Becoming Canadian

Rachel was born a biological male, but always knew she was really a woman. Ellaha came from an educated family in Afghanistan, but was told by the Taliban that girls could no longer attend school. Kerstin grew up trapped inside East Berlin until the Berlin Wall came down. Syed’s mother was 6 months pregnant with him when an accident killed his father leaving his mother to raise her two sons.

Mohamad left war torn Lebanon to become a medical doctor in Canada. Mo has a career she never would have imagined back in China. After leaving Trinidad, Jeromere discovered his love of soccer in his new home country. After hearing about the "politeness" of Canada, Annabelle & Aidanand decided to raise their children here.

With tribal warfare raging, Jemal fled to the world’s largest refugee camp, leaving his pregnant wife behind. Janice came to Canada and found a job and the love of her life at a Tim Horton's. Abimbola was the only one selected from his brothers to come to Canada from Nigeria. Rita and her family fled from Iraq to Syria - a relatively safer place at the time. She ended up being on the last plane out of Damascus before the airport was closed.

Hsa’s family was given a simple choice by her homeland’s oppressive government - "flee or die." Juliette wants to break the cycle of systemic racism and teach her kids to appreciate the diversity of Canada. After a successful career, Jose now works the graveyard shift at Walmart, but not for the money. An 86-year old is proud of all her accomplishments and now adds her long-awaited, hard-earned, Canadian citizenship to the list.

Gannon came to Canada for love. Tony brought his experience to a small prairie town, and reopened the local Legion to support veterans. Kallie lost everything when she arrived in Canada, but she built a successful and fulfilling business with hard work. Following a chance encounter, Romulo moved to Canada and changed his family's lives for the better.

Saliu and Adeola moved from Nigeria to Regina, and found a thriving Nigerian community. Esther went from being a Mexican living in the U.S. to a merry married Maritimer. From a region known for soccer, Rhys moved to Canada for his love of hockey. With three young daughters, John and Claudia took the biggest risks of their lives – moving to Canada without knowing how to speak English.