#26. What does it mean to be a Canadian?
That's a personal question with a collective answer.
Hiya and happy Wednesday,
Excited about a lot of things today. The biggest being our limited merchandise run.
$5 from every The Newcomers merch purchase goes directly to Canadian Immigrant Women’s Association Adopt-a-Family campaign and goal of $50,000 (including a $10,000 matching donation).
The campaign runs until December 24th, 2025. Every purchase counts, people. Purchase link here: The Newcomers Merchandise
In today’s newsletter: Jennifer Aikoroje now understands the choices her Dad made when they moved to Canada.
Plus: The
explores what it means to be a Canadian.Also: Prof. Cecilia Bukutu of Concordia University talks about the mentorship program changing the lives of Black youth in Edmonton.
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You can find the online version of this newsletter here.
Safety nets are important when immigrating
And sometimes, they come at a cost, like staying back at your home country while your family settles down at the new home.
Jennifer Aikoroje didn’t find that funny when it happened with her Dad. But time is a wonderful thing. Because we grow up. Or mature. And in her case, become an immigrant.
And then, your parents’ supposedly impossible choices start to make sense.
But we don’t only talk about the heavy stuff in this episode.
Listen to my full conversation with Jennifer⤵
What does it mean to be a Canadian?
Canada’s identity was forged through immigration, Indigenous history, and shared values. But what does it truly mean to be Canadian today?
One of my favorite Substackers and collaborators,
tries to answer that question through the lens of first-generation immigrant child, the son of parents who left Hong Kong in the 1980s to start over in a country that promised safety, opportunity, and fairness.I love this passage:
“For newcomers, being Canadian means contributing to society, learning the languages of the land, and respecting the rights and cultures of others. For those born here, it means recognizing that their own families once waited to be welcomed. For everyone, it means upholding the Charter, valuing diversity, and rejecting the idea that one ethnicity has greater entitlement than another.”
Read the full thing here⤵
The Mentorship & Resilience Project (MRP) is changing the lives of Black Edmontonian youths
Mentorship is a big big thing. For anyone. Especially for Black youth. Job hunting, pattern-matching, navigating systems built without them in mind, I could go on and on.
Which is why I think the MRP project run by Prof. Cecilia Bukutu of Concordia University of Edmonton and Viola Manokore of NorQuest College is a dope initiative.
Watch the full story here⤵
What am I excited about?
The Newcomers merch campaign in partnership with CIWA. Like I’m really excited about this. It’s the first of many, hopefully.
Bukky Wonda’s story about how she battled debt on the Inside Your Finance podcast. Lots of good tips in there.