Somalis from Ottawa Share your Experiences

[gegiroor]

I've not been in that place for close to decade and a half. When I was last there, unemployment was rampant, Somalis had a hard time of getting jobs, and Ottawa Citizen newspaper used to put Somalis on the front page whenever there was a Somali who has been accused of ceer tuugo (don't want to put these things in English).

In light of that, I have few questions that I would like to ask you:

1. Do the Somalis still congregate around Bayshore, Merivale, and South Ottawa areas?

2. Has the community integrated into mainstream and built networks within the system? Or is it still the same struggle that Somalis used to face?

3. One more thing to share - the year that I left Ottawa, the ratio between Somali girls and men who were going to colleges were 75% women to 25% men. Is trend still the same?

The day after I graduated, I was on the plane and head to USA. Never look back at Canada. All of the students who finished engineering and sciences fields, at the time when I left, had overwhelmingly moved to the USA, found jobs, and built successful careers here. The only difference we see now is, the Flight-13 (new refugee who arrived from Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia) are outdoing us due to their emphasis on starting businesses. While we're still hold up in offices in 9-5 jobs, these crafty businessmen and women are millionaires and own mansions in Columbus, Ohio; Minneapolis, MN; Washington, D.C., and many other towns.

Ok bros/sisters, please share what has changed in Ottawa and Canada as a whole!

[Methylamine]

1. Ottawa South (Herongate/Heatherington/Greenboro) still has the highest concentration of Somalis in the city, but a lot of the people there are recent arrivals/international students from Kenya. Merivale (I'm assuming you're talking about Caldwell) and Bayshore still have some Somalis there, but I would say a large portion of Somalis have left subsidized housing and now own homes in the suburbs (Kanata, Barrhaven, Orleans)

2. I don't know how the level of integration can be measured, but I would say we're doing alright in this aspect I guess.

3. I can only speak for my university and say there's definitely more girls enrolled than guys, but I believe there's some caveats with that fact. I don't wanna knock our sisters for enrolling, but if a xalimo isnt in Nursing, they're most likely in some malaayacni Arts or Social Science program; programs like Gender Studies and Conflict Rights are filled with xalimos lol. Guys on the other hand are mainly in programs like engineering, sciences, and commerce (ie programs that actually have career opportunities)

Ottawa is a great city to raise a family in, but the opportunities here are limited. Since the 90s, more Somalis have left the 613 than have come, and this phenomenon is seen in other communities as well. The only fields where u can find meaningful work in is in the government, health care, or IT (which has very poor job security). I'll be leaving this city in a few years inshaAllah for better opportunities

[AbdiJohnson]

90% of Somalis left just like many unlingual whites leave. Most locals dont satisfy language requirements for employment. The place has been swamped by Frenchies. I dont think more than 100 Somali families remain. Only the Issa are left.

Most of us have left for Toronto, Columbus (still not sure why) and Edmonton. There's a some of us who are moving to Calgary now. Calgary definently has a bigger community than Ottawa.

Lol @ fobs in Columbus being rich. If that was the case, why leave what they had in Nairobi?

You know what's a bit strange of these Somalo Americans; they boast when they have nothing. ReerColumbus and reerMinneapolis especially. Warya there are 19 year old Somali kids in Edmonton who make double your income. You're in Ohio for Pete's sake and people are there for the welfare benefits. Theres a specific reason why Somalis are in Minneapolis and Columbus..... those two cities do not crack in the top 20 biggest cities and those two states are small. Why not Texas or the other big states? Its because you want to live in Midwest liberal places where the hippies where provide your needs.

You have more than 30,000 Somalis in Alberta who are living in the most conservative province in the country, the same conservative party re-elected back to back since the 1960s. Not one Somali lived in Alberta before 2005. Handouts are very small or people have half of it cut by 12 months. And they thrive.

The Somalis in America cannot thrive in conservative places like Texas or Arizona where jobs there are numerous. They are lazy. I don't see 30,000 Somalis in Texas.


I am,

Abdi Johnson

[FieldMarshalMenace]

90% of Somalis left just like many unlingual whites leave. Most locals dont satisfy language requirements for employment. The place has been swamped by Frenchies. I dont think more than 100 Somali families remain. Only the Issa are left.

Most of us have left for Toronto, Columbus (still not sure why) and Edmonton. There's a some of us who are moving to Calgary now. Calgary definently has a bigger community than Ottawa.

Lol @ fobs in Columbus being rich. If that was the case, why leave what they had in Nairobi?

You know what's a bit strange of these Somalo Americans; they boast when they have nothing. ReerColumbus and reerMinneapolis especially. Warya there are 19 year old Somali kids in Edmonton who make double your income. You're in Ohio for Pete's sake and people are there for the welfare benefits. Theres a specific reason why Somalis are in Minneapolis and Columbus..... those two cities do not crack in the top 20 biggest cities and those two states are small. Why not Texas or the other big states? Its because you want to live in Midwest liberal places where the hippies where provide your needs.

You have more than 30,000 Somalis in Alberta who are living in the most conservative province in the country, the same conservative party re-elected back to back since the 1960s. Not one Somali lived in Alberta before 2005. Handouts are very small or people have half of it cut by 12 months. And they thrive.

The Somalis in America cannot thrive in conservative places like Texas or Arizona where jobs there are numerous. They are lazy. I don't see 30,000 Somalis in Texas.


I am,

Abdi Johnson

Aabo I miss you!

[gegiroor]

1. Ottawa South (Herongate/Heatherington/Greenboro) still has the highest concentration of Somalis in the city, but a lot of the people there are recent arrivals/international students from Kenya. Merivale (I'm assuming you're talking about Caldwell) and Bayshore still have some Somalis there, but I would say a large portion of Somalis have left subsidized housing and now own homes in the suburbs (Kanata, Barrhaven, Orleans)

2. I don't know how the level of integration can be measured, but I would say we're doing alright in this aspect I guess.

3. I can only speak for my university and say there's definitely more girls enrolled than guys, but I believe there's some caveats with that fact. I don't wanna knock our sisters for enrolling, but if a xalimo isnt in Nursing, they're most likely in some malaayacni Arts or Social Science program; programs like Gender Studies and Conflict Rights are filled with xalimos lol. Guys on the other hand are mainly in programs like engineering, sciences, and commerce (ie programs that actually have career opportunities)

Ottawa is a great city to raise a family in, but the opportunities here are limited. Since the 90s, more Somalis have left the 613 than have come, and this phenomenon is seen in other communities as well. The only fields where u can find meaningful work in is in the government, health care, or IT (which has very poor job security). I'll be leaving this city in a few years inshaAllah for better opportunities

Thanks bro Methylamine. That exodus is what I expected. When I look back Ottawa, one of the things that struck me was, there were no industries in that town. You're right it is a nice town to raise a famiy if you're a government employee or have another stable job; however, based on my past experiences, it was difficult for Somalis to break through that system.

2. Level of integration means people buying houses and becoming well-established in that town. If the exodus has already started, I think it is for a good reason.

3. Even at the time when I went school there, majority of Somali xalimos were in Social Sciences. Many of them have PhDs now and obtained teaching jobs in USA and in the Middle East. Some of them became lawyers here in the USA. So, those Social Science and Arts may not let them obtain jobs in Canada in the beginning, but once they finish masters and beyond, they do well in other parts of the world.

Ok you're moving away from from Ottawa. Toronto or West is the direction, I guess. You can work in the USA through H-1B visa. The TN1 visa is useless, and if you get a job in the USA, it is better to go through the H-1B visa. You can change jobs easily, in 6 years you will get the department of labor certification, and after that you can get the green card. Of course, there is also the Xalimo factor who can file the green card for you.

Good luck!

[gegiroor]

90% of Somalis left just like many unlingual whites leave. Most locals dont satisfy language requirements for employment. The place has been swamped by Frenchies. I dont think more than 100 Somali families remain. Only the Issa are left.

Most of us have left for Toronto, Columbus (still not sure why) and Edmonton. There's a some of us who are moving to Calgary now. Calgary definently has a bigger community than Ottawa.

Lol @ fobs in Columbus being rich. If that was the case, why leave what they had in Nairobi?

You know what's a bit strange of these Somalo Americans; they boast when they have nothing. ReerColumbus and reerMinneapolis especially. Warya there are 19 year old Somali kids in Edmonton who make double your income. You're in Ohio for Pete's sake and people are there for the welfare benefits. Theres a specific reason why Somalis are in Minneapolis and Columbus..... those two cities do not crack in the top 20 biggest cities and those two states are small. Why not Texas or the other big states? Its because you want to live in Midwest liberal places where the hippies where provide your needs.

You have more than 30,000 Somalis in Alberta who are living in the most conservative province in the country, the same conservative party re-elected back to back since the 1960s. Not one Somali lived in Alberta before 2005. Handouts are very small or people have half of it cut by 12 months. And they thrive.

The Somalis in America cannot thrive in conservative places like Texas or Arizona where jobs there are numerous. They are lazy. I don't see 30,000 Somalis in Texas.


I am,

Abdi Johnson

AJ,

Check your facts in Columbus, Ohio; and Minneapolis, MN. The third largest home-healthcare businesses in the USA are in Columbus, Ohio where 90% of them are dominated by Somalis. Yes, these towns help poor families, but reality is, they also allow savvy immigrants to have a shot in the system. You also need to check your facts in Texas. There is a huge Somali communities in Houston and Dallas. In fact, one of the main taxi cab lines in those town are owned by Somalis - that was the case when I last know.

As for Edmonton, if the Somalis there are doing well, maasha'Allah. That is the information that I was asking. May be it is the oil boom in Albert that is helping Somalis to do well in that province.

With respect to ceer, I've lived in Canada and USA, and I tell you the American system helps people to get off the system and be productive than Canada. In Columbus, Ohio, only 3-years time-limit is allowed for any single-mom to stay in the system. I have yet to see Somalis being ridiculed in the newspapers here because they receive ceer. In Ottawa, it was very common. Heck, those Canadians were expecting poor refugees to bring resources to the system. I even remember one provincial labor party leader in Toronto accusing the Somalis of stealing welfare and sending them to Somali warlords.

In the USA, no one has ever asked me if I like the US; however, in Canada, everybody you meet asks you every day if you like Canada. It was their way of feeling good and putting us down.

Abyhow, AJ, this is not penis measuring contest where we're saying mine is bigger than yours,. It was the progress of the Somalis in Ottawa and Canada as a whole. I shared my experience and when it came to employment after graduating from college, mine was a very bad one. I wanted to ask my fellow Somalis if there was an improvement in their situation. I didn't live in Edmonton and there were no many Somalis living there at that time, and no oil boom was there. Anyhow if your experience is very good, good luck to you - even tough you became gaal saanmadoobe!

[AbdiJohnson]

Absolutely it was true.

One of Aidid's wifes lived in Canada and they were sending welfare money for the clan wars. Tuke was asking newly arrived refugees to cough up some cash which was obviously welfare payments. This is absolutely true. They were caught and its in the newspapers. The Tuke story I heard from some wadaad guy at a restaurant who was forced to give money when he was only 15.

Of course many Somalis were sending money back home to warlords. You cannot deny this.


I am,

Abdi "I know the facts" Johnson

[GAMES]

Was there around 2011 and ran into bunch of Djiboutians. As long as u stay clear of these people, u are good to go.

[PanSomaliNationalist]

More Malis have moved to the east side since this post was made

Overbrook Jasmine some parts of Vanier and Lowertown are Somali enclaves