Moving to Canada and my Experience so Far

Hola Beauties! This blog is a little different; it is not about makeup or beauty but my experience as an immigrant in Canada.

Disclaimer: There may be affiliate links in this post. If you purchase through these links, I may make a small commission at no cost to you. 

It is important to share these experiences, especially if you decide to move to another country and start a life there. I hope this information helps and gives you a better idea of what to expect as an immigrant and how life is in Canada.

This post is about Moving to Canada and my experience.

Why Did I Move to Canada

I was always curious about moving to another country and learning a new language. I am originally from Colombia; as much as I love my country, I always wonder how living in a country like Canada would be. This country offers so many opportunities for immigrants and help.

Leaving Colombia was not an easy decision. I didn’t have anybody here, so I knew I would have to do everything alone. At the same time, I was excited to start a new chapter in my life.

First Days in Canada

I came to Canada on September 11, 2010, with a residency card. I got a room in a house that I remember was a little bit expensive for what it was. The room was around 600 CAD, but it was located in an excellent area in Toronto.

Since it was my first time living in a different country, I didn’t care about the price; I just wanted to be safe and comfortable.

The first days were exciting; I explored the city, learned more about the country and the language, and tried to figure out everything. I’m not going to lie, but sometimes it was also lonely. I didn’t know anybody, and I was mostly by myself.

After two weeks, I decided that it was time to look for a job. The money that I had saved back home would not last forever.

I went to mall stores, applied for different positions, and got hired as a sales representative at the Levis Store. I had this job for about three years.

Getting a job in Canada in my field

I have a degree in Systems Engineering. Back home, I worked for an IT company as a Business Systems Analyst, so my priority was to get back on track and get a job in my field.

I’m going to be 100% honest and tell you that getting a job in my field was not easy for me. It took many, many years of hard work and lots of different jobs that had nothing to do with my profession. In other words, I had to start all over again. This is probably the hardest thing about moving to Canada and my experience so far.

I applied for many jobs, and every time I had an interview, the reason for not hiring me was that I didn’t have Canadian experience;

Every time, the interviewers mentioned that my resume was great. Still, since I’ve never worked for a Canadian company, they were a bit skeptical about hiring me, so I thought, how was I supposed to get that experience if nobody gave me a chance? 😕

In 2016, after trying agencies for jobs, taking courses in universities to update my resume, and getting other jobs as a server, barista, and call center, I decided to get a different approach and get into a full-school program with a co-op semester.

Going back to school and getting into my career field

Before moving to Canada, I worked as a System Business Analyst, so I took a post-grad course to continue my path in that field. I applied for a program at George Brown College in Toronto, and since my degree was from Colombia, I had to take an English test to be a student there, which I didn’t pass.

Because of that, I had to take a series of English academic courses as a prerequisite before getting into the program. After six months, I was finally able to get into the post-grad program with the co-op option.

The program offered the option to finish your last semester in a paid co-op. I aimed to get this co-op in a bank institution, which I did 😀. We had to apply for this co-op as a regular job; the college did not help us, so everybody in the program competed to get somewhere.

I was fortunate to get an excellent company’s offer. My co-op was for four months, but since my performance was good, they extended it for another two months.

While there, I applied for different full-time positions internally, and I got an offer in a different area as a full-time employee. 🤗

Final Thoughts

Moving to Canada was a hard decision, and even though I had to work really hard to get where I am now, I don’t regret it. I have learned so much.

Having to start my career from zero and getting so many different jobs in areas that I never thought I would do helped me on so many levels; I gained a lot of new skills and became a better person.

So, if you plan on moving to another country, remember that you might have to start from nothing. Maybe you are lucky, and you can get right away on your path, but also be aware that you might have to work a little bit harder, but at the end of the day, everything will pay off. 💖

I hope this article about moving to Canada and my experience so far helps you on your new journey; feel free to comment or ask me any questions. I’m happy to help you and provide more information about my experience.

Check out more About me HERE.

Love you all ❤

Adriana