Shopping

Most people enjoy buying things. In fact, not a single day goes by without us planning to purchase a service, an item, or a good to satisfy a present or future need. From one country to another, purchasing power varies. For example, in Cameroon, my country of origin, purchasing power is very low; it is about one dollar per day. Some families live with even less, especially in rural areas. In Canada, by contrast, the average salary is about CAD 69,000 per year. It becomes easier to understand why people enjoy shopping.

Being a rational consumer, I was immediately influenced by this policy focused on increasing household purchasing power. Even though I did not yet have a source of income, my savings from back home still allowed me to treat myself a little. That is how I ended up going to a supermarket to buy some clothing in preparation for winter. Because I was apprehensive about online shopping—due to the lack of consumer protection, the risk of receiving poor-quality products, and the fear of having my bank card hacked by attackers—I had no choice but to opt for in-person shopping.

My challenge was that I had to pay using a self-checkout machine programmed for that purpose. It felt very strange to me, coming from a country that is extremely underdeveloped compared to Canada. Not wanting to embarrass myself, I had to put the items back and leave without buying anything. This experience allows me to draw the attention of policymakers to the need to strengthen the integration of newcomers through improved integration mechanisms. Such initiatives already exist, but there is room for improvement.