Pandemic lands J’can woman Canadian dream
ALBERTA, Canada — Three months ago when a Jamaican woman made a second attempt to extend her stay in Canada on a visitor’s visa an unexpected prompt on the online application inviting her to apply for a work permit caught her completely off guard, so much so she had to exert considerable mental effort to ensure that she did not botch the process.
“We were shocked. We couldn’t figure out what was going on. But we managed to get the application in and the medical done on time though there were significant challenges,” she told the Jamaica Observer referencing the long drive to one of the few labs that were opened and the hurdles they encountered to get an appointment slot.
The woman’s stroke of luck no doubt had to do with the temporary policy change rolled out last August by the federal government allowing visitors in Canada who had a valid job offer to apply for an “employer-specific” work permit. The move was intended to assist employers who were facing staffing challenges and pave the way for temporary residents to assist with the country’s post-pandemic recovery efforts. To be eligible, visitors needed to have been in Canada “on August 24 and remained in Canada”.
According to Canada’s Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marco Mendicino, “this exemption from the normal temporary work permit requirements is aimed at removing barriers to create a more agile workforce that leverages visitors with the skills and experience to accelerate our economic recovery”. Under normal circumstances, visitors would need to leave Canada to apply for a work permit.
The truth is, in the final days of 2019 when the Jamaican boarded her flight in Montego Bay, en route to Canada, to visit her younger sister, she couldn’t have imagined that the SARS-COV-2 — which at the time seemed confined to parts of China — would have evolved into a full-blown pandemic railroading her plans to return to her homeland to continue her daily routine.
After all, it was her first trip outside of Jamaica, and foremost on her mind was to get some rest and relaxation in another environment — far away from the daily grind of her tough community where she shared the responsibility of running a small business with her spouse. She hadn’t taken a break from work in years, and the four months or so she planned to spend in Canada would have given her fatigued mind and body the rejuvenation they needed.
She recalled harbouring dreams of living in Canada many years ago, but made no attempt at pursuing those dreams as she felt it was way out of reach.
But, four months into her vacation when she should have started finalising plans to return to Jamaica, she found herself, instead, scrambling to extend her stay in Canada as the ballooning pandemic — marked by rising infections, hospitalisations and deaths — had by then forced borders across the world shut, and in effect grounded passenger flights.
Jamaica was only accepting citizens and residents who were trapped overseas via a controlled re-entry programme whose application process proved most frustrating for the Jamaican. Of significance, too, she had become the main caregiver for her young nephew with her sister, who works in health care, rostered for extended shifts as provincial health authorities implemented measures to keep the COVID-19 cases in check. This, while schools and day cares remained closed.
“I had no choice but to stay,” she told the Observer. “We submitted the first application for extension before the original six-month stay expired, and the application was successful. When that extension was nearing expiration, we started the application for the second one, and that was when we got the opportunity to apply for the work permit. I knew they took into account that I was helping my sister with her son because we had to share that information.”
Today, as the Jamaican woman awaits her official documents, she’s already looking forward to life in Canada and operating within the strictures of her work permit. After all, when she landed here — jetlagged after her hours-long trip — it was love at first sight.
“The place is so clean. There is a high level of decency, and it is very peaceful,” she said.
And, she’s not bothered by the cold, declaring that she has already adjusted to the erratic weather having experienced a massive snow dump and somewhat of a polar vortex where daily highs registered in the negative double digits for longer than a week.
“I am fine with the weather. It’s not like I am outside all the time,” she joked.
For her sister, meanwhile, the opportunity for her sibling could not have come at a better time.
“It is the best thing that could have happened for us. I needed the help, and God made a way. This was not the intention of her trip, but God knew ahead and put her in the right place at the right time. We are very close, and she is just the support I need at this time with all that is happening,” she told the Observer.