Settlement

Coming to work and visit Canada is a dream for most people from the Philippines, but not everybody gets a chance to come.

I worked in the Middle East for almost 6 years, then I decided to apply to Canada in 2009. One day, I meet a billionaire who owned a recruitment agency in Manila. I talked to him to see if I can apply at his office and he said yes. I came home from this office with a smile on my face, I felt I fulfilled something on that day.  Two years had passed and I had never heard anything from them. I lost hope and applied for another job in Qatar where I worked on contract for two years. Two months before I finished my contract, I received an email saying that my application to Canada had been approved. At first, I thought the sender of the email must have mistakenly sent it to me because it had been almost four years since I had applied. I just simply ignored that email.

After couple of days, I received a call from the secretary of the recruitment agency. She confirmed that she sent me an email. I could hardly believe it! She asked me to start gathering documents that I might need to be able to go to Canada. I filed the final exit in the State of Qatar and flew back to the Philippines. I did my medical examination and dealt with all the documents that I needed.  After one year of staying in the Philippines, I finally completed all the things that needed to be done. Five years of waiting was more than enough!

January 25th, 2014, I flew from Manila to Vancouver International Airport. I stayed there for a few hours waiting for my connection flight. Thanks to Facebook, my friend Queenie from the Philippines hooked me up with her elder sister, Vicky, who had been living in Vancouver for over 40 years. Vicky came and met me at the airport and she brought me a jacket, tea, and some food to eat. It was winter time. I asked her what the temperature was outside and she replied that it was 2 degrees Celsius. I said that it was really cold. She asked me where my final destination was and I replied that it was Calgary Alberta. She laughed and said that it was colder there!

In the evening on January 26, 2014, I landed at Calgary International Airport. I picked up my luggage from the conveyor, put it on the push cart, and looked for a bench to sit and observe people for a while. After 30 hours of travel without sleeping, I was worn out. While I was sitting, I saw people outside walking with steam coming out of their mouths while they were talking. I told to myself that I’m going to be cold once I get out of the building. I started to walk out of the building and then decided to go back into the airport. WOW! I knew it was cold but I had no idea what cold would mean in Canada. I realized that the temperature was minus 27 degrees at that moment. I dug into my luggage and took out my thermal coat.

I tried to get out of the airport again for the second time and it was better than my first try! I walked to get to the next building to meet a woman who connected me to my employer.  I met my employer and the next day I started working in their restaurant. It was in a small-town name Black Diamond. Everything was strange to me, especially the weather. I worked for them for almost a year and walked every day often in minus 30-degree temperatures.  One day, I decided to resign and move to Vancouver Island. I still held my work visa but I couldn’t work for anyone else because my past employer’s name was on the contract. 

I applied for an extension visa as a visitor one month before my work permit expired. I held my visitor’s visa for one and half years. Of course, I couldn’t work during that time.  My savings ran out and I couldn’t send any money to my kids back home in the Philippines for a while. 

In the first quarter of the year 2016, I met my boyfriend for the first time through a friend.  We got to know each other for a few months and after realizing we got along fine, we decided to live together.  Eventually, my boyfriend applied for spousal sponsorship under common-law family class. In November 2017, my open work permit came. I finally got back to work in early December and I’m still working today. In August, I got the confirmation of my permanent residency. After few years of struggling in Canada, I finally got my legal status back!

In the end, I finally figured one thing in life. Moving from my country of origin to another country to live and work is a huge step. It is a gamble where sometimes you win some other times you lose. After few years of hardships and difficulties, I can say that I am successful. I don’t mean financially stable, but successful at working hard towards my goals!