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Welcome to Canada! Hopefully, you've started to become acquainted with your new life, but it can be overwhelming trying to handle everything at once. If you’re looking for a few tips on how to settle in without sacrificing your sanity, keep reading.
Make New Friends
Making friends when you move into a new town is difficult — and when that new town is in an entirely different country, it can be intimidating, especially for children. Look for new ways for you and your family to socialize. This can be meeting other immigrants through local organizations, joining a community center, finding a new church family and even getting to know your neighbors.
Safely Send Money Home
For many new immigrants, the choice to move to Canada is to create a better life for your entire family. Since there are often family members still living back home, you’ll need a safe way to send them financial support. If you still have parents, children or extended family in the Philippines, for example, you want to have the confidence that when you send hard-earned money home, it will arrive safely. For peace of mind, look to a service that offers reliable, affordable, and expedient money transfers. Some platforms even offer no-fee transfers as well as competitive exchange rates.
Look for Senior Services
If you’re considering bringing elderly parents or grandparents over, you should get to know what types of services senior immigrants are eligible for in Canada. Health insurance is one of the most crucial services your relatives will need, along with help settling and practicing their language skills.
Volunteer in Your New City
Again, one of the best ways to get to know your new neighbors is to volunteer. Through your church, you may have access to volunteer and mission opportunities throughout the year. Hospice, food pantry stocking, and other community services all need your help too. Rolling up your sleeves and lending a helping hand will allow you to meet new people, forge new friendships, and have a lasting impact on your new hometown. A quick note here: If you have trouble communicating because of the language barrier, you can download translation apps to quickly and easily express thoughts and ideas.
Staying in touch
Even if you’re happy in your new home and new life, missing out on seeing your loved ones back home can make things very lonely. There are many ways to allow your friends and family to be a part of your life here, and for you to remain an integral part of theirs. You might, for example, invite them to meet for a weekly dinner together over the internet. Similarly, text messaging, video chatting through Skype or Zoom, and even sending photos to each other every day will do a world of wonders for your mental health.
It is never easy with a significant move across the globe. But with determination and the help of the new friends that you’ll make, you will soon settle in. Make sure to have necessities in place — such as the ability to send money and the tech to stay in touch with loved ones — to keep you anchored to your home and heritage while you learn to love and live in another country.
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