I Japa at 40+ 🇳🇬 → 🇨🇦

I got my first job in Canada🇨🇦 in 4 weeks…after arrival and lost it in under 9 days. 😄 Welcome to my Japa reality. I came in eager, ready to “tap into the system,” experience this almighty Canadian work culture, and most importantly… start earning. Because let’s be honest, that Proof of Funds we all arrive with? It has wings. It flies away at the speed of light. So I jumped at the opportunity, after throwing almost 50 applications at different fields I had experience in, coming from Naija. First job. First taste of the system. First paycheck loading (or so I thought). Then boom, just like that, I was let go. No long story on this (yet)… but trust me, that one is coming someday. Was it painful? Yes. Was it humbling? Absolutely. Did it shake me? For a moment. But that short, almost embarrassing experience taught me more than comfort ever could. It opened my eyes to how things actually work here. It forced me to adjust quickly. It tested my mindset early. And more importantly… it confirmed something I already believed deep down: I’m built for this journey. Because moving abroad is not just about landing, it’s about adapting, failing, learning, and going again. No matter how long it takes. So yes, I lost my first job in less than 10 days… But I gained something far more valuable: clarity, resilience, and proof that I can keep going. And honestly? That’s a better foundation than any Canadian😃 #40PlusImmigrant #LifeAbroad #NewBeginnings

Word! 📌💯

UPDATE from British Columbia, Canada The BC Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) has been updated to support B.C.’s Look West strategy. The BC PNP will prioritize skilled workers that support public services and community well-being. This includes 36 in-demand occupations in healthcare, education, childcare, and veterinary care. • The BC PNP will deliver a time-limited, one-time initiative to retain up to 250 workers already working for a health authority in a cleaning or security role in a rural or remote community who meet program criteria. This will open in June 2026. • The Entry Level and Semi Skilled (ELSS) stream is officially closed. • The BC PNP will not be launching new student streams. • Going forward, the BC PNP will continue to issue targeted invitations for individuals creating high economic impact in B.C. to capture top talent across all sectors, including technology. • The list of priority occupations related to healthcare and construction has been updated, and the program will be expanding the list of ineligible occupations and employers to focus nominations on priorities. Details at welcomebc.ca/immigrate-to-b…

@Plus_Big_AY 👊👊

@40PlusImmigrant Thank you, I ain't stopping for no body

I wan Japa 😭😭😭😭 even passport I never get

@otunbakunle True!

@40PlusImmigrant That cannot be over-emphasised. This is what we don’t have where we come from.

A great number of years of foreign work experience can still leave you struggling in Canada🇨🇦. One of the hard lessons in this Japa journey, when you’re over 40: experience alone is not enough. Here, it won't be that one is not pushing hard enough or, unqualified. Sometimes, it’s because your experience is not translated into what the system here understands. In Canada, employers often look beyond your job title. They want local certifications, safety training, Canadian experience, and proof that you understand the Canadian work culture and can work within their system. That’s why the majority of us may start with survival jobs, not because we lack skills, but because we have to learn the ropes and figure out how to position those skills in this market. The gap is not experience. The gap is translation. This is the raw truth!

@eyexcel Thank you.

@40PlusImmigrant 💯 spot on.

@40PlusImmigrant Just like in the UK as well. I remember when I was registering my daughter for college, we were informed that she needed to complete their Maths and English classes first. She attended the classes, worked hard, and thankfully passed with flying colours. She’s an apprentice there.

@Plus_Big_AY Keep going... grind!

@40PlusImmigrant I am very serious, the only thing I've is the mindset I'm at the final lap of my bagging a degree

@Ejisky1 If you also can't find a way to pay for the app, let me know so I can suggest a platform

@40PlusImmigrant Bro, good morning. I'm grateful am following you. Thanks man. Please how do one get a Canadian number and also a Canadian CV too? Please help your brother from another mother

I got a role with the Canadian Red Cross… before I even entered Canada. 😄 I landed a Volunteer Role with the Canadian Red Cross while in Nigeria, 1 month before I left. There is an edge in thoroughly making your own research about anything and everything about the country you want to move to before making that move. Trust me, all the vital information you’d get would help you settle in, and it would merge with the information people who were already there before you, would dish out to you. Having learned how vital volunteering is in the Canadian work culture, I started approaching preferred organisations once it was sure that our travel documents were in our hands. I remember that email and the subsequent call that followed from CRC to learn more about me and my drive to decide to join as a volunteer once I landed. It blew my mind that, oh, shit is possible. I felt seen and valued, and if I had failed that remote interview, I wouldn’t have been sad, because I was really proud that they even interviewed me. When I got the mail saying I had passed, it still felt like a mirage till I landed in Canada. After informing them of my availability, I had to wait 6 weeks to receive my Volunteer ID, which was sent to my doorstep via Canada Post. This one came after I was dramatically sacked (laughs 😄) from the first job I landed just 4 weeks after entering the country. That funny story is coming. With that ID, I was so wowed and eager, and I must say, the quality of training and protocols you are placed to take as a volunteer is no different from what the full staff get. You are assigned organizational email address, you pick the days you are available to show up, you are allowed to have the experience you are gathering with them to be on your resume, to help your job hunt, and you can be given reference if you land a job outside, sometimes you are sent vouchers for discounts in their partner shops and free to attend career improvement events, etc. My spouse also made the volunteering move when we landed and got a position in Customer Support in a Community Service Organisation, which I am not allowed to mention here. She also has a job now with that Canadian Work Experience. I still feel proud looking at my ID/Tag and its neck ribbon! 😄Volunteering culture is a big flex in Canada and in the Western world, and it can really open up great opportunities for you while you are on it or later on, and I am sure a lot of people here can attest to this. I still make time from my main job now to keep up with my volunteer position at the Canadian Red Cross, when I can, because it doesn’t stop. I volunteer in a department that works in line with health and safety, and it played a big role in landing me a job. If you are out there and still finding that job and have never tried stepping out to pick up a volunteer role in any organisation at all, give it a try… you’d never know! Udo!

No wahala Bro. Search for FONGO online, study the various subscriptions, download the app to your phone and pay. You will be assigned a number which will always ring via the app, when you are called. Search for free Canadian Resume Format online and download. If what you see is confusing, DM me so I can email you a sample.

@otunbakunle Structures and valuable processes that equip the kids to face life as they grow

@ngozi_ngwu 👊👊

@40PlusImmigrant 📌

@40PlusImmigrant It really does take a lot of morale to meet new perspectives!

@nwaohaprecious7 Sure thing!

"Make the change. Dare the universe to meet your new perspective and shift its horizons alongside yours."

@Moyorxo @msmocrown I won't know what they face in the businesses, but the prices for some Nigerian items, sold through Nigerians look outrageous sometimes.

@40PlusImmigrant @msmocrown Nigerian vendors abroad are thieves. After adding import fees on their products, they would want to go for x5 interest.

The bigs stores are now selling African groceries in Canada. Nofrills, Frescho... Which other ones have you seen? Will our small African businesses sell still?

@tunisky @msmocrown That's another way to approach it

@40PlusImmigrant @msmocrown A wise person would partner with this stores and be their major importer.

@chiemecruz @msmocrown I guess

@40PlusImmigrant @msmocrown Chinese will never try it

@_adanneya They are though. Ezigbo healthy 😂

@40PlusImmigrant The moos looked cute na.😂

Parked up by the road just so I could take some pictures with these beauties. Loved the way they came up to the fence from up the field. 📍Mendip Hills, Somerset.

@Olaneeyie Forgive them but never forget to be ruthless as they move anyhow. 😩

Some married men in Canada are either mentally unstable, or their village people have their spiritual phone number. As expensive as this country is, efe ma se sina? Ori yin buru o 😂😂