People often migrate from one place to another for different reasons. For me, Zaheed Alibhai, the decision to move to Canada from the UK suddenly grew stronger after I married my Canadian wife, Salha. Although I had a great career as a Tax Consultant at Deloitte, it gradually started dawning on me that my future didn’t lie in the UK. Let’s just say despite being British, I have never felt ‘British enough’ due to my background and the color of my skin. My Muslim parents had immigrated into the UK in the 1970s, a time when there was outright discrimination and blatant racism. Fortunately, I went through my secondary and university education in the 1990s, when multiculturalism was highly celebrated in the UK. However, this euphoria didn’t last for too long as the 9/11 and 7/7 incidents in New York City and London respectively, gave way to a rise in racial profiling against Muslims, as many saw them as terrorists. Of course, all the anti- Muslim sentiments at the time brought a sense of uneasiness to me.

Canada was easily a natural choice for me since I have never quite felt like a ‘full fleshed British’.

Well, Canada, wasn’t an entirely new place to me because I had visited my extended family there several times. Although I didn’t initially plan to relocate there, I later came to the realization that Canada was a practical place to raise a family. Moreover, even though Canada was in many ways an extension of the UK and part of the Commonwealth, it was a young nation that accommodated people from different parts of the world, irrespective of their backgrounds. Canada was easily a natural choice for me since I have never quite felt like a ‘full fleshed British’. There was also the beautiful infrastructural factor, coupled with the fact that wanderlust was in my blood since my parents were also immigrants in the UK.

The process of moving to Canada wasn’t complicated for me as I was fortunate to work with Deloitte, an organization that promotes global mobility. My initial move to Canada in 2011 was therefore via a work permit that was processed through Deloitte. Having planned with my wife to make Canada our home, I later applied for a resident permit, which was again facilitated by my employer. Thankfully, I had two grounds to apply for a resident permit; I had worked in Canada for a qualifying period of time and moreover, my spouse was Canadian.

My first year in Canada was simply ’one of transition’, as I faced some difficulties settling and getting accustomed to my new environment. A major challenge I encountered was adapting to the long winter, which is characterized by extreme cold temperatures, but luckily for me, the right infrastructure was in place to deal with such a harsh weather. I didn’t like the sedentary lifestyle in Canada and besides, it also took me a while to get accustomed to driving on the ‘other’ side of the road. However, my wife, Salha, whom I consider the biggest impact on my life in Canada, was there to guide me through all these challenges. I also had amazing colleagues who were always ready to orientate me.

Within five years, I had become a fulfilled man with a beautiful wife, a blossoming career and two kids. The birth of my two sons, Qais and Zayn in 2013 and 2014 respectively, still remains a highlight of my life in Canada. My wife and I also purchased a home and even though I was quite busy at work, I would make time occasionally and travel with my family to experience other Canadian provinces like Vancouver, Calgary, Halifax and Montreal. At this point, I was impressed by the fact that the Canadian system afforded me with an opportunity to strike a balance between work and family life.

In 2015, my family had an opportunity to move to Dubai, where we would live for the next five years. I had been contacted by a competing company and offered an attractive pay package to move to Dubai. The timing was somewhat perfect for us since we saw it as an opportunity to experience a full year of warm weather. My wife and I had always dreamt of also experiencing life in the Middle East. The offer was therefore quite tempting as we imagined the beautiful warm weather, great halal food and the fact that Dubai was a more accommodating place where we could easily get help with the kids. As I continued my life in Dubai, one thing that struck me was the fact that whenever I was asked where I was from, I would hastily say ‘from Canada’, despite having a British passport.

Well, we had always wanted our children to grow up in Canada and benefit from the Canadian education system. So as the kids approached the Kindergarten age, we made the decision to return to our home in Canada in February 2019. Of course, it was tough adjusting to the 50 degrees temperature shift between the two continents, but we successfully settled in again. It was once more awesome for me to be back to my house, and to my former company, Deloitte.

Having experienced the Canadian lifestyle, I can describe Canada as a ‘place of balance’ and diversity. Canadians have a balanced worldview and uphold the equality of all, irrespective of race or creed. This upstanding value of the respect of human rights makes me proud to identify as a Canadian. Despite not facing so many challenges in my immigration journey and consequent settlement in Canada, I always advise people planning to immigrate to Canada be aware of the numerous challenges. The truth is that although welcoming, the country equally has strict immigration policies that must be followed by all aspiring immigrants. Even though these modalities might be stringent, it is a meticulous process that allows individuals to live in a vibrant and harmonious society. Rest assured that once you successfully settle in, Canada would easily become your favorite country.