Seventeen years ago, my family and I boarded to a Philippine Airlines flight to Canada, carrying a suitcase, a few dreams, and more uncertainty than I was willing to admit. Just like other immigrants, I arrived in Canada believing that if I worked hard, followed the rules, and stayed patient, life would eventually fall into place.

But what I didn't realize then was that immigration isn't a single decision. It comes with a thousand decisions that I never thought I have to make afterward. One of the first and difficult was the decision to keep going when you're homesick, there was even a time that I asked myself why am I even in this country. And there was also the decision to apply for opportunities that feel beyond your reach. There’s also the decision to adapt without losing yourself. And the decision to build a life from the ground up, even when the process feels slow. And a lot more decisions that I wasn’t prepared to make but I have to.

Last April 25th, we quietly celebrated our 17th “anniversary” of moving to Canada.

Seventeen years… that is long enough to raise children, build a career, create friendships that feel like family, and learn that "starting over" never really ends, it simply evolves.

I still remember when we just came to Canada, in Winnipeg, Manitoba in particular. Everything felt unfamiliar, including the weather, the systems, and the culture. Even simple tasks sometimes felt overwhelming for me because I was learning how life worked in a new country.

There were moments of excitement and moments of doubt. There were moments when I felt proud of how far I'd come and moments when I wondered if I would ever feel completely at home.

What nobody tells you about immigration is that while you're building a new life, you're also grieving the one you left behind. Up to now, I still have those feelings (remember when I shared When Home is no Longer Home?) When you live in another country - you miss birthdays, family gatherings, inside jokes, and the familiar streets and favourite places you grew up with. More importantly, you miss the comfort of being known. But while, you still having those feelings, slowly something remarkable happens to where you are, the unfamiliar becomes familiar, the places that once felt foreign begin to feel like your own. The life you were trying so hard to build starts taking shape.

These days, conversations about Canada sound different. People talk about the rising cost of groceries, housing affordability, healthcare wait times, and whether the opportunities that once attracted newcomers still exist. I understand those concerns, I see them and I can totally relate too.

Honestly, life here nowadays is harder, life in Canada today is not without challenges. Many families are working harder (including mine) than ever simply to keep up.

There are times that people I talk to would ask, "If you had the choice today, would you still move to Canada?"

My simple answer is “yes.”

Don’t get me wrong, I am saying yes not for the reasons most people expect, it is a yes for me, not because Canada is perfect nor because life is easier here. It is also not because I do not love Philippines. And certainly not because success is guaranteed here.

I will choose to move to Canada (again) because this country gave me something I didn't fully appreciate when I arrived…

Options.

The option to reinvent myself professionally. The option to pursue opportunities I may never have considered otherwise. The option to raise my children in a place where diversity isn't unusual. The option to fail, recover, and try again and the option to build a life that looked different from the one I originally imagined.

When I first arrived, I thought success meant reaching a destination. Back then, I imagined there would come a day when everything would finally feel complete. And I even thought that after 10 years of living in Canada, I can finally go back to Philippines and grow old there.

After living in this country for 17 years, a lot has changed, I now see success differently. I now realized that success is having the freedom to keep growing, it's having the ability to adapt when circumstances change. Success is knowing that your life can take unexpected turns and still become something meaningful.

Has Canada changed over the last 17 years? Absolutely! Have the challenges increased? Without question! But so have the opportunities to learn, contribute, and evolve.

We Filipinos are said to be very resilient people, but immigration thought me to be more resilient. Living in Canada, thought me to find my way in unfamiliar places, I learned that confidence is built, not inherited. I now view courage differently, it isn't the absence of fear, it is moving forward despite being afraid. Most importantly, I learned that home is not always where you were born, sometimes, home is where you've invested your time, your effort, your tears, your hopes, and your future.

Seventeen years later, I will not deny that I still miss parts of the Philippines. I still crave familiar food when I'm homesick. I still smile when I hear Filipino accents in unexpected places. I still carry pieces of my culture with me wherever I go. But Canada has become our home too. Not because it was easy, but because (for me) it was worth building a life here, Canada brought a better version of me.

After 17 years as permanent resident (now citizen) of Canada, I’ve come to realize that the best chapters of our lives are rarely handed to us. They are built through ordinary days that don't seem remarkable at that time. It can be a job accepted, a friendship formed, a challenge overcome, a family dinner shared, and a dream pursued…

Seventeen years later, I realize that the life I was hoping to find in Canada wasn't waiting for me when I arrived, because it was something I would spend years creating. And despite the challenges, despite the sacrifices, despite the uncertainty that still exists from time to time… I think, I am willing to do it all over again.