Nancy Eke-Agu and her Nigerian friends in Nova Scotia are on location in Halifax, taking advantage of the passport intervention exercise by the Nigeria High Commission in Canada to renew their expired Nigerian passports.
The renewal of the document is essential, especially for Nigerians about to become Canadian citizens because they need valid documents for the transition process.
Joy Osiagwu had conversations with Nigerians in the Atlantic provinces of Canada, the latest destination for hundreds of Nigerians who migrated to some of the areas because of the favourable immigration policies of the region.
Moronkeji Allo, a senior business analyst in New Brunswick, began the immigration process in 2012 and succeeded in 2016. As a result, he says Nigerians are informed about the application process. But he warns of the pitfalls.
Lola Agbaje-Williams, a legal practitioner in Halifax, supports Allo’s views.
Great networking through various social media platforms has also contributed to the level of awareness in Nigeria.
The Atlantic Immigration program has a clear pathway to permanent residency for professional workers from other countries and international graduates interested in moving to any of the four provinces in the region (New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island).
The employer-driven program of the region allows skilled international workers and graduates to apply to fill vacant positions in the provinces as enumerated on the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) website.
Nigerians in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick believe that more Nigerians would relocate to the region due to the friendly immigration policy of Atlantic Canada.
The following story will look at the most common myths about immigration to Canada.
This story is part of a special series that is taking NCM’s journalism overseas and is also published in Nigeria’s AlimoshoToday.com
See the first of edition of the series here: VIDEO: Nigeria’s rising tide of immigration to Canada
Joy Osiagwu is a broadcast journalist with over two decades of experience in the broadcast industry in Nigeria and North America. Osiagwu covered activities of the Nigeria High Commission in Ottawa and the Nigeria Mission to the United Nations in New York for a decade. Osiagwu obtained a master’s in business administration (MBA) and Media Leadership from the University of Cumbria in the United Kingdom. She also has a post-graduate diploma in Broadcast Performing Arts from the Columbia Academy, Vancouver British Columbia Canada.
