economy
March 30, 2026
The Time When Quebec Flowed with Milk and Honey
You arrived in Canada late, there's no more milk and honey flowing here – with these words, a group of parishioners from the Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity in Montreal, after the Divine Liturgy on the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, introduced us to our new life just a few days after we arrived in this city in 1993.
TL;DR
- Serbian immigrants arriving in Montreal in 1993 were informed that the period of easy prosperity, linked to major construction projects like the metro and Olympics, had passed.
- Despite the end of the "golden years," immigrants found community and opportunities for social and spiritual life.
- IT professionals and skilled tradespeople (plumbers, electricians, masons, tilers) generally found well-paying jobs.
- Doctors and dentists faced significant challenges with rigorous re-qualification exams.
- Some immigrants achieved high management positions through resourcefulness and hard work, even without formal qualifications for those roles.
- The article concludes that industrious and enterprising individuals could still find success and a "taste of milk and honey" in Canada.