'You won't regret it:' Russian-speaking immigrants choose Thornhill

'We had a desire to live in a stable country where you can predict what’s going to happen'

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 25, 2019
Kim Zarzour

Ilya Redkin is 32, a world traveller with an accomplished career behind him in the aviation industry, but lately he has felt like he is fresh out of school.

A native of Ukraine, Redkin worked as a flight dispatcher, a contractor in the aviation sector and with United Nations humanitarian missions.

But when the political and social situations changed drastically in Kyiv, he grew worried about the future for his family.

“We had a desire to live in a stable country where you can predict what’s going to happen,” he says.

Canada, and in particular Toronto, seemed to offer the most opportunity for his skills in the aviation industry. Five months ago, they packed up their lives and immigrated.

Initially, Redkin says, they planned to settle in Etobicoke where he could be near Pearson airport, but a real estate agent, also from Ukraine, suggested Thornhill, instead.

There are many people who speak Russian in that area, she told them, and they would find it easier.

“She said, ‘you won’t regret it’, and she was right,” he recalls.

Thanks to the shared language, their new community in Thornhill felt familiar to them. The job search, on the other hand, felt very unfamiliar.

“In the Ukraine, the selection process is very different. You could know if you were hired even before your interview, but here your interview needs to be the best among very professional people.”

Redkin was fortunate; he did not need any educational accreditation. “My diplomas were evaluated by World Education Center as Canadian equivalent of master's degree during my immigration process.”

But he discovered competition for flight dispatchers is much tougher in Canada than in his country. He was frustrated and disappointed that he did not even get a call back after his first interview.

He signed up for job search assistance at the Welcome Centre and learned what kind of preparation and resumes lead to success.

Now, he has a good job as flight dispatcher with a major airline, his wife is teaching the English language to non-native speakers, his four-year-old son is attending JK at a public school across the road from their new home and has made friends quickly.

There may be many Russian-speaking families in the community, but when he overhears his son chattering in the playground in English, he feels proud.

At 32, he says, he regrets he didn’t come when he was 25, but he says he is not afraid of difficulty.

“I am sure we will succeed and I am sure my son will enjoy being Canadian. I suspect he has already forgotten Kyiv.”

ADVICE

-- Spend time researching, visit forums, watch videos online about the community you plan to immigrate to. Some will be useful, some not, but it will help you make a more informed choice on where to land.

-- Don’t try to save money by choosing the first place to settle -- be selective. “Your first area must be good. You don’t want to spoil your first opinion of a country.”

-- Focus on learning English and making friends with Canadians.

-- “Don’t give up. If you come across difficulties -- and I guarantee you, even if you have a million dollars in your pocket, you will -- don’t give up. It will come.”