Tawfeeq Al Hadary speaks with the calm, deliberate cadence of someone freshly arrived in Canada building confidence in his English.
Originally from Lebanon, Tawfeeq is of Palestinian descent, and he spent his professional life working as an emergency room nurse. He can stitch wounds, intubate patients in need, and he can handle snap decisions in a busy environment. He also cared for older adults through community-based geriatric programs, coordinating care, arranging medical appointments and supporting people to remain healthy in their homes. Now, despite years of nursing experience, he has chosen to begin again.
"Here, I start anew," he says with a smile. "In Lebanon I was an emergency nurse. Here, I am a PSW, and that's okay. Everything needs time."
Tawfeeq and his wife arrived in Canada only recently, and in just a few short weeks they have opened a bank account, obtained health coverage, found a family doctor and begun building a new life. They're also preparing for another exciting milestone with the expected arrival of their first child.
When I meet him, he’s finishing vacuuming the John Murkar Library in the new Village of Millers Creek in Ajax, where he’s been hired as a Personal Support Worker.
The team is still weeks away from welcoming the Village’s first residents, though, so like everyone in the Village, he’s doing whatever needs to be done: unpacking supplies, cleaning floors, arranging cutlery in each neighbourhood’s dining room.
Although he admits he was nervous before his first shift, those fears disappeared almost immediately.
"On my first day, everyone said, 'Hi, Tawfeeq!' I felt welcomed right away," he recalls. "If I need help, everyone helps. Here in Canada, when you look someone in the eye, they smile.”
What struck Tawfeeq about the Village that hired him is the fact that everyone is pitching in with whatever needs to be done in preparation for the final inspections prior to opening.
“There is a beautiful thing in this company, in Schlegel Villages,” he says, deliberately choosing his words. “On one day, all people are working in housekeeping, so I’m thinking all of them are PSWs, but I asked my friends: ‘what is this person’s position?’ and they say: ‘this one is a coordinator, this one a supervisor, and the General Manager.’
That sense of teamwork and mutual respect that has made the biggest impression on him in his early days.
"Everyone is respectful, kind and helpful," he said. "You don't feel alone."
Tawfeeq intends to become a licensed nurse in Ontario and already sees that within the Schlegel Villages family there is a path to growth that would not have been as clear for him in other places. He senses it from the people he’s met in his first few weeks.
"They told me, 'You can grow in this company,'" he said. "I don't want to stay in one position forever, but it’s step-by-step."
That phrase comes up often in conversation with Tawfeeq, and he embraces the idea of patience just as he recognizes how to embrace and enjoy every moment. Perhaps this philosophy comes from previous experience in a land that offered little sense of safety, despite his professional success.
"You should do everything step-by-step," he says. "If you grow step-by-step, you become stronger and more professional."
For someone who has already crossed continents, started a new career and is preparing to become a father, those small steps are already leading to an exciting new chapter.
As the Village of Millers Creek prepares to welcome its first residents, Tawfeeq is looking forward to growing alongside the community he now proudly calls home.
