Sushant Bansal works at TELUS Communications as Sr. IT Project Manager
Chandna Bansal works at Aeroinfo Systems (Boeing Canada) as a QA Analyst
Aditya Bansal is 3.5 years old
Sushant Bansal first came to Canada in 2005 for his post-graduation. He lived at his uncle’s place in Toronto while completing his education and eventually decided to settle down in the country. “Canada is a land of diverse cultures. People are so friendly and helpful here. The country has a great infrastructure so life can be better planned and managed here,” says Sushant, expressing his experience living in Canada.
With the support of his uncle, Sushant quickly got accustomed to the people and the surroundings. “I was fortunate enough to have someone who held my hand (my uncle) and supported me in my initial years in Canada. So, with the help of my uncle, it took me less than 4-5 months to get used to people, weather and surrounding,” shares Sushant, who is a Senior IT Project Manager at TELUS Communications in Vancouver.
It was however a challenge for Sushant to understand a new culture and adjust in it. “It was hard to relate to case studies given during education sessions. There was a learning curve to fit into the class crowd. You need to know which sports people follow, what are the winter and summer activities, what is the work lifestyle, and it took few years to adapt completely,” he explains.
In 2009, Sushant got married to Chandna, and a year later she moved to Canada. It has been more than five years that the Bansal family has set up base in the country and they believe their overall journey has been great. “Moving to a new country is always full of excitement along with hiccups but with determination, we have overcome our hurdles and worked hard to reach our goals,” the couple says.
One of the hurdles Sushant had to overcome was finding a job. “It was a bit challenging as you need to establish relationships and right contacts to find your first job. After meeting many people through various forums and one to one meetings, it was way better to find a job easily,” he recalls.
Chandna, who works at Aeroinfo Systems (Boeing Canada) as a QA Analyst, had a better experience since Sushant was already settled in the same field of work and could give references. “She also had experience working in various countries in Europe and UK which gave her an edge to easily adapt to Canada’s work culture,” adds Sushant.
The Bansal family look at Canada as “a beautiful place with multi-cultures.” During their stay in Vancouver and travelling to different places in Canada, they have learned about various cultures, festivals, and food. “Only challenge we faced is to get PR for our parents. There has been a really long wait to get our parents PR which makes it emotionally challenging to settle down here,” points out Sushant.
Despite the challenges, they love living in Canada. “We will continue to be here while we travel across Canada and other countries to explore more and more,” the Bansals say.
