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A construction worker with a notebook and an orange safety vest stands in front of a construction site with other workers
illustration by Dominic Bugatto

I Came to Canada to Build Homes—and Find One

I repaired war-torn homes in Lebanon. Now I work on a construction site, overseeing a 19-acre housing development in Brampton, Ontario
By Nadeem Al Ghazal

I grew up in Beirut during a time of constant conflict. In 2006, when I was eight, war broke out between Israel and Hezbollah. My mother’s hometown of Nabatieh was bombed to oblivion. I’ll never forget her grief when she learned that the place where she had spent her youth—and where many of her relatives still lived—had been destroyed. It was an early lesson for me on the importance of home.

That idea was also central to my father’s work as a construction manager in Beirut. From a young age, I visited his job sites and watched apartment buildings rise from the ground. He felt a deep sense of pride whenever he handed over the keys to families, many of whom had endured years of instability and violence. Those experiences left a lasting impression on me, and I went on to pursue a degree in architecture. Then, in 2020, the Beirut port explosion killed hundreds and damaged 77,000 homes, including ours. That night, my father and I boarded up neighbours’ shattered windows and doors with plywood. I did the same across the city for weeks, covering any exposed openings to make homes livable again, even if just temporarily. 

I wanted to help rebuild Beirut, a city scarred by decades of war that had left many of its neighbourhoods in ruins. But unemployment was high, and I couldn’t find a job. Soon, I was thinking about emigrating to build a better future. Friends and relatives who had lived in Canada spoke highly of the country’s safety and inclusivity. So, after graduating in 2022, I moved to London, Ontario, to study construction project management at Fanshawe College. 

The night I arrived, I fell victim to Canada’s predatory housing market. I’d secured a room in a house for $800 a month, but when I got to my new place, the landlord demanded an extra $800 on top of the $1,600 I had already paid for first and last months’ rent. He said it was a fee buried in the lease agreement, ostensibly because I didn’t have a credit score or job letter. I dragged my suitcases around the city after midnight in search of an ATM. Once I paid the fee, I was finally allowed inside the house to sleep. Three months later, the landlord asked me to leave, claiming he needed the space for his mother. It was the middle of winter. At that moment, I wondered what I was doing in Canada and why I had left my family behind.

I quickly found a new apartment with a reliable landlord, albeit at a steeper cost of $1,200 a month. I focused on my dream: to work with a major developer building affordable homes. Soon after I graduated in April of 2023, I attended a career fair, where I met reps from the Daniels Corporation, a Toronto-based developer known for integrating affordable housing into its projects. Their decades-long revitalization of the impoverished Regent Park neighbourhood in Toronto reminded me of my dreams of rebuilding Beirut. 

That summer, I joined them as a coordinator on MPV2, the first phase of a 19-acre, low-carbon housing project in Brampton, Ontario. MPV2 will provide hundreds of families with homes, easing the pressure on Canada’s housing shortage. We’re also building playgrounds and parks to foster connection and enhance quality of life. I develop work plans, ensure compliance with building codes, oversee safety procedures and troubleshoot unexpected on-site issues, like equipment malfunctions or weather-related disruptions.

The job site is diverse—many of our workers are newcomers like me—which is why I get frustrated when people blame immigrants for Canada’s housing crisis. Immigrants make up nearly a quarter of the country’s general contractors and builders of residential buildings, and around 40 per cent of our architects and civil engineers. We’re helping to build Canada’s future, one home at a time.

Beirut still struggles under political and economic instability, and I know it could use people like me to help rebuild when the time comes. For now, my focus is on Canada, a country that has given me a safe home. I hope to obtain permanent residency soon and start a family here. And when we finish the Brampton project next year, I look forward to handing over keys to new homeowners, just like my father used to do. ■


This story appears in the upcoming March 2025 issue of Maclean’s. You can subscribe to the magazine here or send a gift subscription here.