The Government of Canada announced on Nov. 1 the immigration target to welcome 500,000 newcomers to Canada. Each one of those numbers is a person, a face and a story.

Quynh Le, outreach coordinator for the Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association, knows the challenges of being a newcomer being one herself and seeing immigrants starting their own journey at the association. 

Le was first exposed to the Canadian lifestyle and culture through a job in Vietnam with an international oil and gas company. She decided to immigrate to Canada in 2018 with her husband and received a permanent resident invitation shortly after.

“I saw a better future, not just economically but more about freedom,” Le said. “A lot of human rights [would be] difficult for me to get if I continued living in Vietnam.” 

Le connects with the Vietnamese community here in Calgary, finding people who share the same trauma and are on the same healing journey as her. 

“Somehow, if you ask me if I miss my home, I just miss my family members,” Le said.

YouTube video

Each year, thousands of people from around the world move to Calgary to make a new life. Our partnership with CLIP explores what it means to be a newcomer in our city and how that experience is different for everyone.

You can see all the video profiles here.

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