Help for a new software engineer in Vancouver

Hi Everyone.

I will be moving to Vancouver from Australia in October under a 2-year working holiday visa, and would like to get into the software development industry there. I have a 4-year Bachelor of Engineering (Software) degree and 3 years experience in the industry, specialising in simulation using the Java language. I lived in Canada from November 2007 to May 2008, working outside of the IT industry.

Has anyone had any experience with job hunting in a foreign job market before? Any advice - especially advice geared towards working in Vancouver or Canada in general - would be much appreciated.

Am I likely to encounter resistance from Canadian companies in hiring an expat like myself? What can I do to help mitigate this resistence?

I am currently preparing my resume and researching some companies to approach regarding work. Can anyone recommend any particularly outstanding companies to work for?

Finally, can anyone suggest any companies that are known to be hiring at the moment, or who will be hiring within the next month or two?

Thanks for your time, everyone. I look forward to reading your responses.

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