Immigrant Frustrations and Hopes

Though expensive, Vancouver attracts many immigrants

Whenever I take Uber, I like to chat with the driver and it makes the ride more interesting.

This evening a 38-year-old Iranian immigrant picked me up from downtown Vancouver so we had a good 20 minutes to chat.

He drove a Toyota bZ4X, an electric SUV, which he said he has been driving for three years and likes the car very much. It can go 430km before the battery needs to be charged.

Before moving to Vancouver, he lived in Montreal for four years, but couldn't stand the winters. He loves Vancouver very much, despite the city being expensive to live in.

I asked if he liked driving Uber and he admitted it was a necessity now because he was laid off his job last week. For two years he worked at a company that makes aluminium doors and window frames. He not only designed them, but also worked on the shop floor. 

"Life is better for second generation, not immigrants," he said, and then revealed that he was actually a trained architect in Iran, but could not get work in his field here because he did not have the license and stamp.

I suggested he could still work in architecture, and he said he could as a draftsman, but those jobs only pay around C$22 an hour, and he has a daughter who is three years old to support.

Nevertheless he was proud to say that his daughter was Quebecois, as she was born in Montreal, and it seemed like he was putting his hopes on her to succeed further than him in Canada.

With Mark Carney as Prime Minister and plans to build some 500,000 homes every year, perhaps my Uber driver would be back to making aluminium doors and windows, I suggested, as we were nearing my destination.

He didn't sound hopeful, but I was. Carney is intent on building homes and definitely using Canadian building materials.

I left saying I hoped he would be back at his old job soon. He seemed grateful at least someone was rooting for him.