Immigrants in Yorkton react to new report on quality of life in Canada

Canada has the best quality of life in the world, according to a new report.

That’s according to the 2019 Best Countries report, put out by U.S. News and World Report. Canada’s international reputation for a high quality of life has prompted immigration, though not all Canadians experience the same quality of life.

“Here in Canada you can work and you can study. You can also have free education for elementary kids and high school kids,” says Jeisel Tolentino.

Tolentino came to Canada eight years ago because of the country’s reputation for having a high quality of life. In the Philippines she was a bank manager. When she arrived in Canada she took a job in the fast food industry. Now she works at the East Central Newcomer Welcome Centre in Yorkton where she helps other immigrants adjust to life in Canada.

She wanted to come to Canada because her brother and uncle, who were already here, told her that Canada would be better for her four children.

“They told me it’s better for me to come here so that my kids can have a better education and better life.”

Oksana Kemm also works at the Newcomer Welcome Centre. She immigrated with her family from Ukraine 12 years ago.

“This is what we heard about Canada—that it has a great big Ukrainian community there and better opportunities in life. That’s why we decided to move” she says.

Though Canada may have a stellar reputation abroad—it was ranked third overall by the 2019 Best Countries Report—Peter Gilmer says that not all Canadians experience the same quality of life.

“If you were to look at someone who is a minimum wage-earner, making $11.06 per hour, having to piece together jobs to survive, I would suggest that they wouldn’t think that there is a particularly great quality of life in the country,” he says.

Gilmer has worked at the Regina Anti-Poverty Ministry for nearly three decades. He points out that not all people who are homeless or poor are living on the street and says that the ranking doesn’t truly reflect the quality of life of all Canadians.