Canada PR or Lifestyle: Why Tamana Returned to Canada After 3 Years in India
Tamana went to Canada in 2016 with her husband and 6-year-old son. After a year of struggling to settle, they returned to India. After 3+ years in India, they moved back to Canada in 2021. She shares both sides of the coin - why India didn't work and why Canada became home.
In this story
- Key Takeaways from Tamana's Journey
- 🎓 Tamana's Background: From Ludhiana to Canada
- 😰 The First Year in Canada: Challenges and Struggles
- 🔄 The Decision to Return to India
- 🇮🇳 Life in India: What Worked and What Didn't
- 📋 The PR Obligation Dilemma
- ✈️ Moving Back to Canada in 2021
- 🏠 Life in Canada Now
- 👨👩👦 Raising Kids: Canada vs India
- 💡 Advice for Others Considering the Move
- ❓ Frequently Asked Questions
- 📚 Related Articles You May Find Helpful
Tamana's journey is unique - she moved to Canada in 2016, returned to India after a year, lived there for 3+ years, then moved back to Canada in 2021. This is an honest look at both sides of the coin - what worked, what didn't, and why she ultimately chose Canada.
Check your move date and India travel history with the RNOR status calculator.
Key Takeaways from Tamana's Journey
- Moved to Canada in March 2016 from Ludhiana, Punjab with husband and 6-year-old son
- Returned to India after 1 year due to career challenges and confusion about long-term plans
- Lived in India for 3+ years but wasn't fully happy - missed Canadian lifestyle and facilities
- Moved back to Canada in 2021 due to PR expiration and pandemic disrupting husband's business
- Now settled with government teaching job, son in school, and better work-life balance
- Key insight: "Two places can be home - home is people"
The Honest Truth: "When you have to stay in a place, you find thousand reasons to stay. When you don't want to stay in a place, you find one lakh reasons to not stay. We were very very confused."
Planning the move from Canada? This is Tamana's personal Canada PR and lifestyle story. For the checklist on RRSP, CPP/OAS, tax residency, schools, banking, and first-quarter setup, use the Canada-to-India move guide.
🎓 Tamana's Background: From Ludhiana to Canada
Tamana hails from Ludhiana, a small town in Punjab. Despite having an MBA from Pune, she chose to work in education rather than pursue a corporate career. Her husband was self-employed, running a family business - like 99% of people in Punjab, as she puts it.
The Punjab Context
Tamana's journey is very different from typical IT professionals moving abroad. Coming from North India, particularly Punjab, there's a strong cultural pull toward moving abroad. Her brother was already in Canada, which influenced their decision.
- Background: MBA from Pune, working as an educator in a private school
- Husband: Self-employed businessman in cycle parts manufacturing (never worked a job)
- Son: 6 years old at the time of move, very attached to grandparents
- Family situation: Husband is the only son, always lived with family
In 2014-15, they decided to give Canada a try. Unlike many who go on student visas, they applied directly for PR. Within 8-9 months, they got approved because Tamana was in her late 20s with postgraduation and enough work experience to qualify.
They moved to Canada in March 2016. But the reality they encountered was quite different from expectations.
😰 The First Year in Canada: Challenges and Struggles
The first year was tough - a "tough ball game altogether" as Tamana describes it. Multiple challenges hit them simultaneously.
Career Mismatch
Neither Tamana nor her husband could get into their careers immediately:
The Career Challenge
- Tamana: To get into education in Canada takes approximately a year to get licensed. She was passionate about her career and wanted the same field.
- Husband: He was a businessman who had never worked a job - always in family business since age 18. He had an MBA from SIES but no corporate experience.
Result: No dollar income flowing in while expenses mounted.
Lifestyle Expectations vs Reality
Coming from a comfortable background in India, they didn't want to compromise on lifestyle:
- Rented a house (not apartment) because in-laws would visit for 6 months
- Wanted comfortable space for everyone including their 6-year-old son
- Expenses were much higher than anticipated
- Everything was being paid from rupee savings converted to dollars - "you keep converting for a year"
Son's Adjustment Issues
Their 6-year-old son faced significant challenges:
The Child's Struggle
- He wore a turban (Sikh family)
- They chose a multicultural neighborhood rather than a South Asian community
- Faced indirect racism - not overt, but present
- Finding it hard to adjust in school
Their reasoning for neighborhood choice: "Instead of coming from India and going to another India, we decided a different approach for our child, for our own networking, getting into careers."
Lack of Information
In 2016, social media wasn't as helpful as it is today:
They weren't very aware of what to expect. The settlement phase was overwhelming - getting driver's license, navigating bus systems with one car, juggling everything without the apps and technology available today.
🔄 The Decision to Return to India
After about a year, they faced a critical decision point - their house lease was up for renewal, and they needed to decide whether to continue in Canada or return.
The Factors That Led to Return
Why They Chose to Go Back
- Business in India: Husband hadn't shut his business - it was still running on papers
- Family ties: He's the only son and always lived with family
- Investment required: Starting a business in Canada required selling everything in India
- Paid-off home: They had a family house in India with no mortgage
- Confusion: They weren't 100% sure they wanted to live in Canada permanently
The PR Strategy
Canada's PR system offered flexibility that influenced their decision:
Canada PR Flexibility: Unlike the US, Canada permits you to complete your PR obligated days within the five years. You could go back to India, return even one day before PR obligation expires, stay another two years, and renew the PR.
They decided to use this flexibility - go back to India, give themselves more time to decide, and not make a "hazy decision" when they weren't clear. For more details on Canada PR rules, see the official IRCC guidelines on PR status.
The Regret About Timing
Looking back, they regretted not staying longer initially:
But her husband had a different perspective - if they had stayed 4 years, their son would have been in middle school, fully settled, and they would never have been able to move back. The son would have said no, she would have gotten into education earning 10 times more than India, and her husband would have found his way too.
🇮🇳 Life in India: What Worked and What Didn't
Tamana is candid about her experience - she wasn't very happy with the move back to India, even though her husband and son were in better spaces. Her story echoes many families who face similar challenges - read more about why NRIs choose to return to India and the common challenges they face.
What Worked for the Family
The Positives
- Son: Happy to be with grandparents, bigger house, comfortable space
- Husband: Back to his business (though he had to restart and rebuild clientele)
- In-laws: Highly educated retired government officials, comfortable home
- No housing stress: Paid-off family home meant no rent or mortgage
What Didn't Work for Tamana
Tamana found herself struggling with multiple aspects:
The Challenges
- Culture adjustment: She had started liking Canadian culture, comfort, and facilities
- Healthcare access: Going to specialists was difficult - she had to wait an entire night for a famous gastroenterologist's appointment in Ludhiana, and once had to travel to Delhi for another specialist
- Medical diagnosis: She was suffering from an autoimmune disorder. Indian doctors kept experimenting on what the problem was - she was treated for multiple things before finally being diagnosed correctly in Canada
- Career restart: Despite years of experience, she had to restart from scratch. Jobs and opportunities weren't floating around in a small town like Ludhiana
- Work-life balance: She worked 6 days a week with no five-day work culture where she worked
The First Year Back Was Hard for Everyone
Professionally, it was very challenging for all three of them:
- Husband: Had to restart his business from scratch - rebuild clientele, make further investments, buy equipment
- Tamana: Had to restart career despite experience - limited opportunities in Ludhiana
- Son: Struggled with languages (Hindi and Punjabi are compulsory in schools), different teaching methods, and the rote learning approach
The Lifestyle Adjustment
Even with household help available in India, Tamana found the adjustment difficult:
- She had gotten used to cooking and living a certain way in Canada
- Being the woman of the house meant taking charge regardless of help available
- She found that for a small family with an independent child, managing in Canada wasn't as hard as people make it seem
- Her husband helped equally - "we're millennials"
📋 The PR Obligation Dilemma
The PR obligation became a constant factor in their planning. They had always kept it in the back of their minds.
The Original Plan
Their strategy was to complete PR obligation days without fully moving back:
The PR Completion Strategy
- Tamana would come to Canada every year since 2018
- She would try to complete 2-2.5 months with her son each visit
- Plan was to NOT come back to Canada permanently
- Just complete obligated days to maintain PR
- Eventually get citizenship for their son
The reasoning: If they'd already invested time, energy, and money in getting PR, why should their child have to start from scratch? With citizenship, he could study in Canada paying 1/4 of international student fees.
The Pandemic Disruption
COVID-19 completely disrupted their plans:
The Crisis: They couldn't travel to Canada for two years due to the pandemic. Their PRs were expiring at different times - son's in February 2021, Tamana's in July 2021, and husband's in September 2021 (even though they all got PR on the same date in March 2016).
They hired a lawyer to figure out options. The situation was complicated - Tamana had to return before February 2021 for her son's PR, but she couldn't complete her own obligation days due to the pandemic.
✈️ Moving Back to Canada in 2021
The decision to return to Canada in 2021 was driven by multiple converging factors.
The Triggering Factors
Why They Moved Back
- PR expiration: If husband's PR expired, he couldn't come to Canada, and Tamana couldn't go back to India (she was in applied status)
- Family unity: They didn't want to live separately - had already spent 6 months apart and didn't want more
- Business disruption: Pandemic had hit husband's manufacturing business hard, especially in Punjab
- Dying industry: The cycle parts business needed either massive reinvestment or complete restructuring
- Age factor: They were in their early 30s - young enough to try again
Initially, the husband had planned to forego his PR, let Tamana and son keep theirs, and pump money into restructuring his business. But when they came to Canada, the lawyer advised that the son had to restart school there and Tamana had to get a job to strengthen their profile for PR renewal.
The Mindset Shift
Once they decided to stay, they started seeing all the positives:
- Tamana's teaching license had arrived in 2017 (she hadn't even renewed it, thinking she was settled in India)
- She landed a government job where her Indian experience was considered
- Son started school and began exploring sports and athletics
- They realized Canada's education system offered flexibility for pursuing passions
🏠 Life in Canada Now
Tamana is now settled and happy in Canada, though she acknowledges it's not without its complexities.
Career Success
Teaching in Canada
Tamana landed a government teaching job, which she describes as transformative:
- 5-day work week (vs 6 days in India)
- 2.5 months paid vacation
- Winter break and other holidays
- Very well respected profession
- Don't have to ask for holidays - "you just do it"
- Indian experience was considered
Son's Opportunities
The flexibility of Canadian education system opened doors for their son:
- He's very much into sports and athletics
- Can do high school over multiple years
- Can drop off and restart
- Options for half-day school or alternative schooling
- Can be homeschooled if needed for sports career
- Kids start working at 15-16, gaining independence early
The Emotional Reality
Despite being happy in Canada, Tamana's connection to India remains strong:
The Heart vs Head Dilemma
After coming back to Canada in 2021, Tamana didn't visit India for 4 years. When she finally went in 2025:
- Leaving was heartbreaking despite being happy in Canada
- She realized she didn't want to go back because she knew leaving would be hard
- Her home, her room, her street - "that is my place"
- She acknowledges: "Two places can be home. Home is people."
👨👩👦 Raising Kids: Canada vs India
Tamana offers a perspective that might surprise many - she believes kids of first-generation immigrants in Canada are actually more rooted than kids in India.
A Surprising Observation
Her reasoning:
- Information is everywhere now - kids in the west aren't behind
- Globalization means Indian kids are getting everything western kids have
- The assumption that kids in the west lose their culture isn't necessarily true
- It depends on family values, not geography
What She Observed in India
When Tamana visited India after 4 years, she noticed significant changes:
- Competition has increased dramatically in education
- Housing prices are skyrocketing - 3.5 crores for a 3-bedroom flat in Ludhiana (not even a high-rise favorable city)
- Good localities require crores just for land
- Kids are driving cars without licenses at young ages
- The westernization of Indian kids, especially in North India
The Universal Truth About Parenting
Tamana's Conclusion: "It's hard to raise kids at all levels, at all places. You need to have very strong family values to raise good kids."
The west is not the wrong place to raise kids. It's not about location - it's about the values you instill.
💡 Advice for Others Considering the Move
Based on her unique experience of moving both ways, Tamana offers nuanced advice.
The Gray Area Reality
Key Considerations
What Tamana Learned
- Financial stability is crucial: "If I wouldn't have gotten a government job, if I wouldn't have landed a high-paying job, or my husband wouldn't have been settled financially - then it would have been a nightmare again."
- Don't expect one place to be like another: Coming from Canada and expecting India to be like Canada is wrong. Give chance to the India you left, which has grown but is still laid-back.
- Leaving comfort zone is big: Whether it's leaving your city or country - it's a significant decision.
- Give yourself time: Don't expect instant success. Age works against you in your 35s-40s, so be rational.
- Two places can be home: Home is people, not just geography.
The Long-Term Vision
Tamana has a clear long-term plan:
- Eventually wants to retire in India - maybe Goa or similar place
- Right now, they're in their prime and want to explore opportunities
- Want to give their son the choice of where to live
- By maintaining his citizenship, he won't have to start from scratch like they did
The Profession Factor
Tamana acknowledges that her story is shaped by her profession:
Important Context: "A profession like IT is the same all over. A profession like chartered accountant - accounting is similar around the world. But at a different profession, the challenges are very varied."
Her journey as an educator in a small town like Ludhiana was very different from what an IT professional might experience.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to common questions about moving between Canada and India, based on Tamana's firsthand experience navigating both countries.
Considering a Move Between India and Canada?
Tamana's journey shows that there's no perfect answer - it's about what works for your family at each stage of life. Whether you're thinking of moving to Canada, returning to India, or navigating PR obligations, having the right information and community support makes all the difference.
Connect with others who have navigated similar decisions and get practical guidance for your unique situation.
