D
deva
Guest
I was a doctor in Bangladesh and I was working as assistant professor in a medical college and at the same time practicing as a consultant. My wife was also a doctor. We decided to migrate to Canada because we believed Canada is the greatest country in the world. We also considered about the future of our two daughters. We talked to many people and did a lot of research and were delighted to learn that Canada has a doctor shortage and if we move to Canada we will be able to serve the people, find reasonable source of income, and contribute to the progress and development of Canada. We continuously monitored the news and websites and read news and articles about immigration and social trends in Canada. We observed that Minister of immigration was continuously talking with the different interest groups and organizations for more than a year and then made a final list of skill shortage. I remember minister talked to Canadian Medical Council, Medical Association of Canada, Federal and Provincial Medical Agencies and other interest groups and different organizations representing the interest of people. Almost everybody agreed that Canada needs immigrant doctors.
We were very happy and thought that we made a very wise decision. We knew that to get license to practice in Canada we will need to appear in several examinations. We started collecting the books and materials, started our preparation and decided to appear in the examinations after we arrive at Canada. The whole process of immigration took less than one year. We landed in Toronto on April 6, 2010. That was a memorable day in our life. We were exhausted after a long journey. During our last days in Bangladesh we had to do many things. I left my job and did not get any benefit for doing my job for more than 15 years. I left my practice and patients behind me. They felt like forbidden and deserted and might also believe I was not faithful. I left my family and friends too. They were not at all happy. I knew life and things will not be same for us again. But we were dreaming and planning our new life in Canada and did not care for anybody’s feelings.
So, we were tired and exhausted. The immigration law forces one to bring at least 20,000 Canadian dollars to Canada as financial security for family consisting of four members. My country did not allow us to carry more than 8000 dollars as immigration and revenue rules restrict the amount of international currency one can carry out of the country. So, we could not bring enough money and had to leave everything behind us.
We were really very tired when we arrived in Toronto on April 6, 2010. But there were dreams in our eyes. We lived in a guest house in Toronto for four days and then shifted to an apartment in 20 Teesdale Place, near Victoria Park Subway Station. We had to open an account in a bank and do some other essential things which every immigrant has to do in their first few days in Canada. We started buying furniture and spent a lot. We could buy old furniture but as a doctor my wife did not like to buy old furniture. We were very happy and dreaming.
On our fourth day in the apartment a man knocked at our door and introduced him as Kareh, a representative from Rogers. We were delighted because we were feeling the need to get a land phone line and did not know what to do. The man told us that Rogers was giving excellent service and going to give us three months service free of charge. He was persisting and we also were eager. I bought a mobile phone from Bell a few days ago and Mr. Kareh, although he had his own phone used my mobile phone to call Rogers and arranged for my connection. We did not understand many things what he said and believed everything what he said and considered him as a friend. He almost forced us to make a contract and said that we would get our connection on April 15. We were very eager to call our friends and near ones in Bangladesh and bought phone cards from a nearby supermarket as our Rogers package did not include international calls and started making phone calls to Bangladesh. Next two weeks we remained busy attending a workshop in Neighbourhood link Organization. We met other new immigrants and started sharing our experience. They were also very skilled did good jobs back home. We were occasionally hearing about some bad things but did not care.
Our first surprise came when we got the Rogers bill. We knew that we did not have to pay any charges for next three months but in the bill they charged us for making international calls. I talked to them and sent them email explaining that we always used phone cards for calling Bangladesh. But they were rigid and arrogant. I talked to the phone card company. That was also of no use. We thought there was some mistake and convinced ourselves and made ourselves belief that we made the mistake without knowing what was the mistake. The result was that we lost confidence in us and we stopped calling Bangladesh. One interesting thing was that Rogers repeatedly asked us to use Rogers phone cards instead of using phone cards from other companies for calling Bangladesh and offered us many options though the options were far more costly than using the phone cards from other companies. We stopped making international calls altogether and started feeling lonelier. We started losing faith.
We started looking for jobs and began getting the real experience of job market. I went several places and asked for a job and was surprised when they told me that they do not hire doctors for sales and related jobs. I told them I was interested to do the job and according to their advertisement no experience was required for the job and also I was healthy and interested for the job and ready to do anything needed to get the job done, but they were not interested to hire me. My wife was also looking for a job and at last found one after three months. But after she worked for three days the owner of the flower and gift store told her that that they did not require her any more and also she did not have any experience for the job. For three days in her job she worked hard and worked continuously to satisfy the customers from two PM to 9 PM. There were Father’s day and other ceremonies and festivities around. So there were a lot of customers in the store. The owner needed somebody urgently. When this was over the number of customers declined and they did not need my wife’s help anymore and they also did not have to show her any formality. Strange! We were surprised and my wife, although she was feeling depressed, started looking for a job again. I was also looking for a job. From the first day I continued sending my resume by email to prospective employers. I did not find any result. I went to several stores and shops and I was moving and looking for any new job openings everywhere. I started carrying my resume with me and kept on distributing like a salesman. Every owner and supervisor I talked told me straightway that they were not interested to hire any one without experience though in most of the cases in the advertisement for the job they did not mention about any experience needed and also most of the time mentioned that training will be given after recruitment. Our bank balance was alarming us. I was always consulting with others and tried to find what they were doing and how they were trying to adjust with the situation. I was feeling very depressed. I learnt from them that they tried to work with the employment placement agencies but most of the time employment agents placed them in very low paid labour positions in construction sites and factories and that was also for irregular terms.
Then we got the telephone bill from Rogers. In my contract it was mentioned that after three months of promotion we will be able to downgrade our phone and cable service and so I requested them to downgrade my service in June and got an email from the customer service department with a letter of confirmation mentioning that our service will be degraded after our free time limit expires on July 14. I also received other documents mentioning that the three months time limit is rigid and nobody can change it. They sent me the copy of contract signed by Rogers, the terms and an invoice showing the expected future bill and mentioned that these documents would be used for future reference. I was surprised to find that the bill was totally different from the suggested bills they sent to me previously as documents. I was also surprised to find that they charged me for previous cable connection which they were supposed to degrade. When I called them I heard different explanations from different persons and everybody referred me to some one else and none gave me the proper answer. One of them also surprised me by saying that I was using an extra cable connection. I told her that I was not using any extra cable connection and I was using only one TV. In my contract there was no mentioning about extra connection but they persisted on charging me for using extra connection and that was more than 7 dollars. I started sending emails and attached the documents which they sent me as reference but nobody wanted to see the documents and tried to realize what happened or confess their mistakes and continued to argue with me and repeatedly told me that they do not understand what I was saying. Ms. Janice, an employee at Rogers, in her reply mentioned that she is afraid to open the attached documents because she was afraid of security. I did not know what to say. I am still waiting to see good sense prevail upon them.
Now, we are feeling really depressed and helpless. We are losing our hope and we have started feeling desperate and do not know what will happen next. As we were looking for jobs we also considered different other options. We attended different seminars and workshops for immigrant health professionals. Everywhere we went they were repeatedly mentioning how difficult it would be for us to get license to practice and it would be easier for us to choose alternative options. When participants in those seminars asked the organizers and speakers about the possible options they mentioned about Personal Support Worker positions, security positions in the health clinics and as nursing assistants. They also mentioned about work in voluntary positions. But they failed to answer how we will earn and manage our families they could not answer. While doctors asked them whether they could arrange any educational courses so that doctors could prepare for their examinations or whether there was any funds or loans for attending courses for licensing examinations or for fees for examinations they remained silent. There only interest was to find doctors who would be interested to work as personal support workers in privately run clinic and nursing homes. It was Interesting to know that to become a PSW a doctor would need to attend a course and pay fees.
We are very happy because our daughters are happy and they like their school. We feel encouraged when my daughters, after going to their schools only for two months, get awards and recognition for their merit and academic performance. We feel encouraged when we see the enthusiasm among the teachers. We feel very happy to see Ms. Patty Hill at the Neighbourhood Link, who takes all the troubles to arrange summer camps for my daughters and enjoy their company and take great care. We are also happy because we met many people who really believe that we skilled immigrant doctors can use our skills and help people.
But we feel discouraged and sad when we see greed and tendency of exploitation in organizations like Rogers while dealing with customers like us, they forget that who are vey new to this country and we do not deserve to be exploited by anybody. We left everything behind us to come and get integrated into this society.
We were very happy and thought that we made a very wise decision. We knew that to get license to practice in Canada we will need to appear in several examinations. We started collecting the books and materials, started our preparation and decided to appear in the examinations after we arrive at Canada. The whole process of immigration took less than one year. We landed in Toronto on April 6, 2010. That was a memorable day in our life. We were exhausted after a long journey. During our last days in Bangladesh we had to do many things. I left my job and did not get any benefit for doing my job for more than 15 years. I left my practice and patients behind me. They felt like forbidden and deserted and might also believe I was not faithful. I left my family and friends too. They were not at all happy. I knew life and things will not be same for us again. But we were dreaming and planning our new life in Canada and did not care for anybody’s feelings.
So, we were tired and exhausted. The immigration law forces one to bring at least 20,000 Canadian dollars to Canada as financial security for family consisting of four members. My country did not allow us to carry more than 8000 dollars as immigration and revenue rules restrict the amount of international currency one can carry out of the country. So, we could not bring enough money and had to leave everything behind us.
We were really very tired when we arrived in Toronto on April 6, 2010. But there were dreams in our eyes. We lived in a guest house in Toronto for four days and then shifted to an apartment in 20 Teesdale Place, near Victoria Park Subway Station. We had to open an account in a bank and do some other essential things which every immigrant has to do in their first few days in Canada. We started buying furniture and spent a lot. We could buy old furniture but as a doctor my wife did not like to buy old furniture. We were very happy and dreaming.
On our fourth day in the apartment a man knocked at our door and introduced him as Kareh, a representative from Rogers. We were delighted because we were feeling the need to get a land phone line and did not know what to do. The man told us that Rogers was giving excellent service and going to give us three months service free of charge. He was persisting and we also were eager. I bought a mobile phone from Bell a few days ago and Mr. Kareh, although he had his own phone used my mobile phone to call Rogers and arranged for my connection. We did not understand many things what he said and believed everything what he said and considered him as a friend. He almost forced us to make a contract and said that we would get our connection on April 15. We were very eager to call our friends and near ones in Bangladesh and bought phone cards from a nearby supermarket as our Rogers package did not include international calls and started making phone calls to Bangladesh. Next two weeks we remained busy attending a workshop in Neighbourhood link Organization. We met other new immigrants and started sharing our experience. They were also very skilled did good jobs back home. We were occasionally hearing about some bad things but did not care.
Our first surprise came when we got the Rogers bill. We knew that we did not have to pay any charges for next three months but in the bill they charged us for making international calls. I talked to them and sent them email explaining that we always used phone cards for calling Bangladesh. But they were rigid and arrogant. I talked to the phone card company. That was also of no use. We thought there was some mistake and convinced ourselves and made ourselves belief that we made the mistake without knowing what was the mistake. The result was that we lost confidence in us and we stopped calling Bangladesh. One interesting thing was that Rogers repeatedly asked us to use Rogers phone cards instead of using phone cards from other companies for calling Bangladesh and offered us many options though the options were far more costly than using the phone cards from other companies. We stopped making international calls altogether and started feeling lonelier. We started losing faith.
We started looking for jobs and began getting the real experience of job market. I went several places and asked for a job and was surprised when they told me that they do not hire doctors for sales and related jobs. I told them I was interested to do the job and according to their advertisement no experience was required for the job and also I was healthy and interested for the job and ready to do anything needed to get the job done, but they were not interested to hire me. My wife was also looking for a job and at last found one after three months. But after she worked for three days the owner of the flower and gift store told her that that they did not require her any more and also she did not have any experience for the job. For three days in her job she worked hard and worked continuously to satisfy the customers from two PM to 9 PM. There were Father’s day and other ceremonies and festivities around. So there were a lot of customers in the store. The owner needed somebody urgently. When this was over the number of customers declined and they did not need my wife’s help anymore and they also did not have to show her any formality. Strange! We were surprised and my wife, although she was feeling depressed, started looking for a job again. I was also looking for a job. From the first day I continued sending my resume by email to prospective employers. I did not find any result. I went to several stores and shops and I was moving and looking for any new job openings everywhere. I started carrying my resume with me and kept on distributing like a salesman. Every owner and supervisor I talked told me straightway that they were not interested to hire any one without experience though in most of the cases in the advertisement for the job they did not mention about any experience needed and also most of the time mentioned that training will be given after recruitment. Our bank balance was alarming us. I was always consulting with others and tried to find what they were doing and how they were trying to adjust with the situation. I was feeling very depressed. I learnt from them that they tried to work with the employment placement agencies but most of the time employment agents placed them in very low paid labour positions in construction sites and factories and that was also for irregular terms.
Then we got the telephone bill from Rogers. In my contract it was mentioned that after three months of promotion we will be able to downgrade our phone and cable service and so I requested them to downgrade my service in June and got an email from the customer service department with a letter of confirmation mentioning that our service will be degraded after our free time limit expires on July 14. I also received other documents mentioning that the three months time limit is rigid and nobody can change it. They sent me the copy of contract signed by Rogers, the terms and an invoice showing the expected future bill and mentioned that these documents would be used for future reference. I was surprised to find that the bill was totally different from the suggested bills they sent to me previously as documents. I was also surprised to find that they charged me for previous cable connection which they were supposed to degrade. When I called them I heard different explanations from different persons and everybody referred me to some one else and none gave me the proper answer. One of them also surprised me by saying that I was using an extra cable connection. I told her that I was not using any extra cable connection and I was using only one TV. In my contract there was no mentioning about extra connection but they persisted on charging me for using extra connection and that was more than 7 dollars. I started sending emails and attached the documents which they sent me as reference but nobody wanted to see the documents and tried to realize what happened or confess their mistakes and continued to argue with me and repeatedly told me that they do not understand what I was saying. Ms. Janice, an employee at Rogers, in her reply mentioned that she is afraid to open the attached documents because she was afraid of security. I did not know what to say. I am still waiting to see good sense prevail upon them.
Now, we are feeling really depressed and helpless. We are losing our hope and we have started feeling desperate and do not know what will happen next. As we were looking for jobs we also considered different other options. We attended different seminars and workshops for immigrant health professionals. Everywhere we went they were repeatedly mentioning how difficult it would be for us to get license to practice and it would be easier for us to choose alternative options. When participants in those seminars asked the organizers and speakers about the possible options they mentioned about Personal Support Worker positions, security positions in the health clinics and as nursing assistants. They also mentioned about work in voluntary positions. But they failed to answer how we will earn and manage our families they could not answer. While doctors asked them whether they could arrange any educational courses so that doctors could prepare for their examinations or whether there was any funds or loans for attending courses for licensing examinations or for fees for examinations they remained silent. There only interest was to find doctors who would be interested to work as personal support workers in privately run clinic and nursing homes. It was Interesting to know that to become a PSW a doctor would need to attend a course and pay fees.
We are very happy because our daughters are happy and they like their school. We feel encouraged when my daughters, after going to their schools only for two months, get awards and recognition for their merit and academic performance. We feel encouraged when we see the enthusiasm among the teachers. We feel very happy to see Ms. Patty Hill at the Neighbourhood Link, who takes all the troubles to arrange summer camps for my daughters and enjoy their company and take great care. We are also happy because we met many people who really believe that we skilled immigrant doctors can use our skills and help people.
But we feel discouraged and sad when we see greed and tendency of exploitation in organizations like Rogers while dealing with customers like us, they forget that who are vey new to this country and we do not deserve to be exploited by anybody. We left everything behind us to come and get integrated into this society.
