A New Life
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Housing was not so easy for immigrants. We used to keep calling the landlords or apartment management companies all day to find something suitable to our needs. Most of them used to turn down our application since we were not employed. Some of them used to ask for high deposit. Landlords are not keen on unemployed tenants. Landlords wanted a proof of employment or a minimum balance in the bank account. So the choices narrow down to landlords asking rents higher than the market rate. We used to start our hunt for apartment’s right in the morning and continue till we get tired. All these house hunts was by using public transport. Not convenient for a couple with 2 year old kid but at least there was something. Our positive spirit helped us keeping hopes high. After a search for week, we found an apartment owner who was willing to accept our application. We did not know about Calgary since we did received limited information about it in the internet. So Toronto was our choice of destination. We did some enquiries about the employment situation for the immigrants and were cautioned about a low probability of securing a job in one’s own field. We came prepared with a mindset that we might have to wait for 3-6 months to get a job in engineering. However, I could get a job in my own field on 45thday of landing in Canada out of which I was down with chicken pox for 3 weeks. But on those few days, we realised that it was quite difficult get a job in any field in Toronto especially for the immigrants coming from non-native English speaking countries. The most common explanation employers used to give is “lack of Canadian Experience” and till date I am trying to understand what “Canadian experience” means in an engineering field. Engineering work is more or less same in all over the world and dealing with university graduates is not very different except the one which depends on cultural differences. Most of the employers of non engineering field used to turn down the application just after the phone interviews. However, I was not discriminated by the employers in the engineering field. My first job was with Colt Engineering and the offer was competitive one. had no idea about what should be my salary but Colt did not take any advantage of it. We landed in Vancouver airport and completed our immigration process in Vancouver airport. Then we moved to Toronto which was our final destination. Daughter of a friend of my father-in-law picked us up and dropped at the guesthouse booked by us from Japan. It was located in North York. It was a small guesthouse away from the station. First exposure of winter was not so bad. We were lucky to land in Toronto first. Toronto has an extensive transport network. I did not have any driving license when we landed in Toronto. We had use public transport for our house hunt, job hunt and for all other needs of life like shopping etc. I still remember when I went to attend the first interview in Toronto. The employers invited for an interview to Hamilton, Ontario. We used to live in Don Mills of Toronto near the science center. I had to start around 2.5 hours before the scheduled interview. First I had to take a bus to the nearest metro station. From there I went to Downtown Toronto and took the go train to Hamilton. Then from the station, I took a bus and then walked a kilometer to the employer’s office. Finally I got a job with an engineering company who had a site office near the border of Oakville and Mississauga. By public transport, the office was 1.5 hrs on one way. Worst was the bus ride from the go station to the site office. There used to be 2 bus services in the morning. The days I used to miss the bus, I used to walk 3kms to the site office. I got used to the Canadian winter that way. But I was happy that I have a job. One day I overheard few guys talking about the job they do for past one or two years. They were doctors from a developing country but could not work as doctor since their degree was not acceptable to Canada. I do not know why Canadian immigration authority accepted their application when their degree is not acceptable.