Starting Over in Canada: Mervis' Story
Find out how access to community support helped Mervis find stable work and renewed hope for her future in Calgary.
- Community matters
Tue Oct 6, 2026 by Momentum Staff
Mervis arrived in Canada from Nigeria in 2022 with her two daughters, hoping for safety, stability, and a new beginning. With a bachelor’s degree and strong project management experience, she believed she could quickly find work and rebuild her family’s future in Calgary.
Starting over in a new country was harder than Mervis expected. Mervis faced many job rejections all while trying to meet her family’s needs in a new country with a higher cost of living. “I tried to stretch every dollar,” Mervis recalls. “I remember feeling disappointed when I had to tell the girls no, over and over again, while also dealing with feelings of rejection myself.”
When she turned to Momentum’s Women in Tech program, Mervis found more than training. She found practical resources, coaching, financial support, Canadian work experience, and a community that helped restore her hope. Through the program, she gained technical and soft skills, completed an internship, and began to see a path to stable employment. “Hope began to arise again in my heart,” she says.
Today, Mervis is self-sufficient and contributing to Canada’s economy. Her story is a reminder that immigrants do not simply come to Canada in need; they come with talent, resilience, and the ability to strengthen our workforce and communities when given access to the right opportunities. With stability in reach, her husband joined the family after two years apart, and they welcomed a new baby the following spring.
“The immigrant experience is hard and can be isolating,” Mervis says. “People just need hope and support. Momentum ignited a hope in me. Instead of working to survive, I am self-sufficient and can plan for the future.”
At Momentum, we work with Calgarians living on lower incomes to train for a good job, start their own business, and learn to manage their money and save. We know that our programs alone cannot solve poverty, but we have witnessed how stability and support are necessary for people to build stronger futures and contribute meaningfully to Alberta and Canada’s economy.
In the past year alone, Momentum worked with over 2,400 newcomers and immigrants. For many of Momentum’s participants, access to government support is essential for survival and to move towards long-term success.
We see every day how access to public services, community supports, and opportunity creates stability for newcomers to Canada as they establish themselves, contribute their talents, and strengthen our economy, all of which are at risk for some immigrants with the upcoming Alberta referendum on October 19.
To learn more about the upcoming referendum and how you can vote, check out the following resources:
Elections Alberta Referendum questions
