An Unexpected Move to Canada: Ankit Mittal
Ankit Mittal never considered moving to Canada until about 2 years ago — now he’s living in Toronto with his wife and working as a software developer at Top Hat. Here’s how he did it!
The Beginning
Ankit completed his studies in Mumbai in 2011 and spent the next 5 years working as a software developer in India. He loved his work, had great colleagues and an exciting social life, so he really had no interest in changing his surroundings.
But this changed when Ankit and his wife, Sakshi, decided that they really wanted to live in the same country together (she was working in the US at the time). At first it seemed like the US or India were the obvious choices — but after neither was able to lock down a job or work visa in either country, Sakshi decided to look into some other options.
The Canadian Option
Ankit and Sakshi heard about the Canadian permanent residency (PR) process through some friends and looked into it further. Ankit was surprised to find a big difference between the information he was finding online and what his friends and family were saying about Canada. He felt that the information online was very inconsistent — there were a lot of blog posts and forums to read with a lot of different opinions and negative feedback on how hard it was to find a job and housing which made him lose confidence in the process.
Luckily for him, his family and friends had very positive things to say and convinced him that it was an amazing country to live and work in. Canada really appealed to Ankit and Sakshi because of the great career opportunities as well as the standard of living they were looking for. Not only that, but it was a fairly straightforward process (especially compared to other countries) so they figured they had nothing to lose!
Making the Move
After applying without hiring a lawyer or consultant, Ankit and Sakshi were approved for their PR in March of 2017. They took a trip to Toronto and Ankit loved it — it felt like a home away from his home in Mumbai which has a very similar “big city” feel to it. After that visit they knew it was time to make the move.
Ankit decided to look for a job after he was settled in Toronto. He knew his skills were in high demand and he started reaching out to friends and contacts in his network ahead of time, but didn’t send a single application until he landed in Toronto. And lo and behold, after just one month of preparation and interviewing, he landed a software developer role at Top Hat and has been there ever since.
Tips and recommendations:
Ankit recommends breaking down the process into 3 categories — application, finding a job and immersing yourself in the culture.
For the application phase, put all of your efforts into maximizing your points (as PR is a points-based system) and getting to Canada asap. Once you’ve been approved, he suggests being very open-minded in your job search. Talk to anyone you can to understand the job market you are in, understand the cultural nuances and determine what separates you from the competition. Lastly, once you’ve moved and settled in with the basics, immerse yourself in the Canadian life by making new friends, volunteering and trying new things.
All in all, Ankit is very happy with how things worked out and couldn’t be happier living in Canada! If you’re interested in a similar path, consider Pursuit Prime — we are making it easy for developers to learn about the Canadian PR process, get approved as quick as possible, find a great job in Canada and make the move seamlessly.
To learn more, head here! And thanks for reading.
