Resume With No Experience: Canadian Guide

Either Letter or A4 paper is accepted, and one to two pages is the usual length. Use Canadian spelling consistently – colour, centre, labelled, organize – and avoid a photograph, your date of birth, marital status or Social Insurance Number. Close with the line “References available upon request” rather than listing referees: Canadian hiring managers contact them only after an interview.

• Co-op and internship terms – name the employer, the length of the term and what you delivered.
• Diplomas and degrees – provincial high school diploma, college diploma or university degree, with the year awarded.
• Volunteer and community work – food banks, minor hockey coaching, campus clubs and student unions.
• Part-time and seasonal jobs – retail, landscaping, warehouse and call-centre shifts.
• Certifications – First Aid, WHMIS, Smart Serve or provincial equivalents where relevant.

Numbers travel well across Canada's job market. “Coordinated a 12-person volunteer team and raised a four-figure sum for a campus fundraiser” carries more weight than a list of adjectives. Open each bullet with a past-tense verb, add the scale, then the outcome, and reuse the vocabulary from the posting so applicant tracking systems match you to the role.

Federal public service postings and Quebec employers may expect a French document, and “curriculum vitae” is still the common term there. Keep one resume per language rather than mixing the two on one page, list your language proficiency honestly in a skills section, and leave credential names in their original form instead of translating them.

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