Learning to live and thrive in multicultural Canada
Originally from Nepal, we immigrated to Canada in January 2010. We first landed in Toronto, where it was tough for me and my family because of the cultural differences and the difficulty we had communicating. There was no one with whom we could share our feelings, but we also had many interesting experiences, such as figuring out the city bus and metro system and touring the Greater Toronto Area.
After three months, we moved to Fredericton, where I joined the graduate program in the Department of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering at the University of New Brunswick (UNB). This was a tough decision in my life, but it was an exciting learning process.
I got my driver’s licence in Fredericton and we bought our first car. My wife, Sarmila, supported us financially by working at a hotel while she was pregnant. Our elder son, Amitesh, was happy with his school, sports and other activities offered at the Multicultural Association of Fredericton, the YMCA and UNB. While living in Fredericton, our second son, Aariz, was born and we became a family of four.
I received a land-surveyor job offer from an Ontario-based company and we moved back to Toronto. Thanks to my job duties, I had the opportunity to travel to many different places in Ontario and Quebec. I learned about the geography, people and cultural differences across the two provinces. I completed my remaining four courses at Ryerson University and York University to become a professional land surveyor of Ontario.
In 2013, we moved to Edmonton, which has a very strong job market in many disciplines. Every person I met was very happy in their job. The wages are also higher in this part of the country, but the weather is a bit colder!
Amitesh is now in high school and participating in Air Cadets, which he joined in Fredericton. Aariz attends the daycare where Sarmila works full-time while she studies English as a Second Language part-time.
To our surprise, we discovered a noticeable number of Nepalese families in Edmonton. They have their own community building here, which not many other cities have.
We continue to interact with Canadian culture, though sometimes it is difficult. As permanent residents, we feel we have more of a responsibility to Canada and want to contribute towards its strong and positive presence in the world. With Canada being our new home, we also want to feel more secure, especially about our children’s future. Cultural and language differences are the immediate barriers for us, and we would appreciate more support from government programs to help make us mentally, physically and economically healthier.
I was well settled in Nepal job-wise, but I immigrated to Canada with my family to better our situation. I often feel we are still in a struggling phase. I continue to work towards securing a better job, perhaps a government position like I had in Nepal. Canada is a highly developed, multicultural country and I am proud to be a part of it.
—by Janak Gautam, Edmonton, Alberta