We’re thrilled to introduce Sindhu Mahadevan, a quality assurance professional in the medical device industry.Originally from India, Sindhu relocated to Canada from the U.S. in October 2021. She is also the creator of This Immigrant Life newsletter. Drawing on her own experiences as a newcomer, and using her writing and communication skills, she’s been assisting others on their own journeys to Canada.
What attracted you to Canada initially?
So a little bit of background is helpful here.I first arrived in the U.S. in 2012 to do my masters in molecular and cell biology. As you mentioned, I’m a life sciences professional. I spent 9 years in the U.S. experiencing a lot of American culture. I worked in the U.S. for a while as well.
What I was looking for [in Canada] specifically was immigration freedom – for several reasons.One thing was that my work as a quality assurance professional required immigration freedom. Not least because you want the flexibility to structure your job how you want it and explore opportunities. But also, you want to be able to take strong stances on behalf of patients, and be able to advocate for the safety of medical devices. It’s part of your job. And if you’re constantly looking back at your immigration status and feeling vulnerable, you almost can’t do your job as well as you should. At least, that’s what I felt.
What pieces of advice would you give people at different stages of the immigration process?
So pre-arrival, [it comes back] to knowing your why. Make sure that you examine what it is that you need. I’ve noticed this misalignment between expectations and choice of country. I’ve noticed it with Indians in particular — and I can speak to that community since I know it best. […]
You want to think about your goals and align them with the right kind of countries. Really think about that. Even back when I was moving to the US as a graduate student, my rule of thumb was: If you can’t point out 4 or 5 problems, real problems, in the country you’re moving to, you’re not ready to move there. You’re probably a little bit too optimistic about that country.
What about the arrival stage?
My arrival advice would be to anticipate problems, and be very realistic about the time it’s going to take to find your feet. When you’re in your home country, you can take your community for granted. You’ve spent your entire life there. You know the social norms there. A lot of those things that are muscle memory, you’re going to have to learn them again [in Canada]. Like how the traffic signals work. How phone plans work. There’s a lot of active learning . . . and that’s okay.
You also have to find your people. You have to do that additional work of community building — which is basically done for you or done over a long period of time in your home country. So make sure you put yourself out there to find your people. Because, otherwise, life in the West can certainly be very lonely.
Is there something about Canada that pleasantly surprised you?
Yes, actually. I was very surprised at the level of inclusion and acceptance certainly in the GTA. I have not traveled to Canada adequately to say that that’s a nationwide phenomenon, so I don’t want to generalize. But I really do have to say the level of how welcomed I have felt in the GTA is unparalleled — and I don’t say this lightly.
There’s a level of multilingualism on the streets, for example. There’s a level of openness because Canada has taken the integration approach as opposed to the assimilation approach. I see [the benefit of that] and I was not prepared for [it].
This interview has been edited for brevity, and the original podcast can be found here
