Canadian Immigrant Mommy The Canadian Immigrant Mommy

It's October! and Thanksgiving Is celebrated this month.

Although Thanksgiving is something not celebrated in the country I came from, through the years,  we learned to celebrate it.

Every year, as Thanksgiving Day approaches, I find myself reflecting on the things I am thankful for as a Canadian immigrant family.

And here are the 7 things that always come to mind…

Spoiler Alert! 

This might not be much to other people but we have learned not to compare ourselves.

It’s not easy of course. But, we’re happier every time we choose not to look at what others have.

As they say, gratitude turns what you have into enough. A grateful heart is a magnet for miracles.

Listen to the full episode to know what the 7 things a Canadian Immigrant Family will be thankful for in Canada.

Let me know in the comments if you're thankful for them too!

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For stories with pictures, follow my Facebook and Instagram page at https://bit.ly/parentsmigratingtocanadasoon and https://bit.ly/familimigrantinstagram

Now that you answered the self-assessment or talked to an immigration agency whether you are qualified to work, study or live in Canada, the next question you’d have to answer for yourself is…

How can you check if your immigration agency is legit?

This is another question asked so many times. With the rising number of people who want to move to Canada, sadly, there are also a lot of scams and fraudulent entities claiming that they can process your papers and get you a visa for Canada.

I have heard a lot of people who were scammed of their life’s savings, even to the point of getting deep into debt because it turned out that their agency was a fraud.

Not only was their Canadian Dream busted, even the future of their family is now uncertain due to the amount of money they need to re-pay.

Immigration is a very big decision you will make in your life.

It will require a lot of money, effort and hard work from you.

Therefore, it is only RIGHT to be diligent with your research and be careful with your transactions.

These days, it is no longer enough for an agency to have good reviews and testimonials. Anybody can create a fake testimonial these days!

So, how can you check that your agency, consultant or legal representative is authorized to represent immigrants or to give advice?

One - Citizenship or immigration consultants must be a member of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council. Having a degree or a diploma from a Canadian institution is not enough. They have to take and pass the Full Skills Examination administered by the ICCRC

How to check if they’re a member?

Go to https://iccrc-crcic.ca/

There’s a button there that says “Verify your immigration consultant”.

If your consultant is not on the list, that is a very big warning already.

Two - Lawyers or notaries must be a member of a Canadian provincial or territorial law society

Every Canadian province or territory has its own law society or in other words, lawyer directory.

So if you’re planning to land in Ontario, check the Law Society of Upper Canada (Ontario).

If you’re planning to go to British Columbia, check the Law Society of British Columbia

Searches from the law society will also give you results whether a lawyer has a discipline history or a restriction from practicing in a certain area of law.

The site even has a list of unauthorized practitioners or those who have illegally offered legal services or misrepresented themselves and lawyers.

Aside from those steps, there are also warning signs to watch out for when dealing with an immigration consultant or agency.

Want to know what those signs are?

Listen to the full episode.



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For stories with pictures, follow my Facebook and Instagram page at https://bit.ly/parentsmigratingtocanadasoon and https://bit.ly/familimigrantinstagram

I want to migrate to Canada, where do I start?

These are questions I’ve gotten many, many times from friends, families, previous office mates, distant relatives and even total strangers!

However, even if I’ve been asked this question more times than I can count, I still have the same answer.

Are you ready? Listen up!

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For stories with pictures, follow my Facebook and Instagram page at https://bit.ly/parentsmigratingtocanadasoon and https://bit.ly/familimigrantinstagram

In 2013, I was a newly promoted accounting manager at the biggest telecom company in the Philippines.

My husband was a sales account manager in a multinational company.

We were a young couple, happily married with two kids.

We lived in a 3-bedroom townhouse, owned a car and had 2 helpers.

But that same year, I resigned from my high paying and prestigious new position. I decided to raise my kids full-time instead while keeping myself open to freelance income opportunities.

Shortly after that, the whole family moved to the Middle East because my husband was given a 1-year work assignment.

During that year of transitions in our lives, we saw an ad in the newspaper offering a free assessment to determine whether we are qualified to work and live permanently in Australia, New Zealand or Canada.

Since I am an accountant, we were qualified for PR status with me having to be the principal applicant.

Our application was processed for around 2 years

But what really fast-tracked it was when the Express Entry program was introduced.

Our immigration consultant advised us to apply for that program and re-submit all requirements. Less than a year later, we received our PR visas to Canada.

All throughout the application, our families and friends only had a vague idea of our plans to migrate. Sure, they knew we had an assessment and occasionally met with a consultant, but they never realized we were that serious with our plans.

Until we told them we received our visas.

All of them asked the same questions:

“Why are you moving to Canada?”

“Why would you leave your comfortable life behind and start all over again in Canada”

“What else are you looking for that you can’t have here in our country?”

Back then, our reply was always “to have a better quality of life”.

And nobody understood…

I guess, at that time, we weren’t also sure what we meant.

All we knew for sure was we’re looking for something better - not in terms of money or any other material wealth.

It was something we cannot fully put in words, at that time.

You see, back then, when both my husband and I were working in our prestigious companies. Sure, we were well-paid and taken care of by our employers. But we were also very busy.

So busy that we barely had time left to play and enjoy time with our family.

Our weekends were spent running errands, doing chores and catching up for lost time - only to be rushing back to work after 2 days.

Back in 2013, I was living my life based on what my culture expected me to do, so as not to disappoint other people, to keep up with my peers, and to make "use" of my education.

At the back of our minds, maybe we thought that to be able to enjoy our life as a family, we had to reset our lives and start all over again.

And probably we thought that the best way to do that is to move to another country.

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For stories with pictures, follow my Facebook and Instagram page at https://bit.ly/parentsmigratingtocanadasoon and https://bit.ly/familimigrantinstagram

Are you a parent who will soon be permanently moving to Canada?

Do you often ask yourself how will you raise kids away from your home country?

How will you ensure you'd give them the better future you've been dreaming of?

How will you make it successful in Canada?

Hi! My name is Andrea and I'm the Canadian Immigrant Mommy.

I moved to Canada in 2015, together with my husband and 2 children.

Now, we have 2 more kids, so that makes us a family of 6.

This is my first episode as the Canadian Immigrant Mommy.

Join me as I share my journey with you as I navigate my way to becoming a successful Canadian immigrant and achieving that dream future for my children - which is the ultimate reason we moved here.

My goal is to document our lives in Canada as a first generation immigrant with No friends nor family when we arrived here. Well, of course, 6 years later, that has changed. We found distant relatives and made new friends.

But I’m sure you’ll agree, nothing beats your immediate family and childhood friends from home.

I plan to create regular content that will give you a glimpse of the immigrant life in Canada, as well as give you advice on how to make it successful here. From finding a job that makes you happy, saving money, finding a house and of course, raising a family.

Feel free to send me a message when I haven’t released an episode in a week. That will keep me accountable in my mission to help you become a successful Canadian immigrant parent too!

Stay tuned for my next episode where I’ll tell you the Reasons on Why we decided to leave our comfortable life and start in Canada all over again. 

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For stories with pictures, follow my Facebook and Instagram page at https://bit.ly/parentsmigratingtocanadasoon and https://bit.ly/familimigrantinstagram

Especially during winter, happiness in Canada might evade you. 

For some unexplainable reason, you're feeling a bit sad, bored and lethargic. Add the feeling of homesickness, the cold weather and adjusting to a new country, this feeling might lead you to wonder, why did you migrate to Canada in the first place. 

Will you ever be happy in Canada again? 

Where's the happiness in Canada they've been talking about? 

How did Canada even become one of the happiest country?  

In this episode, I share with you the untold Happiness Pill which will only take you 2 hours. 

This is something that is usually unheard of to new Canadian immigrants. I myself didn't understand nor appreciate this before.  

Details of Best Kept Canadian Immigrant Secrets here:  https://andreavchiu.com/familimigrant-canadian-immigrant-best-kept-secrets

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