Journey to Canada - My Experience |
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Ghua
Junior Member Joined: 29 Aug 2010 Location: Burlington Status: Offline Points: 20 |
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Posted: 27 Dec 2010 at 7:19pm |
Part 1 - Introduction As an immigrant myself, I have benefited a lot from this forum before and would like to contribute back in the form of our experience ( myself and my wife ) from the day we set our foot on this new land till now which is almost 2 years now. Let me introduce ourselves briefly. It will be sufficient to say that we come from South East Asia. My working back ground is Accounts / Finance and my wife has been home maker after we get married. She used to work as secretary and marketing position before that. I have about 10 years of working as Accounts Manager before we applied for the PR. Similar with most applicants, we look forward to a better opportunity for our next generation as well for ourselves. Prior to application, we made a visit to Toronto to visit my Aunt to confirm if we like this country. That was in July 2005. Time certainly flies and it has been 5.5 years since. To cut it short, once we were back to our home country after the holidays, we file our applications and the clock start ticking. It was a long wait ( 3.5 years to 4 years of wait ). The rules has changed since ( if I am not mistaken ) for the 2008 applicants. My first advice for the applicants and the ones intending to apply, do research on Canada and which province you would like to live. Google muchmore magazine as it has a lot of information. Research and more research during the waiting time or before your application. It will definitely help a lot as it will determine if this country is good for you. The grass seems to be a lot greener on the other side but a word of caution – Life is definitely hard for new immigrant. Mark my word but I have no intention of discouraging newcomers. I would not want to talk on this issue as yet and I will come to this point later. For my part, I made a lot of research but even then, when we arrive here in Feb 2009, things were different when we came here for holiday in 2005. Days spent as holidays then in 2005 and 2009 when we landed and to start living here permanently is definitely a huge different and as a result, realities set in quickly. Tomorrow, i will write our journey in parts..... Gary |
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GaryH
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canadaisgreat
Junior Member Joined: 23 Dec 2010 Status: Offline Points: 78 |
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Good intention. I applaud you
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Ghua
Junior Member Joined: 29 Aug 2010 Location: Burlington Status: Offline Points: 20 |
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Part 2 – 1st month ( Feb 15 to Mar 15, 2009 ) I would like to write based on the chronology of events as it will be easier for me to remember the events easier by the dates as the day move along. Feb 15 mark our first day landing on Pearson Airport, Ontario. It’s been 22 months since we landed and I would say we have gone through a lot during this period. I will let you guys judge us later at the end of my story. The first week is spent on getting the identification done eg SIN card, opening of bank account and trying to get the driver’s license. Sin Card and opening of bank a/c is easy but driver’s license hits a snag as I am required to get a translation of my driver’s license in English or letters to confirm on my license. I had to write to my embassy for an authentication of my driver’s license. Without it, basically you will have to start afresh like a new driver. You are not allowed to drive even if you pass the written test. There will be a waiting period if you start as a new driver. The other thing is to apply for child tax benefit for those with kids. It definitely helps as the income comes in handily for us As it was still winter ( end Feb ) , you face the stark reality of how cold is the weather. It is definitely very different from where I live before. On the bright side, the people you meet are mostly very friendly. Safety and security wise, it is fantastic as compared to my home country. Once the documentation is done, next was to find job. This is the biggest headache of all. Thinking that sending resumes all around may help, I start printing and start to send to hotels. I started to e mail from the job ad in the local papers. How naïve was I to think that I may receive a call. On hindsight, I can clearly say that the chances if equals to zero and I am not lying to scare you guys out there. What I am referring to are jobs in accountancy not survival job. I was not aware of the programs conducted by the Ontario government which newcomers should enlist themselves into. It definitely helped. As the month of Feb comes to an end, I started to get panic as you have expenses daily and you are not getting any income except for the child tax benefit above. Towards the end of the first month, reality sets in that I will not get any call up for interview and there goes your confidence spiraling down…… Gary |
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GaryH
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Ghua
Junior Member Joined: 29 Aug 2010 Location: Burlington Status: Offline Points: 20 |
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Part 3 – 2nd month ( Mar 16 to Apr 30, 2009 ) It really hurts when all these years, you have been working as management position and now, you are a nobody and at the same time, facing difficulty conversing with the locals. Though I use English before I came here, all of a sudden, I find my confidence hit and speaking in English becomes a problem. Facing with a stark reality, I decided that I had to find survival jobs and for start, any survival job. As there is a senior citizen home near our house, I decided to send my resume and ask if there is any position available. The receptionist asked me to drop my resume and ask me to wait for news. There you go again….waiting….. After a few days, I receive a call for interview. The vacancy is for housekeeping ( pt ) and for 4 hours a day. The GM interviewed me said if there is a vacancy in accounting in future, will let me know. So I decided to take it and it was from 7pm to 11pm. Work wise not that difficult but you really suffer mentally…….No joke about this and many people which I know will not able to accept this kind of job. As I thought it was only pt and night job, I accept it in the hope my next job will be a better one. I started work in Mar 29 which is 1.5 months after we landed. Salary wise is min pay and about 1k only. Stress again……back to drawing board again and every day waiting for the local papers. Gary |
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GaryH
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duaduaki
Junior Member Joined: 21 Apr 2010 Status: Offline Points: 15 |
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Hi Gary, good that you are sharing your life experiences. Is your home country happen to be a tiny red dot run by the Lees?
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Ghua
Junior Member Joined: 29 Aug 2010 Location: Burlington Status: Offline Points: 20 |
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Hu Duaduaki,
my home country is malaysia and i worked in jakarta for 10 years.
Gary
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GaryH
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Ritz
Junior Member Joined: 01 Dec 2009 Location: India Status: Offline Points: 149 |
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Dear please keep up this attitude and avoid personal confrontation with fellow members. All forum members are well educated and should not abuse on the public forum. We should post useful matter in the forum. Thanks. |
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chandigarh-toronto
Top Member Joined: 07 Dec 2009 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 1446 |
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Let it keep coming. This is reality. Should be helpful for preparation.
Good job.
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packiam50
Average Member Joined: 29 Nov 2009 Location: Canada PEI Status: Offline Points: 184 |
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ghua,
well. it is same with me. for the first 4 or 5 months i really thought of coming back to my country. i had lost all courage and confidence. to my luck my elder son shoulderd the responsibility as to what to do at that crisis. but now, oh please thank heavens along with me. |
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chandigarh-toronto
Top Member Joined: 07 Dec 2009 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 1446 |
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It was the same here Packiam in UK. For the first year i had to face a lot of hardships.
However, after that things changed and now I can't even ever think of returning to India.
Most of us have to face hardships initially. but the fruit is really tasty!
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