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Chasing the Canadian dream: York Region newcomers find settling a struggle
Analysis: York's fast-growing immigrant population presents special challenges

Yorkregion.com
Feb 25, 2019
Kim Zarzour

In 2016, an emotional Yasin Sharif, right, conveys to sponsor Jim Barry how grateful he is to Barry’s family and friends for their warm welcome to Richmond Hill and Canada. His son-in-law, Mohamed, is seen at left. - By Steve Somerville
Changing faces

This is the third in a three-part series about newcomers in York Region, the challenges they face and where they can turn for help.

It was supposed to be a better life.

When Yasin Sharif and his family arrived in Canada three years ago after escaping embattled Syria, they were enveloped in a circle of support.
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Richmond Hill residents drove them around town, collected essentials like car seats and winter clothing, and helped them learn the ropes, from currency to transit to how to work a Canadian washing machine.

Then the one-year sponsorship was over, Sharif’s family was cut free from the sponsors’ support and everything changed.

Sharif never dreamed that life in this promised land would be so hard.

Those who work with York Region newcomers say he is not alone.

York has become a popular immigration destination, but, for a variety of reasons, this expensive, expansive suburbia presents big hurdles for new arrivals.

Sharif, a soft-spoken 64-year-old, does not want to appear ungrateful. People have been so kind.

And yet, he says, it feels like his former life -- the skills and value he brought to this world -- “is all in the garbage.”

A mechanical engineer and businessman in Syria, Sharif had been the patriarch to all 28 members of his immediate family, but in Canada, he can barely support himself, his wife and 13-year-old daughter, let alone the rest of his grown children struggling to stay afloat.

Through a translator, he talks with pride about his career climb to a top management position. He was honest, innovative and his hard work had an impact on the company’s bottom line.

Sharif had just retired when the war upended everything. His village turned to rubble, the city of Aleppo, a five-minute drive from his home, was now a 14-hour, war-ravaged expedition.

Canada rescued them, and for that, Sharif says, he will be forever grateful.

He and his wife, four daughters, three sons and their families are now working to establish new lives. He takes pleasure in his grandchildren, their easy adaptability and hopes for their future, but like many newcomers, the adults in the family struggle.

Sharif receives $1,190 from the federal government. Rent for the basement apartment he shares with his wife and daughter is $1,000, leaving less than $200 for everything else.

There’s no money for a car; he walks or bicycles four kilometres from his Bathurst Street and Bloomington Road rental to the grocery store.

There is no money to fix his toothache, either. He can’t pay $1,000 for a crown, so he puts up with the pain.

A voracious reader of Arabic history and scholarly works, he can’t imagine working, in his 60s, at a warehouse or stocking shelves in a store.

Once, he thought he found a job as a mechanical engineer. The company wanted to see his credentials -- which are buried in the rubble of his bombed-out home. They also wanted him to speak better English, but, after two years of ESL classes, the lessons didn’t seem to stick.

“My memory is too full!” he says, with an embarrassed laugh.

His wife is sad, living in a windowless basement; his children are stressed, caring for their kids, working long hours at menial jobs to pay sky-high rent, unable to find time to learn enough English to follow their dreams.

It all makes him feel guilty and helpless.

“We would go anywhere in Canada, but here? Too expensive. We aren’t happy here. I’m sorry, but,” he shakes his head.

Yes, his family is safe, he adds, “but my heart, is not good.”

The “Welcome to York Region” videos show an enticing kaleidoscope of culture and condos, nature trails, businesses, well-equipped schools and recreational centres. And, in fact, it is a pretty awesome place. Who wouldn’t want to come here?

It is a land of opportunity, but for newcomers, that opportunity may be a long time coming. The critical period of settlement and integration can last as long as 10 years, according to “Starting on Solid Ground,” a report by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM).

In York Region, where 47 per cent of the population was born outside of Canada, many arriving within the past five years, that critical period of settlement is a daily struggle.

In 2016, almost 560,000 immigrants lived in York Region -- more than the total populations of Halifax, Nova Scotia or London, Ontario -- and more than 10,000 new immigrants land here each year.

This immigration is important to the economy, but services are not adapting quickly enough, says Lisa Gonsalves, the region’s director of strategies and partnerships.

According to the FCM report, unemployment among newcomers is likely double that of the general population, low-income rates almost three times as high and even when they are skilled and educated, it takes years before incomes catch up with the rest of the population.

A Region of York 2012 report “Turning the Curve” says newcomers -- increasingly, highly educated -- are often underemployed or work in multiple jobs. Many live in low-income households; prolonged underemployment or unemployment hinder prospects of re-entering a profession, the report says.

“No one mentions you’ll have to hit reset, to start at the bottom, that you won’t be able to get your foot in the door, that experience and academic credentials will not be counted for anything,” says Tareq Ali, a Newmarket resident and career coach to immigrants. “This is why we hear stories of doctors driving cabs. They were sold the Canadian dream, but there is a disconnect.”

Glauber Fecchio, 35, came to Canada from Brazil in July 2018 with his wife and baby daughter. A business development manager in his home country, employers told him he was either overqualified or lacking Canadian experience.

With help from employment programs at the Welcome Centre, he found a job in his field, although at a level below his previous positions. He remains optimistic, though, saying “we are living the dream.”

But for some, who aren’t able to find suitable work, that dream can turn to a nightmare.

“People say ‘focus on the kids,' but kids watch their parents go from relatively happy and well-to-do, to struggling. It impacts them. They’re not building a great love for this country,” says Ali.

“These people left everything they know to live in a vastly different land, different culture, weather, people. This translates into mental health issues and it has an impact on the next generation. It’s a vicious cycle.”

Noor Din, CEO of Human Endeavour, has seen the same issues helping newcomers through his nonprofit organization that serves York and Simcoe regions. Social isolation and loneliness are real issues for immigrant women, youth and especially seniors, he says.

“They end up depressed because they used to lead families, they had respect, but their kids are out of the house, working, and they’ve lost status.”

Language presents another barrier. Twenty-three per cent of the region’s newcomers have no knowledge of French or English -- more than most other areas, Gonsalves says.

“They used to come to Toronto first, get settled, then move to the 905. Now they are coming to York Region as their first choice,” she says.

Many choose to live in enclaves where neighbours speak the same language, but this reduces opportunities for interaction and understanding with other cultures, says the region’s report.

Ilya Redkin, 32, was happy to find a Russian-speaking community in Thornhill, knowing it would be easier for his family to adapt after leaving Ukraine.

But he is careful not to get too comfortable with the familiar.

He says several people in the neighbourhood speak only their native language, work for Russian-speaking employers and only interact with people from their country.

“They are not integrated. They live in Canada, but they’re not really Canadian,” he says. "You have to speak English and make friends with Canadians."

“In the old days,” Ali says, “you’d be given land as an incentive and head out to settle in small towns in Saskatchewan or somewhere. Now, they are descending in major urban areas, which builds up pressures on an already overwhelmed system. It can build resentment.”

And yet, studies show an increasing number of York Region residents believe immigration is having a positive impact -- and that, Ali says, is a good thing.

“Our country can’t thrive without immigration. There is great vision behind the system, but it is implementation that’s lacking. We need all levels of government to come together to build bridges. We’ve done a good job selling it to them, now we need to deliver it.”

After all, he adds, “they are people just like us, with hopes and dreams, just like us.”

HOW TO WELCOME NEWCOMERS

Imagine leaving behind everything you know to begin life anew.

Studies show if you receive support from the start, you will do better in the long run.

That’s why York Region launched an online portal YorkWelcome.ca and five Welcome Centres across the region.

Nella Iasci, Job Skills executive director and co-chair of the region’s Community Partnership Council says the hubs provide advice on resumes and networking, English and Canadian life skill lessons and opportunities to make friends.

This helps, but there are still big hurdles to overcome, says Lisa Gonsalves, the region’s strategies and partnerships director.

Part of the solution, she says, may lie in educating employers on what foreign degrees and credentials mean. Regional conferences with employment sectors that are hiring -- such as health care -- can also help internationally educated newcomers understand the job market.

To ease isolation in less densely populated communities such as Georgina and Bradford -- areas seeing an increase in newcomers due to lower housing prices -- Gonsalves points to mobile Welcome Centres, school-based newcomer services and municipally organized cultural events.

Career coach Tareq Ali suggests more focus on developing infrastructure and services in smaller towns to make it easier for newcomers to settle outside of expensive urban areas. Private sectors and municipalities could also brainstorm solutions on housing, (subsidized or rent-to-own, for example) and employment (such as internships).

Human Endeavour offers social and economic inclusion programs in York Region and Simcoe County. It focuses on wellness, civic engagement, training, job creation and programs for youths, children and mothers. It also promotes "people-assisted settlement services," organizing volunteers to sponsor refugees and immigrants for longer than the usual one year.

CEO Noor Din says this approach proved successful in Bradford, where sponsors supported newcomers for as long as was necessary for settlement. He is also launching a program for purposeful volunteer opportunities for seniors.

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