Moving to Canada means leaving behind family, friends, familiar food, routines and your place in the community. 

In Canada, you have to start all over again, build a new life, make new friends and find your place in a new community. 

This is a challenge all newcomers face, but if you come here alone – with no close family or friends to help and support you - then this challenge may seem even more daunting for you.

1. Before you leave for Canada, try to find out some details about the community you will be living in, if possible.

By knowing about the available resources ahead of time you will be able to make progress immediately upon your arrival and plan activities.

3. Develop a new routine. Plan things to do each day. Go to the library and read the newspaper for free, take a walk, find a favourite café to spend time in, write a journal about your new life in Canada, go to a half-priced movie in the afternoon. Having a routine will keep you active and help you to feel involved in the world around you.

4. Ask yourself “How did I make friends when I was back in my home country?”.

5. Food – you will probably miss the familiar smells and tastes of food from home. Eating food that is unfamiliar or that you don’t enjoy often adds to the stress you feel. Canada is a multi-cultural society and in most larger cities and towns you can find food from all over the world. Plan some familiar home-cooked meals you know you will enjoy.

6. Invite your new friends or neighbours to a ‘pot luck’ meal. In Canada, ‘pot luck’ meals are very popular because everyone who comes is supposed to bring one dish of food to share with everybody. Sometimes pot lucks have a theme, such as an ‘international pot luck’, where everyone brings a dish of food that is typical of their home country. It’s a fun way to spend time with people and is inexpensive.

7. If you need assistance to improve your language skills, it is worthwhile taking an English or French class for second language learners.

8. Volunteer your time doing something you enjoy! Many organizations are only too delighted to have a new volunteer join them. If you enjoy reading for instance, you could volunteer to read to the blind or aged. You will make new friends while doing something really worthwhile that you can also mention on your resume!

9. Set goals for yourself, these will keep you on track and help you stay motivated. A list of goals is a good way to remind yourself what you hope to achieve in the first few weeks and months in Canada. Make a list of short, medium and long term goals. Don’t forget to reward yourself when you have achieved your goals!