Where did you get the information that volunteer work is allowed on a visitors visa? It definitely is not. The volunteer is still taking away an opportunity from a citizen or that’s the way it was told to me.
Yet again, the trouble you will have with immigration is if you tell them you are house sitting. Visiting friends works. Looking around your beautiful country works even better. Book an Airbnb or hotel room for the first night so you can legitimately say that’s where you are staying.
Telling them you are pet/house sitting is asking for trouble as most of them don’t know the concept and then you will be bumped up to the next level who are very nosey. You aren’t telling a lie saying you are visiting friends. By the time it gets to going to the house sit you will be best of buddies.
Please don’t mention pet sitting or show them the letter from THS. The more this happens, the more likely the immigration people will start asking. The more people will be turned back.
I have lost count the number of times we have crossed the border, either way, a no problems whatsoever.
Good luck and enjoy Canada. My most favourite country in the world …. So far.
That is daring!
Did the border control official give any comments? Did they ask a supervisor? Were you selected for secondary questioning?
They were not familiar with THS, so they asked another colleague and I was selected for secondary questioning. They took time to look over the letter, which added a 30 minute wait for me, but I was eventually let through.
You got lucky.
You got lucky, indeed. I did now look a bit more at the Canadian government web site that mentions these “four weeks” of farm work as an example of what would be ok without a work permit.
The other requirement is that tourism must be the primary reason and that is then explained in this guidance:
Note: The farm work cannot be the main reason for entering Canada; the foreign national must have other plans for the majority of their time in Canada. Volunteering is to be secondary (incidental) to the main reason (i.e. tourism, visiting family/friends, etc.). https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/temporary-residents/foreign-workers/work-without-permit/authorization-work-without-work-permit-assessing-farm-work.html
Up to four weeks pet sitting is ok, but you also need plans to go camping for a month (or RV, or hotels etc). So take a tent with you as proof that you have such plans! (But plans can change of course, with the weather. You do not actually need to go camping.)
As it stands, the advice by THS is getting their customers in trouble, completely unnecessarily.
I agree with others - do NOT tell them anything about unpaid work which technically housesitting is - you are a tourist period and visiting friends - Hosts are friends and I believe any host would agree to this - to be on the safe side maybe mention it to your hosts ahead of time this is what you are saying when you do your border crossing. Good luck!
That’s what i did, I’m a tourist, which I am. All is well.