Getting my Canadian permanent residency should have felt like a win.
asserted
Getting → get → win
But I've lost a lot along the way
Many of my friends who also applied for PR have left
This First Person is the experience of Areena Shrestha, who lives in Vancouver.
asserted
who → lose → Vancouver
I was 18 when I moved to Canada as a Nepalese international student, carrying two suitcases and a simple dream: to study, build a career and eventually call this country home.
asserted
I → move → country
However, I didn't fully understand when I first arrived how uncertain and emotionally exhausting the journey to permanent residency could be.
uncertain
journey → understand → residency
While I studied psychology and international relations at the University of British Columbia, I interned at the Canadian Cancer Society and worked as a research assistant in a lab.
asserted
I → study → lab
I said yes to opportunities, built connections and slowly started to feel like I belonged here.
asserted
I → say → connections
By the time I graduated four years later, my path felt clear.
asserted
path → graduate → time
I wanted to work in the non-profit sector and give back to the same kind of communities that had supported me.
asserted
that → want → me
So I began building a career in social services, supporting vulnerable communities as a program assistant, crisis responder and youth worker.
asserted
I → begin → assistant
Today, I work as a case manager at a rent bank, helping people facing housing insecurity access financial support to avoid eviction.
asserted
people → work → eviction
My job focuses on helping others find stability during times of a crisis.
asserted
others → focus → crisis
Yet while I help others find stability, my own future in Canada has often felt uncertain.
asserted
future → help → Canada
For years, my future in Canada depended on my immigration status and the ticking clock of my work permit.
asserted
future → depend → permit
I applied for permanent residency in December 2023.
asserted
I → apply → December
I would check my application status late at night, calculate points for Canada's comprehensive ranking system, and refresh the draw page for permanent residents over and over again.
asserted
I → check → residents
I thought about moving to a rural area just to increase points, hoping something would change.
asserted
something → think → points
As time passed, that uncertainty started to take a toll, especially six months before my permit was due to expire.
asserted
permit → pass → toll
My closest friends — the same people I had grown up with and went to UBC with — began to leave.
asserted
I → grow → UBC
One by one, they packed up their lives and returned to countries they hadn't planned on going back to.
asserted
they → pack → countries
They told me it wasn't worth sacrificing their mental health for a system that felt so unpredictable.
asserted
that → tell → system
Before one can even apply for permanent residency, you have to get an invitation to apply (ITA).
asserted
you → apply → invitation
One of my friends even received an ITA for permanent residency — something we had all been working toward.
asserted
we → receive → something
But their application was rejected over a small mistake: uploading the wrong document.
asserted
application → reject → document
Just like that, years of building a life here came to an end as they had to leave Canada within a 60-day period.
asserted
they → build → period
Watching that happen made everything feel even more sad.
asserted
everything → watch → ?
As my own work permit expiration date got closer, the anxiety became harder to ignore.
asserted
anxiety → get → ?
I would wake up in the middle of the night with panic attacks, overwhelmed by the thought of losing everything I had built.
asserted
I → wake → everything
Every phone call with my parents ended in tears — not just from stress, but from a growing sense of hopelessness.
asserted
call → end → hopelessness
I felt I had done everything "right."
asserted
I → feel → everything
I had paid international tuition fees, built a career in the non-profit sector and was contributing to my community.
asserted
I → pay → community
And still, it felt like it might not be enough.
uncertain
it → feel → ?
Going back to Nepal didn't feel like an option.
asserted
Going → go → option
My dad's job took him to work in many different countries which meant my parents no longer lived in Nepal.
asserted
parents → take → Nepal
I realized how disconnected I had become since I grew up speaking Nepali, but couldn't read or write it.
asserted
I → realize → it
Canada was the only place that felt like home.
asserted
that → feel → home
Yet I wasn't sure if I would be allowed to stay.
asserted
I → allow → ?
Out of desperation, I started relearning French — not out of passion, but because it felt like one of the only ways to increase my chances of getting an ITA.
asserted
it → start → ITA
Then everything changed.
asserted
everything → change → ?
After two years and eight months, I received my permanent residency approval through the health-care and social services occupations draw, which is a specific, express entry draw for individuals who are currently working in those fields.
asserted
who → receive → fields
On March 22, 2026, my PR card finally arrived.
asserted
card → arrive → March
…and 17 more, not listed.
The Aporia
