COVID-19

Before starting this topic, I googled who are newcomers: recent immigrants (also known as newcomers) refers to landed immigrants who came to Canada up to five years prior to a given census year. Based on this definition, I am still a newcomer because I have been here for only 4 years.

From my experience, I know it is not easy for newcomers to settle in a new country. Even if your life is physically and financially stable, you always feel lonely mentally. The bad thing is that for many people, loneliness and isolation is a reality, especially during the pandemic, which makes life more challenging for newcomers.

Not being able to visit family members who live abroad was the first impact we experienced at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. This kind of visit depends on the COVID situation in your country of origin and Canada. We had planned a trip to China in March 2020 to visit my husband’s mother, who was ill. At that time, the news about more and more flights being cancelled and the border being closed made us feel very helpless.

I have other newcomer friends with similar stories. My friend’s father, who lives in France, was diagnosed with COVID-19 several months ago. She was told by her family that she might miss her father’s funeral as his situation was getting worse and worse. Fortunately, her father recently recovered. My friend told me only those who have experienced it can feel how stressful and desperate it is when you hear someone in your family is very sick. I comforted her that fortunately, we have the Internet to communicate at any time. Fortunately, there are some free apps, like WeChat, Skype and WhatsApp that can help us keep connection with our family, give or get emotional support.

As the pandemic continues, the impact on the economy has become more and more prominent. We have started to feel this more after a speech by the CEO of my husband’s company. He said the company now needs fewer people to do more work. After the speech, there were layoffs based on seniority, which means that the newer you are, the higher risk you have of losing your job. My husband is lucky because he has some but one of his coworkers received a layoff notice two weeks ago. He just moved to Canada with his family last year. He told my husband he will go back to Korea (where he is from) if he can find a new job within 3 months because he is the only source of income for the family. He knows he can apply for EI and other government support, like Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB), so he is not that pessimistic.

However, for those newcomers who still have language barriers, it may be difficult to understand COVID-related updates, let alone apply for a government support program. In addition, most of the services are provided only by phone or email now. If newcomers try to get any help, it will take longer for them as language is already a barrier, which can make them feel more isolated, not only lonely. Here I really want to give my own suggestion to these newcomers who are struggling with language. Based on my experience, applying for online English learning classes, like LINC Home Study is really helpful. The teachers try their best to help newcomers to settle and get used to the culture and policies of Canada. Take myself as an example, I successfully applied for Maternity EI with the help of my teacher.

Finally, take care of yourself! Doing as much exercise as possible, trying to go outside and have a walk every day, doing meditation and spending time with family here are also helpful ways for getting through this challenging time. Good luck, everyone.