Hi everyone!

I’ve been seeing a lot of posts of people looking into leaving Algeria by all means possible. While I totally understand why you would want to do that, please take the time to read this.

I’m originally Algerian but I was born and raised in Canada. My parents have been here for 20years+. All of my aunts/uncles are in France or in the US, almost no one left in Algeria.

EVERYONE (I have 10 aunts/uncles)regrets their decision to leave. They all have been wanting to return to Algeria for years now but are stuck here because of kids still in school or mortgages/debt they need to pay off.

It does NOT get better. It might look like your life is great in the beginning but 15/20 years down the line, your family is gonna start getting old, people are gonna start dying. You will start missing funerals because the flights to go home are ALWAYS full. Your kids are gonna become the annoying “zmigs” you made fun of. You’re gonna get fed up with the lonely and soulless ramadans and eids. You will start asking yourself if the big house and car were worth the years lost working for a potentially racist boss. And after all these years lost halfway across the world, chasing the “happiness” you never got, you will go back home to retire.

If you were looking for a sign, there it is. My parents are in their 50s and they look 15 years older because of the pain and stress.

Get your degree, your foreign passport and GO BACK TO ALGERIA.

PS: If you have any questions about life in Canada I’ll be more than happy to answer

EDIT: I’ve been getting a lot of hate, as expected. Let me clarify some things:

-1: “You’ve never lived in Algeria, you have no clue what you are talking about!”

I’m a banker working in a specialized team who takes care of newcomers. I’ve been in banking for 4 years. I would say at least 70/80% of our customers are immigrants from algeria, tunisia, morocco. Work permits, study permits, permanent resident, canadian citizens, we have it all. They STRUGGLE! Some live in their cars, some rely on credit to pay their bills because life is so expensive. A lot of them can’t pay off their mortgages/student loans. TONS of mental health issues, made worse by the lack of support from families. I cannot remember the number of times Ive had people begging me to raise their credit limit on their credit cards so they can afford a ticket back home. Having their education not recognized outside of Algeria and having to start over is a hard hit to a lot of them as well. This is just the harsh reality, it might not apply to everyone. Some people have it easier than others. Unless you have a good amount of money saved up back home, family/people you know here or a recognized diploma and job lined up you are going to have it rough especially the first years. The housing market is saturated, I have seen comments saying they will never be homeowners in Algeria… You will never be homeowners in the US/Canada neither! I’m sorry for you guys but if you make the national average which is 50 000$/year you will never own a property in any major city.

-2: You guys are trying to tell me how I lived an experience that you guys never did. Sure I don’t have the same sets of problems people my age have in Algeria but life is not easy here. I’ve been working since I was 16, full-time since 19. I go to work from 9 am to 5 pm, go to school from 6pm to 10pm. Some of you guys have DMed me to lash out on me and as we chat, you tell me you JUST started working at 23/24 because your parents basically took care of you financially. My parents make 150k household income and cannot afford to put me or any of my siblings through college. We cannot afford to go on vacations, we cannot afford to enjoy life.

-3: The majority of people on this post simply do not have what it takes to live in a foreign country, I’m sorry to break it to you but Algerians have a terrible work ethic. I have lived 6 months in Algeria when I was 17 due to personal reasons and I was stunned at what your days look like. You come late to work, leave early. Most of yall live with your parents and never payed rent. You dont know what its like to work and go to school at the same time. Some of you guys never even WORKED and want to get out of Algeria and expect all your problems to disappear, bad news: you will have a whole new set of problems. Again this does not apply to everyone, but to a majority.

I will end this post by saying I tried to bring a new perspective to people who want to get out asap. I do not have an easy life, when I compare it with the way some of my cousins back home live I can confidently say they have it waaaay easier. Maybe I do not see the reality of living outside of Algiers and that makes me biased. In this case everything I said does not apply to YOU. I’m talking about people living a very reasonable life over there not struggling to afford basic necessities, maybe it’s not worth it for you. I’m sorry I did not make my target audience clear enough. However I do not think I deserve all the hate I get.

For you all saying I don’t know anything about my country and never went there, I have been back to Algeria every year since I was born even lived there for short periods fo times, like I mentioned. I read and speak arabic and can keep up with the news so I know how terrible things can be. I also know about the REALITY of people who moved here. That is what I’m trying to share.

I’m still available if you have any questions, I will try to answer to the best of my abilities. Please stop the hurtful comments, I’m just trying to help.

Good day!