Life in Canada more difficult than expected for family coming from Turkey after 2023 earthquake

Upon arriving at Toronto Pearson International Airport, Fehim Buyukgural believed he had secured a second chance at life for his family.

Together with his wife Özge and two daughters Beren and Bade, he sought refuge in Canada following a devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6, 2023, which killed more than 50,000 people in various cities including Hatay where the family once had a comfortable life.

“In one minute, we lost everything,” said Buyukgural in an interview with Beach Metro Community News. “We lost our jobs, we lost our homes, we lost all our abilities so we had to find a new life.”

Prior to the earthquake, Buyukgural had worked in a bank for 16 years before moving to the private sector to work as a business development manager for various companies – his last job being logistics for a land transportation company as well as a shipping company.

“I was an executive manager there. I was managing almost 50 truck drivers and 20 department employees,” said Buyukgural.

His wife, Ozge, worked in a bank for 20 years where she had acquired executive positions.

“Before the earthquake we had everything we needed,” said Buyukgural.

Following the traumatic events of February 2023, Buyukgural’s family was forced to live in their car for six days before temporarily staying with relatives while they figured out their next move.

They decided that Toronto was the best option due to the number of positive stories they had heard about life in Canada.

“We survived a traumatic experience,” said Buyukgural. “What I expected from Canada when we got here was, first, psychological support. Then someone to show you how to overcome the language barrier. Maybe someone will help you with daycares for the kids while you search for a job.”

However, life in Canada since arriving has proven more difficult than anticipated.

“Things are very different here,” said Buyukgural.

After arriving in Toronto, Buyukgural found it difficult to assimilate into Canadian society due to the TS2023 Canada Earthquake Victim Visa they were issued.

Under normal circumstances, applying for a Canadian work permit as a Turkish resident came with a slew of requirements such as financial information, sponsorship information from a potential employer, and language test scores.

However, due to the uprooting of the lives of many people in Turkey and Syria, the Canadian government, in a gesture of kindness, issued TS2023 visas which exempted a lot of the requirements in an effort to take them out of their dire situations quickly.

Although receiving this “special visa” was expected to make transitioning into Canadian life easier, it has, ironically, made things more complicated for Buyukgural and his family.

“We went to newcomer centres – like the YMCA – to find any settlement opportunities. But, everytime, they ask us ‘What’s your situation?’”

Discovering the Buyukgurals are work permit holders, the newcomer centres have repeatedly denied them access to help as these services – like access to language assistance – are reserved for people with refugee status.

This policy left the family stuck between a rock and a hard place as natural disasters don’t grant people refugee status because “they believe you can find other cities to live in your own country,” said Buyukgural.

However, he said that expecting people to be able to simply find somewhere else in Turkey to reside is an overestimation of his nation’s government which has been sluggish in its response to last year’s disaster.

“It’s been one year and there’s still debris everywhere,” said Buyukgural. “The government doesn’t do anything quickly there. The aid is not sufficient for the people. So we thought we must try to (move to Canada) for our kids. They can at least have a future in Canada.”

Now, though, Buyukgural feels abandoned by the Canadian system after repeatedly being denied access to newcomer services because of his work permit.

“We felt very lonely here,” said Buyukgural. “We were told (by various newcomer services) to look for help within our community.”

This prompted him to seek out help from the Federation of Canadian Turkish Associations (FCTA) which has assisted them in assimilating into Canadian life.

According to Ali Demircan, an FCTA official and southwest Scarborough resident, more than 20 Turkish immigrants in Canada have taken their own lives in the past year after finding it impossible to overcome the many hurdles they are faced with during their journey to normalcy.

Feed Scarborough Executive Director Suman Roy said he has become quite acquainted with situations like this having heard similar stories from families who frequent his food bank in southwest Scarborough.

“Even with the new refugees that are coming in, it’s taking them three to four months – sometimes five – to get a social insurance number,” said Roy. “If they don’t have a SIN number, forget about getting a job or anything.”

Roy said this has been a major contributor to the exhaustion of Toronto’s shelter system which constantly lacks space. “It is unfortunate that many social service organizations have absolutely no way of helping these people find jobs,” he said.

Roy was also critical of the healthcare system as it pertains to newcomers. He recalled one of his clients who was stuck living on the streets of Toronto while being pregnant. This individual, said Roy, eventually fell sick due to her circumstances and lost the baby in a hospital.

Dealing with the loss of her unborn child and nowhere to go, she was then “presented a huge bill from the hospital, and she was living on the side of the road.”

“It’s just heartbreaking what’s happening,” said Roy. “And I completely disagree with all three levels of government because yes we have an influx of refugees but our policies are not geared towards supporting them.”

Buyukgural said he too has felt the impact of Canada’s lack of healthcare for newcomers.

“The biggest challenge we had faced was accessing education and healthcare,” said Buyukgural. “It was incredibly difficult and almost impossible. Some people have healthcare when they land in the airport. But they didn’t give this to us. Just the chance to apply for a work permit.”

Although Buyukgural is appreciative of the opportunity to begin a new life here in Toronto, he told Beach Metro Community News that not granting his struggling family healthcare has further strained their finances.

Soon after enrolling in school, Fehim and Özge’s youngest daughter fractured her arm while playing on the monkeybars – a situation that required a multitude of x-rays and trips to the fracture clinic.

They were then sent invoices that amounted to about $3,000 which was “unpayable” for the struggling newcomers.

“It was shocking, believe me,” said Buyukgural. “I don’t know what to do because we have a five year old. We are struggling for a very basic thing in this country with its healthcare system. When it happens to you, you don’t care. But when it happens to your kid, it really deeply saddens you.”

Although healthcare and education were his biggest hurdles, finding a home proved to be yet another harrowing experience for the Buyukgural family as no landlords were willing to take them in due to a lack of employment.

“At first we got help staying with some friends for a while, then we had to go to an Airbnb for 45 days,” said Buyukgural. “That was a huge loss for us.”

When they finally received their work permit, they were able to find a landlord that would help them. However, they were asked to pay a whole year of rent up-front. For a family looking to start a new life from scratch, this was a major financial blow.

“All the landlords needed three months of paystub, credit score, and other things that are impossible for us because of this special visa,” said Buyukgural.

He said that although the system has been difficult to navigate, the community has embraced his family, helping him find temporary side gigs as well as finding his elder daughter a spot on a basketball team – something that is very important to the family.

On many occasions, they were fortunate enough to receive assistance from St. Pius Catholic Church Food Bank and the Bloor West Food Bank which has helped keep the family afloat.

However, as it stands, their journey to stability is still an uphill battle.

“After three years, what’s going to happen to us?” said Buyukgural. “All our efforts should hopefully carry us to permanent residency. We need this very badly.”

Buyukgural is hopeful that his family will eventually be accepted into Canadian society. But he urges officials to take necessary steps to develop policies that will help those who might one day be in the same position as them.

“Most importantly, they should be issued work permits and given health care cards at the airport,” said Buyukgural.

Just over a year ago, the Government of Canada announced that they have been processing temporary and permanent residence applications from those affected “on a priority basis.”

According to the March 18, 2023, press release, the federal government said steps are being taken to make it easier for Turkish and Syrian nationals already in Canada to extend their stay. Unfortunately, no major steps have been taken to ease their lives upon being granted those extensions.

— Amarachi Amadike is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter for Beach Metro Community News. His reporting is funded by the Government of Canada through its Local Journalism Initiative.

Amarachi Amadike, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Beach Metro Community News