These vloggers are telling Latinos looking to migrate what Island life is like
CBC
Maria Gomez has been vlogging for almost as long as she's been in Canada.
Gomez came to the country from Bogotá, Colombia, almost five years ago as part of a Grade 12 exchange student program in New Brunswick. When her plane landed, she immediately found herself in a place she didn't know a lot about.
"Back in Colombia, I was trying to find information about Atlantic Canada and I couldn't find anything," she said. "I couldn't find more information about jobs, how could I apply to things? How could I see where I was going to live? And so that kind of stressed … my family a bit."
Thinking that there may be people who'd be in the same position as her, Gomez, who's now about to graduate from UPEI, decided to take matters into her own hands.
She created a YouTube channel named Una Colombiana en Canada (A Colombian woman in Canada) and started posting videos where she talks about things Latin Americans may want to know before they migrate to the region.
Her first video was titled "I moved to the coldest place in the world." Another, specific to P.E.I., is called "Why I chose Prince Edward Island."
"I talk about the [educational] institutions, I show tours about the institutions, and I talk about how you could make it here," she said. "If you're studying, if you want to work, if you have family, if you don't. I show you a little bit of how you can emigrate to Canada safely and legally and what options do you have."
But some of her videos go beyond the immigration process, and discuss what life here is like.
"There's always questions like … 'how should I dress [for] the bus? But the transportation benefits for students? How do I get my health card?' All that, all those things that immigrants do whenever they get here."
Her favourite videos to make are the ones where she gets to be a bit of a tour guide and visit places such as provincial parks.
Gomez's channel has almost 24,000 subscribers and over 1 million views.
Similarly to Gomez, Jaime Tinoco Tejeida and Sara Bolaños Cordero said they found it difficult to get any information about what immigration to the Island was like before they moved from Tijuana, Mexico.
"We don't find nothing about P.E.I, how to settle here or how to subscribe the kids in the school or register for Health P.E.I.," said Tinoco Tejeida, who's currently a student in Holland College.
Their YouTube channel is called Mexican Family in P.E.I. and is catered to all types of immigrants, but particularly those who want to come along with their families.
CBC Newfoundland and Labrador is kicking off its annual holiday campaign, helping to raise money to support local food banks.
If all goes according to plan, at 6 a.m. AT on Saturday people working at the IWK Health Centre will become the test case for a generational change to Nova Scotia’s health-care system.
One month after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced what he called "generational" military spending, New Brunswick’s defence ecosystem is on high alert.
Miranda Mirlycourtois, 34, looks directly at the camera and makes a confession.
Saskatoon city hall says police spending is projected to be $2.6 million over budget this year. That pushes the city into a $1.2-million deficit position, according to a report that will be considered by city council next week.
Students at the University of Regina are days away from deciding whether a newly formed student association should become their official representative body.
All public schools on P.E.I. are closed Friday and thousands of Maritime Electric customers are without power as strong winds create hazardous travel conditions across the province.
Prince Rupert, B.C., residents are celebrating the holidays this year with coastal flair.
In the four years Chelsey Simmonds has worked at the Eva Rothwell Centre, she has seen the need increase every year at the centre’s community food pantry.
CBC is once again looking to make the holiday season kind in Windsor-Essex.
Acute Care Alberta has extended its contract for another year with a private surgical facility at the centre of probes into health procurement and contracting.
As food bank use continues to climb across the province, front-line workers in Thunder Bay, Ont., are working to improve both food security and education.
More ads could soon be coming to Toronto’s subway system.