Infocentre

Canadian Newcomer Series: The “How-to” Guide to Immigration

Planning Your Move to Canada: Where Will You Call Home?

If choosing your new Canadian community is proving to be one of the toughest choices of your life, you are not alone: Seventeen percent of Canadians were once newcomers too and have gone through the same experience.

The name “Canada” comes from the native Huron-Iroquois word “Kanata,” which means village. As you join this “village” of some 33 million people, your first decision will be where to live.

Canada is a massive country: It takes the average driver over seven days to drive across from Vancouver to Halifax. It takes about seven hours to fly the same route. As you review potential places to live and work, get comfortable with the geography of the country. Canada has 10 provinces and three territories, but it is more useful to think of the country in regions: The West Coast is made up of British Columbia (BC); the Prairies include Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba; Central Canada refers to Ontario and Quebec; the Maritimes include New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland; and finally, the North means the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

About 80 percent of Canadians live within 250 km of the American border. This is partly because the U.S. is Canada’s biggest trading partner, but also because the weather is warmer the farther south you go: Northern cities are known for harsh winters. Climate is one of the most important factors in choosing a city to live in, yet many immigrants say they were unprepared for the weather when they arrived.

“One day it was 50 below zero!” recalls Balwant Sanghera, originally from India. Sanghera moved to the town of Hudson’s Hope in northern British Columbia.

“For someone from Punjab, who had never seen snow, it was such a big change!”

Where you choose to live may also depend on what language you speak. Canada has two official languages: English and French. While you can communicate with the government in either language and both languages are taught in schools, still 59 percent of Canadians speak English as their first language. If bilingualism is your goal, consider the French-speaking province of Quebec or provinces where there are large French communities like New Brunswick or Ontario.

Weather and language aside, your choice of community will be based on where you can find work. Canada’s population is already largest in Ontario and Quebec because these provinces produce over three quarters of all manufactured goods in Canada.

The overwhelming majority of newcomers to Canada - 88 percent - choose to settle in urban centres, like the ones listed below. Urban centres have many positive points for immigrants including more jobs, better public transportation and, most importantly, a network of other new immigrants from your home country. However, a move to the country can be a surprisingly successful route on the road to settlement.

A new study by Statistics Canada found that immigrants living in small towns and rural areas of Canada integrate better economically than immigrants living in large cities. Less than three percent of Canada’s immigrants settle in small towns or rural areas, but those that do are better educated than their Canadian neighbours. The same study found that immigrants in rural areas were more likely to be employed than rural Canadians or new immigrants in urban centres. This is because immigrants with professional credentials are in high demand in rural areas, but in cities there is more competition for professional positions. Educator Balwant Sanghera spent five years in northern British Columbia before moving south to Lillooet and then to Richmond. While only a few immigrants follow Sanghera’s path and choose remote northern communities, those who make the move report good employment opportunities and higher incomes than most immigrants in the rest of Canada. Many new immigrants have moved to Brooks, Alberta, and they are attracted by jobs in a beef processing facility and an international community of 70 different languages. The oil sands project in Fort McMurray continues to provide jobs for new arrivals.

Moving rural worked for Balwant Sanghera. This former elementary teacher now promotes multiculturalism and was recently awarded the Order of British Columbia - a provincial top honour. As he says, it all started with the exciting decision to move to Canada.*