In the current economic climate the concept of Irish professionals emigrating to foreign climes is not a new one. More and more finance employees (or should I say former employees) have moved on to bigger financial centres like London, Sydney and New York over the last couple of years as job opportunities dried up locally.

I decided that Canada was a more suitable location to progress my career.

I’d been working in financial services in Ireland for nearly ten years before I moved to Toronto at the end of 2009. From the latter part of 2008, most companies in the Irish marketplace were restructuring, reducing headcount or freezing recruitment budgets, even before the domestic banks really took a turn for the worse late last year.

Suffice to say, it was a challenging environment, but the economic conditions in Ireland provided the impetus for me to do what I’d always wanted to – work abroad and experience another culture for a few years.

From a career point of view it was a risk; I’d managed to make it to a relatively senior position, and it was likely that I’d have to take a step backwards to move overseas. I was convinced that in the medium to long-term it would be beneficial, though.

As it turns out, the position I’ve secured is also relatively high up the career ladder, and the financial services market in Canada is decidedly more robust than it is in Ireland. It’s been difficult to establish and grow my name in a competitive market, but I’ve enjoyed it. The biggest challenge, however, has been the social side.

There’s no shortage of Irish expats in Canada; some have been here for 30 years, others for a few months. However, I’ve really had to push myself to try and integrate better with the Canadian community. That’s not a reflection on them – they’re certainly friendly enough – but developing a new network of friends in a foreign country is always difficult.

Toronto is a great city – there’s plenty to see and do (I still feel like a tourist), the business environment is vibrant, the economy is strong and standard and cost of living is very good.

But it’s not home. When (or if) the economy picks back up in Ireland in a few years, it’s likely that I’ll move back again. I’m planning on coming back a couple of times a year, and will heading home for Christmas. I guess then I’ll find out how much I’ve missed the place.