By the mid-century, an estimated 90 per cent of Canada’s population growth will be from immigration. With an aging population and a low birth rate, Canada relies on newcomers to maintain its economy.
Sara Eftekhar is one such newcomer. After spending the first eight years of her life in Iran, where her mother and father protested censorship and unethical government policies, the family immigrated to Canada.
Her first years in Canada were difficult as she didn’t know English, and the family of four lived in a one-bedroom apartment since her parents, both engineers in Iran, worked minimum wage jobs in Canada.
Although it was a struggle, Eftekhar is now a nurse and advocates for youth and survivors of domestic abuse and violence. The rest of her family were also able to find fulfilling work eventually; her brother is a nurse, her father manages a company, and her mother works in administration at UBC.