By: Randy Ray | The Globe and Mail | November 19, 2009
Read More, and see what Scott Plaskett says about relocation and long-distance relationships.
As the ranks of the unemployed swell, a growing number of people are being forced to relocate far from their families.
Every Sunday afternoon, Paul Kendrick hops into a rental car and makes the 4½-hour trek from Ottawa to Toronto, parting from his family until the following Friday evening.
“It’s certainly not the lifestyle I want,” he says – but it is one that has been forced on him by this economy.
Ten months ago, Mr. Kendrick found himself out of work when his contract as a senior program officer with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. was not renewed. That ended a decade-long career with CMHC.
Mr. Kendrick, 51, spent months following his job loss looking for a new position in the nation’s capital. When 400 applications failed to land him work, he was forced to take his search further afield. It finally paid off in mid-October, when he was hired to deliver training programs at Pearson International Airport in Toronto.
While he’s happy to be working again, and earning a similar salary, it meant a tough choice for Mr. Kendrick, his wife, Francine, and their two sons: To keep the paycheques coming in, the family has been forced into a long-distance relationship…
