Immigrating To Canada: How to avoid culture shock - Tip 1

Find your tribe: Plan to make Multicultural Friends

When in a new environment your first instinct is to seek out people who are familiar. While this is a quick and easy way to feel at home in a new country, challenge yourself to make friends with people from different cultures.

It is a very challenging and humbling experience to be miles away from family and loved ones. So try to have an open mind and be prepared to learn about and befriend people from different cultures.  

As the saying goes; better a friend who is near by than family that is far away and as the Jamaican saying goes ‘good Fren betta than pocket money.’

The good news is that through social media you can start the friend making process before you even get on the plane to Canada. You can reach out to Program Coordinators to see if there is any group for incoming students in your cohort. That's a good resource for meeting your classmates/school mates virtually beforehand and establishing some rapport. 

The reality is that in order to survive and thrive in your new environment you will need to make friends and preferably friends from different multicultural backgrounds. It’s good for your well being and  good for maintaining a healthy network for job hunting and finding other opportunities. 

Plus you never know what you can learn from your new family/tribe and they from you. 

Immigrating to Canada: The one thing you must know...

The one thing you must know is that immigration laws and provisions are constantly changing. So let's say you decided in 2010 that you wanted to migrate to Canada. You did your preliminary research, asked a few questions and then determined to shelve it for later, until you are better prepared financially etc. Many people go through this process, but the one thing you must know is that...

When you eventually decide to make the move a few months, years down the line you will have to begin the process all over again. 

Quite likely the research that informed your decision (or lack of decision) in 2010, would have been dated. A good way to stay current on immigration changes relevant to you is to plug into an immigration consultant who has an updated blog, social network feeds or sends out updated newsletters. Check the dates of the posts to make sure the information is current. If the information is older than a year it is not current. Also, stay in contact with friends and family who are going through their immigration process but understand that your process may not be the same. Friends and family who have lived in Canada for years are not good sources on what is current in paths to immigration, unless they went and did research on your behalf. There process is quite likely - dated.

Of course, if you enjoy reading vasts amount of information and time allows you to do so, visit the Canadian Immigration website at www.cic.gc.ca to find out the latest immigration programs and changes in policy. Also visit the Canadian job bank site to get an idea of employment rates by province and the kind of jobs that are in demand in each province.




For individual consultation email janadianimmigrant@gmail.com

3 Tips for Choosing the Right Immigration Consultant (for International Students)

Immigration is a big move and it can be quite a heavy task to do the required research, gather all the relevant information while trying to keep up with your 9-5 job. Consultancy fees are often a one-time expense depending on the help required. Other fees are normally requirements of the schools. So here's my list of what to look for in an immigration consultant:

1. Someone who keeps up with the requirements of International study. Canadian Immigration law changes often, very often... sometimes several times in the same year. A general complaint of applicants is often encountering immigration consultants advising them with outdated information. If a consultant is advising you with information based on a year ago it is definitely outdated information. Ask around to find out if any of your family and friends have been victims of outdated information and stay far. Find someone who enjoys research and keeping up to date with Canadian Immigration changes.

2. Someone who can advise you on Immigration (Permanent Residence) beyond the requirements of International study. 99 percent of international students in Canada pursue International study as a means to permanent residence. Currently, many Canadian schools are not legally authorized to give immigration advice and many schools are now training Canadian advisers to be able to offer this service. Ideally you want to find a consultant who can help you paint a picture of immigration after your studies, by pointing to immigration law or recent success stories. You also want someone who believes that there is always a way. Which leads to my last check point.

3. Someone who understands your journey and genuinely cares about your success. Again, you can discover this information by asking around and doing background checks. Is it a person who goes above and beyond to provide help for you as a client. Are they easily accessible to you while you have questions during your process? 

These are just a few considerations. Feel free to share any other check point to look for when selecting an Immigration consultant.

Form an Encouragement Committee

I recently got the wording, 'encouragement committee', from a friend but the concept I had to learn from experience...

If you are going to accomplish anything worthwhile in life you need to surround your dreams and plans with people who believe in them and believe that you can succeed. You need people who will listen, advise and genuinely cheer you on when you feel like giving up on your dream. In other words, you need to form an encouragement committee.

This means...
It's not the best idea in the elementary phases when you are contemplating a move to tell everyone what you are considering. You may share your emigration dream with someone who intentionally or unintentionally squashes your dream before it even gets a chance to take flight. There is much wisdom in the saying, 'misery loves company.'

Sadly, the phrase 'crab in a bucket' is very real in our Caribbean context. So avoid this pitfall. And again, surround your dream and your plans with people who can help you believe (we're not even talking about finances and funding at this point...just moral support.)

When I was planning to leave for Canada back in 2010, my mother was the only person I told. This wasn't my first attempt at leaving though...in late 2009 I was 'invited' to go to Canada and quite a few people knew and that fell through faster than the speed of lightening. My mother, however believed in my dream so when one route fell through she was on the look-out with me for another route to accomplishing this dream. She was my encouragement team of 1 in the initial stages and when my plans became more concrete I sought out more people who were able to offer advice and counsel on the journey.

Take Away: Form an encouragement committee and shelter your dreams so that they can take flight when the time is right.

Welcome Future Janadians!

Welcome to the Janadian Immigrant blog! This blog will mostly discuss various immigration policies, strategies, planning advice and survival tips as it relates to immigrating to Canada as a Jamaican national. Occasionally, we will also touch on immigration policies in other countries, particularly as it relates to International Education.

We believe that with a little bit of faith and a little bit of work, any Jamaican can immigrate and live the life they've always dreamed of. We hope the information shared here will spark something or help make your immigration journey easier.

Blessings.