We asked students to share their stories about moving to Canada. Here’s what one said:
This is the story of my family’s move to Canada. My family was originally from the capital city of the Philippines, Manila city. My Dad applied for immigration to Canada a few years back, but it was just to have further options for us in the future. He didn’t really want to leave the Philippines because it has been home to us since we were born and we were living pretty comfortably there. A few years passed and we didn’t get a response from Canadian Immigration so we thought we might have been disapproved so we went on with our lives in the Philippines. In 2009 my cousin was set to be married in Vancouver, B.C. and she invited our family to her wedding. The whole family couldn’t go because my brothers still had school at that time and my Dad didn’t want to leave them alone so it was only my Mom and I who went to the wedding. We stayed in our relatives’ place in White Rock, B.C. Their place was so beautiful. It had great landscaping and interior designs as well as an amazing view of the Washington State border. After the wedding, my relatives toured as around Vancouver to its popular tourist destinations, such as Whistler Mountain and Butchart Gardens. My Mom and I really enjoyed our stay in Vancouver. After our 2 weeks in Vancouver, my Mom went home to the Philippines, but I continued on to the Eastside of Canada. I stayed with my cousin in Toronto, ON. He showed me around the city and its popular sights. I even learned how to take the subway there by myself. It was really going around Toronto as compared to Manila. To summarize our vacation in Canada, we really liked it and saw ourselves possibly living here in the future.
Vacation in Canada
A few months after our vacation in Canada, My dad tells the family that we have been approved for immigration to Canada and he is thinking about leaving the Philippines for Canada. Our life in the Philippines was pretty good. We had household help to do most of the household duties like laundry, cleaning and cooking. So basically we didn’t have to any of those back home. This was an issue for us because none of us really knew how to do these things properly. Another issue for us was that we’d be leaving behind most of our family and friends in the Philippines. Despite these issues my parents still decided to push through with the transfer to Canada. I am really grateful to my parents because I know they did this sacrifice for me and my brothers to have a better future here in Canada. If it weren’t for us they would never have left the country because life was so easy for them back home.
We had a year or so to prepare for the transfer to Canada. It seems like a long time, but when you’re leaving behind your life for the past years it really isn’t much time. We needed to prepare a lot of things before leaving. We had to empty out our home so that it can be either sold or rented. We had garage sales, goodbye parties, and the like. To keep is short our last few months in the Philippines were really fast-paced and emotional. Of course there was also the issue of which province in Canada we’d be going to. The choice wasn’t that hard though, my Dad preferred the warmest place in Canada which was Vancouver, B.C. and to make the choice even easier we had relatives there that would help us.
Just before leaving
Finally the day came and we were leaving for Canada. Lots of goodbyes, hugging and crying on that day, but it was time to go. Once we arrived in Canada, we thought we were going to have trouble transporting our things because we had almost 20 boxes of our belongings with us, but thankfully our relatives were prepared for us and we only needed one trip from the airport to their place. The first 2 weeks in Canada we stayed with our relatives in White Rock. We did the things we had to do during that time like opening a bank account, getting a SIN, looking for a place to stay, etc. Having relatives in Vancouver was greatly beneficial to us, they helped us so much with the move and we will be forever indebted to them for their help. Now we are currently residing in Richmond, B.C. and although the place is just temporary we really like it and its location.
Living in Canada
Moving to another country is never an easy task but with the help of relatives and friends the move to Canada has been so much easier. The rumors that I’ve heard about Canadians are true they are very kind and approachable, which makes the adjustment even easier to handle. Canada is very helpful to new immigrants; there are all sorts of organizations and programs for new immigrants like RCMS and the YES program, which are very helpful to new immigrants. It’s funny to think that after my vacation I wanted to live in Canada and now we are lucky enough to have an opportunity to make a living here.
