Ian Thomas was proud to welcome a new immigrant from Columbia as not only a friend, but as a new employee for his roofing company.
Roberto Ruiz, originally from Bogotá, Columbia, immigrated to Canada with his wife and two children on December 27 and has since moved to Canora to join Thomas’ company, I.B.T. Roofing.
The two became friends two years ago, when Thomas was contracted to work for Trican Well Service, an oilfield corporation in Columbia. At the time, Ruiz had already started the process to immigrate to Canada.
“It was a long process. I thought it would take two years but that became five years,” Ruiz said in an interview on October 5.
“When I was a kid, it was my dream to go to Canada,” he added, saying that he particularly wanted to go for the stories and the people.
Ruiz’s wish became even stronger when he met his wife Claudia six years ago, and they both talked about how much they wanted to go. Once he met Thomas and heard his stories of Canora, the two of them started discussing more plans for Ruiz to immigrate with his family.
Ruiz said that the process of immigration has involved many obstacles. He was required to learn both English and French as he was immigrating through Quebec. He had already spent one to two hours a day as a child speaking English through classes in school, but he had no experience in French.
“Now my English is understandable, but my French…” Ruiz grimaced and laughed when asked about how he had studied French for the immigration process.
Ruiz was interviewed by the Canadian Immigration Council in 2012 in both French and English, and explained that he was a heavy-duty mechanic and his reasons for coming to Canada.
“I wanted to come here for the best opportunities for my children. You have to be very lucky to get a job in Columbia,” Ruiz said, adding that his children, Juan David and Janis Ariana, will have better opportunities here, and he will better be able to protect his family by immigrating to Canada.
The process finally came to an end when the family arrived in Toronto on December 27 before flying to Montreal.
“I got to Montreal and then 50 days later, I called Ian,” Ruiz said, adding that Thomas couldn’t believe he had made it to Canada at first, but quickly told him to move to Canora.
Now, after approximately nine months working with Thomas, both Ruiz and Thomas agree that work and living in Canora is going very well.
“My father was working in construction, so this is a familiar field,” Ruiz said.
When not working for I.B.T. Roofing, Ruiz likes taking part in activities like camping, fishing, and hunting. He especially enjoys Canora because it is very different from the large city of Bogotá.
“The city is the same everywhere, in Columbia and in Canada. The real dream of Canada is here,” said Ruiz, who believes that the small-town life is what Canada should be known for.
