Chasing the ‘Canadian dream’

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/03/2020 (2290 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Enoch Omololu arrived in Manitoba almost a decade ago to study in agriculture and finance.

Today, he is leading a life he could have hardly imagined when he was training first as a veterinarian in his homeland Nigeria, and then studying finance in Scotland prior to coming to the University of Manitoba in 2011 for a post-graduate opportunity.

Now Omololu works for the Manitoba government as a vet. That’s no small feat for the former newcomer to Canada.

After all, besides his previous educational undertakings, he had to take three additional years of upgrading to be certified in animal medicine in Canada.

Yet even more notable is that Omololu has also leveraged his financial education into a hobby that, for some, might feel more like a second job.

He’s the writer behind Savvy New Canadians (www.savvynewcanadians.com), a popular and extensive personal finance blog, which has been featured many times in mainstream media.

“I started writing it because I was always meeting newcomers and answering a lot of questions about finances, and while I didn’t know it all then, I had a leg up on a lot of folks,” says the 30-something married father of two children.

“So I thought, ‘Maybe if I start this blog, then I can just send newcomers there to get what they need.’”

Certainly, there’s much to learn about Canada for newcomers when getting acclimatized to our multi-tentacled financial system.

Yet complexities aside, a recent IG Wealth survey found newcomers are optimistic about their financial futures in Canada.

In fact, they’re more positive than other Canadians. To that end 66 per cent of newcomers indicated they were confident about their finances, and felt less anxious about money than the national average (56 per cent).

Director tax and estate planning at IG Wealth Management Blair Evans admits the fact the IG financial confidence index — which sampled Canadians’ attitudes about wealth last year — shows newcomers are more positive about their financial futures might appear a little puzzling at first glance.

That’s because “there are a lot of challenges that they would face, including the Canadian tax system, which could be very different from theirs,” he says. “It’s very complex and getting more so with each year.”

Not to mention, our banking system is often very different; the cost of living is generally much higher, and then there is the bevy of savings vehicles to figure out: TFSAs, RRSPs and RESPs. Not to mention they then have to choose from a plethora of investments (stocks, bonds, GICs, etc.).

Still, Omololu has a simple explanation as to why newcomers have a rosy outlook.

“I guess you can call it ‘the Canadian Dream,’” he says. “They came to improve their lives and enjoy the freedoms this country offers.”

Indeed Canada has a lot going for it — from free, high-quality health care and education to responsible government and a trustworthy judiciary relative to other parts of the globe.

Mila Tamayo, a financial adviser with Sun Life in Winnipeg, works with many newcomers, particularly from the Philippines. She concurs the survey speaks to the optimism of people who immigrate to Canada.

“For the most part, they all share the same ambition and goals,” she says. “They’re just happy to be in Canada.”

But just because they leave their homelands for a presumably better life doesn’t mean they don’t face financial challenges upon arrival.

Tamayo notes many are well educated — like Omololu — but “the challenge for many is when they get here they don’t land a job in the field they used to work in back home.”

Taking courses so their education is recognized in Canada is always back of mind. But more pressing issues include earning an income so they don’t deplete the wealth they brought with them, she says.

“So as a doctor, now you end up as a health care aide,” she says. “There is nothing wrong about that job, but it’s just you spent many years back home getting an education.”

It’s a big sacrifice, she notes.

But it’s worth it in the minds of many newcomers because the quest for a better life isn’t so much about their lives, but their children’s.

“As parents you always want to make sure that you are giving the best chances for your children’s future,” Tamayo says.

As such, many newcomers — once they learn system — gravitate to RESPs “because they recognize the importance of getting a good education for their children,” she adds.

Omololu notes a key challenge to access these programs is awareness.

“For my first few years here, for example, I didn’t know there was anything like the TFSA or RRSP,” he says.

But he soon realized just how much he was “missing out.”

Related to this challenge are some basic concepts of personal finance here — such as retirement saving — can be, well, a foreign concept in their homelands, Tamayo says.

“People are not really familiar with saving money for retirement (in the Philippines),” she says. “That’s because food and shelter are cheap, so it’s not an extravagant way of living.”

What’s more the top priority for many newcomers is not retirement but saving for a home.

“That is often the ultimate goal of everyone who comes to Canada,” she says.

The speed with which they can sock away the dollars to come up with a down payment is astonishing even for Tamayo.

“Some really surprise me because they’ve already bought a house, and they’ve only been here for one year.”

Then again, if you’re willing to pack up your life and leap through several bureaucratic hoops to cross an ocean to come to a strange new land, you’re likely a highly motivated person.

Tamayo agrees: “They often work overtime and multiple jobs just to reach their goal of getting a house.”

Of course, buying a home is one thing — and a big one at that. But becoming educated in everything else — retirement, investing, estate and tax planning — is critical too.

Perhaps that’s why Omololu’s blog Savvy New Canadians is so popular, with more than 200,000 unique visitors every month.

“But it’s not just newcomers,” he notes. “I get emails from Canadians who have been here all their lives that use it.”