OK! i just wanted to vent some frustration.
Everyday we hear stories of people landing and getting no end of hand outs.(the same in Britain i may add)
I read stories here everyday of the struggles we face. I know the saying "what don't kill you will make you stronger! Well i must be one of a million strong people in this country.

I love Canada and all it has to offer. But i struggle on a daily basis with having to put up with crap wages and poor equality until i officially receive the PR status.

Can somebody please explain to me why this is so?

I am doing a job that a canadian would struggle to do.(emotionally and financially) Yet i am to be treated as a second class Citizen. Is this fair? NO WAY!
I plan to make a huge wave when i finally leave my job. I am sick of people thinking they can abuse and use us for cheap labour.
Most of us in this forum come with extremly good qualifications and yet we are unable to truly put them to use.
I read everything from:

not being able to buy a home!
not being able to get finance!
not being able to get recognition!
not being able to have loved ones join in your new life for long periods of time!


what's your story?
do they truly end with happiness?

Sorry guys but i needed to vent this as i will explode!
Babyblue
(one women sits alone abiding her time. )

Mmm, I'm British and things aren't that difficult now at all. I realise that it maybe for some and it depends on your financial circumstances, but I know many Brit ex-pats here and life is not difficult for them financially.

Perhaps the cost of living is higher in Ontario I'm not sure, but we decided (after many visits) it wasn't for us anyway.

My wife (a Canadian) set up her own consultancy and works when she wants to (i.e. not the summer when the rugrats are off school) and writes off all-sorts against tax (legally). I invested in myself and updated my skills (that was hard going) and walked into a well-paid job with no hint of any in-equality.

We are very happy.

There you go, but you did ask

I hope that you find happiness here too.

[QUOTE=CalgaryBlade]Mmm, I'm British and things aren't that difficult now at all.

There you go, but you did ask

That is great news. I am truly pleased for you and your wife.
I did not have the money to come here with but i do have skills. it is a matter of time before i will be able to use them.
I wish you the best of luck.

I would suggest that the main reason that Brits have a hard time is simply attitude which includes

1) A superior or condescending attitude.

2) Always referring or making comparisons to the way things are done "Back home" when given an opportunity to do so.

3) Perpetuating the class system.

4) Not adapting to a new vocabulary.

5) Whining and complaining about trivia. If you can't get certain things then fuggetaboutit and move on.

Flashman,

You speak total sense and I couldn't agree more.
As they say "when in Rome...."

Here here. Wisest words I have seen in ages postde by Flashman, short and simple words for an emigrant to adhere to.

Some people think they can take their life and dump it down 3-6000 miles away, sit down at tea to HP brown sauce, fish and chips, pint of Worthington, Cadbury chocolate and whatever. Reinvent 'In-gur-land' in their isolated little coccoon of British-ness

I would add the key words "adapt or die". perhaps a little dramatic but true.

Rich.

I'm glad you left out Marmite. That's a special case.

Has the gist of your post been missed by others or am I the one out to lunch? (wouldn't be the first time)

Imo, could a lot of the difficulties you're experiencing be not because you're British but maybe because of the specifics of your visa? Admittedly, I don't know a lot about the specifics of your situation and visa but I've read a bit about the problems foreign domestic workers have in Canada and they express similar problems and they're from all over the globe. Quite often they are referred to as Canada's indentured servants – and by saying that I mean absolutely no disrespect towards you. I think the situation is awful (to put it mildly).

How much longer do you have until you get PR?

I don't know if this helps but I find just having a future goal to focus on helpful. It helps me not focus on the nitty-gritties of daily life more than necessary. I plan to stay in the UK at least until I get citizenship (assuming I'll get it) and that helps me deal with a lot of the difficult moments I have while I'm here.

Also, I highly recommend punching bags. I've a kick-boxing friend in BC who taught me how to punch. He cranks up the Megadeth (or whatever it is) and lets me loose in his home gym. Very therapeutic.

Down let them grind you down.

Urk, my words weren't directed at BB I just followed the off-topic direction of trying to solve the riddle of the general malaise which seems to be spreading.

Rich.

Babyblue it's not you, it's not Canada, it's your employers. Self centered and egositic with really important careers that need to spotlighted as they have a sick child at home. Unfortunately the truth isn't going to come out because your to good at caring.

Did you get any help from the people in the support groups?

How's your sons soccer coming along?


[(one women sits alone abiding her time. )[/QUOTE]

Nah... the usual crew who want to perpetuate the myth that all is good in Canada, and that any problems are always the fault of the individual.
I think they have issues accepting that in Canada everything is not perfect, I sometimes wonder what they’re trying to hide……

it's that time of day, along comes smiler.......

People make their own beds, they choose what they lie in, nobody else (generally speaking, PR is a self motivated route, not forced).

If the mattress is a bit stinky, change it. If the bedding is tatty, get new. If you got fleas in it, spray.

But don't forget, people make the effin bed thing themselves !

Rich.

TM Sarah Farrand

I've not had very many problems since I came over here, and I'm not a PR (yet!)

My only issue would be that it takes me about three times as long to get something done as it would a Canadian citizen. But now I just accept that that is the way it is for now, and it's not a problem.

Sure, life is not always easy, I still have to balance the paycheck and there aren't enough vacation days in the year. But all in all, life is good, and infinitly better than it was for me in the UK.

A classic example of a critical put down. No one is saying that Canada is perfect just that some of the so called imperfections are based on the the approach and attitude of the individual. Those who are determined to look for the negatives are sure to find thenm.

How does this differentiate people from the UK from immigrants of other backgrounds ?

1. Depends on the person. Certainly not uniquely British.

2."In my country...." is a phrase commonly used by Koreans, they're comparing the climate, the economy, the quality of socks, to that "at home", it's human nature to do so.

3. Canada has a class system and the upper class even have a hagiographer, Peter C Newman; we are not going to be in his books. We're outside the system and may not care about it but ask anyone who went to Queen's if all Canadians are of equal social stature.

4. This is a trivial matter, very many immigrants, and locally born Canadians, don't speak the language at all.

5. The things Brits whine about are not trivial, Marmite matters, and not different from the worries people of other nations, the Swiss have a club for the provision of Tartex and Vache Qui Rit.

I would think the major reasons for immigrants having a hard time are :

- clash between expectations and reality

- not enough money.

My feeling is that babyblue is an exploited immigrant. There's no end of those, they come from all over the world.