Canadian Experience​ - a systemic unfair employment barrier to new comers

[leveragedhedging]

When I first came to Canada, I must say life was not easy. I started off by staying with relatives in order to save money on residence as I was going to study Engineering at UofT. A few weeks in after landing, they told me that I couldn’t continue to stay there and I suddenly found myself homeless. At that time I could only work for the University so I made friends with students who were in student government and they gave me menial jobs like putting up posters in the dead of winter. I also worked a few cash jobs tutoring high school students and thus ended up spending less time studying myself. I ended up flunking in my second year. I didn’t give up, I enrolled into college and took Business Administration specializing in Financial planning. The reason I chose this career was because of the Co-Op program and I was determined to get the best job available there.

I was able to get out of being homeless by staying with roommates from my country. This was a good idea at first, until they started to brainwash me and were verbally and physically abusive to me. Eventually I gathered the courage to move out after 3 years. I was able to secure 3 jobs all while going to school (I worked at a fish and juice distribution co. as an offloader, a piping factory as a labourer and at a retail clothing store downtown). I was passing my courses and was able to secure the best co-op position as a processor in the back office of a brokerage firm. Once I got this position, I quit the other jobs except for the retail clothing store. I graduated with high honors and in a few weeks I was able to go back and work with the brokerage firm. A few months in, thanks to the recession, my contract got rescinded, even though I was a top perfomer and had achieved various awards, the rule was LIFO, last in first out. I chose to apply for entry level positions all over Canada while most of my school colleagues were happy to sit around at home or work at McD’s and Starbucks. The front office brokerage firm in Winnipeg called me on a Tuesday, and by the time Saturday rolled in I was on a plane heading there.

The first year was hard. I had to make new friends and literally start over. I had taken a temp contract for one year, and by the time the year was up, I was given a permanent position (and promotions) in the firm. That’s when I applied for Permanent residency. All in all, my journey started in 2002 and I got my permanent residency in 2013. I feel lucky and blessed, but at the same time I know I earned it by working hard, making the right connections and impressions and having a lot of patience, perseverance and resilience.

 

[leveragedhedging]

Also, read this man's story. It is a great story and you can learn alot from it

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/this-is-how-you-succeed-in-canada-t29170.0.html

 

[on-hold]

I'm not a fan of stories like that man's. It is nice to hear, that he worked hard with a good heart and perseverance and is satisfied now, but many do that and fail; and plenty of jerks succeed. Myself, I advise people to go to Alberta, because a good job market is better than a good heart and determination.