Canadian CV: the rules for applying in Canada

Different habits from Morocco and France

In Morocco a photo is common on a CV, and age or marital status sometimes appear too. In Canada this information is not expected, and some of it works against you. The rules below come from the Government of Canada employment service and the Government of Québec website.

What to remove

• The photo: it is not the norm in Canada, and it may reduce your chances.
• Age, date of birth, weight, height, marital status, beliefs and political opinions.
• Your social insurance number, if you have one.
• Hobbies, unless they are directly related to the job.
• References: they do not go in the CV, you bring them to the interview.

What to highlight

• Two pages at most, focusing on the last fifteen years.
• Quantified achievements rather than a list of duties, with action verbs: manage, lead, develop, increase.
• Five to seven bullet points at most per section.
• Volunteering, if it relates to the target job: in your work experience or in a Volunteering section.
• The languages you speak and write.
• Your experience from the most recent to the oldest.

The Illuminagy CCO Canadian template

The Canadian template applies these rules to your CV: it never shows the photo, even if your CV has one, it removes the hobbies section, and it prints on the paper size used in Canada.

The layout stays plain: black text, headings in black or in one of the few dark colours offered, and your contact details one per line, without icons.

For your volunteering, add an experience like any other, with the organisation, your role, the dates and what you achieved, then tick the Volunteering box. In the Canadian template it appears in its own Volunteering section; in the other templates it stays among your experience.

Your background is entered once: duplicate your CV and switch the copy to the Canadian template in one click, without retyping anything. Your usual version stays untouched for your other applications.

Frequently asked questions