How to format a resume for jobs in Canada

Length: one to two pages

Job Bank sets two pages as the limit, with the emphasis on your most recent experience: jobs from more than 15 years ago should be cut or kept very short. alis (Alberta), WorkBC and Québec.ca all give the same range of one to two pages.

Which format: chronological, functional or combination

Québec.ca calls the combination résumé the most common: a summary of your skills and achievements, then your jobs in order, newest first. Alberta’s alis says many Canadian employers don’t like functional résumés, which group skills and hide dates. A summary of qualifications at the top, written for the job, gives you the strengths of both.

The sections, in order

• Contact details at the top of the first page: name, phone, email and where you live (Job Bank); one phone number and one email (WorkBC)
• Summary of qualifications or career objective
• Skills, then work experience, newest first
• Education and credentials
• Optional: volunteer experience, languages, awards

Tailor it to each job

Job Bank’s advice is to tailor your resume to each position: put forward the experience and achievements that relate to the job you’re applying for, in the words the posting uses where they’re true for you.

Leave out personal details

• No photo: Job Bank says it isn’t the norm in Canada, and alis calls it unprofessional
• No age, date of birth, height, weight or marital status
• No religion or political views
• Never your Social Insurance Number (SIN)
• City and province are enough for your address (common practice)

References

Don’t put references on your resume, and you don’t need to write “references available upon request”. Job Bank, WorkBC and Québec.ca all advise keeping them on a separate sheet and giving them only when an employer asks.

Hobbies: the official guides disagree

Job Bank says to leave out hobbies and interests; Québec.ca says interests can work in your favour, and alis lists them as optional. If you include them, keep them to a line and make them say something useful about you. Volunteer work is different: it counts as experience.

Work rights and languages

Employers can ask whether you’re legally entitled to work in Canada, so many applicants write “Eligible to work in Canada” under their name (common practice); leave out the details of your immigration status. If you speak French, say so: many jobs value it, and many federal public service jobs require it.