The Canadian Parvasi - Issue 21

The International News Weekly November 24, 2017 | Toronto
03
Why Some Immigrants Make it
in Canada While Others Leave
Joyeeta Dutta Ray
They came, they saw, they
conquered against all odds. Others
went back, defeated.
Don’t be quick to cheer the
former and sneer at the latter;
more often than not, immigrants
to Canada who head back end up
making millions elsewhere.
So what’s to blame for their
departure? Is it malfunctioning
planets, miserable resumes, subzero
Martian temperatures that
take the fun out of job hunting or
all of the above?
Statistics Canada says that
one in three Canadians leave
the country within 20 years of
arrival. Yet, close to 50 per cent
of the country’s millionaires are
reportedly new immigrants or
first-generation whiz kids with
at least one parent born across
the border.
You have to raise your tuque
to them. Only a fraction of this
envious lot is partying on inherited
wealth. Most of them are
self-made successes. How did
they do it?
New Canadian Media spoke
to five immigrants to Canada to
explore the differences between
those who stayed, and those who
chose to leave.
Does Higher Education Pay
Off Better?
Pranay Sen* says no. A microbiologist
who studied at two
premier Canadian universities,
he followed his parents to Mississauga
from South East in 2002.
He started off as a junior scientist
in a reputable firm. However,
within two years he realized
there was not much scope for
growth.
“Canada could not offer my
son better opportunities (in
the pharmaceutical industry)
whereas [a country in Europe]
gave him the break he needed,”
explains Pranay’s mother. “Most
of his friends remained unemployed,
which further discouraged
him to linger on here.”
Pranay moved to the European
country where he continues to
make major strides in his career.
Many disillusioned souls
leave within the first year of arrival.
Jay and Christina D’Souza
have a similar story. They migrated
to Canada from Jakarta
in 2005 in search of “clean air,
structured society and affordable
international education for
our children.” Within a year and
a half of puffing oxygen, they returned
to Jakarta’s fumes.
The first few days in Canada
were decisive. The security
guard at their serviced apartment
(fully furnished with hotellike
amenities) had more weight
in his brains than biceps. He had
a PhD in microbiology, but in his
three years in Toronto, he never
got a break that did justice to his
degree. Jay got a job that paid his
bills, but it could not give him
the lifestyle he left behind.
“It did not appear that people
who lived here longer were better
off than me. There are exceptions,
but our struggle was not
worth the effort,” he explains.
When Mags Mano moved to
Brampton from Indonesia, Asia
was booming, while Canada
was hit with the recession. She
settled down with her Canadian
husband, an immigrant from
Iran.
They had every reason to
stay on. Mags did well for herself
working for the Canadian government,
moving on to jointly
own an automotive business
with her husband. But, in 2014,
they gave it all up and headed
back to Jakarta.
“The Canadian economy was
slowing down in 1990 to ’91, while
the other side of the world was
booming,” Mano reasons. “We
thought it was time to look into
more lucrative investment opportunities
where the going was
good.” For her, the harsh Canadian
winter also played villain.
It took her no time to settle
down as a senior manager in a
relocation company back in her
home country.
Can Better Timing Lead to
Greater Wealth?
Those who arrived when labour
market conditions were
favourable seem to have the
best reasons to celebrate now.
Many own assets worth millions,
gained through business
enterprises and real estate investment.
For Neerav and Preeti
Sharma who migrated from
India in 2001, pre-planning did
the trick. High levels of pollution
wreaked havoc on their daughter’s
health. It was time to look
for greener pastures.
Neerav was reluctant to leave
his prestigious job in Delhi, so
his wife went ahead first. Luckily
for her, she found a job, home
and enough greenery to have her
husband join her soon after.
“I tapped into the employment
resource centres for new
immigrants and found my first
job in Seneca College (in Toronto),”
she says. Preeti continued
to build her skills and moved up
rapidly. Today, she is Operations
& Student Retention Manager in
the School of Communications,
Premier leaves for China, Vietnam trip
The Canadian Parvasi
TORONTO: Premier Kathleen Wynne left for a
two-week trade mission to China and Vietnam on
Wednesday.
Accompanied by over 100 business and academic
delegates, the Premier will meet Chinese business
leaders leaders in Beijing, Nanjing, Chongqing and
Shenzhen to identify areas for increasing the already
$42 billion annual trade between China and
Ontario.
China is Ontario’s second largest trading partner
after the US. This is the third visit to China by
the Premier who will be assisted by her minister for
international trade Michael Chan.
She will stop in Hong Kong for business and political
meetings before leaving for Vietnam.
The two-way trade between Ontario and Vietnam
is just $3 billion. The Premier, who is visiting
Vietnam for the first time, will meet business and
political leaders in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi to
expand trade and business ties.
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Media & Design.
Neerav arrived in 2003
through a company transfer.
He was the only non-white employee
in his company then and
says he believes it is imperative
to have good interpersonal skills
and networking abilities to succeed
in Canada. “You may not
start at the top, but hard work
rewards well with many opportunities,”
he promises.
For Paul Yee, an executive
producer of TV commercials
from Hong Kong, investing in
real estate was his key to success.
He came to Canada for a
family reunion and never went
back. He worked hard, owned a
company, built assets through
real estate investment and encourages
newcomers to do the
same.
Whatever their story, all
achievers agree that there is no
escaping the struggle in the initial
years.
Can We Enrich the Economy
by Letting Skilled Immigrants
Go?
Canada has the largest number
of immigrants per capita in
the world. But are they given
equal career opportunities as
those born here?
Statistics Canada says that
the first four years of the new
millennium recorded more outmigrants
from Canada than immigrants.
“For the United Kingdom,
the emigrant-to-immigrant ratio
was 1.6 Canadians leaving for every
Briton entering Canada,” the
study says. However, the largest
ratio was between the United
States and Canada, with Canada
sending 11.3 emigrants for every
U.S. immigrant.
According to a 2012 news
report in The Globe and Mail,
there is severe lack of skills in
the secondary cities of Alberta,
Saskatchewan, Ontario and Atlantic
Canada. “This shortage (of
people power) is a drag on Canada’s
potential to innovate and
compete into the future,” says
the article.
For a stronger economy and
uniform development countrywide,
can the federal government
afford to lose skilled immigrants
to other countries? That remains
the million-dollar question.
* Publisher's note: some names in
this reporting have been changed to respect
the privacy and career prospects
of the subjects.
(Joyeeta Dutta Ray is a freelance
senior writer, editor and published author
operating out of her own consultancy,
Creative Joy. She can be reached
on joyeeta.ray@gmail.com. Twitter
handle: @joeyday20)
(Credit Source: This article by
Joyeeta Dutta Ray was first published
in the New Canadian Media)
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