Wrong section of the forum - check Settlement issues and Finding work in Canada for both horror stories and success stories. Of course, you'll find more horror stories. Fear sells. Negativity sells. No newspaper sold more copies because they had a front line news story about school kids of a particular generation being more dynamic, outgoing and resourceful than kids of the previous generation but every newspaper in the World will carry an ISIS story on the front page if they so much as schedule a press conference to announce their next pathetic misadventure!
And that's true of Canada as well. Unsuccessful people outnumber successful people on the forum. Unsuccessful immigrants are heard more often because they make more noise (probably because the successful ones are busy working the levers of the economy) and media loves noisy people. Economic revival is a Pg 13 left bottom story. Economic mishaps are front page news and the stuff of lofty sermonizing editorials.
Having said that, it is true that the Canadian economy is in trouble. In a broader sense, it is headed for more trouble. Iran will push more oil over the next few months into the global market, not great news when oil is already below 30 now. Oil sands aren't lucrative even at twice that price so Alberta will continue its free fall. But hey, Chinese stock market just crashed as well. So did Japan. Australia and South Korea. Wall Street is spooked. Everyone is watching China while no one knows the reality behind the 'Red Curtain'. When China releases more data on its domestic market this week or later, expect more bloodbath. But here is the critical question - does this affect you?
We all lived through 2008. Some lost their jobs, some barely held on while a few went ahead and got great incentives! Canadian job market is not going to be any different. Some immigrants will struggle, some will compromise, some will take sub-optimal jobs while a few will do well for themselves. The bell curve works and works well. The mistake people make is always assume that they are more right on the bell curve than they deserve to be. Immigration is a reality check. If you're an average performer in your home country (in a place where you know how to 'work' the system), you'll be below-average in Canada till you understand how to 'work' the system. If you were above-average there, you'll probably be average in Canada for a while before finding your feet. If you were exceptional, you'll continue to be exceptional - that's probably the only exception!
The point being - be realistic about who you are and what your chances should be. Only people with a strong inner compass would be able to face the harsh realities of moving to a country where they have to start from scratch on almost every area of their life. Of course, it helps tremendously if you effectively communicate in English. Resume shortlists and interviews are decided in the first minute and not having strong command over the language is a terrible handicap for an already disadvantaged immigrant. In addition to that, the cold bogs many people down. Most immigrants into Canada are not from geographies that experience consistently cold/gloomy/rainy weather for most parts of the year. Naturally, they feel out of place for a while and this adds to their paranoia about Canada being an unwelcoming country.
People succeed and fail in Canada for the same reasons they succeed and fail elsewhere on the planet.
1. They compare notes with others and peg their own success goals artificially high. Then they get disappointed when they can't make it there.
2. They have unrealistic expectations from their future which are completely unrelated with their past and/or their present situation.
3. They hear and discuss more about failures than about successes leading to a vicious circle and the birth of a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure.
4. They are creatures of habit and find it incredibly difficult to adapt to new situations, circumstances, people, ideas and cultures.
5. They don't persevere enough, toil enough, luck out enough, equip themselves enough or stay optimistic for enough time.
Bottom line, not everyone will make it big in Canada. But not everyone will fail too.
All the best!
