By now, it is clear that anyone who has just arrived in Canada will find the first five years to be the toughest. People who immigrate from Mauritius will have done so with their lifetime savings and have to settle in their new lifestyle with limited resources. Very often, they are then faced with a constant uphill struggle to save money to improve their situations. In this article, I will provide some hints as to how to succeed in doing this.
I have decided to wait a few weeks before writing about homesickness for one very simple reason: you are very unlikely to experience this awful feeling in the first 6 months. Why? During that time, everything will be still new to you, and you will be busy figuring everything out. But once you have settled down, homesickness will affect you. People experience it differently. For example, if you and your wife (and maybe your children) moved to Canada together, you would be in a better position to cope with homesickness than if you were on your own.
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Like most new comers, you are most likely to arrive in Canada either in spring or summer. If Canadian summer can be as hot as Mauritian summer, Canadian winter, however, is a whole different story. Canadian winter is very tough (especially for someone who has lived in Mauritius all his life), and if you are not prepared to face it, you are in for a rough time. In the next few paragraphs, I will talk about what you can do to be ready to face your first Canadian winter in the best possible conditions.
Last week, I said that it would take about 4 weeks to get your SIN (social insurance number) card through the mail. You will receive your permanent SIN number when you go to the Human Resources office. While you are waiting for the SIN card to arrive, start working on your C.V and cover letter so that you will be ready to apply for jobs when you receive your SIN card. By the way, the term C.V is almost never used in Canada. Instead you will hear the term résumé.There are a lot of non-profit organizations in Canada that help new immigrants write their résumés the way employers in Canada want to see them. Most go even further by conducting mocked interviews to help new immigrants develop their interview skills. Ask around if there is such an organization in your community. Chances are there will be at least one.
So you have decided to move to Canada, and will soon board the plane that will take you to the country where ice hockey is the number one sport. Do you have an idea of what is waiting for you there, except maybe a tough winter at some point? Do you know what you need to do once the plane lands in Toronto or Montréal? For the next few weeks, I will write about things you, as a new immigrant, should know or do. Before writing anything, I would like to point out that I am by no means an expert in Canadian immigration and I am not forcing anyone to follow my suggestions. Everything I’ll write here is based on my own experience. Anybody who disagree with my suggestions is welcome to send his or her comments.