Whoa Canada - by Jenn

I am a Canadian citizen; born and raised in this great country. My parents, and their parents, and their parents; born and raised in this great country. I have two beautiful sons and guess what? Yep; born and raised in Canada.

In 2003 I began a very special relationship with a young man from New Zealand.  We fell in love after communicating only online, and after only a few months. It’s a long and beautiful story. Unfortunately, the distance between us was too great and because we were in our early twenties we did not have the means to travel and meet one another even though that was our only heart’s desire. 

Eventually we both became involved in other relationships and we would go through periods of time where contact between us was minimal. However we always found our way back to one another and I believe the reason none of my other relationships worked in the past is because I never fully let go of Blair. I knew we were meant to be together and that he was my soul mate.

 In 2013 – ten years after we first fell in love with each other, Blair finally made it happen. We knew we had to be together. He quit his job, moved out of his home, packed up all of his possessions and flew to me. I met him at Pearson International airport on February 2^nd, 2013.  The feeling I had when I saw him approaching me for the first time – there are no words. I ran to him; in 5 inch heels. We didn't even say hello – we hugged and kissed. It was right out of a Hollywood movie.

Not long after, I became pregnant with our son Dexter. It was a surprise to say the least as we were using contraceptives, and even though it happened much sooner than we would have opted for, we knew that we wanted baby Dexter and that he was meant to be.

Blair purchased a home here in Canada, a lovely home in a quiet small town called Dorchester Ontario.  It is perfect for our family and is filled with a lot of love. Sadly, nowadays, it is filled with stress, struggle, and uncertainty. Blair is no longer able to work here as his work visa has expired. No; he didn't let it expire, he had applied to have it extended while we patiently wait for his permanent residency to go through. They denied the request.

There is a major flaw in the way that the Canadian immigration laws are set up and I would like to see someone really point it out to the public. If a foreigner gets a temporary work permit to work in Canada for whatever reason, married or common law partner and any dependants are allowed to accompany that person and will be given a no questions asked open work permit. However, if a foreigner is with a Canadian citizen by birth they can’t get that same open work permit.  Really, Canada??!!

Canadian immigration has been horrible for my fiancé to deal with. He has spoke with several representatives and each time is he been given different answers often answers which contradict one another. I'm embarrassed. I'm confused.

 

We totally understand and support Canada’s position on protecting Canadians by requiring the labour market impact assessment and not just handing out work permits to anyone who comes along. But he is not just someone who decided he wanted to live in Canada. He has me. He has a son and step son, a family, a life. I can tell you if I didn't have a son from a previous marriage, we probably would have left Canada for New Zealand and I highly doubt I would be having this extreme amount of stress just to be able to work. 

Blair sent his permanent residence application as soon as he could and if the application process in Canada didn't have such a ridiculous wait time he might have already passed the first stage approval and might already be eligible for an open work permit on that basis.

Right now we have a mortgage, credit card bills, $30,000 in legal fee’s, a $20,000 line of credit that is near maxed out, on top of car payments and insurance, the cost of raising children, food, utilities, etc but with only my small income to cover everything. Its hard enough to put food on the table. I can’t do it alone!!!!! I can barely sleep with the amount of stress I feel every day and I pray nothing comes up unexpectedly – a dental appointment, a vehicle needing repair…because our resources are next to exhausted. 

So what is next? Blair is forced to leave us to make money in New Zealand meanwhile we lose our house and I file for bankruptcy? So their “policies and procedures” aren't just affecting the foreigner any more, they are potentially catapulting me, a Canadian citizen and two Canadian children, into ruin… and through no fault of our own.  Blair has done everything by the books and has gone above and beyond what CIC has asked of him.  He’s provided the hundreds upon hundreds of documents required, and forked over tons of money.

 

Listen, we weren't expecting this to be easy. We were expecting it to be fair.