Hi all,
(Feel free to give your opinion at the end)
First of all, I am not an immigrant, but a Canadian citizen. I was born in Montreal in 1987. My parents are both Lebanese (no hijab, not religious). I wanted to give my opinion of Canada as a country and especially Quebec. Although I am not an immigrant, in the head of many people who would meet me on the street, I am one. What about your kids? They will be Canadian right? I thought my experience would help some of you.
First, my experience is MINE and cannot be transferred to everyone.
Job:
As a Canadian, I NEVER had a hard time to find a job, since I have been twelve years old. I work now as a teacher and I receive many calls to accept some contracts or to sub, but I decline all the contracts since I want to sub at the moment (simpler and more time for me). If you want to find a job you CAN. It is obvious that if you to Saguenay or Gaspésie and you wear a Turban or Hijab your chances will diminish, it is SAD but it is true. Although I find that in Ontario it is less a problem than in Quebec. I met many immigrants in my life and they were all able to work. When you will get here, you will get a job FOR SURE, it will not be the best one, probably, but it will make ends meet. It is important as an immigrant to make new friends and people you can hang out with and not be ALONE.
Rest of Canada vs. Quebec (social imaginary and NOT INDIVIDUALS).
As an ethnic minority, I feel that there is a huge difference between Quebec and the rest of Canada. Canada is much more open-minded to "ethnic Canadians" than in Quebec. The #1 proof that can't lie is the media. When you open your T.V. in Quebec and you watch a series that is aired in MONTREAL and you do not see a single ethnic minority, but only 100% pure-blood Quebeckers, it means that there is a problem. Ethnic minorities are also excluded from all commercials, you very rarely see one. Actually, you do see ethnic minorities on T.V. when they speak about murdered or people who ask for silly things. You just have to watch TSN vs. RDS and you will notice that ethnic minorities in Quebec are not considered as 100% Québécois. Same thing when you open the newspaper "Journal de Montréal" and you see that NONE of the journalists are from an ethnic minority background; it is the Journal of Montreal, not the Journal of Gaspé, weird. Hence, the media in Quebec is basically reserved to pure quebeckers, with some exceptions, whereas in Ontario, ethnic minorities (Canadians) are much more included in the society.
Individuals
People from Quebec are helpful and nice most of the time. It is not comparable to cultures such as Latin American or Arabic or Eastern European. Quebecois will be very friendly and you will enjoy a night with them, but the next day, it is possible that they don't even say hi to you. For people who are used to "warm cultures" this will be a huge upset. As a matter of fact, I was born here and grew up here and I had tons of friends that are from Quebec. They are really nice people, who will help you when you need it. Nonetheless, most of my friends are from other cultures (Romanians, Chileans, Africans, etc.). In my experience, a Quebecois will not reject/refuse to talk to you because you are from an ethnic background, people here are not racist like in other countries. People here will not refuse entry to a nightclub, restaurant, or shopping center like in other countries. There is quite a freedom here, although excluded drastically from the mainstream media (which everyone watches) it is possible to get a proper life here.
The whole "Muslim Issue"
Because of the atrocities that are going on in third-world countries (mostly) some people take advantage of that and express their hatred towards Muslims in general. This phenomena is noticeable mostly on Facebook pages and social medias, not in day-to-day life, fortunately!!! People, here in Quebec, have a very bad opinion of Muslims in general and it is due to the fact that Media never shows a single Muslim on TV a part from the anecdotes that happen in Quebec when we see silly Imams asking for silly things + what is going on somewhere else. I think it is not as bad in Ontario. I think that if you are a practicing Muslim and your wife wears a hijab, Quebec is not a good place. Of course, it would be better than Syria at the moment, but still, people are very ignorant on that topic and have a very bad opinion of Muslims that is based mostly on what they see on T.V.
Montreal
Montreal is drastically different than the rest of Quebec. Here, you can eat Lebanese (yummy) Greek, Thai, Arabic, Indian, Mexican etc. People here are open-minded because of the huge diversity that exists, many of my friends identify themselves more with Montreal than with Quebec. I also lived far for Montreal, in ares with no immigrants at all and it was fine, just less going on and people are not used to see ethnic minorities.
I hope my experience and opinion helped some of you.
(Feel free to give your opinion at the end)
First of all, I am not an immigrant, but a Canadian citizen. I was born in Montreal in 1987. My parents are both Lebanese (no hijab, not religious). I wanted to give my opinion of Canada as a country and especially Quebec. Although I am not an immigrant, in the head of many people who would meet me on the street, I am one. What about your kids? They will be Canadian right? I thought my experience would help some of you.
First, my experience is MINE and cannot be transferred to everyone.
Job:
As a Canadian, I NEVER had a hard time to find a job, since I have been twelve years old. I work now as a teacher and I receive many calls to accept some contracts or to sub, but I decline all the contracts since I want to sub at the moment (simpler and more time for me). If you want to find a job you CAN. It is obvious that if you to Saguenay or Gaspésie and you wear a Turban or Hijab your chances will diminish, it is SAD but it is true. Although I find that in Ontario it is less a problem than in Quebec. I met many immigrants in my life and they were all able to work. When you will get here, you will get a job FOR SURE, it will not be the best one, probably, but it will make ends meet. It is important as an immigrant to make new friends and people you can hang out with and not be ALONE.
Rest of Canada vs. Quebec (social imaginary and NOT INDIVIDUALS).
As an ethnic minority, I feel that there is a huge difference between Quebec and the rest of Canada. Canada is much more open-minded to "ethnic Canadians" than in Quebec. The #1 proof that can't lie is the media. When you open your T.V. in Quebec and you watch a series that is aired in MONTREAL and you do not see a single ethnic minority, but only 100% pure-blood Quebeckers, it means that there is a problem. Ethnic minorities are also excluded from all commercials, you very rarely see one. Actually, you do see ethnic minorities on T.V. when they speak about murdered or people who ask for silly things. You just have to watch TSN vs. RDS and you will notice that ethnic minorities in Quebec are not considered as 100% Québécois. Same thing when you open the newspaper "Journal de Montréal" and you see that NONE of the journalists are from an ethnic minority background; it is the Journal of Montreal, not the Journal of Gaspé, weird. Hence, the media in Quebec is basically reserved to pure quebeckers, with some exceptions, whereas in Ontario, ethnic minorities (Canadians) are much more included in the society.
Individuals
People from Quebec are helpful and nice most of the time. It is not comparable to cultures such as Latin American or Arabic or Eastern European. Quebecois will be very friendly and you will enjoy a night with them, but the next day, it is possible that they don't even say hi to you. For people who are used to "warm cultures" this will be a huge upset. As a matter of fact, I was born here and grew up here and I had tons of friends that are from Quebec. They are really nice people, who will help you when you need it. Nonetheless, most of my friends are from other cultures (Romanians, Chileans, Africans, etc.). In my experience, a Quebecois will not reject/refuse to talk to you because you are from an ethnic background, people here are not racist like in other countries. People here will not refuse entry to a nightclub, restaurant, or shopping center like in other countries. There is quite a freedom here, although excluded drastically from the mainstream media (which everyone watches) it is possible to get a proper life here.
The whole "Muslim Issue"
Because of the atrocities that are going on in third-world countries (mostly) some people take advantage of that and express their hatred towards Muslims in general. This phenomena is noticeable mostly on Facebook pages and social medias, not in day-to-day life, fortunately!!! People, here in Quebec, have a very bad opinion of Muslims in general and it is due to the fact that Media never shows a single Muslim on TV a part from the anecdotes that happen in Quebec when we see silly Imams asking for silly things + what is going on somewhere else. I think it is not as bad in Ontario. I think that if you are a practicing Muslim and your wife wears a hijab, Quebec is not a good place. Of course, it would be better than Syria at the moment, but still, people are very ignorant on that topic and have a very bad opinion of Muslims that is based mostly on what they see on T.V.
Montreal
Montreal is drastically different than the rest of Quebec. Here, you can eat Lebanese (yummy) Greek, Thai, Arabic, Indian, Mexican etc. People here are open-minded because of the huge diversity that exists, many of my friends identify themselves more with Montreal than with Quebec. I also lived far for Montreal, in ares with no immigrants at all and it was fine, just less going on and people are not used to see ethnic minorities.
I hope my experience and opinion helped some of you.
(my husband, my five years old son and me) we are muslims but i dont wear hijab (for now 8) 