Immigrating to Canada. In English

Anna Zaytseva, 15 April 2011                                              Immigrating to Canada

In fact, it was my husband who for as long as I have known him wanted to immigrate. He was eighteen when he heard for the first time about the successful new life of Russian IT professionals in Canada. I used to travel a lot. I saw how different life is in other countries. I wasn’t satisfied with the socio-economic politics/policy of the Russian government. I didn’t want to find myself in the same miserable life as my mother had after her retirement. The majority of Russian pensioners have worse financial situation. The Russian government didn’t create the necessary pre-requisites for considerable improvement to their people’s lives. Meanwhile, the ecological situation in my hometown was becoming worse and worse.

Before making the final decision to immigrate to Canada, we traveled here as tourists. We were relatively satisfied with what we saw here. As said a Russian guy who had been working here for 4 years, life in Canada is not a picnic. Personally, I preferred Australia, but it seemed too hot for my husband. In addition, the Australian immigration policy isn’t as clear as the Canadian.

It took us five months to prepare our papers for the immigration service. It took two endless years for the immigration service to vet our documents and make a decision.

The three months before we left Russia were enjoyable. I had only one job at that time where almost everyone was upset to lose me and their routine connected with me. When people knew about my emigration, their first reaction was “What will become of my tennis lessons? Who will entertain us?” I enjoyed every farewell party. Some days, I had two different groups to say goodbye to.

My husband and I lived for the last month in the same apartment as my mother. She was fed up with our so different routine and habits. So, she felt relieved when we were finally gone.

On the way to Toronto, we made a three-week stop-over and had an amazing vacation in Europe. When we arrived in Toronto, we felt at home. In comparison with France and especially with Switzerland, Toronto has remained my home. Since our first day in Toronto, I have felt quite comfortable here.