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"I respect myself too much to stay in Canada": Why so many new immigrants are leaving

Minister D

Star Member
Feb 19, 2021
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#2 I'm not sure I follow this. What do you mean by stepping stone? Isn't getting H1B a nightmare?
#3 Doesn't make sense. Is there any "leaders" who talk about this? or like you said they are just turning blind eye?
His #2 point is valid, it’s easier to get a work visa for America when u are a Canadian. Just head to the border with the job offer and apply for your TN visa and you are good to go.
 
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bas12

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Apr 20, 2018
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Skilled workers are needed yes but most immigrants come here and want to stay in Toronto, it’s like that’s the only place in Canada. Most other provinces need workers and can’t Find none
From personal experience, they head to Toronto because that's where all the jobs are. There is noting particularly appealing about Toronto, I think other than getting a job there are more downsides. But living in a place like this you can later change jobs without moving provinces, since there are more of them in GTA, so that is one thing going for it. This kind of a stability is quite appealing.
I don't think other provinces have that much of a demand for skilled workers. I knew someone working in Alberta for a time, and they ended up moving to GTA for these reasons. They are more sparsely populated, 40% or population is in Ontario as far as I remember, and many industries and fields are not developed. A new immigrant cannot land in the middle of a field in Saskatchewan and start their own company.
 

itsmelee

Full Member
Jan 26, 2016
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People who do not understand that you have to go back down the career ladder when moving to a different country, are setting themselves up for failure.

I was at top level in my field and department before moving here. I studied here in my field. I started at the bottom rung on the ladder and I couldn’t climb the career ladder until I had PR two years ago. I now make 6 figures a year, am one level below the top and happy as a pig in mud. There are those who expect me to move up fast but I’m having way too much fun “rolling around in the mud” right now, which I tell them.

It was 8 years of struggle, nearly loosing the roof over my head. When I got my PR I had $200 to my name. But I respected myself too much to give up and go back.

Do your dang research.
Good for you, but I think that's missing the point.

Moving to another country shouldn't mean a hard reset on your qualifications and experience.

People move to better their lives, to improve their prospects, to seek new adventures - not go backwards.

If highly qualified people are being forced into retail positions, there's a serious problem with the Canadian economy. Canada is selling itself as requiring immigrants. Its goal is to increase the 38.5M population to 100M by 2100. If it lacks the framework to absorb that population into relevant professions and areas of the economy, something has gone drastically wrong.

The amount of highly qualified doctors, teachers, nurses, engineers who are forced to work on a checkout - while major cities are struggling with waiting lists and have no credible means to transfer credentials - is a shocking oversight and quite disgusting. It indicates a serious lack of leadership and mismanagement at the highest levels.

Life is short. If other countries offer a better deal, go for them. No use waiting for the incompetence to resolve itself.

I was fortunate. I was able to get PR and transfer an existing business and profession. But I'm lucky in that I can do my work anywhere on the planet without subjecting myself to hundreds of job interviews chasing meagre salaries. Not everyone is so fortunate.

Others will find better fortune in the US, Singapore, the UK or other countries over Canada.
 

bas12

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Apr 20, 2018
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Good for you, but I think that's missing the point.

Moving to another country shouldn't mean a hard reset on your qualifications and experience.

People move to better their lives, to improve their prospects, to seek new adventures - not go backwards.

If highly qualified people are being forced into retail positions, there's a serious problem with the Canadian economy. Canada is selling itself as requiring immigrants. Its goal is to increase the 38.5M population to 100M by 2100. If it lacks the framework to absorb that population into relevant professions and areas of the economy, something has gone drastically wrong.

The amount of highly qualified doctors, teachers, nurses, engineers who are forced to work on a checkout - while major cities are struggling with waiting lists and have no credible means to transfer credentials - is a shocking oversight and quite disgusting. It indicates a serious lack of leadership and mismanagement at the highest levels.

Life is short. If other countries offer a better deal, go for them. No use waiting for the incompetence to resolve itself.

I was fortunate. I was able to get PR and transfer an existing business and profession. But I'm lucky in that I can do my work anywhere on the planet without subjecting myself to hundreds of job interviews chasing meagre salaries. Not everyone is so fortunate.

Others will find better fortune in the US, Singapore, the UK or other countries over Canada.
Agree 100%.

Nothing wrong with someone wanting to experience hardship and adventure, and go back to square one. Some people take a year in peace corps, and come out of it very disappointed, others climb mount Everest and die. Everybody is free to choose. Doesn't mean that this is a smart thing to do, and everybody should follow the example.

It does seem to be somewhat irresponsible for a good doctor to change careers to become a bad bus driver, and put their own and other people's lives in danger instead of saving them. I suspect this kind of a sacrifice is appreciated much less here than some people hope. A good reason for something like this is if the said doctor is running from something and this is the only way for them to survive, in that case they have no choice.

If nothing is pressing you to leave home urgently, a more reasonable approach is to take a few months or years and make sure you're moving to go up the career ladder, or at least stay at the similar level, or expect to eventually shoot higher than if you'd stay put. Most people actually go for opportunities abroad above their current level. Immigration and adaptation is hard enough, why even do this if you would be wasting many productive years in work you're overqualified or not a good fit for? You're not doing yourself or the society any favors.
 

wink

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May 25, 2021
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More power to you. You're definitely in the majority as most immigrants do toil through the system to make it work in Canada. Some, like you, overcome the odds and achieve their professional goals (at a high cost), and others have their dreams dashed and drive Ubers to feed their families.

The take away from the article for me, and there are a few, is the disconnect between the impression that Canada is in dire need of skilled workers and the reality on the ground when those skilled workers arrive.

Is it really true there's a shortage of skilled workers in Canada? Are there more skilled workers arriving than there are available jobs? Is it a bait and switch to ensure all Tim Hortons and convenience stores have a pipeline of cheap labor?
Is it a bait and switch to ensure all Tim Hortons and convenience stores have a pipeline of cheap labor?

Maybe you could add truck drivers as well in this list...

I think, more than anything, it is a way for liberal govt to stay in power.
 
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CoorsHeavy

Star Member
Jul 16, 2022
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Is it a bait and switch to ensure all Tim Hortons and convenience stores have a pipeline of cheap labor?

Maybe you could add truck drivers as well in this list...

I think, more than anything, it is a way for liberal govt to stay in power.
Truck drivers + warehouse drivers + amazon drivers + fast food workers = cheap reliable labour ( many work cash )

lots of university / college students work in these professions , business owners have contacts with immigration lawyers n consultants - LMIAs are for sale I guess $25k to 35k is current price. Workers get paid in cash , flipping burgers but on paper they managers - mere exploitation of immigrants ( sorry expats - lol ) ,not only they pay their contribution of CPP and taxes but also employer contributions.
Do you think Govt don’t know this BS , of course they do know , they won’t do anything - they are getting cheap labour who won’t dispute in labour courts since they all want PR- education is crap - it’s a pathway to PR, period.

Govt wants these people to fund colleges n university facilities since Govt won’t fund them - all the tax payer money gets wasted in Ukraine + Middle East + God knows where else , landlords want them as tenants ( landlord don’t want tenants who know their rights aka they don’t want white tenants who were born here lol ) , business cannot afford MIM wage of $15 so they wants cheap labour -$9 cash.
immigration lawyers n consultants want their cut

that’s me venting out - current me if there is anything wrong , apology if it hurt someone - but that’s the sad reality
Canada’s population in 2015 was around 35 million , Canada’s population in 2023 is over 40 million
While almost no new major hospitals , highways, universities n colleges were built during this time - only around 600k new houses were built during this time - wtf do you expect the cost of housing was supposed to do - boom . Liberals has destroyed this country .
Indians - come here for fake education
Mexicans - come here as fake tourists and then work permit ( liberals made Mexicans visa free )
Middle Eastern, Pakistanis, Sri Lankan? Bangladeshi n Africans ( not all but majority ) come here as refugees
Most of the super visa people work illegally
Human trafficking at its best.
I can go on and on and on

also majority of smart educated people are leaving this country
 
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Minister D

Star Member
Feb 19, 2021
58
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From personal experience, they head to Toronto because that's where all the jobs are. There is noting particularly appealing about Toronto, I think other than getting a job there are more downsides. But living in a place like this you can later change jobs without moving provinces, since there are more of them in GTA, so that is one thing going for it. This kind of a stability is quite appealing.
I don't think other provinces have that much of a demand for skilled workers. I knew someone working in Alberta for a time, and they ended up moving to GTA for these reasons. They are more sparsely populated, 40% or population is in Ontario as far as I remember, and many industries and fields are not developed. A new immigrant cannot land in the middle of a field in Saskatchewan and start their own company.
Toronto doesn’t have any job, unless u want to work in trucking or fast food for dirt cheap. Most immigrants only hear about Ontario and that’s why they flock here, but my experience is you get a better pay in other province. I know at least 100 young people that left Ontario to Alberta from January to May of this year. Most of them got a better deal there than they were getting here. I work in oil and gas and my company is based all over and to be honest Alberta gives me a better bang for my bucks. But to each is own
 
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Minister D

Star Member
Feb 19, 2021
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I came to Canada with top British qualifications and experience. Which were considered to be totally worthless here. I was told by official settlement agencies that I needed to start "on the shop floor" and to consider re-training as a bus driver as there was a shortage. I was told that I should be grateful to be given the opportunity to clean toilets on minimum wage and how dare I complain. They were extremely surprised that I wanted to pursue a professional career at all costs. They said I'd fail. And they were right.

The industry, research and innovation in this country are absurdly below even developing nation standards, yet I was laughed at during interviews for mentioning international experience with renowned global corporations. My British accent was openly mocked during interviews. The one interview I was successful at, with a high profile government agency, the job description mysteriously changed after the fact to accomodate another candidate who was pals with the new CEO. Further underscoring the nepotism, self employment as a consultant also failed; I was told that unless I was a member of the old boys club of graduates at a certain Canadian university, I would never be given a contract. And yes, I worked for FREE on projects that earned people millions; to gain "Canadian experience"; only to be told that it was all just a waste of time and that I would never be hired in this country, ever.

Meanwhile the Americans were desperately calling me for interviews. Declined a managerial position. "How about VP? We want you". To underscore this point, international experience is considered to be very valuable everywhere apart from Canada. And “Canadian experience” is nothing but code for someone who accepts lower labour standards, never complains, knows their (lowly) place, is forever grateful for the privilege to clean toilets and lick the boot of those who stole land from First Nations. It is put another way, mental slavery.

Canada bled me dry professionally and monetarily. However I have my reasons for living here, as I'm a second class citizen in my country of origin. Perhaps I should have moved to Australia or elsewhere where my skills would have been better valued but one can't spend one's whole life migrating and not living, so I have had to accept things as they are .

The fact is that canadian immigration is a scam. It might work for some in IT or those with pre-existing social/business networks and/or white privilege, but most direct-PR immigrants will be worse off in Canada. As to the masses of Indians and Chinese who move here; only those who have family money (enough for a downpayment) stick it out. Most are unhappy and struggling.

When I landed as a PR, the agent asked about my plans for a life in Canada. After hearing me excitedly describe a good life, she said "I'll be honest, you're not in the right place for that". Seems she was right.

Now I am certainly very happy to soon become a Canadian Citizen, at least for the security and peace of mind and democratic freedoms and nature, but given another chance, I would have moved elsewhere.
Man your story breaks my heart. I’m so happy you found peace, now you are a citizen the start of change is in your hands. The government needs some shake up, needs young fresh minds leading this country. It’s always so weird to me how come Canada would never acknowledge no other country education and most of those countries education system is way more advanced than the one in Canada. Isn’t Britain and Canada sister countries? Why they don’t respect experiences and education from there?
 

wink

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May 25, 2021
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Canada is aiming to become a "melting pot" for immigrants
Canada will never be a melting pot... Before moving here, I came across the phrase "while US is a melting pot, Canada is mosaic"... I did not understand fully the meaning of it... But I get to taste it within few months living here... Every community sticks around with their own community.... if you go to furniture shop or electronic shop or car dealer, only a person of your ethnicity would approach you.... whereever you go, that's what you would experience.... after living here for few years, unconsciously you also would fall in line... You might thing it is a small thing, but these kind of small small gestures reinforces certain behaviours... This country already broken in terms of geography and politics like Quebec is like separate country, Alberta + SK seems to think they more in sync with US than rest of the Canada... that means Ontario is Canada... I don't see much of unifying factors. .. adding to all these there seems to be no sense of belonging for the new immigrants and there seems to be no effort from the govt as well to help in the assimilating process. Not sure how all these factors going pan out in 10 years from now...
 
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bas12

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Apr 20, 2018
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Toronto doesn’t have any job, unless u want to work in trucking or fast food for dirt cheap. Most immigrants only hear about Ontario and that’s why they flock here, but my experience is you get a better pay in other province. I know at least 100 young people that left Ontario to Alberta from January to May of this year. Most of them got a better deal there than they were getting here. I work in oil and gas and my company is based all over and to be honest Alberta gives me a better bang for my bucks. But to each is own
Well, in oil in gas, yes, lulz
Would be strange if they went the other way. Not everybody is into fossil fuels though
If you're highly qualified in something else, Alberta is mostly a desert jobwise. Everytime oil prices drop, that province is in trouble.
The fact is Ontario is where a big chunk of population and a more diverse economy is
 

bas12

Hero Member
Apr 20, 2018
369
119
Canada will never be a melting pot... Before moving here, I came across the phrase "while US is a melting pot, Canada is mosaic"... I did not understand fully the meaning of it... But I get to taste it within few months living here... Every community sticks around with their own community.... if you go to furniture shop or electronic shop or car dealer, only a person of your ethnicity would approach you.... whereever you go, that's what you would experience.... after living here for few years, unconsciously you also would fall in line... You might thing it is a small thing, but these kind of small small gestures reinforces certain behaviours... This country already broken in terms of geography and politics like Quebec is like separate country, Alberta + SK seems to think they more in sync with US than rest of the Canada... that means Ontario is Canada... I don't see much of unifying factors. .. adding to all these there seems to be no sense of belonging for the new immigrants and there seems to be no effort from the govt as well to help in the assimilating process. Not sure how all these factors going pan out in 10 years from now...
I heard it being compared with a salad. Supposedly since the population of Canada is not very large, a chunky salad can still "taste good" (unlike the US, where due to its size melting is necessary).
I think I personally prefer the melting pot though. My personal opinion is that these immigrant communities stuck decades back in the past of their original countries are not the healthiest phenomenon.

About the sense of belonging, I think IRCC sends out surveys from time to time to ask about this. So, somebody must care, unless some intern did it :) The last one I recieved was in 2021. I was not sure what to tell them, I just moved to QC in the middle of covid, and haven't met anybody yet.
 

johnjkjk

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Mar 29, 2016
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Man your story breaks my heart. I’m so happy you found peace, now you are a citizen the start of change is in your hands. The government needs some shake up, needs young fresh minds leading this country. It’s always so weird to me how come Canada would never acknowledge no other country education and most of those countries education system is way more advanced than the one in Canada. Isn’t Britain and Canada sister countries? Why they don’t respect experiences and education from there?
Britain and Australia are more closely related. Apparently Canada and the US are meant to be sister countries wrt qualifications, but Canadians have an inferiority complex and go out of their way to put down Americans. Like the guy in the article with a US PhD. He should have been immediately hired in canada.

When i lived in Britain, I was a member of an engineering institution where 50% of young members were migrants. Many of them headhunted directly from abroad, for their skills. The British healthcare system is mostly staffed by migrants. Even after Brexit, employers don’t care about where you’re from, as much as you have, or can be sponsored for a work permit. If you have the skills, you’ll be hired.
 

bas12

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Apr 20, 2018
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Britain and Australia are more closely related. Apparently Canada and the US are meant to be sister countries wrt qualifications, but Canadians have an inferiority complex and go out of their way to put down Americans. Like the guy in the article with a US PhD. He should have been immediately hired in canada.

When i lived in Britain, I was a member of an engineering institution where 50% of young members were migrants. Many of them headhunted directly from abroad, for their skills. The British healthcare system is mostly staffed by migrants. Even after Brexit, employers don’t care about where you’re from, as much as you have, or can be sponsored for a work permit. If you have the skills, you’ll be hired.
IDK, maybe it is not Canada or its systems, it is just these particular people that are not that great?
I've seen this in every country that those who are not very confident in their abilities will try to push others down, especially the ones who seem to be more skilled then them. My strategy has been to try to aim higher that my level, so that I would not have to deal with as many people that would feel insecure in my presence.

Could be that because more highly ambitious ones are more likely to move elsewhere for interesting opportunities, the chances of running into more insecure ones are higher here. It is not some kind of an ill of Canada, it is just a natural difference between a big city and a small provincial town. If you're not a good fit, you might not be that appreciated, unless you're willing to pretend to be at the same level as locals.
 
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CoorsHeavy

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Jul 16, 2022
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I heard it being compared with a salad. Supposedly since the population of Canada is not very large, a chunky salad can still "taste good" (unlike the US, where due to its size melting is necessary).
I think I personally prefer the melting pot though. My personal opinion is that these immigrant communities stuck decades back in the past of their original countries are not the healthiest phenomenon.

About the sense of belonging, I think IRCC sends out surveys from time to time to ask about this. So, somebody must care, unless some intern did it :) The last one I recieved was in 2021. I was not sure what to tell them, I just moved to QC in the middle of covid, and haven't met anybody yet.
I never saw Canadian flag during FIFA World Cup , however there were plenty of Portuguese, Italian ( even though they did not qualify ), Croatian , English , German flags there is zero patriotism in this country
 

itsmelee

Full Member
Jan 26, 2016
34
22
Man your story breaks my heart. I’m so happy you found peace, now you are a citizen the start of change is in your hands. The government needs some shake up, needs young fresh minds leading this country. It’s always so weird to me how come Canada would never acknowledge no other country education and most of those countries education system is way more advanced than the one in Canada. Isn’t Britain and Canada sister countries? Why they don’t respect experiences and education from there?
Yeah, it's truly odd.

I'm baffled by the ambitious immigration targets and the almost total lack of educational reciprocity. Why you would encourage doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers... and then force them into unrelated, lower-wage professions because their 5-10 years of education or experience isn't directly transferable makes absolutely no sense. Especially when those are exactly the professions that they're having trouble filling domestically.

One thing I will say, anecdotally -

When my LinkedIn location was set to "London, UK", I would routinely field 10+ offers per day from recruiters in the tech space. Salaries would be $1,000 CAD+ equivalent, daily. As soon as I set my location to "Toronto, ON", offers plummeted to maybe 1-2 per month. Salary ranges were 50-70% lower than London - with even senior positions lower than the equivalent junior salary in the UK.

This is anecdotal. I'm not in the market to switch jobs, so I haven't experienced the interview process here... but I can tell you that fighting for a job that barely covers my rent is not what I'd waste my time doing. I'd move back home or somewhere else if I found myself in that situation.

Canada is great if you can make it work. But not worth the premium of insecurity.