Oksana Jacobs moved to Edmonton after plans to work as an electrical engineer in Canada did not work out. She now owns the Minuteman Press location in the Summerside neighbourhood, a business she took over in 2024, and says her family has made Edmonton home.

Jacobs and her husband came from Ukraine to Toronto in 2015 after closing a printing and photography franchise with 17 retail locations. She hoped to use her master’s-level education to find work as an electrical engineer, drawing on her studies in electronics engineering. When that search did not succeed, the couple looked for engineering opportunities in Edmonton and moved there the following year.

“I had studied electronics engineering, and we decided, OK, so now it’s time to move somewhere where probably engineers are needed more than in Toronto,” Jacobs said. “So we moved to Edmonton.”

Jacobs had known she might need to accept entry-level work after arriving in Canada, but she still expected eventually to work as an engineer. Her first job instead was in a warehouse, a prospect she said she had never imagined. She later used her business ownership experience to become a manager at London Drugs, then drew on a second degree in accounting as she considered a career in banking.

The prospect of working for someone else did not hold her for long. Jacobs realized she wanted to run her own business again, and her experience in Ukraine helped shape her return to entrepreneurship in Edmonton.

“Your past experience doesn’t disappear when you move to a new country,” Jacobs said. “You may have to adapt it, learn new things, and build new connections, but it can become a strong foundation for your next chapter.”

Her earlier years as a business owner in Ukraine were difficult. Jacobs said bureaucracy and corruption in parts of the Ukrainian government at the time made it hard for entrepreneurs to start businesses. The stress contributed to her decision to consider moving to Canada. She said conditions are easier in Edmonton, though she is concerned about Alberta’s current political climate and the economic strain.

“Right now, it’s still like government is kind of screwing everyone,” Jacobs said. “And it’s a hard time economically and everything. So I want to change this.”

Jacobs said the most significant gift she has received since coming to Canada has been the ability to have a child despite her age, through access to fertility programs. Her daughter is almost four, and Jacobs said becoming a parent connected her to Edmonton more deeply than her business did.

“I have a daughter now,” Jacobs said. “She’s almost four. That really rooted me to Edmonton, particularly because I got what I wanted, but not about the business. It’s for my family.”

Jacobs’ path to the Summerside print shop followed a series of career shifts after the move from Ukraine. She went from hoping to practise engineering to warehouse work, retail management and consideration of banking before deciding to return to being her own boss. Her account reflects how she adapted her earlier business experience and education to a new country while building a life in Edmonton.

Based on reporting by Edmonton Journal.