I moved to Canada, but it wasn't for me. I was cold, isolated, and finding a job was absolutely horrendous.

• Desperate to leave Lebanon, Zina Malas relocated to Canada in 2022.
• During her three-year stay, she found it hard to find work, save money, and make new friends.
• After coming up with a business idea, Malas moved back to Lebanon in September 2025.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Zina Malas, 24, who lives in Beirut. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

When I visited Canada as a 5-year-old, it was the dream.

I was born and raised in Lebanon, and grew up fearing I'd get kidnapped in the streets or a random bomb would fall on me. After war broke out in 2006, our family moved to Canada to escape.

I loved it. There were nice parks, and "exotic" activities like ice skating.

After a few months, my family went back to Lebanon, where I did my undergrad.

In 2022, at 21, I moved to Canada alone.

Three years in, I had struggled to find a job or save money, and began feeling very depressed, so I moved back to Lebanon.

I'd still advise others to try relocating abroad, but living in Canada just didn't work for me.

I grew desperate to leave Lebanon

Living in Lebanon was a struggle. I felt like I'd lost my youth and was desperate to leave, even if I had to work a minimum wage job.

My time spent studying media and communication at the American University of Beirut was disrupted by a national revolution that started in fall 2019, COVID, and the Beirut explosion in August 2020.

I already had friends in Montreal and Canadian citizenship through one of my parents, so I headed to Canada and gave myself three months to find a job.

I didn't realize how difficult it would be to find a job in Canada

Even though my Montreal friends warned me that finding a job wouldn't be easy, I didn't think it would be that hard.

They were right. It was absolutely horrendous.

In Lebanon, where I had some jobs during my studies, I experienced less competition for work. I was used to sending my application to a potential employer, DM'ing the company on Instagram, and having an interview the next day. But in Canada, I applied for roles across marketing, social media, and business development, which I felt I had the skills for, but didn't land any.

Some recruiters told me I didn't have the right experience. I'm not sure if it was because my experience was Lebanese or not Canadian, but it felt like people were treating me like I had no professional history.

I also struggled to understand interviewers who spoke Québécois French, a dialect used in Montreal. I went to a French school in Lebanon, so I'm fluent, but I couldn't for the life of me understand this particular accent, which lost me opportunities.

After applying for what I'd estimate were at least 200 jobs, I connected with a Lebanese HR rep who saw my résumé and gave me the chance to interview for a content manager role. After roughly three months of searching, it became my first job in Canada.

I stayed at the company for 1.5 years, and then moved into tech sales at a different company for a few months.

The cost of living and isolation in Canada drove me to leave

In Lebanon, the work culture was generally less formal. I could show up late to work in a random outfit and no one would say anything. We could have disorganized files and communicate with team members over Whatsapp. It was friendly and laid-back.

In Canada, things were more organized. I knew exactly what my tasks were, and was given proper equipment. I remember being shocked when I was given a MacBook and phone number for work.

My compensation in Canada was good compared with what I could make in Lebanon. I had a nice life, a nice apartment, and ate well. But with the cost of rent, bills, and groceries, I feel like I wasn't saving much, and was basically living paycheck to paycheck. It's one of the reasons I left.

Another reason was how hard it was to meet new people, and my mental health suffered as a result. Canadian culture is highly individualistic, which is hugely different to the Middle East. In Lebanon, if I go out with one friend to a restaurant, I'll end up meeting 10 new people. If I tried to talk to people in Canada while I was out, conversations would end abruptly. If my roommate didn't have friends, with whom I was thankfully able to have a lot of fun, I probably would have been completely alone.

I imagined I'd meet so many new people and have the time of my life, but my expectations weren't met. Plus, I couldn't deal with the cold weather.

In September 2025, I went home.

I'm running my own business in Lebanon now, and I'm happier

I'm currently running my own company, Tawlé Consultancy, which helps businesses in the MENA region who are declining or feel stuck. I started it in Canada, but working on it from the West felt weird, as though I was righteously telling people what to do from a distance. Now, I can sit with people, help them come up with new ideas, and feel like I'm making a valuable impact.

I've noticed many people my age in Lebanon are also trying to build their own thing. Our generation has been through a lot, and we're trying to figure things out and establish ourselves. When I go to coffee shops, I see so many founders around me. It's very inspiring.

Being in a stable country like Canada eased my mind, as I wasn't worried about my physical safety, and it helped me deal with the trauma I experienced in Lebanon.

But I'm happier living in Lebanon. I've realized I'm too Lebanese to live anywhere else.

Do you have a story to share about moving abroad and deciding to come home again? Contact this reporter at ccheong@businessinsider.com