My Canadian Dream began in 1993. I was living in Nigeria, where I was born, and had to sit an exam. My brother’s friend drove me there. A few months later, I asked after him and was told he moved to Canada.
It was the first time I heard about someone relocating to a new country. I dreamed of doing the same.
I studied biochemistry at university and completed a postgraduate program in computer science. I worked in IT for around 12 years in Nigeria, where I gained experience in computer engineering, billing administration, and team management
My desire to relocate heavily influenced my life. When I courted my wife, I told her about my dream because I didn’t want it to be a problem for her. I started getting myself ready to move by gaining IT certifications through a Canadian society.
In 2012, I moved to Canada with my wife and two children after successfully applying for permanent residency in the country.
But it ended up taking me around nine months to find a professional job. I struggled to get my foot in the door and provide for my family’s basic needs. I feel I was overlooked because I didn’t have Canadian work experience.
I applied for professional jobs in Canada but didn’t hear back
We arrived in Canada in 2012 and stayed with my sister, who had moved there ahead of me, for two months before we got an apartment.
My wife worked in a bank in Nigeria, but when we moved she decided to pursue her hobby of making clothes, so she went back to school to go into fashion design. Meanwhile, I started job-hunting.
I applied for professional jobs, such as analyst and project manager positions, but it mostly was crickets. I wasn’t hearing anything back.
Peers who were also immigrants asked to look at my rsum. I’d put Nigeria all over the place, someone suggested I remove it. When I did, I started getting follow-up calls.
I felt I wasn’t getting opportunities because of my lack of Canadian work experience. Recruiters didn’t say it directly — it was subtle. In phone conversations, recruiters would ask where my experience was based. I’d explain it wasn’t in Canada, and the conversation would continue, but they’d never get back to me.
It became glaring that companies weren’t hiring me because I lacked local experience, but I’d never get it if they didn’t hire me. It’s a chicken-and-egg situation.
I took on minimum-wage work. We struggled with our basic needs.
After a month or so of job-seeking, I started applying to lower-wage jobs as well. Living in Canada wasn’t cheap, and I needed to stop depleting my savings.
I worked at a call center for CA $10 an hour for around two months. Then, I got a job as a grocery store clerk doing night shifts. I also did evening shifts unloading cargo from planes at the airport.
I kept my days free to pursue more professional opportunities. I didn’t want to get stuck in a low-wage job. But it meant I hardly saw my kids. They were asleep when I got home and went to school when I was asleep. They started speaking to me less, and it made me question why we left Nigeria.
We were comfortable in Nigeria, but we lived in a basement in Canada. We struggled to cover our basic needs. There was a day when I only had around $10 left and had to decide whether I’d use it to buy food or put gas in the car. I’d never been in that situation.
Moving back to Nigeria at that stage would have meant starting all over again there, so we decided to push through the pain of integration.
I received help from a mentorship program and was eventually hired as a business analyst
During my struggle to get a professional job, my confidence levels crashed and I started to doubt myself.
Through an organization that offered loans to immigrant professionals, I received some money to attend a short training course. I interacted with professionals on the course who listened to me. I found myself leading conversations and felt my confidence being restored.
I also joined a mentorship program that reaches out to companies on your behalf. They didn’t have a magic wand that automatically gave people jobs, but it leveraged social capital on behalf of immigrants like me.
They helped me get an unpaid opportunity, which led to a full-time offer for a business analyst job. I was able to keep doing my night shift work to make money in the interim and actually kept my grocery store job for months afterward for extra income.
Even though the road isn’t completely smooth, it always becomes easier once you have that initial foot in the door.
I stayed in the business analyst role for around two years before I was headhunted by another company to work as a senior business analyst. In 2015, I started my own business. My team of six builds software and consults with organizations on software and implementation.
Employers should give people like me a chance
The program I did gave me an in-route for Canadian experience, but I don’t think it’s right to filter out candidates who don’t have Canadian experience.
You don’t need Canadian experience to succeed in Canada. You only need experienced people who are ready to do whatever it takes to fit in and deliver on the work priorities. We should give people a chance to prove themselves.
Immigration shouldn’t make people suffer. It should help them transfer their skills, which can positively impact the economy.
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