How Several Nigerians in Canada Are Struggling to Make a Living

THE media personality and journalist, Dr. Kemi Olunloyo has sent shockwaves through the Nigerian digital space after publishing a blunt, uncompromising reality check targeted at the country’s massive “Japa” migration wave.

Writing under her signature hashtag #DrKemilifestyle, Dr. Olunloyo, on Friday, laid bare the grueling financial and social hardships confronting the diaspora, warning those back home through her facebook post that the Western dream has rapidly deteriorated into a harsh struggle for survival.

Olunloyo began her viral address by aggressively dismantling the widespread belief that moving abroad guarantees instant wealth and luxury. She pointed out that while families in Nigeria assume their relatives overseas are living comfortably, the day-to-day reality is often a desperate hustle.

“Many Nigerians outside the Nigeria are struggling. Those of you at home think they are enjoying life,” Olunloyo wrote, before zeroing in on North America. “Canada is the worst.”

She painted a bleak picture of major Canadian urban hubs, describing them as unsustainably crowded. In a claim that directly mirrors the country’s ongoing housing and asylum debates, Olunloyo noted that many immigrants are currently “living in shelters” or facing outright homelessness.

A major portion of Olunloyo’s viral post focused on the brutal mathematical reality of earning a living in highly taxed, high-inflation Western economies. She broke down the cyclic financial trap that leaves many hard-working immigrants with virtually nothing to save or send home.

“It is a revolving cycle. There is no life in that,” Olunloyo lamented, describing how the dream of prosperity quickly transforms into a repetitive, high-stress grind just to keep the lights on”, she said.

Beyond housing and bills, Olunloyo highlighted how skyrocketing costs are fracturing the traditional immigrant workforce. She noted that “many mothers are at home while their children go to their free public school.”

According to Olunloyo, this is not a luxury or a lifestyle choice, but a matter of broken economic efficiency. Because commercial childcare costs in the West have become so exorbitant, it is simply “not cost-effective” for both parents to work, as a second income would be completely wiped out by daycare fees.

Consequently, many families are forced to rely on social assistance—a situation she compared to the systemic vulnerabilities that have historically triggered immigration crackdowns and green card restrictions in the United States.

Concluding her sweeping critique, Olunloyo warned that the “cost of living is insane” across the board, specifically grouping Canada, the UK, and the USA together as unforgiving landscapes for unprepared newcomers.