Brazilian expat Mirella moved to Canada with her husband seven years ago and it's a decision they're happy they made. Living in Canada has its ups and downs but for Mirella, the experience has mostly been "ups." Read on for aspects of their expat life in the city of Toronto.	Mirella

-Where were you born?
I was born in São Carlos, SP - Brazil.

-In which country and city are you living now?
I am now living in Toronto, ON - Canada.

-Are you living alone or with your family?
I live with my husband, Christian.

-How long have you been living in Canada?
Since August 2000

-What is your age?
I just turned 30...

-When did you come up with the idea of living in Canada?
Christian and I always had an idea of living abroad; we believed this would be an incredible experience to get in contact with new cultures, new people, improve our English and work in a different environment other than Brazil.

This "dream" intensified when we got married in September 1999. We started to look for a job transfer and so on... then a friend told us about Canada's open immigration system, where we could apply for a skilled work visa (more information at cic.gc.ca)

We took this opportunity, we applied on January 2000 and in mid-July (same year) we got our visa.

-Was it hard to get a visa or a working permit?
It was quite easy in my opinion. Once your have the qualifications, the processes were straightforward.

-Was it difficult for you to get medical insurance before you went there or when you first arrived?
"Immigrants are eligible for health care coverage under the Canada Health Act, although there are waiting periods of up to 90 days in some provinces." (Font: Health Canada - hc-sc.gc.ca)

We immigrated to Ontario, one of the provinces which have the "waiting periods of 90 days". We just trusted our international credit card travel insurance; fortunately we didn't have any issue during these days.

-How do you make your living in Canada? Do you have any type of income generated?
My husband and I work as SAP consultants (IT field), we are independent contractors and our income comes entirely from the contracts we get.

My husband worked with SAP in Brazil, it took only 2 months for him to find a job in Canada after our arrival.

At that time, I didn't speak English... so I dedicated my time to learning English and getting to know the new environment. In July 2001, I got my first part-time job as a Portuguese teacher for the OCSB (Ottawa Catholic School Board) where I worked for a year. In June 2002, I got the opportunity to work in the SAP field and since then I have been working as a SAP consultant.

The Canadian market has been quite generous to those working in IT; some friends that just arrived in Canada (Toronto) and work in the same field are finding jobs in 2 to 4 months. Other areas may take longer as the "Canadian experience" is something that companies ask for.

-Do you speak the local language and do you think it's important to speak the local language?
I do speak English and I believe it is essential that new immigrants speak the language of the new country they choose to live.

My husband and I are now finding time to also learn French; Canada is a bilingual country.

-Do you miss home and family sometimes?
I do miss my family a lot, we are very close and it is very difficult to be apart.

But now, I made my home in Canada and I am very happy to live here... missing family and friends back in Brazil is a price I have to pay...

I am glad that we have good friends in Canada who are becoming our "Canadian Family"... together we enjoy our new Canadian way of life.

-Do you have other plans for the future?
I am planning to open my own commercial business in the future, so I can settle down in Toronto (no more travelling business), buy a house in the suburbia and start a family.

My husband will probably continue in the IT field and get his PhD when the time comes.

-What about housing, have you bought, or are you renting a home? How much do you pay for it?
We have a 2-bedroom condo in North York, Toronto. A condo is an ideal living place for us at this moment, so we can continue to travel for business (we are currently in Amsterdam) and we don't worry about house maintenance such as: gardening, snow and so on.

For more information about pricing in Canada, I recommend MLS.ca (http://www.mls.ca).

-What is the cost of living in Canada?
Higher if compared to Brazil, similar to the USA and lower than Europe.

But remember... Canada is a large country and cost of living can vary a lot from region to region.

-What do you think about the Canadians?
Somebody once told me that Canadians are polite and passive and I truly agree with this sentence.

I have a few Canadians friends and they are great, generous and friendly. Most of my friends are Brazilians and immigrants.

The tolerance among Canadians is amazing... Great people, no doubt!

-What are the positive and negative aspects of living in Canada?

Positives:

• 1) Multiculturalism: it is fantastic to get to know people from all around the world and all of them are willing to become the new Canadian generation.
• 2) Quality of Life: there is no doubt why Canada is always ranked at the top of the list of the best places to live in the world. I am so proud to be a Canadian by choice!!!
• 3) And also safety, tolerance, organization and so on.

Negatives:

• 1) Public Transportation: this may apply especially for Toronto.
• 2) Weather: guess why???
• 3) Sometimes the government is too protectionist by diminishing competition, thus impacting quality of products and services as well as pricing.

-Do you have any tips for our readers about living in Canada?
Learn the language(s), be patient to get what you want, Canada is not the USA ...

-Do you have any favorite Web sites or blogs about Canada?

Blogs:

My bilingual (Portuguese & English) blog: http://www.mikix.com/

Gean's (Portuguese) blog: http://www.vouprocanada.com/ (great source of information for Brazilians who want to go to Canada).

Communities:

Canada Imigration: http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/canadaimigration/ (Portuguese community for those who want to go to Canada... be prepared to receive a lot of e-mails)

Web Sites:

Citizenship and Immigration Canada: http://www.cic.gc.ca/ (Official Canadian website about immigration, this should be the first source of research for those who wish to immigrate to Canada).