I believe there is a light at the end of every dark tunnel, but it took years to find it after we moved to Canada. My husband and I moved to Calgary with two children — ages five and two — in 2015. We started looking for work right away and were full of hope because my husband was a branch manager of a well-known bank in Pakistan. But we were in for a shock. The only job he could find to start with was laying carpet.
After just a week on the job, he looked exhausted and said: “When I was walking up the stairs in our apartment building, I wished for a house without stairs. My feet hurt so much.” The next morning, he changed back into his work clothes, which were torn and shabby at the knees. His black shirt was faded from washing every day. His hands were full of cracks from the dust and dryness at work. “I can’t even stand on my feet today,” he said. He left and I sat down with my tea. All I could think was: Why are we here? Misbah Noor and her daughter inside their first apartment in Calgary in 2015. (Submitted by Misbah Noor) We were not happy. We lived in a small apartment with little furniture and missed our family and friends back home. Every day we worried about what the next day would bring. Moving to another country gives you a different perspective on life and turns you into a new person. My brother applied to come to Canada on my behalf in 2008 when I was still single. I was excited to move in, happy to take the required language tests and collect the many documents. But it took a long time – seven years before we finally received our permanent resident visa in the mail. In the meantime, I got married and had two children. I was still looking forward to coming to Canada, hoping for better job opportunities, higher wages and a better future for the children. But now that we have young children, the struggle to re-establish has been much greater than we expected. After I finished my tea, I started looking for work desperately. I have a master’s degree in education, but filling out online job applications was new to me and every job I found required Canadian work experience. It was a life of constant stress. I’m usually shy, but I started talking to strangers — people in my building, parents at my kids’ school, people in the library. I asked them how to get a job here. They would leave me a link to some recruiting firms and websites that I couldn’t understand. I desperately wanted to work so my husband could go back to school – Misbah Noor I lost almost 22 pounds due to stress and ate less to save money. I desperately wanted to work so my husband could go back to school and get a good job. But neither of them had any luck. He interviewed for a position as a financial advisor at a bank, then paid $1,200 to a private company to try to become a transit agent. But each time the hiring managers turned him down, saying “your English isn’t good” or “you don’t have Canadian education or work experience.” We felt let down and worthless. Canadian officials accepted us because of our education. Our documents were verified so many times in the process, we thought our degrees would be appreciated here. We were wrong. Finally after two and a half years, I caught a break. My son came home from school one day and told me that a lunch manager was leaving. It took years for Misbah Noor and her husband to find good jobs and feel financially secure again after moving to Canada. (Submitted by Misbah Noor) I rushed to meet the manager. I told her about my degree and home teaching experience. After listening to my struggle patiently, he told me how to apply. He guided me through the entire process, from creating an account for the job application to structuring my resume to meet the job requirements. I got the part-time job. Then my husband got a job as a forklift operator at an oil and gas supply depot which had better hours and was easier on his body than laying carpet. We still couldn’t afford to put him up to his degree at school, so I did a two-year course to become a teaching assistant. Then finally, six years after we first moved in, he landed a position as an oil and gas price analyst without promotion. Those early days were so uncertain. I remember the day he called after he got the price analyst job. I was crying with joy, hugging my children and being so thankful to God. I thought this would be the end of our hardships and stress. As we shopped together for his shirts, pants, and shoes, I fought back tears. In January, I started working as an educational assistant and we bought a house where my children can jump, run and play freely. But the stress of the past seven years had lasting effects. After so much, I still feel tired and worried about everyday problems. I feel like my memory has been affected by chronic stress and my husband now has high blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes. We believe this is also connected. This is the price we paid to get to where we are now. Eventually, we found financial stability and made our home in Canada. So this is a story of going from disappointment to hope, deception to knowledge, failure to success and nervousness to confidence. But if I could go back in time, I would think twice before immigrating. It’s harder than we thought.

Telling your story

CBC Calgary is running a series of in-person writing workshops across the city to support community members telling their own stories. This is a First Person column from a workshop hosted by the Genesis Centre. To learn more about our writing workshops or to suggest a community organization to help host, email CBC producer Elise Stolte or visit cbc.ca/tellingyourstory.