Lucas arrived to Brockville from Brazil in October 2021.
Lives in Brockville with his husband Felipe. Lucas works at Boboli and Felipe attends St. Lawrence College. When he first arrived to Brockville, Lucas was working remotely for a Brazilian company but shortly after settling into Brockville, he realized that he needed to be earning Canadian dollars in order to survive.
Lucas and Felipe love how safe they feel living in Brockville. They find that their purchasing power is greater here than in Brazil. They do miss the nightlife, diversity of cuisine, and big energy of a larger city.
How does working in Canada compare to Brazil?
Lucas is working in a different profession than he was in Brazil so job specifics are hard to compare but generally, there are a few differences he notices. In Brazil, people are paid per month but in Canada many people are paid per hour. He feels that labour laws in Brazil favour the worker more strongly than in Canada. Worker contracts are never above the law and employers are very careful to abide by labour laws. The labour laws even extend outside of the workplace. For example, if a worker was walking to work and got injured, the employer is responsible for paying that person while they are at the hospital and has to hold their job for them until they return. People aren’t allowed to work more than 8 hours a day, there are 30 paid vacation days, and a country favourite is the ‘13th salary’ where employers are expected to pay an extra month of salary to their workers at the end of the year.
How did you find out about your job in Brockville?
Lucas found the job posting for Boboli on a downtown Brockville Instagram posting.
What do you think is most important for people to know/think about when working with immigrants?
Learning about and then respecting each other’s cultures and sense of humour is important. You don’t need to become friends but there needs to be a level of respect. Lucas also feels that it’s important for immigrants to know that they are in a different country than home and they need to make an effort to adapt to the differences of their new country.
What is your dream job?
Lucas is a trained journalist in Brazil and hopes to eventually works for a large, progressive company like Netflix, focusing on funny and light communication.