Immigrant mom finds a will and a way to achieving her CPA
Anthonia Aborode’s cheerful disposition is endearing. With a rich, joyful laugh and her immigrant story delivered in a deep tone and a melodic accent that gives away her Nigerian heritage, it’s hard not to be won over by this warm, amiable working mother of three.
“When I was in Nigeria, I was doing very well,” Aborode says. “I was working at the bank, and in my country, these positions were among the highest paid people.
“My husband was a senior manager (also at the bank), so when we started talking about moving to Canada, people asked, ‘Why do you have to move? Are you crazy? You are doing so well here. You don’t need to go anywhere.’”
Aborode laughs, and it’s followed with a sigh.
“It was for my children,” she explains.
At the time, she and her husband had two children: Faith, 5, and Hope, 3. “We wanted the best education for them, and we knew we couldn’t get that in Nigeria. We wanted a situation where our children were sound, academically, and we knew [Canada] would be the best country for that, and for them.”
Pregnant with their third daughter (who would be christened with the name Love), Aborode and her husband emigrated to Canada in 2012. They had dreamed of a land of hope and honey, of ease and change, as most immigrants do – but what they discovered was far from it.
“Oh, it was very challenging,” Aborode says. “We knew we would need to upgrade our education for better jobs and better opportunity, but we discovered it was virtually impossible to survive here – at first. Fortunately, my husband had the foresight to take a long vacation instead of resigning from his job, so he went back to Nigeria, and supported our family from there.”
Heavily pregnant, Aborode says that despite high rent and limited resources, it was faith, hope and love – figuratively and literally – that carried her through.
The church community of which she was a part became her support system. After she’d had her third baby, they rallied around her to help with housework, and to give her companionship while her husband remained in Nigeria.
But Aborode had never been a homemaker before, and she struggled with boredom as she remained at home.
“I found it very boring, very frustrating,” she admits. She took to the internet, and discovered Windsor Enterprise Skills Training (WEST) of Windsor Inc.
“I told them what I had done in Nigeria, and asked what I could do now that I was here,” she recalls. “I knew I had to upgrade, but I didn’t know where else to go.”
Aborode says they invited her to WEST’S offices, and she willingly accepted, all three children in tow.
“I had no one to keep them,” she says, “and they were so welcoming. They showed me the plans and programs they had available for me, but they did say, ‘Anthonia, we have to get someone to stay with your kids. You cannot bring them with you.’
“I said to them, ‘This will not be possible. I have no one here to watch my kids all day.’ And then they told me something I will never forget. They said: ‘Where there is a will, there is a way.’
“So I found a way.”
Aborode once again turned to her church community, and a young lady stepped up to assist. She promised Aborode she would be there whenever she needed, despite Aborode living on the east side of the city, while she would have to find transportation from the west.
“I sometimes would spend a lot of money because I had to get a car for her to come, so I could go to lectures to complete my program,” says Aborode, “but she represented my will and my way.”
WEST’S program, Aborode says, represented a turning point in her life. Armed with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, as an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ACA), and with a wealth of previous experience, WEST’S Management Training Program (delivered in partnership with the University of Windsor Odette School of Business) was the critical next step in Aborode’s professional journey. As the CPA prep program for women who aspire to pursue accounting in Canada, the completion of this program was able to propel Aborode toward the goal of obtaining her CPA designation,
I will say the road is challenging, but it pays to take the path.”. - ANTHONIA ABORODE
which she was able to do in 2017.
Concurrently, she also pursued another accounting designation program, this time with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in the United Kingdom. She completed both programs, which led to her becoming an associate member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and associate member of Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (CPA).
“I will say the road is challenging,” says Aborode, “but it pays to take the path.”
Aborode will be recognized as the Journey Towards Success Award recipient for International Women’s Day 2021 at the WEST of Windsor gala on March 8.