Work from home jobs in Canada “future proof” Canadians from layoffs caused by automation and downsizing. Here’s how to avoid shady employment scams and get remote work in Canada, right now.

Work From Home, Canada

Over the past year things haven’t been looking particularly good for the Canadian job market. International companies are pulling up stakes and moving elsewhere, automation is replacing blue collar work, and apps or electronic kiosks are eliminating jobs entirely.

Hiring Remote Workforce is Attractive to Businesses

Working from home in Canada could soon be your only option to maintain your livelihood. On-site jobs are disappearing along with the office space that surrounds them.

Right now small and medium-sized businesses are competing with larger competitors that are doubling down on automation and artificial intelligence, while choking down a new increased minimum wage mandate.

As a result, businesses are downsizing or ditching their offices altogether, and hiring remote workers as opposed to on-site employees in an effort to reduce overhead and remain profitable.

Blue collar and white collar jobs are threatened, and governments can’t afford to keep bailing everyone out –remote jobs Canada provide an edge to the agile.

Canada work from home jobs might just extend your career another 5 to 10 years. And it might be best to get ahead of that curve before the guillotine drops.

It’s time to enter a new kind of employment tier, one of the remote variety. And you’re in luck; it’s never been easier to work from home, Canada –as long as you know how to navigate the job market.

Canadians Are Competitively Positioned for Remote Work

There are a number of reasons why work-from-home Canadians are often more attractive to businesses than remote workers from any other country around the world.

Canada is the most educated country in the world, as reported by CNBC

Canadian students are among the smartest in the world, according to an OECD study as reported by the Globe and Mail and Vox

Canadians are known for their friendliness and etiquette which carries through to our work and client relationships

Nearly all Canadians under the age of 45 use the internet daily, and senior citizens aren’t far behind

Leading technology companies like EMC view Canada as a country of early adopters when it comes to technology

Both the US dollar and the Euro go further in Canada, which makes Canadian work from home job applicants more lucrative to international employers

Simply put, Canadians are competitively positioned for work from home jobs when compared to their Western counterparts in the US, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

Benefits of Remote Work

Working online from home in Canada opens doors that most “butt-in-chair” jobs won’t; many work from home jobs come with flexible hours, rarely require a commute (if at all), and packing a lunch is a thing of the past.

Or, you could travel often and make money remotely at the same time.

And because you’re not being forced to commute, buy a lunch every day, and spend time getting to and from work, you’ll increase your savings.

You could even take a less intensive job than the one you have now for the same money as someone slaving away at a desk in an office.

3 Types of Work From Home Opportunities

Just about any type of job that requires the use of a computer can be fashioned into a work from home opportunity, although where you find remote work in Canada will drastically affect how much you earn.

Work from home Canada jobs typically come in three flavours;

Low-paid “gig economy” job sites like Upwork

Free job sites that aggregate the same remote jobs everyone in Canada is posting for an affiliate commission which makes it really hard to land a remote entry level job

Paid remote job Canada sites where employers are screened for integrity –no deadbeats, and the fee deters the cheapskates so competition is lower

Let’s take a deeper look into all three.

1. “Gig Economy” Sites

Sites like Upwork or Fiverr have the following caveats;

They charge 20% off every paycheck until you reach around $10k with a single employer, before taxes

They own the relationship between you and your employer –all contact is facilitated through their website, not directly

They have a points based system for work accomplished that goes right on your profile, making it hard to get your first work-at-home job, and making it even harder to leave once you’ve banked enough work over time

They reserve the right to eliminate your profile or “ghost” it at any time, and may do so if you have a complaint from a shady employer or you aren’t working often enough –in which case you’d potentially lose all your clients

They don’t screen employers and deadbeats abound; ripping off job seekers on sites like Upwork is a cottage industry –employers can get the finished work, disappear, or file a dispute to get a refund on your work

They often side with the client in disputes regarding pay or your remote job’s responsibilities

In my opinion, Canadian remote jobs seekers assume all the risk and pay 20% of their income before taxes for the “privilege”.

2. Free Job Posting Sites

With free Canadian remote jobs posting sites you get what you pay for;

They aggregate all the same remote jobs Canada that everyone else has, meaning that competition is much more fierce and if you don’t apply for a work-from-home job quickly there’s virtually no chance of getting the gig

They take job postings from anyone, and because they’re paid a commission on successful hires your success isn’t part of the business plan

They also don’t screen employers, it’s a churn-and-burn business model typically run by one person

If free job sites aren’t charging you and they only get paid on a successful hire, they’d likely rather you don’t last long with a client and hop back into the pool to be hired off again.

3. Screened Remote Job Sites, for a Fee

Like I said, you get what you pay for;

They can afford a real human being employee to interview employers and check each individual job listing before they become available –ad free, scam free job searches

They put applicants first by listening to feedback and banning deadbeat employers if they don’t meet quality guidelines because applicants are the ones footing the bill

They provide resources to help make job searching easier and ensure that you actually get hired

They offer customer support when something isn’t working out or you’re having trouble with their website, or a client

They are less attractive to frugal job seekers because some people think “I shouldn’t have to pay to get a job!” –great, less competition and more work-from-home opportunities for you!

Where to Find Remote Jobs for Canadians

As a Canadian myself, I’ve found that the best work-from-home Canada jobs are the ones I found on Flexjobs.

Flexjobs is the best place to find work-from-home jobs in Canada for all the reasons mentioned above, but mostly because they screen employers.

The fee is is small when you compare it to what you would be paying Upwork –remember, Upwork charges 20% off all your earnings before taxes.

That’s insane!

If you’d like to learn more about Flexjobs, check out this post which outlines what they’re all about and why they’re your best choice for finding remote jobs from Canada.

Below you will find a special discount for Hobo with a Laptop readers who choose Flexjobs to help them find work-at-home job(s) based in Canada.

They have work-from-home jobs for all Canadians (even if you’re travelling, like I am).

Exclusive Flexjobs Discount for Canadian Readers Canadian Hobo with a Laptop readers get an exclusive discount on FlexJobs –use the NOMAD promo code to receive the following discounts: $44.95 for 12 months of FlexJobs (10% off)

$23.95 for 3 months of FlexJobs (20% off)

$9.95 for 1 month of FlexJobs (30% off) Prices are in US dollars, but that’s still only aboot $5 Canadian dollars per month if charged annually. Visit FlexJobs

If you’d like to read an expanded version of this article for general audiences and get some tips on how to speed up the hiring process click here. If you’d rather get tips directly from the Flexjobs blog, click here.

Oh, I almost forgot –we broke down a few common work-at-home job types in this article, too. After all that you’re still hungry for more, please feel free to explore our website.

There’s something here for everyone and you’re welcome to come back as often as you like –we always leave our doors unlocked ???