Episode Description
In this episode, I'm joined by Leah Mitchell and Lindsay Rubeniuk, who've spent years working with newcomers building lives in rural Manitoba and co-hosts of the Move Rural Canada podcast.
If you're thinking of moving to Rural Canada, the advice you've heard about job hunting probably applies to the big cities.
The jobs by a thousand applications strategy rarely works in small towns. You're better off volunteering, but not for the reasons most newcomer guides will tell you.
Leah, Lindsay, and I chat about volunteering as a career strategy in rural Canada plus:
What "Canadian experience" actually means
How networking plays out differently in cities versus small towns
Why one volunteer meeting a week beats a thousand online applications
What the first 90 days needs to look like for a newcomer landing in rural Canada
Dozie's Notes
A few things that struck me as I listened through this week's conversation:
The conversation about who is responsible for newcomer support and integration has become weirdly binary in Canada. It's either the the federal government failed or it's the employers that failed. What of the community? Workforce integration works best when the newcomer sees the community as home.
The big city default is one of the most expensive habits in immigration. Most newcomers land where everyone they know landed, then spend years competing for the same jobs as every other newcomer in the same city. We often frame the immigration journey as a series of trade-offs, but we often aren't willing to trade off on the allure of the big cities. The reasons why are valid, but what do you really have to lose?
Volunteering in Canada is not just a shortcut to a job. Think of it as a parallel system through which Canadians prove their worth while contributing to the society. If you frame is as a transaction, don't be surprised if it doesn't work for you. Show up, do the work, and the references and friendships and job leads show up later as byproducts.
Official Links
✅ Connect with Leah Mitchell on LinkedIn
✅ Connect with Lindsay Rubeniuk on LinkedIn
✅ Listen to the Move Rural Canada podcast
One Ask
If you found this story helpful, please consider sharing it with one Canadian immigrant you know.