Client stories

My journey to Canada has been defined by faith, grit, and resilience. What I expected to be months of waiting turned into years of uncertainty as COVID‑19 delayed my immigration process. During that wait, I got married and had my son — yet still had no response from IRCC. There were moments I felt like giving up, but giving up was never an option.

While preparing for my Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada licensing exams, I finally received the long‑awaited message that it was time to move — not alone, but with my husband and son. Through AEIP and their provincial partner CCIS, I connected with settlement advisors who guided us, helped us prepare, and provided essential resources for life in Calgary. My settlement practitioner, and provincial advisor were incredibly supportive throughout the process.

During preparations, I discovered I was pregnant again. Though scared and uncertain, my advisors encouraged me to focus on my health first and connected me with supports for pregnant newcomers. I also passed my MCQ exams in November 2025.

When we arrived in Canada, the CCIS post-arrival team continued to support us. Because I was pregnant, I couldn’t start job searching right away and had my baby about six weeks after landing. Even with our new addition, I stayed focused on completing my licensing journey. I’m happy to share that I passed all my exams on the first attempts. I’m currently working as a Pharmacy Intern and will soon be fully licensed to practice as a Pharmacist in Alberta.

This journey stretched me in ways I could never have imagined. It taught me to never give up — even when the path feels long and uncertain. I learned it’s okay to ask for help and that there are supports and advisors ready to guide you. For international pharmacy graduates — prepare according to your strengths, reach out early for settlement support, and take advantage of the resources available that can make all the difference.

Since we didn’t have any family or friends in Calgary and had never also travelled to Canada, we found it necessary to connect with an organisation that could guide us with all the resources to make our settlement easy. These were also credible services and most importantly free as well, sponsored by the government of Canada. There were a lot of people with information on the internet but it was difficult to find trustworthy sources.

One of the main challenges were the lack of clear information on the internet. Till you are approved, you don’t get access to pre-arrival services so you tend to rely on the internet for all your information and guidance.

The settlement and pre-arrival services I received through AEIP and CCIS helped me feel confident, informed, and prepared before arriving in Canada. These services gave me a clear understanding of life in Canada, including housing, schooling, healthcare, and community resources, which made my transition smoother. I also gained valuable guidance on employment and professional licensing pathways that supported my goals as a pharmacy graduate. Overall, these services increased my knowledge, reduced uncertainty, and connected me with the right supports so I could settle successfully and focus on completing my licensing exams and building my career.

AEIP has been instrumental in helping me navigate my settlement and employment journey in Canada. The guidance I received in preparing for the job market, understanding Canadian workplace culture, and connecting to valuable resources made a significant difference for me. What stood out most was the personalized support and encouragement, which gave me confidence and clarity as I took steps toward my career goals.

AEIP has been an important part of my settlement journey in Canada. The program gave me practical guidance on adapting to a new environment, and the career support—especially the workshops and one-on-one coaching—helped me better understand the Canadian job market and prepare for employment. What I found most valuable was the personalized support and encouragement, which made me feel more confident and welcomed during this transition.

I felt the program gave me so much assurance to be able to integrate comfortably in Canada. I was coming to a whole different part of the world, with my two young children (I'm a single mom, divorced since 2021).

It kept me at ease. The constant checks by your staff made me feel cared for and gave me assurance that I had support.

AEIP really equipped me with the necessary tools that I needed to thrive in Canada, 11 months later I was able to buy my first home.

Be assertive, knock on companies' doors to find a job. When we decided to immigrate to Canada, the foremost important factor was our happiness. It might sound silly but I chose Halifax because I prefer East over West. So I opened a map of Canada and picked Halifax. I wanted to live in a smaller city where it is not crowded and Halifax is a clean, well-planned city with many immigrants and kind and honest people.

We first faced difficulty in Canada with our housing. After signing an interim rental contract, we went to meet with an apartment manager to finalize our rental contract. But, the apartment manager requested us to pay with cash instead of cheque. We could not withdraw a lump sum of cash as there is a restriction for new immigrants. I did not think the apartment manager was being fair so I told him that we would annul the rental contract. Then, I was told to pay penalties for annulling the contract. So, I went to ISANS to get some advice and I was referred to a free law consultation program at Dalhousie University. This program specifically helps immigrants in Nova Scotia. The law students talked to the apartment manager and the responsible professor for this program also sent me an email to confirm the result. They seem to help immigrants very effectively.

In the first few months, I put all my efforts into learning English. I frequently visited ISANS and got a tutor from a local library. I found people in Halifax to be very helpful and open-minded towards immigrants.

Since my field of expertise in Korea was image processing, I set my goal to get a job in the same field in Canada. Halifax has relatively fewer opportunities but I researched relevant companies in Halifax and began my job search. After spending 6 months learning English and settling down in Halifax, I started taking workshops on job search and interview techniques from ISANS. When I found job opportunities, I did not send my resume to companies’ generic HR email addresses, but I researched responsible manager or director for the advertised job and emailed my resume directly to them. Because of this, I received replies and had interviews via phone or video conference. I believe it is very important to submit a customized resume. After reading a job description, applicants should analyze job requirements and make the first few lines of resume attractive so that employers will review the entire resume. Furthermore, the cover letter should strongly and thoroughly explain how the applicant can contribute to the employing company. It also makes a good impression if applicant studies about employing company and asks appropriate questions. From my experience, I noticed that Canadian companies do not seek someone who speaks perfect English, but someone who can communicate well and get along well with other employees.

The interview process, which took 3 months in total, was very nerve-racking for me. I was first interviewed by a manager, then by coworkers the next week and by executives the following week. Also, the manager checked my reference in Korea, who had difficulty speaking in English. After this long process, I finally received a job offer. I have been working for this company for 1.5 years and the company is still looking for more qualified candidates. Just knock on companies’ doors with courage and I strongly believe that new immigrants can get a job because of the experience, expertise, and diligent skills gained in Korea.

I want to emphasize 2 things to new immigrants. First, study English so that you can communicate and proactively and courageously try whatever you do. If you can accomplish that, you can successfully settle down and get a job in Canada. Lastly, I want to express my gratitude to Seoul AEIP staff for their support and help and I hope my letter is helpful and encouraging. Do not wait for a door to be opened automatically for you in Canada, but knock on companies’ doors and get in there! Then, you will find a way.

<p>Prepare everything you can in Korea before moving to Canada! After witnessing many coworkers immigrating to Canada in hopes of finding better education and retirement, I seriously began considering immigrating as well. Even though I never had been to Canada, the optimistic information I found on internet was sufficient enough to make a decision. Canada seemed as a heaven on earth where I can dream a bright future.</p>

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<p>As I began volunteering at the AEIP Seoul office, I collected information on settlement process and employment and broadened my understanding on the Canadian culture. A month after receiving the landing paper, I left Korea. At first, I thought that I would be just fine in Canada with my IELTS score and my technical expertise in the IT field. But the reality was harsh. The English I learned in Korea was very different from the English spoken in Canada. After selecting a homestay, I began my job search online through Indeed and Monster. Since I already had a resume which I prepared with the assistance of the AEIP staff, I received many phone interview requests. However, the result was all negative due to my English. As a response, I came up with my own interview strategy; I made a list of expected interview questions and answers and memorized them all. I also paid special attention to the questions I did not answer correctly. As I summarized the interview questions, my answers and things I did well and did not do well, my weaknesses were clearly identified. I put efforts into strengthening my weaknesses and it helped me tremendously in my job search.</p>

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<p>I found that it requires both English language skills and IT technical skills for a job in the IT field. These two skills are complementary. For a technical position, English language skills take about 30% of the job requirement and IT skills 70%. For a consulting or management position, English language skills take 70% and IT skills 30%. My expertise was IT consulting, but I did not possess significant years of system/ network engineering technical experience nor appropriate English language skills. Thus, getting an entry level position was even difficult for me.</p>

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<p>Canada is a country of immigrants and the majority of job seekers are immigrants. Thus, companies seem put an importance on credentials such as international certification. I obtained my international certificate while I was still in Korea. Even though I had over 10 negative job interviews, I finally received a job offer. I believe my international certificate played an important role in my success. I still have difficult time in communicating in English at work so I am studying English very diligently. I want to emphasize again that even if you cannot speak English like a native speaker, if you communicate well and have an international certificate in your field of expertise, you can have more opportunities. I hope that you put your best efforts into studying English and obtaining an international certificate.</p>

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<p>Lastly, I want to express my gratitude to the AEIP Seoul office for their tremendous support. I attended workshops organized by YMCA and similar organizations once I landed in Canada, but there was nothing new or more than what I received from the AEIP Seoul office. So I strongly encourage my fellow new immigrants to participate in all the AEIP programs and prepare everything possible before departing to Canada.</p>