‘People think I’m plucking money from trees’: The unseen struggles of newcomers in Canada
- 5 hours ago
- 6 min read
Brandon Atanga’s arrival in Canada was meant to mark a fresh start, but instead it exposed him to challenges he hadn’t anticipated.
For him — and many newcomers — hopes of an easier future quickly collided with a sobering reality.
“I’ve always had that mindset that where I’m going will be better than where I’m from,” the construction worker tells the Star. “But where I am, compared to back home, you need to be more hardworking.”
But convincing friends he left in Cameroon that life in Canada is far different from their presumptions has been a persistent challenge for Atanga as his struggles -- punctuated by gruelling shifts at various construction sites -- are often invisible to those back home.
“Though I’ve tried to let some people know how things are, most of the time you can hear it in their voice that they feel like I’m lying (about having no money),” Atanga says. “People think I just wait and the government credits me at the month’s end.”
In actuality, Atanga’s day involves waking up at 4 a.m. to travel to job sites that are often on the outskirts of the city, returning home more than 12 hours later, muscles aching. His paycheque, diminished after taxes, does little to ease the pain.
For newcomers — many of whom have loved ones back at home? relying on their paycheques — there is little room to enjoy the comforts they once imagined. To make matters worse, they often feel isolated, as those back home remain unaware of the hardships of immigrant life in Canada and continue to rely on them for financial support.
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