Transcript – “My New Home: Prince George”

Zouba

Prince George is my new home.

The Francophone community has helped me feel integrated and welcomed.

Sarah

It is a wonderful city surrounded by mountains.

I see myself living here for a very, very long time.

Speaker

Welcome to “Mon nouveau chez-moi,” an Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada podcast that takes you to the heart of Canada’s Welcoming Francophone Communities.

Sarah

Hello! My name is Sarah. I have been in Prince George for two years now and I come from Martinique.

I currently work for the Francophone association Le Cercle des Canadiens Français de Prince George.

Zouba

Hello! My name is Zouba and I’m 20 years old.

I come from Burkina Faso.

I have been living in Prince George for almost four years.

I’m studying biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Northern British Columbia.

Sarah

To me, Prince George is my adopted city.

It’s where I have really established my community and family.

It’s a really welcoming city, with nice weather all the time.

There’s an amazing blue sky, whether it’s plus 30 or minus 40 degrees.

It’s home sweet home.

Zouba

It’s a wonderful city in Northern British Columbia.

It’s very cold in winter, and it gets pretty warm in summer, too.

It’s the capital of Northern British Columbia.

The main general services are here, for example, the university and the university hospital.

Sarah

Yeah, that’s true.

Even the university is the best small university in Canada.

It really is a hub in Northern British Columbia.

Everyone knows each other more or less.

Everyone lives in harmony.

It’s true that the city is on a human scale.

It’s a small, northern region.

Zouba

We have very large forests and our main industry is a paper mill, which gives Prince George its very distinctive, and very peculiar, smell. You notice it as soon as you arrive in Prince George.

Sarah

The pulp and paper mill.

Zouba

Yes!

In the end, it has become the smell of home because, as soon as you arrive and smell the pulp and paper mill again, it’s like, “Oh, that’s nice, I’m home.”

That’s right.

I come from Burkina Faso and I used to live in Ouagadougou, the capital, with my entire family.

My father has lived in Canada since 2008.

When he arrived, he initially lived in Quebec.

Then he came to Prince George for work.

He really fell in love with the city and decided to move here.

He just stayed.

We brought his things from Quebec.

He has not gone back to Quebec at all.

He simply stayed in Prince George.

Sarah

Oh, he hasn’t been back at all since then.

Zouba

Yes!

Then, a few years later, he decided to bring us to Canada through the family reunification program.

I arrived in Prince George in October 2018 with my entire family, my mother, my brothers and sisters, and here we are.

Sarah

How I arrived in Canada: I applied for a working-holiday permit when I was in Martinique and I was randomly selected.

Then I spent four months in Rimouski, a small city in Quebec.

I ended up finding a job in Prince George through the connections of the person that I was working with in Rimouski.

And I really wanted to travel and take advantage of the year that I had left on my working-holiday permit to travel across Canada.

So, when I had this opportunity to travel from Eastern Canada to the opposite end, the West, I was very excited and very stressed.

I packed my bags again and took two flights, and I arrived in Prince George in early 2020. It really was a big change.

Zouba

When I arrived with my family, we were not at all prepared for the cold that awaited us.

Sarah

You did not buy anything, like warm clothes, before leaving?

Zouba

You can’t even find any in Burkina.

They don’t sell any there.

It’s true that in Burkina in October it’s a little bit cold in the morning, but it’s like 29 degrees, that’s cold for us.

Sarah

That’s cold, wow!

Zouba

Yes, because it’s normally 45 degrees in the shade, so we arrived with our light clothing and all.

And then, we got off the plane.

We were so cold that day.

Thankfully, Dad did some shopping for us after we arrived.

Sarah

Wasn’t it very difficult?

Zouba

Yes, it was difficult because we didn’t go out the first few days.

I remember that my mom didn’t go out for a week.

Actually, you get used to it very quickly.

When I arrived in Prince George, I didn’t see anyone on the roads, on the streets, it was empty.

I told myself, “Oh my god, where am I?”

I tried to go out as soon as I arrived. I told myself that I needed to explore a little bit and see what it had to offer.

And the road was icy.

I fell several times because I didn’t know how to dress or what shoes to wear in winter, so, it took me some time to get used to Prince George.

When I arrived with my family, everything was in English.

So, we were already thinking, “Oh, wow!”

I really didn’t like the drastic shift of French to English.

A few days later my father said to me, “Come, I’ll introduce you to people who were very supportive when I was going through the process of bringing you here.”

And that’s how we came to the Cercle des Canadiens Français and I saw how everyone was speaking to us in French and everything.

And I was like, “Wow, there are people who speak French here.”

I was really happy to meet people who speak French like me.

I immediately loved that they had a Francophone library because I love to read.

It was pure happiness.

Sarah

The Francophone community has helped me feel integrated and welcomed.

Everyone was very happy to see me.

I went out several times with a mom from the pre-school, who showed me a cute park with a trail.

I went snowshoeing with another woman from the Cercle, and kayaking as well.

Anyway, everyone was inviting me to go out, to show me how diverse Prince George was and that there were lots of things to do.

It was even more wonderful in summer because the weather was so nice.

I was able to go to the lake.

In the end, I was very happy to have my Francophone community because they make me feel at home, even if I’m thousands of kilometres from Martinique.

Zouba

The Cercle des Canadiens Français de Prince George now has a program called “Welcoming Francophone Community.”

It offers English classes to newcomers in Prince George, and my mother was able to take advantage of those classes.

She speaks fairly well today.

She gets by.

She has conversations in English.

Sarah

Yes, we see her progress.

Zouba

Yes, that service has helped my mother a lot.

Sarah

There are lots of new services to help newcomers, including help to find housing.

There are also lots of recreational activities to help newcomers connect with members of the Francophone community.

There is always a nice atmosphere at our activities because the Prince George community is lively.

We are always very happy to see each other and speak French.

There’s cultural diversity and everyone’s very open.

It’s easy to have fun.

We talk.

It’s like a new family, everyone knows each other.

Zouba

I was very surprised to see that there were lots of Francophone communities in Prince George from around the world.

For example, when I arrived at the university, there was an association of young Caribbean students.

And I saw students from everywhere, from Africa, South America, South Asia, from around the world.

There are all kinds of religious temples and places of worship in town.

Sarah

Mosques.

Zouba

Yes, there are mosques, all kinds of churches.

It is very diverse culturally.

Sarah

Yeah.

Zouba

It is very multicultural.

Sarah

Yes, very, very multicultural.

Job opportunities in Prince George are very varied and plentiful.

Zouba

Yes, there are lots of offers.

Sarah

It’s mainly the lumber plant that hires.

And there are lots of newcomers because of that.

There are also lots of people getting hired at the moment for everything related to the Francophone community, because we have three French immersion schools in Prince George and one fully Francophone school.

We are trying to attract more Francophones to fill those positions.

We are looking for people, we are trying to have more people in Prince George.

When someone new arrives, we go, “Yay!”

It makes us happy that there’s another newcomer in town.

And we have everything that we need to make that person feel comfortable.

We’re glad to have the chance to help them, just as people helped us when we arrived.

We give back everything that the community has given us.

Zouba

Yes, that’s it.

Sarah

Same for us, we give back and pass things on to newcomers.

There’s a lot of nature in Prince George.

That’s for sure.

As soon as you arrive, you see that there are lots of parks, very beautiful parks.

Zouba

There’s also the old-growth forest, one hour from Prince George.

Sarah

Oh, yes!

Zouba

It’s a wonderful place to go hiking.

Sarah

I came to Canada mainly for the winters.

So, I was very happy to discover wonderful places in Prince George while trying cross-country skiing, downhill skiing and snowshoeing for the first time in my life.

You can even walk and skate on the lakes when they freeze over.

There is always something to do.

Zouba

And you can see animals, like bears and moose.

You see them often around the university, yes, because the university is very close to the forest, so you see a lot of wildlife.

I actually saw a bear for the first time at the Cercle des Canadiens Français.

Sarah

Oh, you too!

Zouba

We saw a bear just walk by.

Sarah

No way.

Zouba

It walked by and was so sweet.

It just climbed over the fence and left.

Sarah

Yes, they all look like little teddy bears.

You just want to go over to them, but all the locals warn you, “No, be careful, it’s a wild animal. It’s really dangerous!”

But when you have just gotten here, you see a bear and go, “Oh, it’s cute!”

Zouba

Yes, I was not expecting to hear that they are dangerous animals.

When I see them, I think, “Oh, they’re so cute!”

And we were given spray to keep them away.

Sarah

You always need to have a small bell when hiking in summer to scare away the animals.

There are also animals downtown or in the neighbourhoods near parks.

Zouba

Yes, they are often in residential neighbourhoods because of garbage cans, which they rummage through a bit.

Every year, temperatures are a bit less cold than the previous year, which makes the bears...

Sarah

Well, they come out a bit earlier.

Zouba

Yes, they come out earlier or sometimes they go into hibernation later.

It’s unfortunate, but yes, you see them all around.

It will soon be four years since I moved here with my entire family.

Sarah

Four years?

Zouba

Yes! Yes, it’s a long time.

Sarah

It goes by quickly.

Zouba

Yes!

Sarah

You don’t even notice it, but it flies by.

Zouba

Yep!

Even if I miss my country a lot, I really miss it, I feel completely at home here.

I got my first job here.

I became an adult here.

I began my university studies here.

Yes, yes, I really feel comfortable here.

My future really is in Prince George because research is very advanced in Canada and I’m doing research studies.

So, I hope to be able to work in Canada.

And, yes, I see myself living here for a very, very long time.

Sarah

Prince George is my new home.

I have a good job where I have opportunities to advance.

I now have a community of my own with very close friends.

And I left Prince George in the summer for a one-month vacation in France, and well, I was looking forward to coming back.

My reaction to that was “Wow!”

I did not expect to miss Prince George so much.

In fact, I have made my life in Prince George.

I wanted to learn English, but being able to speak my own language, that makes me feel good.

Zouba

I have grown a lot in Prince George.

I have become more mature.

I became an adult, but regardless of age, the challenges that I faced when I arrived in Prince George have made me who I am today, and I am very, very proud.

Sarah

Of course, you can be proud, Zouba.

Zouba

Thank you!

Sarah

Yes, that’s what integrating into a new country, a new culture, is all about, you have to be open.

Zouba

Yes!

Sarah

And you accept everything that’s given to you, all the positive responses, all the new experiences.

Zouba

You learn from others.

Sarah

That’s it!

What I would tell someone who is reluctant to immigrate to Prince George is to just take the first step.

Of course, no one can promise that everything will be perfect, nothing is ever perfect anywhere, but it is precisely those challenges that will allow you to grow and actually fall in love with the city.

Zouba

I would say, “Go for it.”

You only live once, so why not give it a try?

Prince George is a small community, but the fact that it is small makes it very close-knit.

Sometimes you just have to go for it and not be afraid.

 

Sarah

Just take the first step and the rest will follow.

Zouba

There will always be someone to give you a hand in Prince George.

Speaker

Thanks for listening to “Mon nouveau chez-moi.” An Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada podcast, featuring the “Welcoming Francophone Community.” And don’t miss our other episodes on Welcoming Francophone Communities across Canada.