You and your family will go through a range of emotions before and after you move to Canada. You will need to be mentally prepared for what you will go through. Before I immigrated to Canada, I was also advised on what I may go through emotionally, and I wanted to make sure I pass on the knowledge. This information helped me and my family get through some difficult times in Canada because we were prepared for what could happen.

The most important thing you need to remember is that you need to always be POSITIVE about your move. And be PERSISTENT in your efforts. If you are not, you will most likely fail.

To ensure that you remain positive and persistent, you have to write down on a piece of paper why you are moving to Canada. List all the reasons you are making this move – whether it is for a better future for your children, better job prospects, or for the great weather in Canada.  The reasons don’t have to be many – even 1 or 2 are OK. And at the end of the page, write down – “I will be successful in Canada, although it takes a little time and effort“. When things are not going your way on a particular day, read this paper. It will make you feel better!

To help you understand, I have shown below a diagram that explains the feeling and emotions that you may go through before and after you immigrate to Canada.

Emotionally prepare for your move to Canada

While you are still in your home country, you will be excited about your move. So your confidence and happiness will be good. You will be stressed about moving and doing all the things you need to get done. But don’t worry, I have uploaded a checklist that you can use to help you plan for your move.

After you arrive, you will be excited about successfully moving to Canada. But being in a new environment will cause you concerns. You will suddenly experience many new things at once and may start to second guess yourself. Therefore you confidence may decrease. But don’t worry, this is natural. When you move to a new country, you need to learn their ways. Instincts that got you through earlier may need to adjust or change in this new environment.

The next step will be when you settle down into your new apartment and begin your search for a job. This is the most critical phase. When you start looking for a job, success may not come immediately. You will start doubting your abilities, get frustrated with results, and stressed about finances. And this is the time when you need to REMAIN POSITIVE & PERSEVERANT. If you don’t, you will give up your aspirations of getting your dream job and take up a survival job – working in a job that is well below your abilities and qualifications. E.g. an experienced doctor driving a taxi.

I am not trying to say that driving a taxi is a bad job and that taxi drivers are not happy and prosperous. I actually read an article of a new immigrant that started off driving a cab and has now built it into a very successful private rental car business. To me, a survival job is one that you don’t want to do, but are doing it only so that you can pay the monthly bills.

I also know that after a point in time, the financial stress of not having any income and living off your savings can push you into taking a survival job. But try and resist it as much as possible. There are 2 reasons why I say this,

1. You will hate the job and your life in Canada
2. You will convince yourself that while you work in the survival job, you will keep looking for your dream job. But with the pressures of working, most people never find the time to keep looking for their dream job. And very soon you look back and you will realize that you have been working at the survival jobs for 3 years

If you are making a conscious decision to do a job that you know is well below your abilities, but you know will get you your dream job, that is fine. I personally know immigrants that started off at the lowest level and have grown very quickly to the highest echelons of the company. I know of another immigrant that took up a job at a coffee shop in a business district just to meet with the executives at big companies that came there to get their coffee. That immigrant networked with customers and landed his professional job in 6 months of working at the coffee shop.

Either way, only through a positive attitude and perseverance can you get the job you came here for. If you are not, you will become very unhappy, and eventually, go back to your home country.