Immigration Is a Season. PR Is Not the Final Destination

12 Lessons From My 12-Year Journey as an Immigrant in Canada

This year marks 12 years since I moved to Canada.

Twelve years of paperwork, pivots, growth, grief, wins, exhaustion, identity shifts, and perspective. Looking back, these are the lessons that stand out most. Not as rules, but as reflections for anyone walking this road, or considering it.

1. Do not prioritize immigration over your entire life or career

Immigration is a season. It passes.

Eventually, the paperwork ends, the dust settles, and you are left with yourself.

If everything else has been put on hold for years, career, joy, health, relationships, you will feel that gap when the goal is finally achieved. Immigration should support your life, not replace it.

2. Changing your environment will not magically change your circumstances

There is deep inner work many of us need to do to heal the trauma or impacts life placed on us long before we moved.

If wounds go unattended, they follow you.

Wherever you go, there you are.

You cannot run away from yourself.

3. Building community requires intentional effort

This is not some great mystery, but most of us do not think it through before moving.

We focus on visas, jobs, and housing, not friendships. If I knew then what I know now, I probably would have tried online dating. Yes, I said it. 

Community does not just happen, you have to choose it and build it.

4. Work hard, but also live

Immigration can be consuming.

Many of us reach the end of the paper trail completely burned out.

We invest all our money, time, and energy into staying, but forget to live while we are here. Whether you stay or leave, try to be present. Soak up the now instead of constantly chasing the future.

After all, all we ever really have is now.

5. The grass is greener where you water it

Yes, some countries offer easier access to certain opportunities. But nowhere is perfect.

Never base your expectations on relatives visiting back home, the car they drive, or the house they live in. You do not know the full story. Do your own research and math. Plan your own destiny.

As the saying goes, puss and dog nuh have the same luck. AND there is more to everything and everyone's' life, than what meets the eye.

What looks good on the outside is not always good on the inside.

6. Moving countries changes you

After a while, you are never fully from where you came from, and not fully from where you are. You live somewhere in between.

That can be a superpower if you learn to use it.

But it also means daydreaming about home, the beach, Blue Mountains, and romanticizing a life you might return to one day, which you probably won't.

If you do go back, you will need time to adjust. You are a different you. That in-between identity means you must allow yourself grace, wherever you land.

7. Too much information can cripple you, but ignorance is expensive

Sometimes not knowing everything allows us to move forward. But preparation matters.

Understanding the rules that apply to you protects your mental health, your finances, and your sanity. If you do not know the rules, social media, scammers, and even well-meaning friends will send you in circles.

Research early. Research deeply.

Seek mentorship. https://www.astoldbycanadianimmigrants.com/contact

8. Family is like group work, and the teacher chose the groups

Some people show up. Some do the bare minimum. Some pull all-nighters with you. Some email their part the night it is due.

Sounds familiar?

That is family too. And it usually becomes most clear when you are in need, especially in a country you are new to. Immigration has a way of showing you who the all-nighters really are.

Accept people for who they are. Adjust expectations and plan accordingly. 

In real life, we have the privilege of building additional circles. Sometimes the people who support you most are not related by blood, and that is part of the immigrant journey.

9. Your decision does not have to be forever

When I came to Canada, I could only see the next day, week, or month.

I could never have imagined myself 12 years down the line. The uncertainty of immigration makes it hard to envision the future, but the beauty of that uncertainty is that it also leaves room for flexibility.

After PR, I even considered moving to Germany. Life shifted and I stayed. Canada feels like home, but also like a season.

As we age, and our parents age, priorities change. Wanting our children to grow up with grandparents matters. Leaving Canada is not failure. Flexibility is allowed.

Just remember, wherever you go next, allow yourself time to adjust again.

10. Immigration expands your sense of what is possible

It changes how you see the world.

Suddenly, places feel more accessible. Travel feels closer. Opportunity feels broader. Part of that is exposure, part is association, and yes, part is passport privilege.

I have experienced the world differently because of immigration, and that perspective shift alone has been life changing.

11. Life happens in layers, not straight lines

“Our lives are not choices along different paths so much as a stack of layers.” – Chris Brady

I came to Canada with a degree in Architecture, pursued Project Management, and planned to build a solid career in the built environment.

Then I evolved.

Being an immigrant reshaped my maturity, worldview, passions, and priorities. If you told me 12 years ago where I would be now, I would not have believed you.

Each phase informs the next. Transfer what applies. Release what does not. Pivot when needed. Phase one does not control phase two, it simply prepares it.

12. Remember who you are

When you arrive in a new country, you can feel like a newborn. Like everyone knows more than you.

That is not true. You all just know different things.

Somehow, we forget our competence. We stop asking for raises. We hesitate to apply. We silence ourselves. But remember the person who left home, navigated systems, survived uncertainty, adapted, and kept going.

That version of you is still here.

You are qualified. You are capable. You are resilient.

Shoot the shot. Ask for the raise. Leave the job. Get the new one.

Bonus Lesson!

Immigration is often a money decision, so learn the money game

When we come to Canada, let’s face it, for many of us it is a money decision. More opportunity. Stronger currency. A better standard of living.

But many of us arrive thinking we are just going to plop here in the land of opportunity and the money will follow. Work hard, get a job, and somehow work our way to riches.

What I have learned is this. A job alone does not usually get us there.

Understanding money matters. Entrepreneurship matters. Investing matters. Learning how money actually works, how to grow it, protect it, and plan with intention, matters.

Immigration changes your earning potential, but only if you are strategic with it. Otherwise, you can spend decades working and still feel behind.

If you are already in Canada and have ever wondered how much money you actually need to retire, how to protect your income, or how to be more intentional with the opportunities Canada offers financially, that is a conversation I am equipped to have as a Licensed Financial Associate.

If you want to talk about it, reach out here - https://www.astoldbycanadianimmigrants.com/financialbroker

Being an immigrant comes with a strength that is hard to explain. A resilience. A cultural intelligence. A quiet superpower.

Cheers to 12 years.

I'll drink to that. 🥂

Kristina McPherson

PS. If you made it this far, thank you for reaching, drop your lessons learned in the comment section!