Oleksandr Butenko, North Battleford, Canada

"I recommend people to come, work and live in Canada in order  to find stability and to be confident in your future."

I used to live in Sumy city in Ukraine. I worked as a welder at Frunze machine building plant. About 3 years ago I found out from my friends about the opportunity to work and live in Canada, but I hesitated to inquire more details about it. The economic slowdown in 2008 made living in Ukraine harder than before: prices for food, accommodation, transportation etc. became very high and wages did not correspond to those prices. I lived in the hostel in Sumy, in a small room for 4 people. Having the wage paid at the plant, I could not afford buying own apartment; I was also frightened to take a loan with a high bank interest rate while the situation was so unstable in the country.

Well, I finally had enough of it, and in May 2011 I decided to make my first step and find out more about possibility to move to Canada. I called to ILC and was invited to the presentation to Kyiv. I came to the presentation, talked to one of the company employees about welding, about my job etc. Then I passed welding test at Paton Welding Institute - it was all right.

Afterwards I was informed that I successfully passed the testing and my resume together with the test results would be forwarded to the Canadian employer. The employer was satisfied with everything and we signed the offer of employment.

I prepared all documents required by ILC. Some time passed - and here I am in Canada. I live in North Battleford. This is a small town, but it has everything that big cities do. I work at a big plant where I perform welding works - welding and assembling huge tanks for oil and water. Within the first days we had orientation at our workplace as well as did some sightseeing. I like it very much in Canada. There are a lot of lakes here, as well as beautiful recreation spaces.

I go to work by car. We took a loan to buy a car, but the interest rate is very low. The financial situation of my family has significantly improved in Canada, comparing to the one we had in Ukraine. Now we are thinking about buying our own house.

I recommend people to come, work and live in Canada in order to find stability and to be confident in the future.