Dealing with loneliness in Canada

It is very hard I must say. How I deal with it was trying to keep my self busy by doing different things like sports and work long hours. I tryed making friends along the way but was not very successful. I als traveled a lot around Canada and got to see very Many amazing places. This are some of the things I did hope this helps you. Let me know if you have any specific questions

Talk soon
Rai

I was a bit lucky since I already had a client here and he had been working with me for the last two years, so I wasn't alone, but at the same time I can't value a friendship at work at the same level of one built outside (I like to keep things separated to avoid any sort of major issue that will affect both my personal and professional life).

Also my staying here is uncertain and that is not helping in finding friends and built a new network since I'm not really into 'flash' friendships or relationships.
To cope with that, as a photographer, when I'm not working I just roam around the city taking photos and interacting with the locals, is a way to still be connected, learn about the culture and dive into it, somehow be part of it.

Hope this will help a bit,

Cheers!

Good afternoon,

The potential factors of loneliness during an expatriation to Canada, are simply due to arriving alone in his new country of expatriation, and not having relatives or acquaintances who are living there.

I have also to point out that, the "feeling" of loneliness can be manifested even by being accompanied with family members (spouses / children / parents): for some expatriates having a vision, a lifestyle or a way of life , ... different from those surrounding us, push us to feel that we are alone in our quest for new life, in this new country, even though being surrounded by friends / families.

But let's say this is part of the life of expatriation and precisely it must be taken accordingly, to better prepare oneself. Saying that "I'm going abroad and I would not have someone I could count on" is a great help to face this loneliness.

In addition of that, it encourages us to excel in what I call the “art of resourcefulness” (to manage oneself), this ability to deal alone, skillfully and promptly with new situations, difficulties, and to innovate in the way we seek for solutions.

One thing that immigration has taught me over the last 14 years is this attitude of getting by and doing retrospection at myself in all the ups and downs of immigrant life, in this beautiful country Canada.

We can counter this feeling by seeking to create networks (social, cultural, professional, sports ...), to participate in events and activities in ones city. I had the opportunity to participate in:

- The circle of readers of the library of our neighborhood: "the shared words". It allowed me to communicate with people from different backgrounds;
- Discussion activities of Concordia University / McGill's "university of the street" where I was able to discuss different topics of daily life, and even had my very first job through regular contact with certain people of the group;
- Immigrant Aid Associations, allowing me to be in constant contact with community news and socio-cultural activities;
- Of course, volunteering !!

Here are so many tips to break the loneliness and fit well into our new environment.
I am not going to hide it but, making new acquaintances is not easy (nor do I say that it is difficult) but I insist on the following fact:

We must not spend too much time "giving", because at a certain moment we have to "receive". Let me explain it properly :

I noticed that newcomers are often been told to volunteer, that they must make themselves known, must make sacrifices, must adjust, acclimate, integrate .... all of this is quite good and fine, but after certain time if things do not go in the direction for which we have sacrificed much of our time, money and many other things, we must review what we are doing. Either we do not do it right, or not in good times, or either we do not do it in the right place, or not with the right people.

The idea is to target these efforts, choose the right way, the right timing, the right place, the right people and do not hesitate to change the road if it does not give much. Some expatriates have changed their field of work and found other vocations; others have changed cities -and even provinces- to get doors opened when those doors were constantly closed in the place they lived before; and also others decided to get back to studies to bounce back well as they should ....

Kind of like the idea of taking a small step back to jump forward and land firmly in the right place.

Good luck !

Hi,

Dealing with loneliness is something that will affect almost every person who travels abroad on different levels. The following comments are based on my opinion and experience I had in the past.

What are some potential factors that lead to loneliness when moving to Canada?
Some situations that may contribute to loneliness are living by yourself in a single flat/house, working and studying which can leave you with little time for social life, financial difficulties dealing with day to day expenses and hence, being unable to do activities you were used doing back in your home country. Another one that affected me the most was dealing with challenges,  things didn't go as planned and one starts shutting himself off which may even lead to depression.

How do you deal with feelings of loneliness?

The most effective way of dealing with these kinds of emotions is to talk to someone and not keeping it to yourself. It'll be even better if you open yourself to someone who's around you and might be going through a similar situation. The important thing is to get it out of your chest, there'll be people who are willing to listen to you.

Are there any activities or events that encourage social meet ups and networking opportunities?
There will be many activities and social events where you can meet new people. However, I personally prefer living with other housemates. This actually helps a lot and there is a good chance you might expand your circle of friends as your housemates can also meet other people that may introduce to you later.