Canadians struggle to keep sending money to family overseas as inflation soars
'You feel … you're not doing your responsibility,' says Winnipegger trying to help family in Ethiopia
With inflation hitting its highest point in decades, some Canadians with families overseas say it's getting tougher to support their loved ones.
Kidist Demessie, who lives in Winnipeg, tries to send money to her mom and relatives in Ethiopia every month. She used to send around $300, but with her own living costs climbing, she's had to scale it back to $200.
Some months, she's unable to send any money, she said.
"I've been skipping and then … I don't feel even good calling after that, because you feel, you know, you're not doing your responsibility," said Demessie.
The support worker says her wage has remained the same for seven years — a challenge as inflation drives costs higher. Canada's inflation rate for June was 8.1 per cent compared to a year earlier — the fastest annual increase since 1983, according to Statistics Canada data released this week.
To meet her expenses, Demessie has taken a second job.
"I work six hours in the morning, eight hours in the evening," she said. "I don't party, I don't drink, I don't smoke … but then you find yourself struggling just to buy groceries and to pay [the] mortgage."
Trying to cover living costs has been incredibly stressful, she said, and since taking on her second job, she's been unable to spend quality time with her child.
"It's shocking — what else should you do? Like, what else? You work two jobs and you're still broke."
Demessie says it's hard to explain to relatives in Ethiopia how much she's struggling to make ends meet.
"A lot of people look up to you because you are in a … developed country. So they really think you could help," she said. "They think it's a joke when we say life is so expensive."
She says even though she's struggling, she feels obliged to send money to her family in Ethiopia.
"Some of our community back home, they wait for the money just to survive."
A sense of responsibility
Perla Javate, president of the Philippine Heritage Council of Manitoba, says it's also common for Filipino newcomers in Canada to send money back home to their families.
"There is a strong feeling of loyalty for their family, making sure that they are also experiencing some of the finer things that they are enjoying here," Javate said.
High inflation in Canada won't stop newcomers from supporting their loved ones overseas, she said, and some have even borrowed money to help their relatives.
"Regardless of all the different hardships we experience here, it's nothing compared to what our folks back home sometimes are going through," she said. "They feel that the least that they can do is to send something to them."
Javate says the practice might be difficult for the younger Filipino generation to understand, "especially if their situation is such that they're not really enjoying a very luxurious life."
But "their parents feel that they need to help out some of those back home," she said.
For younger people, "[I] ust want to assure them that the show of generosity … is something I wish they can carry in their own lives, because it will pay off eventually," Javate said.
Minimum wage earners need support
Ethiopian Society of Winnipeg founder Ali Saeed says he's hearing stories like Demessie's from many in his community.
Saeed used to send around $500 monthly to his family in Ethiopia and refugees in Kenya, Sudan and Somalia. But now, he only sends $120 per month, he said.
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"All the families back home are dependent on the diaspora because of the economic financial situation. But nowadays, let alone to help your family, you cannot even help yourself from out here," he said.
Saeed says the majority of the Ethiopian diaspora in Canada makes minimum wage — and he hopes the federal government will step in to provide financial support for them in times of high inflation.
"I feel bad," he said. "I have never seen that kind of inflation and I have been here almost eight years. This is the worst one."
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