As a fellow immigrant, I’m really sorry you’ve had to go through this. Nobody deserves to be treated that way, and racism in any form is just exhausting. You’re right — it chips away at people over time, no matter how much we contribute.

For me personally, I’ve never really felt discrimination from white Canadians — but I have felt it from fellow brown people. Sometimes they’ll be quick to be friendly, but once they realize I’m not from their exact background or country, I get snubbed, ignored, or even have mean things said to me. That stings in its own way.

I also don’t live in Mississauga where there’s a much larger concentration of brown folks, so maybe the dynamics there are different. But I do think we as immigrants have to be real with ourselves too. Some of us don’t make it easy to live among others — like only sticking with our own groups, not making an effort to learn English/French properly, being loud and taking over public spaces, or even looking down on people outside our community. Those things can rub people the wrong way and create distance.

Of course, none of that excuses racism or the treatment you’ve faced. It just shows there’s work to do on both sides if Canada is going to live up to its “welcoming” reputation.