Transcript – “My New Home: Whitehorse”

Virginie Saspituri

I arrived by plane, and my reaction was “Wow.” Nature, the mountains that could see: we flew over the Yukon River.

Diana Romero

It’s really nice for me, for example, as an allophone, to fit in as a francophone, to be recognized as a francophone. I’ve been well received and feel part of the community.

Narrator

Welcome to My New Home, a podcast brought to you by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada that dives into the heart of Welcoming Francophone Communities across Canada.

Virginie Saspituri

My name is Virginie Saspituri, I’m 31 years old. I come from the Pays Basque, or Basque Country, a region in southwestern France, and I have been in Whitehorse now for three years.

Diana Romero

My name is Diana Romero. I’m Mexican. I’ve been in Canada for seven years now, but in Whitehorse for only one year. Prior to this, I spent six years in Quebec.

Diana Romero

So, Whitehorse is the capital of the Yukon, which is one of Canada’s three territories, along with the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. The Yukon is located north of British Columbia.

Virginie Saspituri

Even if it is the capital of the Yukon, Whitehorse is a small city that is home to nearly 90% of the Yukon’s population, where everyone knows everyone, or at least recognizes each other. Whitehorse is also surrounded by the great outdoors, by nature, rivers, mountains and wild animals. It’s not uncommon to see wild animals roaming around the centre of town.

Diana Romero

Whitehorse’s slogan is “The Wilderness City,” which perfectly describes Whitehorse. The city has everything : an airport, banks, restaurants. But as you said, Virginie, everywhere you look, everywhere you turn, there are mountains and wilderness.

Virginie Saspituri

I arrived from Nova Scotia by plane, and my reaction was “Wow.” Nature, the mountains that I could see: we flew over the Yukon River. The sun was setting when I arrived, so I was, like, “Wow, what natural splendour!” Then when I got to Whitehorse, I thought, “Yikes, it’s September and it’s already snowing!” Those were my first impressions. I told myself that this is really different from Eastern Canada, where I had been living, and that this was going to be a fun adventure in discovering something new.

Diana Romero

It was a real adventure for me, too. The first thing that struck me was the vastness. I arrived by car. I took the Alaska Highway, which runs along the Yukon River and leads into the heart of the city. When I got out of my car, people were smiling, it was summer.

Diana Romero

I was really surprised to hear so much French being spoken. I knew that English is the most widely spoken language in the Yukon, but really, French is present. You have to be aware of what you’re saying, because sometimes you have to remind yourself, “Oh, right, people speak English here,” but at the grocery store, at the bank, on the street, everyone… I heard French being widely spoken. French is not my mother tongue. Since arriving in Canada, I've chosen to express myself in French, and I was surprised to see how close-knit the community is; people help each other. Just by speaking French, I already felt like I was part of a community, that I had friends, people to do things with. Upon arriving, I knew no one, but I knew that just by speaking French, I would be part of a community. The Association franco-yukonnaise organizes lots of activities, for both young and old, and for newcomers. There really is a service or activity for every profile. So, yes, there are always activities. What kind of activities do you do in French?

Virginie Saspituri

I do improv in French in the Yukon with the Fabrique d’improvisation du Nord. That’s also where I met my boyfriend.

Diana Romero

Really?

Virginie Saspituri

Yeah.

Diana Romero

People are open, so we get to meet really amazing people. And as I was saying, we not only share a common language, but also the desire, we share, it’s like a way of life living here in the Yukon, in Whitehorse to be precise. And it’s really easy to connect with people. So, you went to meet this person without really knowing what to expect, and me too, every time that I have an idea or a project, I approach the members of the Francophone community and it’s really… I’m always well received, I’ve forge wonderful friendships. It’s… we’re truly a nice community.

Diana Romero

When I got here, I saw people walking around with a type of… holster on their belts. My roommate would always go for a walk with a can in her holster. I would ask myself, “What’s that?” I had no idea. I realized that a lot of people on trails or on the street wore this holster. Here, it’s like taking your keys when you leave the house. In summer, if you want to go out for a walk, you take your bear spray with you. It just surprised me, I was taken aback by that, but I’ve never had to use my bear spray, fortunately.

Virginie Saspituri

It’s good that you’ve never had to use it.

Diana Romero

Yes. You?

Virginie Saspituri

No, I’ve never had to use it either, which is good. It’s something that’s really meant to be used as a last resort. It’s only if a bear comes close enough to you that you can actually use the spray, because the aim is to blind the bear or render it helpless so that it scratches itself and loses interest in you. I always take my bear spray with me when I go hiking, but not when I’m in the city.

Diana Romero

Because summer days are very long, it’s like we have almost a full day after work to do stuff, which is great. For example, if I finish work at 4:30 or 5:00 p.m., I still have five or six hours of daylight to go for walks, spend time in the city, go for a hike on trails near the city, go for a bike ride… And people do lots of activities that I would never have believed possible, like going for a two or three-hour hike and going for a swim in the lake and then having a barbecue or doing something social, all of this after work. It’s like having a whole other day after work.

Virginie Saspituri

I arrived in the Yukon in fall, so I got to enjoy the beautiful fall colours and landscapes of flashy orange, yellow and red. I was lucky in that I arrived in the Yukon and got to see the magnificent aurora borealis a week later. It left quite an impression on me, and I thought, “So that’s the aurora borealis.”

Diana Romero

Me too, the first time I saw the aurora was here. I think it was 2:00 a.m. when I saw my first aurora, it had to be late for it to be dark enough to see it. I wondered, “Is that a cloud?” because all you could see was a kind of white cloud. The cloud was moving in a strange way. And finally, it started to take on some colour. Sometimes, you can see it in one area but not in another. Sometimes, it’s visible for a few seconds, sometimes longer. It doesn’t happen every night. I was able to demystify the aurora borealis.

Virginie Saspituri

You really have to hunt for aurora borealis.

Diana Romero

Definitely.

Virginie Saspituri

You never know if you’ll see it, even if there are tools for detecting activity…

Diana Romero

Magnetic.

Virginie Saspituri

Yes, magnetic.

Virginie Saspituri

Diana, you mentioned earlier that you’re from Mexico. I presume that snow is a rare sight in your country of origin. What were your first impressions when you arrived in the Yukon?

Diana Romero

You’re right, yes, I had never seen snow before coming to Canada. I lived in Quebec, so I had a six-year transition, but it’s true that winter is very different here. Here, in the Yukon, it’s much drier. I’ve been told that there’s more snow now than there used to be. I’ve experienced snow, though, and I had to shovel. My first impression of snow: I was like a child, you know, playing, jumping, opening my mouth to catch snowflakes, and they just fell into my mouth. It was unforgettable. It was one of the best, most beautiful moments of my life, I think. Seeing it, experiencing it, smelling it, it was something special.

Virginie Saspituri

I also finally got to experience snow, or at least, snow on a daily basis. I experienced it on arriving in Canada. So, I really experienced snow in a different way, where you could really do outdoor activities and go sledding thanks to all the snow in the Yukon. I got here in September, and on November 1, I’ll never forget it, there was a mega snowstorm. I didn’t think twice about it, I got up. I started clearing the snow around my car, and at some point, my manager called me and said, “No, no, you’re not coming into work, because if worse comes to worst, you’ll clear all the snow off your car, but you won’t get far in your car.”

Virginie Saspituri

When it comes to the pace of life, yes, there was a major adjustment in coming to the Yukon because light here is not at all the same as in southern Canada. Around the summer solstice, on June 21, Whitehorse will get around 22 hours of daylight per day, which then drops to around 5 hours of daylight in winter at the winter solstice, on December 21. So, life has a very different rhythm. And I have to agree with you, Diana, to go back to something you said earlier. In summer, it’s like we have a second life after work, because we have time to go for a hike, time to go canoeing, time do things after work. Of course, in my case for example, I’m more into artistic activities in winter, my life slows down a lot. I’m not into winter sports as much. I do some, but I’m not as into it. So, I adapt my lifestyle to the rhythm of the Yukon and nature.

Diana Romero

I think that, precisely, the Yukon community, here in Whitehorse at least, is aware of that reality, so there’s an effort to offer more art workshops. There’s a lot more to do indoors, such as activities, I don’t know, concerts, films, screenings, discussions. There’s a lot going on in town, precisely, I think, to keep people active by giving them things to do outside the home.

Virginie Saspituri

Yes, and something that really surprised me, I falsely assumed that, in winter, people stopped living as soon as the sun went down. And when I finally saw my roommate go cross-country skiing with her headlamp, I was, like, “Oh, ok, life goes on and we can do activities, with a headlamp, but we can go on living without any problem.”

Diana Romero

We’re beginning to see more diversity in immigration and in the Francophonie, too. The Francophone community is becoming more and more diverse.

Virginie Saspituri

Yes, and as we see in your case, the francophone community is not just people who have French as their mother tongue. It includes people who speak French and who are here, in our community, and we’re open to that. Our community is not exclusive to people whose first language is French.

Diana Romero

Yes, and it’s really nice for me, for example, as an allophone, to fit in as a francophone, to be recognized as a francophone. I’ve been well received and I feel part of the community.

Virginie Saspituri

Diana, since arriving in the Yukon, do you feel that you’ve changed, that you’ve grown, that the Yukon has brought out a new side of you?

Diana Romero

Absolutely. The Yukon was already a challenge in itself. Arriving here was an extraordinary accomplishment in my life. But since I’ve been here, I feel much more autonomous, independent. You need to be resourceful, here, in the Yukon. So, I’ve gained a lot of self-confidence. I feel much more autonomous, much more prepared for any eventuality. And I feel like I fit in here. Being so close to nature, I truly feel connected. And you, Virginie, I know that you’ve travelled a lot, that you’ve had many, many different experiences. But what did you find in the Yukon? Has the Yukon given you anything in particular?

Virginie Saspituri

The Yukon has given me so much these past three years. I adopted a husky, who has become one of my travelling companions. The Yukon has also given me my life partner, whom I met here, in the Yukon. The Yukon has given me so much. Like you, Diana, you were saying, much more autonomy. The Yukon takes a lot of energy in winter, when it’s time to prepare your firewood and so on.

Diana Romero

Yes, it’s incredible for me. I never would have imagined that I would buy an ax or that I would have an ax in my car, that this would be a source of pride, you know. And not only buying it, but knowing how to use it. I was afraid, “Am I going to cut myself?” And then, going camping and using my ax and building my fires. And yes, it takes a lot of energy, but it’s also a source of price, truly, to feel autonomous and to be able thrive in the great outdoors.

Virginie Saspituri

We’re having a great adventure here in the Yukon, and I’m sure that this will inspire many other people to join us in Whitehorse. Do you have any advice for newcomers?

Diana Romero

Keep an open mind, like, be open and don’t be afraid to try new things, don’t be afraid of integrating into the community. The community is here, really, to help newcomers. I find this to be one of the strengths of the Franco-Yukon community, in any case, because it’s the community that I integrated. Obviously, also, anglophones are super welcoming. Generally, Yukoners are a great community. Also, what I find very appealing about the Yukon, Whitehorse, in that there are many opportunities. Because it’s not as popular, there’s a lot less competition than in other Canadian cities. So, as a newcomer, I’m finding that there are many, many opportunities for professional and personal growth. There are lots of programs. Although we’re isolated, we have more direct access to many programs in Canada and abroad.

Virginie Saspituri

Yes, I think that, in fact, there are lots of professional opportunities in the Yukon. There are job opportunities all the time. Of course, timing matters, when job offers are posted, but honestly, there’s no lack of work. Some fields where there are openings are a little more specialized, like in healthcare. A new Constellation centre that just opened and it’s bilingual. It’s difficult to find bilingual resources in healthcare. But honestly, anyone in any field would be able to find something in the Yukon. The territory is developing steadily, so there are lots of opportunities. But I’d also add one piece of advice for newcomers: we’ve mentioned many wonderful things about the Yukon (and all of them are true), but there are also many challenges, so don’t get discouraged. Housing is also a challenge. It’s in short supply. The territory is developing steadily, but sometimes there is a lag in housing, which means that the cost of housing can be high. But I’d tell people not to get discouraged. If they love the great outdoors, if they love nature, the Yukon is a good fit for them, that’s for sure. They’ll definitely face some challenges, too, as they would elsewhere, but they really shouldn’t get discouraged.

Virginie Saspituri

Thank you very much, Diana, it’s been a pleasure talking with you today.

Diana Romero

Thank you, Virginie, sharing our experiences is always so rewarding. Thanks for sharing.

Narrator

Thank you for tuning in to My New Home, a podcast brought to you by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada featuring Welcoming Francophone Communities. We hope that you’ll tune in to other episodes featuring Welcoming Francophone Communities across Canada.