Canadian Immigrant December 2016

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from prisoner to refugee to writer to teacher: a life reclaimed in Canada Use your

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#WelcomeRefugees: one year later Free trade

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CONTENTS 4

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fusion

PROFILE: Networking leader Soulafa Al-Abbasi NEWS: Changes to Express Entry, Top 25 winners in the news CANADIANA: Write a letter to Santa

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SUCCESS STORY

Marina Nemat came to terms with her torturous past as an Iranian prisoner through writing, healing and helping others

12 REFUGEES

Syrian newcomers one year later: settling in and helping one another

16 CULTURE

above Mohammed Alsaleh (left) with the Al Shanbani family who came to Canada as government-assisted refugees.

Photo by Elton Hubner

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From inspiration to publication: two immigrant authors share their stories

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18 MONEY & BUSINESS

Edmonton couple’s franchise dreams MY TWO CENTS: Budgeting for success SMALL BUSINESS: Start up right (Part 2)

21 CAREERS & EDUCATION

Photos from Career, Education and Settlement Immigrant Fair CAREER COACH: Optimize your LinkedIn HIGHER LEARNING: Managing studies and life

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SETTLEMENT

IMMIGRATION LAW: Free trade agreements and the Trump effect PARENTING: Tips for walking to school safely

IMMIGRANT SETTLEMENT GUIDE DRIVING

Stay safe in winter driving conditions

BACK PAGE

HUMOUR BY HEMETERIO NATION OF IMMIGRANTS Cover photo by Saajid Motala

“Canada was built by citizen immigrants, people who come here permanently with their families to become Canadians.”

- Hon. John McCallum, MP

Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

Regulated Immigration Consultant Program Available Online

For more information, contact an admissions officer at (604) 628-5784 or 1(844) 628-5784 or apply online today.

Ashton College Programs eligible for funding under Federal and Provincial Student Loan plans.

www.ashtoncollege.ca 0830

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FUSION

People. News. Information.

Volume 13, Issue 12 DECEMBER 2016 Group Publishers Gautam Datt Sharma Sanjay Agnihotri

profile

Editor Margaret Jetelina mjetelina@metroland.com Senior Editor Baisakhi Roy broy@metroland.com

Soulafa

Editorial Design Terry Lankstead, Anne Nawrocka Courtland Shakespeare

Al-Abbasi

Digital Media Developer Kamil Mytnik Advertising Sales Sr. Ad Manager (B.C. and Alberta) Alla Gordeeva alla@canadianimmigrant.ca Tel: 778 558 3397

Networking leader

By Baisakhi Roy

Sr. Ad Manager (Toronto) Ricky (Kawaljit) Bajaj rbajaj@metroland.com Tel: 905 273 8170 National Sales Manager Varun Munjal vmunjal@metroland.com Tel: 905 273 8169 Sales, Events & Marketing Coordinator Laura Jackman ljackman@metroland.com General Inquiries: info@canadianimmigrant.ca Circulation/Distribution Inquiries: ljackman@metroland.com ISSN 1910-4146

Subscription rate in Canada: $47.99 plus HST for 12 issues Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher

Publications mail agreement number: 40065097 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: 3145 Wolfedale Road Mississauga, Ontario, L5C 3A9 Printed on recycled paper.

Toronto Circulation 50,000 copies Vancouver Circulation 30,000 copies Calgary Circulation 3,000 copies Canadian Immigrant is published monthly and distributed free throughout Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto. Canadian Immigrant welcomes submissions, but is not responsiblefor unsolicited material.

Canadian Immigrant is a publication of Metroland Media Group, a division of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited.

Entire contents property of Canadian Immigrant.

canadianimmigrant.ca Toronto 3145 Wolfedale Road, Mississauga Ontario, L5C 3A9 Tel: 905 273 8111, Fax: 905 277 9917

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above Syrian-born Soulafa Al-Abbasi stresses the importance of communication skills for success in Canada.

S

oulafa Al-Abbasi has always been good with people. The Syrian-born immigrant’s flair for networking coupled with her dynamic leadership qualities has held her in good stead in her professional life in Canada — she was recognized as one of Top 50 Atlantic Canadian Leaders under 40 in 2015. She explains why there is no greater skill for a newcomer than topnotch communication skills.

You came to Canada for your master’s degree?

Yes, I did my master’s in development economics from Dalhousie University in Halifax. I always knew that I wanted to be Canadian. I have great admiration for the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the way this country has been constructed. It’s very powerful.

After your studies, you stayed on in Halifax?

I did. And then I became vice-chair of Fusion Halifax, a youth organization focused on improving city life. I was always interested in working with people — forming bonds and connections.

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You have always lived in big cities — being born in Damascus, going to high school in Riyadh and then studying in Cairo — how was Halifax different?

It is definitely a small city (laughs), but the upside of that is that you get to know everyone. You form strong working relationships and you become a part of a tight-knit community. I was able to do a lot of good work there. I worked extensively at the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia as an employment specialist, before moving to Alberta.

use my contacts to align various interests.

What excites you most about your current role at Canmore and Area Health Care Foundation?

My main job is to raise funds for [health care in] Canmore and that means working with different people with very different personalities.

The challenge is to understand people; for this, one’s social IQ needs to be high. I have to be strategic in my dealings with people and pull in various resources in order to create fruitful partnerships and also

Volunteering has also helped you advance your career here.

That’s how you show your value to the community you live in. It is a great way to dispel any misconceptions or stereotypes that people may harbour about immigrants.

Work hard at your day job, but find time to lend a helping hand in your community.

You stress the importance of communication skills for immigrants.

It is the single most important skill for people to be successful in Canada, or anywhere in the world, especially for newcomers who tend to be unsure of themselves when they first get here.

They should try to learn the language before they come here and keep working on it. That’s how they will feel less isolated, by interacting and meeting with new people.

Any other tips?

Take ownership of your life in Canada — that is the way to feel Canadian. facebook.com/canimmigrant

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canadianimmigrant.ca    December 2016

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FUSION

news

Positive changes to Express Entry

above Deepa Mehta on Canada’s Walk of Fame red carpet.

Immigrant filmmaker on Canada’s Walk of Fame Indian-born filmmaker Deepa Mehta was chosen among this year’s inductees to Canada’s Walk of Fame.

Mehta’s films are internationally renowned with strong female roles where women are encouraged to rise above their situation.

“I am an out and out feminist as everyone may well know and I am happy to see that my work is ap-

preciated,” said the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant (2009) at the ceremony in October. “Women should be brought up to be strong and confident and not be afraid to speak up for themselves and against injustice.”

You can watch the 2016 Canada’s Walk of Fame broadcast gala airing nationally, Dec. 18 at 8 p.m.

ET/PT on Global.

When the Liberals came into power last year and John McCallum was named minister of immigration, he said he would take some time to assess the recently adopted Express Entry system of immigration before making any changes. One year later, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced some positive changes to Express Entry, effective Nov. 19.

Changes include awarding points for job offers to eligible candidates already in Canada on labour market impact assessment (LMIA) exempt work permits, and to international students who completed their

studies in Canada.

In addition, more time will be allocated to candidates to submit an application for permanent residence once an invitation to apply is received.

“We have committed to doing more to attract highly skilled immigrants to come to Canada and become permanent residents, because this is important to build our economy and strengthen our society,” says McCallum. “I am confident that the changes to Express Entry will be one of the many positive outcomes of the changes we will be bringing to our immigration system.”

left Edmonton Top 40 under 40 Manwar Khan.

Canadiana

Top 25 winner doing good Dear Santa Writing a letter to Santa Claus is a Christmas tradition for children in Canada, and if mailed by Dec. 14, he will send a note right back!

Canada Post’s annual Santa Letter-writing Program welcomes letters to Santa, and with the help of their elves, they send a personalized letter back. The program has averaged one million letters or more per year for the last 15 years.

Make sure to include a full return address on the envelope. No postage is necessary.

Send your letter to: Santa Claus North Pole H0H 0H0 Canada

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Alberta-based activist Manwar Khan, an RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant (2014), has been named to Avenue Magazine’s Top 40 under 40 list of the most influential young leaders in Edmonton.

Khan, a Government of Alberta employee, has been an active community advocate against violence and bullying since witnessing and intervening to stop a deadly attack against a fellow commuter on an Edmonton LRT train in December 2012. He is leading a movement in Alberta to create awareness against bullying and to encourage people not to be bystanders when they see such type of incidents taking

place. His anti-bullying campaign, Do Not Be A Bystander, has hosted more than 15 rallies in cities across the Alberta.

“I share this award with my family, friends and all the people who are making positive differences in Albertans’ lives,” Khan says.

In error

We apologize to Nicole Gfeller for the error in Fusion Profile in the November 2016 issue. The first question and answer that appeared in the piece was not part of her story, but a leftover from a previous issue. facebook.com/canimmigrant

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success STORY

to

Marina Nemat came to terms with her torturous past as an Iranian prisoner through writing and healing, and now helps others to do the same

By Vivien Fellegi

I

t was only in the safe haven of Canada that Marina Nemat finally allowed herself to break down. It was a few hours after her mother’s burial. Nemat sat down beside her grieving father and began to say some words of comfort. Before she had a chance, her dad swivelled to face her. “Your mother forgave you before she died,” he told her.

Nemat understood. Her mom had always blamed her for going to prison in Iran years ago and making the family suffer before coming to Canada. Nemat’s reaction was visceral.

Since her discharge from Evin Prison 16 years earlier, she had never felt fury. But the dam had broken.

“Suddenly I felt this tsunami of anger just rising in my chest until I thought I would vomit,” says Nemat. She began to respond, but she was way beyond words. “What came out of my mouth was a horrific, blood-curdling scream.” She couldn’t breathe, so she ran into the yard. And collapsed. That’s when she finally faced the hard truth. “I realized I couldn’t live the charade that everything was normal. I was not OK.” Before her imprisonment, Nemat had been a feisty teenager who pulsed with power. “I was a loudmouth,” she says.

She swam in the Caspian Sea in the moonlight, danced to the Bee Gees and flirted with boys. But she possessed a deeper side as well. Though her parents mostly talked of mundane things like the weather, gardening and food, she pushed back by tackling serious issues. “I decided to go against what I learned, which was a big body of silence,” she says.

It was this strident spirit that landed her in deep trouble during the Iranian Revolution of l979, when 16-year-old

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Photos by Saajid Motala Nemat whirled from naive youngster to socially aware citizen.

“After the revolution, the meaning of cool changed from wearing the nicest dress to reading books on social justice,” she says. Then one day she went too far. She challenged her calculus teacher to teach math instead of propaganda. A few weeks later there was a knock on the door and two guards stuffed her in a car and locked her away.

Nemat’s brain was shackled along with her body. When she was dragged into the torture room, she felt disconnected from her physical being. She observed her feet being lashed with cables, felt the pain, but no accompanying emotion. And though she suffered through the execution of her friends, was raped repeatedly and had to face a firing squad, she never panicked. “I was ridiculously calm — like I was in a coma,” she says. It was only much later, after talking to a psychiatrist, that she would understand that the numbness was a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder, and protected her from an unbearable reality.

Though Nemat was released from the penitentiary in 1984, her mind remained under lock and key. Nobody ever asked her about it. At her first dinner home, the family talked about the weather. “Prison could not be named, because mentioning it meant opening a can of worms,” she says. Instead, her family hinted that she had to move on. An emotionally paralyzed Nemat played along, stuffing her unresolved agony even further into oblivion.

When Nemat, her husband and their toddler fled to the safety of Canada in 1991, she appeared to adapt >>

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My life and vocation is to make trouble when I see injustice.”

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success STORY

above Marina Nemat teaches memoir writing at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies. << seamlessly to her new home. “I looked and acted normal,” she says. She was fluent in English and found work quickly at Swiss Chalet. Nemat gave birth to a second son and was a dedicated homemaker. “I walked my children to school, cleaned the house and provided home-cooked meals every day,” says Nemat, whose parents later followed to Canada. She dressed well, styled her hair elegantly and never confronted anyone.

But she felt empty inside. “I was a perfect robot.”

Nemat’s breakdown after her mother’s funeral marked the moment when that false façade was shattered, and the suffering she hid away years ago came rushing back. It felt as though her heart had died and been shocked back to life. “It was the moment I came alive.”

But becoming fully human again was tough. “When the leg falls asleep and then blood returns, you’re in tremendous pain,” she says. The same thing happens to the mind. When the numbness wears off, you’re no longer protected from unpleasant sensations. Nemat developed chest pains, nightmares and hallucinations of her mother wrapped in a shroud.

That’s when she began writing her memoir, Prisoner of Tehran, which was published in 2007. She poured all her misery onto its pages, recounting her forced marriage to her prison guard, who died protecting her from a bullet. Writing helped Nemat to process the raw recollections that rose to the surface as her brain thawed out. “When you create order out of chaos, it helps you deal with it,” she says. The book received the Human Dignity prize from the European Parliament.

As Nemat came to terms with her past, she rebuilt an authentic life. While her relationship with her husband, who was unaware of her first marriage, had been based on a lie, they grew closer after he read her book. Emotionally bonded to the world, Nemat recovered her old vitality. As her book was published in 29 countries, she began travelling around the globe to talk about her life and to bear witness to human

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rights abuses of others. “Suddenly I had become visible as the person I really was, not as the person the world wanted me to be,” says Nemat, who wrote a sequel, After Tehran: A Life Reclaimed in 2010.

Helping others closes Nemat’s own wounds. “Activism helps me to feel that what happened to me will make the world a better place,” she says. One of Nemat’s most satisfying cases was that of Hamid Ghassemi-Shall, an IranianCanadian shoe salesman who was also incarcerated in Evin.

Nemat lobbied the Canadian government to help and accompanied his wife, Antonella Mega, to the U.K. and Italy to campaign for his release. Their hard work paid off.

Mega invited Nemat to Toronto Pearson International Airport to meet Ghassemi-Shall when he returned to Canada in 2013. “When someone actually comes home, we celebrate and it’s a reminder that what we do is not useless,” says Nemat.

Nemat also contributes her expertise in the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies, where she teaches memoir writing. Nemat discovered she was good at helping others tell their own sensitive stories. “It is tremendously rewarding,” she says.

Today, Nemat is unstoppable. “My life and vocation is to make trouble when I see injustice,” she says. She sits on the board of directors at the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture, an organization that provides advocacy, trauma counselling and settlement services for victims of torture, genocide and war. She is also the chair of the writers in exile committee at PEN Canada, a group that aids writers who come to Canada as refugees after suffering persecution in their countries. As well, Nemat works with her church to welcome newcomers to Canada.

“I’m extremely engaged — if I take on something, I get it done.” facebook.com/canimmigrant

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IELTS is Canada’s most popular high stakes English language proficiency test.

It is accepted and trusted by over 350 Canadian organizations and was the first test to be recognized by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC, formerly CIC) and Immigration Quebec as proof of English language proficiency for Express Entry and other Canadian government programs.

Book your test on takeIELTS.ca and get 30 hours of FREE practice on Road to IELTS.

British Council is a proud co-owner of IELTS

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refugees

From refugees to Canadians

Syrian newcomers one year later: settling in and helping one another

By Janet Nicol

C

anada made history one year ago, offering 25,000 Syrian refugees hope and peace in a new country. The first group of refugees in the federal government’s #WelcomeRefugees plan landed in December 2015, with the remainder arriving over the following few months in cities across Canada. Among them was the Al Shanbani family, government-assisted refugees (GARS), who landed in Vancouver. They quickly found a home, signed up for English language lessons and found daycare facilities for their two daughters.

Lending them a helping hand in their journey has been another Syrian refugee — Mohammed Alsaleh.

“I have been living on the front line for the last two years,” Alsaleh says, “first as a refugee and then helping refugees.”

Alsaleh was among the first wave of 200 Syrians who came to Canada two years ago.

Since last December, he has been employed as a settlement worker at ISSofBC Welcome Centre in Vancouver.

“I am so lucky to be in a position in which I can help people resettle in this country,” Alsaleh says. “However, it is very challenging.”

The settlement journey When Alsaleh first welcomed Nedal and Taghreed Al Shanbani in his office, he showed them a chart with a curved line. You will experience four stages, he told them — a honeymoon period, culture shock, adjustment and adaption.

“I make sure every family I work with knows about the curve,” Alsaleh says. “It’s normal. You need to make some adjustments to reach settlement. When people know this has been scientifically proven and everyone goes through this, they feel more comfortable.

This gives motivation to adjust to settlement.”

For the Al Shanbanis, learning English

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Photos by Elton Hubner

has been the main goal. “The day-to-day language barrier is a challenge,” Nedal says. “I feel deaf as I hear words around me but don’t comprehend.”

Still, Canadians have made his family feel at home in many ways. “We have received an amazing welcome, by the government and at the public level.”

He is also grateful to his Canadian landlords, Sheldon and Eileen, and says Sheldon is assisting him with driving lessons.

When Al Shanbani lived in Syria, he was a farmer and a driver. “In time I would like to drive a truck or bus here,” he says.

Taghreed says she will also search for employment once she is more fluent in English.

“I would love to work with children,” she says. She wants to make sure her daughters, Rimas, 3, and Reetaj, 1, have educational opportunities.

Hoping for Canada Originally from Daraa, Syria, the family endured President al-Assad’s military attacks when soldiers began employing tanks, ground artillery and fighter jets against civilians. They escaped to Jordan six months later, along with extended family members.

“The [refugee] camps were horrible,” Nedal says. “We had some savings and were able to rent a house.” They registered with the United Nations Refugee Agency along with millions of other displaced Syrians. Unable to seek employment because of refugee status, the Al Shanbanis became dependent on others for financial assistance.

Two years later, they received a call from the United Nations. “We felt so happy,” Nedal says about the offer to immigrate to Canada. “There was hope for a future for us and our children.”

Alsaleh understands his clients’ feeling of hope. He was in his fourth year of studies

to become a doctor at a university in Homs, Syria, when his education was interrupted by the civil war.

“I had been doing my best to be vocal against human rights violations in Syria and I was documenting what was happening, taking videos and putting them online,” he says.

“This resulted in my imprisonment and my torture by the Syrian dictatorship of Assad.

After being released, I fled the country.”

Alsaleh adds: “I lost all hope. I was out of Syria, losing everything, starting without my family who were left behind, my education and my friends.”

Then he got his own phone call from the United Nations with an offer to immigrate to Canada.

“That single phone call made a difference in my life,” Alsaleh says. “It gave me hope again.”

On Nov. 25, 2014, he left Lebanon.

“I entered the airport as a refugee, but walked out of the terminal in Vancouver as a permanent resident of Canada,” Alsaleh says.

“The first conversation I had in English was at the Starbucks near the Welcome Centre.” He started working more on his English and looked into volunteering opportunities.

He volunteered at the free clinic run by ISSofBC to assist people with income taxes.

“I was helping greet clients, showing them around and making sure their income tax was done,” he says. Alsaleh had only been in Canada for three months and it felt good to “give back” so soon.

“By volunteering I was able to make friends, to build my own network, and overcome so many barriers, such as culture shock and loneliness,” he says.

“When I came in 2014, there wasn’t a lot of awareness [about the Syrian crisis],” he says.

“When people knew more about the plight of the Syrian people — when the picture of little Alan Kurdi appeared in September >> facebook.com/canimmigrant

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I have been living on the front line for the last two years, first as a refugee and then helping refugees.”

above Mohammed Alsaleh has turned his own Syrian refugee journey into a career helping other refugees. twitter.com/@canimmigrant

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refugees

above The Al Shanbani family came to Canada as government-assisted refugees from Syria last year. << of 2015 — this changed everything. This small sad moment, which is a shame that humanity will carry forever — a three-year-old who drowned in the sea — it is really amazing how this has changed everything.”

Supporting refugees Alsaleh’s advocacy for refugees is unrelenting. This September he helped organize a conference for 60 Syrian youth, aged 15 to 25, at the Welcome Centre to “amplify their voices.”

“We wanted to have an open free space for youth to come and connect with each other, share experiences and share the good things about their transition here to Canada,” he explains.

“They brainstormed together to get their recommendations out there and to make sure the next wave of young refugees have a better experience coming to Canada.”

Alsaleh says their main concerns are housing, education and English language training. “Also they had concerns about their financial situation because the government-assisted refugees are provided with allowances equivalent to the welfare rate, which hasn’t been updated since 2007. There is a struggle on that front.”

He said he has only just paid back his own government loan for transportation to

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Canada and medical test costs. This debt is another concern voiced by participants.

Alsaleh understands firsthand the emotional trauma refugees have experienced.

“This is something that should be highlighted,” he says, “the mental aspect of the resettlement movement and the fact that we are dealing with a population that is so vulnerable and who have exceptional experiences with war, with violence, with so many unimaginably bad things. It is a key component of our work in terms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) support for our clients. We provide one-on-one counselling for refugees within the first week of their arrival.”

Because it is a sensitive issue, ISSofBC calls the counselling a “wellbeing” meeting.

“We make sure that refugees know in their first week here, there is support. Someone is there to listen to their needs and anxiety when they are ready.”

The war has been going on for five years with no end in sight, a painful realization for Syrians now living in Canada.

“Prince William was here in the Welcome Centre,” Alsaleh says, recalling the British royal couple’s visit to British Columbia this past September. “He met with a Syrian family, and I had the honour of being the interpreter. He asked the Syrian family about

what was happening (in Syria) and the scale of destruction. They shared with him that it doesn’t look promising.” The Prince asked Alsaleh for his opinion, too. “I shared with him the same sentiment. That it is very complicated and getting worse.”

More hope offered Looking forward, about 6,000 more government-supported Syrian refugees will arrive by the end of December 2016. The federal government is also in the process of accepting Yazidi refugees living in Iraq who have been targeted by ISIL militants.

The Yazidis are a Kurdish-speaking religious minority who used to live mainly in northern Iraq.

“Canada has a tradition in helping refugees,” Alsaleh says. “This is something we have witnessed in the 1970s with the Ismailis and in the 1980s with the Vietnamese. It is happening now with the Syrians. It is history in the making. It is Canadians practising their amazing tradition of offering hope.”

When Alsaleh was younger, he dreamed of becoming a doctor. “I wanted to become an oncologist because I lost two cousins to cancer in high school,” he says. “Now I am doing something as rewarding — helping people start over in Canada. This balances everything for me.” facebook.com/canimmigrant

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LEARNING THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE

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culture

From inspiration

to publication Immigrant authors talk about writing — and publishing — fiction in Canada

By Victoria Barclay

T

he journey from inspiration to publication requires time, persistence and good mentors, according to two Canadian immigrant authors.

Gugu Hlongwane, who hails from South Africa, looked to her homeland for subject matter. “South Africa’s vibrancy, in terms of its culture and politics, has always been a source of inspiration,” says Hlongwane, whose collection of short stories was released in November 2016. Her book Electric Fences depicts the lives of South African black women during and after the Apartheid.

above Gugu Hlongwane.

Hlongwane left South Africa in 1989 and lived in New York City for five years before coming to Canada in 1994. She is now an associate professor at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Her specialization is in postcolonial literature. “My immigration experiences colour everything about me. They are an indelible part of who I am, shaping what I read, write and teach,” she says.

Writer Mayank Bhatt draws inspiration from his immigration

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experience as well, along with current events. In 2008, he immigrated to Canada from India, where he was a journalist. Released in September 2016, his novel, Belief, is about the immigrant family of a young Muslim man attracted to fundamentalist ideas. However, Bhatt emphasizes his novel is “not just about terrorism. It is about a family and the immigration experience and how the family copes with a system unwilling to accept them.”

Finding the time and guidance to write How did these authors, who also have busy full-time jobs, find the time to write their books?

Hlongwane had a sabbatical that gave her relief from the interruptions that come in a busy university term. She remembers writing “under jacaranda trees in South Africa — and even while riding the local taxis in Pietermaritzburg and Durban.”

A good mentor does not just say, ‘this is a great job.’ A good mentor is someone who will also tell you, ‘this is complete rubbish.’”

— Mayank Bhatt

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Bhatt first began writing fiction when he worked night shifts as a security guard in Toronto. He now works as an administration and marketing co-ordinator for a law firm.

Both writers are quick to credit Canadian mentors for guidance.

York University English professor Arun Mukherjee, who supervised Hlongwane’s doctoral dissertation, “encouraged me to get the stories out there, in the world,” she says.

Bhatt was selected for mentoring through Diaspora Dialogues, a local arts organization. That connected him with M.G. Vassanji, a renowned Canadian immigrant author. Afterward, Bhatt enrolled in the writing program at Humber College and worked intensively on the “endless process” of drafting his first novel.

“A good mentor does not just say, ‘this is a great job,’” says Bhatt.

“A good mentor is someone who will also tell you, ‘this is complete rubbish.’”

Both authors are published through Mawenzi House, which brings out six to eight new titles a year, focused on multicultural works, chiefly pertaining to Asia and Africa. “I was very impressed with their list of authors,” says Hlongwane, noting they publish many immigrants who write about postcolonial issues. “The whole publishing journey was very fulfilling.”

Advice to emerging authors When asked for words of advice, Hlongwane says, “I’d encourage aspiring authors to have courage and faith in their ideas.”

“A lot of writers give up in the middle of it,” Bhatt says. “But my advice is to continue pursuing your dream.” He rewrote his first chapter 17 times before it was just right. His manuscript was re-

above Mayank Bhatt. jected by five agents, including one who kept it for a year. “One year!

By the time my book appeared, it looked like I was following current events [in the story], whereas I had anticipated them years earlier,” he says, with a philosophical laugh.

Both authors are glad their creative work ultimately came to life in their adopted country.

“I’m thrilled to join the writers who keep alive, through the written word, South Africa’s history of racial struggle and redemption,” Hlongwane says.

Bhatt is pleased to add to the Canadian dialogue regarding pluralism. “India has learned how to manage a society that includes eight major religions,” he says. “We can learn both ways.” twitter.com/@canimmigrant

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money & business

above Chetan (right) and Roshni Bahl launched a Heart to Home Meals franchise in Edmonton this July.

Business with heart

Immigrant couple Chetan and Roshni Bahl delivers food to seniors in Edmonton

By Margaret Jetelina

I

n a difficult job market, many people turn to entrepreneurship. That’s what Edmonton couple Chetan and Roshni Bahl did this July, three years after immigrating to Canada with their infant son. Both Chetan and Roshni have backgrounds in hospitality — the Indian-born couple met while studying hotel management at the prestigious Shannon College in Ireland — and were hopeful about the opportunities they would find in Canada.

“In 2012, when we were looking at coming into Canada, bigger cities like Toronto and Vancouver were obvious choices, but when I was looking at job websites, I saw that Alberta had 7,000 jobs altogether, whereas Toronto and Vancouver only had a few hundred,” says Chetan.

They chose Edmonton, and Chetan found work quickly as a restaurant manager, while Roshni stayed at home to care for their son. She started working part time at a hotel when he turned three, but, with the Alberta economy struggling, the couple decided to start their own business. After some research, they signed up as franchisees with Heart to Home Meals, a frozen

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meal service that caters to seniors who live independently.

The Bahls saw the entrepreneurial potential in the idea because of the aging seniors demographic in Canada, combined with their own background in hospitality. “Food and customer service have always been so ingrained into our lives, and this opportunity to bring this delivery service to the seniors of Edmonton is very much aligned with our core values,” says Chetan.

They believe in the importance of taking care of extended and senior family members — a family value that was part of their upbringings in India. “Seniors are such an important part of family. I grew up in a joint family in India, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunt and uncle — 14 people in one house!” says Chetan. “It’s so hard to see how isolated seniors can get. When we go and do the deliveries, we do small chats. They wait every week for the driver to come so they can have someone to talk to.”

“We have also come to experience how difficult and cold the winters can be here,” says Roshni, “so we hope this service can alleviate any challenges for seniors, especially those

with mobility issues.”

Although their business is only a few months old, Roshni adds, “It’s going great.

We doubled our sales in just the fourth week.

The people ringing us are very happy.”

Being part of a franchise company has made their entrepreneurial dreams an easy transition. “Restaurants and food businesses are very difficult to get financing. Edmonton once upon a time had so many restaurants; they close every day. But when we described our franchise business to the banks, they were excited,” says Roshni.

The nutritionally balanced meals are prepared at the company’s plant in Brampton, Ontario, and are frozen and shipped to franchisees like the Bahls, who then deliver it to their clients. Clients can pick from a menu of 200+ items, which also accommodates diabetic and gluten-free meals. There are no commitments, and the prices are affordable (soups are $2, meals are $4.95 to $8).

The Bahls strongly believe in the Heart to Home Meals concept and encourage other immigrants to find their own passion in business. “If you have a nice product and believe in it, it will work,” says Roshni. facebook.com/canimmigrant

11/24/16 3:45 PM

money & business my two cents

L

iving without a budget is like travelling to a destination without a map. While both are possible, you are likely wasting time and gas without a map, and wasting money without a budget.

Budget is not a dirty word; it is rather a liberating one. It magnifies the buying power of your hard-earned money, and is a great way to track your cash flow to help achieve your future goals. It is actually telling the money where to go instead of wondering where it all went at the end of the month.

Budget benefits Budgeting your money brings you lot of advantages. It helps you to: • avoid overspending • keep your credit score in check • avoid getting into a consumer debt cycle • take control of your life • build your savings.

Simply put, budgeting means that you have a way to keep your spending within the limits of your income, and a way to deter-

Budget your money for success

well. For example, if you want to save $20,000 for a down payment for a house in four years from now, determine how much you need to save every week to make that happen — divide $20,000 by 208 weeks, which will be $96 per week.

It’s not tedious; it’s liberating!

Financial clarity Having a sense of financial clarity is important for every decision you make in life, so take control of your money — and stress! — with a budget. Then monitor it every three months to reduce any wasteful expenditures or to adapt it to changing circumstances. Living below your means by the way of budgeting and investing the money you save is incredibly powerful and will help you to achieve your financial dreams.

mine how much money you need for the things you want in life.

Understanding income and expenses If you want to know how much money you need, add up all the money you spent in the past year for rent, gas, groceries and so on (including interest on your credit cards and other bank account fees), and divide it by 52 weeks.

The result is your weekly budget.

This is the estimated amount of

income you need to bring in every week to meet your necessary expenses, which does not even include savings or financial goals.

Attaining such financial goals should be part of your budget as

Gokul Jayapal has a doctorate in biological sciences and lives in Toronto. He is an investment junkie who achieved financial freedom by persistence, frugal living and intelligent investing. He pursues his passion of investing in stocks and trades currencies and options. Reach him at gokultoronto@yahoo.ca.

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Visit www.accesemployment.ca or call us at 416-921-1800. twitter.com/@canimmigrant

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money & business s m a ll b u s i n e s s

Start up right (Part 2)

L

Things every newcomer needs to know about starting a business in Canada

ast month, I provided the basics of launching a business in Canada, starting with looking at your options — including deciding whether to start a business from scratch versus buying an existing business or franchise. Whichever route you choose, here are some more startup essentials every newcomer needs to know.

Write a business plan Whether you have decided on a new startup, a franchise or buying an existing business, you should create a business plan. A business plan is a guide to how to set up and operate your business. It is an accepted tool in Canadian business, which can help you apply for loans or seek investors, as well as help guide your business to success.

Use it as a guide to outline how you will set up the business, define how you will find customers and sales, as well as help you set goals and budgets.

The business plan is a detailed document yet you can easily write it yourself, as you know your business best. It is a standardized docu-

ment for the most part and most Canadian banks have templates that you can easily download and fill out.

Next up: an action plan Building off the business plan, an action plan is a step-by-step plan on how to implement your strategies to make your company successful. Make a list of all the activities and tasks you need to do, and allocate the time and resources you need to accomplish them. A good action plan allows you to set priorities, timelines and allocate resources for the completion of tasks you have identified in your business plan.

Logistics and regulations Some of the tasks on your action plan will include making sure you are following local government regulations.

There are many regulations to follow when starting your business to protect you and your customers. For starters, you will need a business licence in order to operate a storefront and a federal government business number in order to collect tax. In addition, you will need a provincial and federal sales tax number. (Note: if you’re self-employed and earn below the $30,000 income threshold, you may not need to charge clients tax).

If you are opening a food business, things get more complicated with certifications and health department requirements for your facility and staff.

There are also several business models you need to consider: sole proprietorship, partnership, incorporation — all of which have different benefits and limitations. And let’s not forget about insurance to protect yourself against liability.

These decisions and steps can get tricky, so if you are not sure, ask a lawyer, accountant or business professional for help.

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Next steps With the planning and logistics aside, your next focus will, no doubt, be the money! I’ll focus in on financing and bringing in customers and sales in my next column, “Start up right (Part 3).”

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Business startup specialist Gary Bizzo is CEO of Bizzo Management Group and author of How to Start a Successful Business — the First Time. He has coached or mentored more than a 1,000 businesses, including many owned by immigrants. Email ceo@garybizzo.com. facebook.com/canimmigrant

11/24/16 3:45 PM

careers & education

Fair in three cities

Looking back at the Career, Education and Settlement Immigrant Fair out west Canadian Immigrant magazine’s Career, Education and Settlement Immigrant Fair ended 2016 on a high note with three successful fairs in

the west: in Calgary and Edmonton in October, and in Vancouver in November. Here are some images from the inspiring events.

above The fourth annual Vancouver fair took place at a new venue, the Vancouver Convention Centre West, on Nov. 16, 2016.

above The inaugural Edmonton fair was held on Oct. 19, 2016.

above The third annual Calgary fair took place on Oct. 17, 2016.

Check out canadianimmigrant.ca in the new year for our 2017 event dates, including our Multicultural Women’s Conference and Fair in March. twitter.com/@canimmigrant

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canadianimmigrant.ca December 2016

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careers & education CAREER COACH

Optimize your LinkedIn profile And maximize your visibility with 10 easy steps

L

inkedIn continues to be one of the most effective ways to make career and professional connections. Today, a mere presence on the portal is not enough. You also need to know how to increase your visibility.

Beyond adding a professional photo, creating an informative headline, completing the summary section, adding skills, including education details and making connections, there are specific steps you need to take to gain top-of-mind recall.

Thankfully, LinkedIn features a “Profile Strength” meter on the right that helps you monitor how strong your profile is. Here are 10 key points to help you improve your strength and achieve the all-star profile status on LinkedIn.

1

Use keywords

2

Add projects

You can search engine optimize your profile to get found by people searching LinkedIn for key terms with which you want to be associated. Add keywords to various sections of your profile including your headline (the first thing people see), summary, specialties, job title, career history and personal interests.

A great way to show off your expertise is by adding a project or two in your projects section. You can also add other members on the

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LEARN MORE AT: www.mihr.ca/careers/quiz/1 POUR EN SAVOIR PLUS : www.mihr.ca/fr/carrieres/quiz/1 facebook.com/canimmigrant

11/24/16 4:25 PM

careers & education team and their name will appear as a hyperlink to their LinkedIn profile. By naming your project and inserting a URL, you can turn the title of the project into a hyperlink, leading the viewer to it.

3

Join groups

Identify groups related to your industry, join them and become an active participant. These groups are a valuable source of interaction. Remember to initiate or participate in group discussions. This gets your profile noticed more by others.

4

Build networks

Once your profile is in good shape, work on building your network. When sending in a friend request, be sure to personalize any requests to connect with how you know the person or where you met each other or who you know in common.

5

Showcase strengths

What you do outside of the typical 9-to-5 working hours says as much about you as anything else and also contributes to a higher search ranking. Liberally showcase awards, volunteer experience and other causes you care about.

6

Stay fresh

Be a source of fresh content. With so much information being uploaded on the internet daily, you need to give people a reason to click through. You can stand out by providing fresh, relevant content that captures attention.

7

Update daily

Think of LinkedIn as a living organism that has to be fed or watered every day. Be regular with your posts and update frequently in

order to improve your exposure. Once a day is a good rule of thumb.

8

Slideshare expertise

9

Post videos

You can create a well-designed slideshow and share the URL on your project page. This will add some life and colour to your profile.

Plus it increases your strength and you gain more credibility.

More and more professionals are posting videos on their Profile page. Now that YouTube and Vimeo have integrated, sharing videos should be easier. Simply place a video on your profile page to keep viewers on the page longer.

10

Thought leadership

In today’s world, your professional online brand is key, and LinkedIn can help you establish thought leadership. There’s no network more effective than LinkedIn to establish yourself as an ideas expert in your industry.

Power of LinkedIn As the number one social media platform for professionals with more than 300 million users in more than 200 countries, LinkedIn’s power extends beyond resumés into the vast landscapes of professional connections, business development and beyond. Go on, optimize your profile and build a strong presence online.

Murali Murthy is an acclaimed public speaker, life coach and best-selling author of the ACE Books — The ACE Principle, The ACE Awakening and The ACE Abundance.

He is also chairperson of CAMP Networking Canada.

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YD.COM | (604) 872-1266 canadianimmigrant.ca December 2016

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careers & education h i gh e r l e a r n i n g

Managing it all How to make time for school, on top of work and family responsibilities your commitments until you understand how much time you will actually need.

Family and work responsibilities The idea of cutting corners with family and work responsibilities isn’t a good option, but there may be ways to combine your student life with these other responsibilities. Your individual circumstances will determine how you do this. For instance, if you have children, are they able to take over some household tasks? Are they old enough that you can ask them to do the shopping or prepare meals?

Are they able to take your study sheets and help you prepare for exams as you fold the laundry together? If they are younger, can you arrange play dates or exchange babysitting so that you have some time for studying? Do you have family or friends who will take your children out for a few hours?

If you are working, can you ask for time off or trade shifts with another employee when you need time to study and prepare for exams? Some students find it helpful to confine work to weekends or one or two evenings a week, if possible.

G

oing back to school while also working is a reality that many newcomers face. Add family responsibilities on top of that, and it might seem impossible to do it all. Since you can’t find more than 24 hours in a day, you need to first determine if you have enough time for all of your responsibilities.

How much time do you need?

A good way to see how much time you have available is to create a weekly schedule with all your commitments. This not only includes classroom hours, but also work and family obligations, your commuting time, and when you eat, cook, do laundry and sleep. Also include other commitments such as exercising, volunteering and social activities. Now is there still time for studying? Is the time left for studying when you tend to be at your best? If not, you may need to re-evaluate and reorder when you do things.

School obligations Some academic programs require more time than others. For programs such as architecture or fashion design that have you working on projects, you may need to dedicate quite a few hours a week for assignments. For group work, you will need to be available when other students can meet. Some programs include a co-op placement where whole days and extra travelling may be involved.

If you are unsure of the demands of your program, it is best to limit

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Get the most out of your study time Once you have a schedule that you believe is realistic, you may want to look at how you can get the most out of the time allocated for studies. Perhaps the easiest and most effective use of your time is to attend all classes, pay close attention and take enough notes to stay on top of the material.

If you prepare ahead for the classes and review your notes after class, the material will be that much more familiar. Some people find it helpful to study with others; others like to transfer their notes onto index cards and carry them around, allowing them to review them whenever they have free time.

While multitasking makes it difficult to do all things well, there may be times when it can work for you. For instance, can you read or review material while you are working? Can you sleep while you are commuting? Can you do the laundry while you are listening to recorded lectures? You don’t want to compromise your attention by splitting your focus, but some mundane tasks may lend themselves well to multitasking.

Academic preparation If you have doubts about whether you can manage going back to school, consider starting with a single course or part-time program.

If you are not sure that you can manage the material due to a lack of academic preparation or language deficits, you could start with foundational level courses.

You may be able to manage it all if you are realistic in your commitments and diligent with your study habits.

Geneviève Beaupré and Susan Qadeer have extensive experience working in university and college settings, providing career, academic and personal counselling to international and immigrant students. facebook.com/canimmigrant

11/24/16 4:09 PM

settlement I M M I G R AT I O N L AW

Free trade and immigration

O

The impact of free trade agreements on foreign nationals who want to work in Canada

n Oct. 30, 2016, Canada and the European Union signed the Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (CETA), which, among other things, will (once ratified) make it easier for European Union citizens to work in Canada without their employers first needing to obtain labour market impact assessments (LMIA).

CETA is only the latest free trade agreement that Canada has signed. One of the first steps that a foreign national who is interested in working in Canada should do is determine whether their home country has signed a free trade agreement with Canada. If so, they should check if the agreement encompasses their specific area of employment.

LMIA as obstacle The main benefit of a free trade agreement encompassing one’s employment is that the person’s potential Canadian employer does not need to first obtain a positive or neutral LMIA prior to the foreign worker being able to obtain a Canadian work permit.

LMIAs can be a very cumbersome process. They generally require that employers conduct domestic recruitment, meet prevailing wage requirements, complete numerous application forms, enter into a transition plan, and pay a $1,000 per foreign worker application fee.

For many employers, obtaining LMIAs is simply too great an obsta-

cle to employing foreign nationals in Canada.

It is much easier for employers to hire workers who are encompassed by free trade agreements. Employers must simply enter information about the proposed job offer into the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada website, pay a $230 employer compliance fee and provide a written job offer to the prospective employee.

Free trade agreements As of writing, Canada has free trade agreements that contain immigration provisions in force with the United States, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Colombia and South Korea.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is a free trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico. It provides that Mexican and American citizens can obtain three-year work permits (with unlimited extensions) if they are coming to work in Canada in one of 63 skilled professions, including accountant, computer systems analyst, economist, engineer, graphic designer, management consultant, mathematician, scientific technician, pharmacist, psychologist, registered nurse and teacher.

I once represented a Canadian design company that was debating between either hiring a Mexican or a British engineer. They had assumed that it would be easier for the company to hire the British >>

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info@ccnm.edu www.ccnm.edu

Continuing your medical career in Canada

The Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine Educating naturopathic doctors for almost 40 years twitter.com/@canimmigrant

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settlement Both require that skilled foreign workers be entering Canada as either contract service suppliers or independent professionals. South Koreans can get three-year work permits, while European Union citizens can get one. When the CKFTA came into force, many South Koreans who otherwise might not have been able to extend their PostGraduate Work Permits were able to continue to work in Canada; given the wording of CETA, it seems like the same will be true for the Europeans.

Countries under GATS In addition to the above free trade agreements, Canada is a signatory to the General Agreement on Trades and Services (GATS).

Under GATS, citizens whose country is one of the 164 members of the World Trade Organization can obtain a 90-day work permit to work in Canada as an engineer, agrologist, architect, forestry professional, geomatics professional, land surveyor, urban planner and senior computer specialist.

Upcoming agreements Finally, Canada is also a signatory to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), although it has not yet been ratified. If Canada does, then most Australian, Chilean, Japanese and Mexican skilled workers will be able to work in Canada on up to one-year work permits, which can be renewed. Most Malaysian managers and professionals will be able to as well.

Although the United States, New Zealand and a few other countries are also signatories to the TPP, those nations decided to not facilitate the entry of Canadian workers, so Canada will not be providing those nations’ citizens any new LMIA exemptions.

The Trump effect At this point, it is necessary to discuss the consequences of the election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States.

If there is one thing that Trump has been consistent on during the past several decades, it is that he loathes free trade agreements.

Trump has promised to not ratify the TPP, whose future is now uncertain. He has also promised to either restrict NAFTA or to even outright withdraw the United States from it.

Perhaps the best example of how significant free trade agreements can be in an immigration context is that since the election of Trump, our office has received numerous phone calls from concerned Americans currently in Canada wanting to know what will happen to their ability to continue working here if Trump fulfills this promise. << person. However, because Canada does not actually have a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom in force (yet), it was much easier to hire the person from Mexico. The company decided to go with the Mexican engineer.

The Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement is substantially the same as NAFTA in regards to foreign workers, while Canada’s free trade agreements with Colombia and Peru are far broader than NAFTA. Colombian and Peruvian professionals can work in any skilled position in Canada for three years (with no limits on extensions), except for certain health, education, social services and cultural industries.

As well, a wide range of technicians can work in Canada without LMIAs, including engineering technologists, certain trades supervisors, chefs, carpenters, mechanics, etc. Indeed, for the foreseeable future, it will likely be easier for a Canadian employer to employ a Colombian or Peruvian than a citizen of any other country.

Both the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement (CKFTA) and CETA adopt a different approach to the entry of foreign workers.

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How to apply So, how can one determine if they’re encompassed by a free trade agreement? The best way to do this is to search “IRCC Free Trade Agreements” on any search engine, and to then click on the link that says “International Mobility Program: International Free Trade Agreements.” This is an IRCC webpage that provides information on the foreign worker provisions of all free trade agreements, including documentary requirements.

Understanding the material on this website can often be the difference between a long and cumbersome process versus a straightforward one, and even becoming a foreign worker and not.

Steven Meurrens is an immigration lawyer with Larlee Rosenberg in Vancouver. Contact him at 604-681-9887, by email at steven.meurrens@larlee.com or visit his blog at smeurrens.com. facebook.com/canimmigrant

11/24/16 4:25 PM

settlement PARENTING

W

hether our children are walking to school or to a local park, their safety while out on the road is our foremost concern as parents. With good preparation and education, you can give them the tools they need to be safe.

Know the rules Here are some rules and common-sense tips to share with your kids: • Know the signs for when to walk at an intersection, when to finish crossing, and when not to cross.

• In addition to obeying traffic signals, always listen for any cars, and look left and right before crossing.

• Make eye contact with the driver of the oncoming vehicle when crossing.

• Avoid all distractions when walking on the road, such as texting, wearing headphones, and talking and playing games on your phone.

• Avoid crossing between

Safety on the road Pedestrians are more vulnerable than ever with today’s distracted drivers, so teach your children well traffic, if possible.

• Be extra cautious during inclement weather, as drivers might have less visibility and need more time to stop due to slippery roads.

• Give yourself sufficient time to get to your destination, to avoid rushing and making a costly error. parked cars or in the middle of a block, as motorists might not expect you there.

• If possible, cross at an intersection where there is a crossing guard, and follow the guard’s instructions.

• Walk on the sidewalk, facing the direction of oncoming

Equip your kids If your kids are riding a bike or scooter, ensure they have a good

helmet. Knee pads and elbow pads are also great for beginners.

Plus, dress your kids in bright colours or add on extra reflective materials on clothing, shoes, backpacks or bikes and scooters to increase visibility.

Keep safe In today’s world where there are many distracted drivers, pedestrians are more vulnerable than ever. In addition to always modeling and educating children about road safety, we, as parents, need to closely supervise younger children while they are learning to follow the safety rules, and keep reminding our teenagers to look up from their phones! Let us all do our part to prevent accidents, so that everyone can safely get to their destination.

Cheryl Song, an immigrant from Malaysia, has more than 10 years’ experience of working in childhood education and family programs.

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Immigrant Settlement Guide For getting your listing included, please call Ricky Bajaj at 416-856-6304 or Johnny Zhang at 416-803-3931

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Agency

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Brampton Multicultural Centre (BMC)

Not for profit, registered charity providing multilingual and culturally appropriate programs and services for free to help clients enhance their community engagement and social capital while integrating into the Canadian society. Programs: Programs and services include Settlement support , employment readiness workshops, enhancing immigrant community connections through schools and libraries, advocacy and solution-focused counselling, interpretation and translation, volunteer and placement opportunities, mental health support services, seniors and women abuse and engagement services. A unique portfolio of youth programming is also available such as: Youth leadership development, life skills coaching, client-centred counselling, paid internships at various workplaces, gang prevention workshops, one-on-one intervention meetings based on individualized work plans.

Email: services@bmccentre.org www.bmccentre.org

• English • Arabic • Farsi • French • Gujarati • Hindi • Punjabi • Spanish • Tamil • Urdu • Tagalog (Filipino)

TCET provides Language, Employment, & Settlement programs that empower people in fulfilling their potential. Our LINC Home Study program provides Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) via distance education. The self-paced curriculum is offered either online or by correspondence. The program includes a weekly lesson via phone or VOIP with a certified instructor.

Email: help@linchomestudy.ca www.linchomestudy.ca

• English • Some services available in French and other languages

197 County Court Blvd.

Suite 303 Brampton ON L6W 4P6 Phone: 905-790-8482 Fax: 905-874-6100

Centre for Education & Training (TCET) Head Office: 90 Burnhamthorpe Road W, Suite 210, Mississauga, ON L5B 3C3

Languages

Locations across the Greater Toronto Area and virtual services across Ontario & Canada Phone: 905-949-0049, Toll free at 1-800-668-1179, Email: Info@tcet.com, www.tcet.com Job Skills Employment & Business Programs & Supports Locations in Markham, Brampton, Keswick and Newmarket Phone: 1-866-592-6278 Mennonite New Life Centre of Toronto 2737 Keele Street North York ON M3M 2E9 Phone: 647-776-2057 The National Association of Humanity Science and Technology (NAHST) 4675 Steeles Ave. E Unit 2D22 Toronto On M1v 4S5 Or: 3-2375 Brimley Rd. Unit 351 Toronto ON M1s 3L6 National Education Society 28 Crown Steel Drive, Unit 15 Markham, ON L3R 9Y1 Tel: 647-535-8886 Polycultural Immigrant and Community Services Main Office: 17 Four Season Place, Suite 102 Toronto ON M9B 6E6 Branches in: Etobicoke, Toronto, Mississauga and Scarborough Phone: 1-844-493-5839

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Find out how to: get the skills you need to find work, including: work experience, resume help, interview techniques, entrepreneurial options and more. We offer: Job Search Workshops Program, Job Find Club for Internationally Trained Individuals, Bridge to HR, Practice Firm, SelfEmployment Pathways for Newcomer and Employment Ontario Employment Services.

Email: info@jobskills.org www.jobskills.org

• English

Settlement Services, LINC Classes (level 1-6) with child minding, Counseling, Job search, Citizenship & Immigration, Groups for Youth, Seniors & Women and Volunteering. Specialty Programs: Bridge Training Program for International Mental Health Professionals, Community Engagement Program, Community Mental health Program and Anger management.

Additional locations at Scarborough and Toronto.

Email: northyork@mnlct.org www.mnlct.org

• English • Spanish • Mandarin • Bengali • Turkish

Community services for cultural and recreational activities, including classic poetry recitation events and Chinese traditional music concerts, with funds collected from its own members; supports for seniors groups for cultural and recreational activities; promotions for cultural exchange with the main stream society and many minorities’ cultural groups.

Email: thomas@nahst.org www.nahst.org

• English • Mandarin • Cantonese

Various services for educational consultations, professional training programs, tutoring and credential assessment and accreditation for all ages, particularly for newcomers and immigrants and all Canadians.

Email: carrie@nedus.ca www.nedus.ca

• English • Chinese • Mandarin

General Services and Speciality Programs. Polycultural Immigrant and Community Services (Polycultural) provides a wide range of community and settlement services for individuals and communities to be productive members of the society. We are a non-profit organization and are also registered as a charitable organization.

Services offered: Newcomer Services, Refugee Settlement and Integration, Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS), Language Learning and Skills Development (LINC and ELS), Transition to Employment, Youth and Children Services, Services for Seniors, Problem Gambling Counselling, Family Support Program, Partner Assault Response Program, Interpretation, Income Tax Clinic and Summer Camps.

Email: info@polycultural.org www.polycultural.org

Over 40 languages including: English, French, Albanian, Arabic, Bosnian, Cantonese, Croatian, Dari, Farsi, Hindi, Mandarin, Polish, Punjabi, Pashtu, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Swahili, Tamil, and Urdu

canadianimmigrant.ca December 2016

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facebook.com/canimmigrant

11/24/16 4:26 PM

Driving

Winter driving 10 tips to keep you safe and sound on the road brakes instead of letting your car skid, which gives you better steering control. If you have the choice, pick a car equipped with ABS, VSC (vehicle stability control) and traction control — these newer technologies make winter driving much safer.

5

Avoid skidding How your vehicle responds to skidding depends on whether or not it has rear-wheel, front-wheel or all-wheel drive. Generally, the best way to keep from sliding and losing control is to slow down well before any turn — not during the turn. You can always speed up in the turn if you feel you’re going too slow.

6

Keep things smooth When driving in snow, never jerk the steering wheel or slam on the brakes.

Smooth driving will keep your vehicle on the road.

7 Winter is here, and with it comes cold weather, rain and snow — in other words, bad driving conditions. The old saying “It’s better to be safe than sorry” certainly applies to winter driving.

Here are 10 tips to keep you safe and sound on the road this season.

1

Clear snow and ice from your vehicle Before you start driving, make sure you clean all snow and ice off windows, mirrors, lights and even the roof. Wait for foggy windows to clear up so you can see properly through all sides of the vehicle.

2

Slow down This might seem obvious, but people usually don’t slow down enough when driving in snowy, rainy or slippery conditions. Don’t let other people pressure you into going faster than you’re comfortable

twitter.com/@canimmigrant

28_29_V1_CI_DEC09_Settlement 2

with. Stay in the right lane and let faster drivers pass you. And give yourself extra travel time so you’re not tempted to speed.

3

Leave more space between cars In bad conditions, leave two car lengths between you and the vehicle in front of you. Black ice is nearly impossible to spot until it’s too late.

4

Learn to brake in an emergency Let your vehicle’s anti-lock braking system (ABS) do its job. ABS will allow you to steer your vehicle even while applying the brakes fully. For older cars without ABS brakes, it’s best to pump the

Be visible Even during the daytime, use your headlights in bad conditions to ensure you’re seen. During a heavy snowfall, high beams may make visibility worse; if you have fog lights, use them in conjunction with your low beams.

8

Keep your gas tank full A full gas tank adds extra weight to your vehicle, which can help slow it down.

9

Have your car winter ready Make sure your car is ready for the conditions with good winter tires, brakes, a strong battery, good windshield wipers and clean fluids.

10

Keep a car winter kit In case things go wrong and you find yourself stranded on the road, ensure you have a winter kit, which can include thermal blankets, first-aid kit, matches, road flares, booster cables, a snow brush, water and a charged cell phone. Having roadside assistance a phone call away is also a good idea.

canadianimmigrant.ca December 2016

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canadianimmigrant.ca December 2016

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above Canadian Immigrant has launched a new visual storytelling series to celebrate the contribution of immigrants from across this great nation, from the Atlantic to the West Coast. Our goal? To reach 150 immigrants by July 1, 2017, the 150th anniversary of Canada.

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