in question.

Canadian universities are supposed to give priority to Canadians in their searches, and technically I believe are only supposed to hire a non-Canadian if there are no suitable Canadian applicants. I do know of cases where the top two choices were a Canadian and an American and the Canadian won out because of their nationality. In practice, though, Canadian universities do hire a fair number of Americans, particularly in fields where the Canadian applicant pool is thin.

There are many anglophones in Montreal who don't speak French very much or very well. Bilingualism would be desirable there, but it certainlly isn't required to get by. Most francophones in Montreal, especially in the service industries, speak English, but you may get better service if you know French.

[anon99]

It depends on the university and the situation.  If your spouse wants a position at the university, they may be able to give him/her one depending on their qualifications.  We had two job candidates, one was excellent, who wanted spousal hires as part of their offer.  We weren't able to create a position for either as neither spouse was competitive.  If you are thinking about an academic position for your spouse, be up front.  None of us were impressed when we were told during the interview that if offered the job a spousal hire wouldn't be a condition and then both candidates turned around and made it a condition.

I've known other cases where they creating a new 0.5 position and the spouses ended up sharing the 1.5 position.  At larger universities, they are sometimes able to be more accommodating.

If your spouse is looking for a non-academic position, they may be able to suggest possible places for them to inquire about a job.

As for the preference for hiring Canadians, we've been through this before.  The job ads have to state that, but the best candidate usually gets the offer regardless of their citizenship.