It can take up to 6 weeks before your first pay cheque arrives, so you will need to arrive in Canada with enough money to feed and entertain yourself. We would suggest having a minimum of £1000 available, plus extra if you are buying skis/boots. Once you start earning money, you should be able to live on the money you earn day to day. You might want savings in place to cover any extra trips or outings that you want to do.

Our Tremblant ski resort programme not only gives you the experience of living in a new country and gaining work experience for your CV, you can also learn a new language!

Since 2006, this winter season jobs programme has been popular among students either planning to study French at university, or who have just graduated with a languages degree. The Canadian dialect is different to European French you may have learned so this gives an added dimension to the language which is particularly useful and interesting to people with a passion for language.

If you are not currently a French speaker, don’t be put off joining our Mont Tremblant ski season programme.

You will be able to set up a Canadian bank account with the help of our local representative, which you will be able to get a card for. Credit cards are advised for emergencies, as well as enough cash to see you through the first few days. There are ATM’s in the village so you won’t need to have lots of cash with you.

Past participants have been eligible to get a residents ski pass for the season for which the cost is approximately $450.

You will need to apply for a Canadian IEC Working Holiday permit before you go. To be able to qualify for the working holiday visa, you must be between the ages of 18 and 30, and hold a passport from one of the eligible countries stated by the Canadian Embassy: Australia, Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea Rep, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Kingdom. This costs C$250 approximately (£125).

You will also need a Police Check for immigration purposes and this costs approximately £45.

We will help with this once you have booked a place on the programme.

You will need to make sure your passport is valid for a minimum of 6 months after your return date (any less can be possible but is likely to cause delays at immigration).

Most people book with Oyster on their own and travel with the rest of the group. The group meets at a UK briefing course before you go to Canada. You will be able to travel with a friend if you wish, please state this on your booking form.

Please visit your doctor or travel nurse to find out. It is unlikely that you will need anything in addition to your routine vaccinations, which should be up to date.

For any information related to Covid-19, please see the Fit for Travel website or the UK government’s travel advice page for Canada.

There are doctors, health clinics and pharmacies in Tremblant, the main hospital is 15 miles away

Health and safety at work standards are very high in Canada. You should always follow advice given to you by your employers. Tremblant is a very safe village but it is always advised to keep valuables secure and stick together when you first arrive.

You will be living in a small town outside Tremblant called St Jovite. Tremblant is a 30 minute bus ride from St Jovite. A monthly pass on the bus between Tremblant and St Jovite costs $30.

The duplex (apartment) in St Jovite has 3 bedrooms, a lounge and a large kitchen. It is the best accommodation that we send anybody to anywhere in the world. We took the decision that people would be happier living in accommodation that is privately owned as opposed to staff accommodation. The rent is comparable to staff accommodation in the Rockies and Whistler and is very good for what you get. Each month you will pay C$500.

Maple Syrup!

Tremblant and Quebec are well known for their production of Maple Syrup. For a few weeks in the spring, people in Tremblant celebrate the Syrup harvest by putting Maple Syrup on pretty much everything they eat! The other local delicacy in Quebec is Poutine. Poutine consists of chips, gravy and cheese curd on top. You can buy this anywhere in Canada but the Quebec way is the original and best! You will be self catering in your accommodation and close enough to a supermarket to buy any food that you need. There are plenty of restaurants, to suit all budgets, offering cuisine from around the world in Tremblant and St Jovite. A sandwich will cost you around C$8 and a meal out would cost around C$15 plus tips.

Included in your monthly rent is the cost of WiFi in your apartment so using the internet at home is your best option. Most bars/restaurants offer free WiFi in the village.

You should take an ‘unlocked’ mobile phone with you to Canada (or you can buy a cheap Canadian one) and purchase a local ‘pay as you go’ SIM card. This is useful for contacting the representative and the rest of the group as local calls are very cheap. You can buy international phone cards to call the UK for $10+tax from any supermarket/phone shop this will give you hundreds of minutes to use any way you like, including calling the UK.

Tremblant is in the Eastern Canadian time zone which is 5 hours behind GMT (GMT -5).

Canada, like the US, operates on 110V, 60 cycle electric power. You should bring an adapter with you that has a two (flat) pronged plug.

You’ll get an average of 2 days off work each week.

In the winter the main social activities are winter sports – skiing and snowboarding are really popular. You can also go tubing, ice skating, snow shoeing, dog sledding, play ice hockey etc. Further afield, Montreal and Ottawa are both a 2 hour bus ride away with plenty of shopping available and also plenty of ice hockey games where you can be a spectator.

Generally speaking, the winter season begins at the end of November, the resorts will get busier through December and be at their peak over Christmas and New Year. You may well be working 6 or even 7 days a week at this time. The resorts then fluctuate between being busy and average for the next couple of months – your hours will also fluctuate during this time and you may not quite be getting 5 days work a week. During Easter and any holiday times, the resorts attract more tourists so you would get more hours of work.

Although we are keen to send as many participants as possible this winter, the pandemic has of course brought some uncertainty as to how travel will unfold over the next couple of months.

Here at Oyster, we prioritise managing expectations alongside providing life changing experiences. We’re very hopeful that we will be about to place all applicants, however, we have taken the decision to accept no further bookings for the Whistler hospitality programme at this stage.

We are committed to providing Oyster participants with an amazing experience, wherever that may be. For this reason, we are asking participants to consider other programmes should we not be able to deliver on your first choice. Please see the list of alternative ski season options below:

• Ski or snowboard instructor courses in Whistler
• Ski instructor course in Austria

Alternatively, we could offer you any other fantastic Oyster project and your deposit will be transferred. Popular options that skiers have taken in the past include:

• Sports coaching in South Africa
• Paid work in Outback Australia
• Horsemanship course and paid work in Australia

We look forward to providing you with an exciting gap year experience so please get in contact if you have any questions with regard to these programmes.

Canada (Lonely Planet Country Guides)

You will get to know our representative well in the first few days as they help you settle into life in Canada. You will go through an induction that involves a tour of the resort, assistance with setting up Social Insurance Numbers, bank accounts and mobile phones. You will also be introduced to your employer.
Once you start work, the representative takes more of a back seat role but is there as a helpful friend should you need assistance. Once a month, they will run a meet up with you and the rest of the group. Day to day, you will be under the supervision of your manager and supervisor at work.

Staff at Oyster’s head office and in-country will be responsible for your safety and welfare while you are on our programme. This will start from the moment you are picked up from the airport until the end date of the programme, when you will make your own way back to the airport. If you are arranging your own flights and arriving earlier or later than the rest of the group, you will be responsible for yourself until meeting up with the rest of the group. Before and after the Oyster programme, you will be outside Oyster’s responsibility and should make sure that you act safely and avoid risk. This is also true if you choose to get involved in activities during your time off. We will give you plenty of guidance and advice about this.

Check out our top tips for first time skiers and snowboarders

Read more in our guide to Canada