The British man visiting Canada was given eight days to leave the country after immigration officials found that he had helped to decorate his girlfriend’s flat by filling some cracks on her walls.
Photos were seen of him filling cracks while doing some DIY at his girlfriend’s flat in Edmonton, Alberta.
He was given eight days to leave Canada after being accused by immigration officials of stealing jobs in Canada.
Tom Rolfe thought he was being helpful by doing a bit of decorating for his girlfriend Sam Edwards, by filling the cracks of the walls of her flat.
Canadian immigration officials felt he was ‘doing a Canadian out of a job’ after coming across the photos at a an immigration checkpoint.
Yahoo News reports:
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Tom, 24, from Abergavenny, said: ‘It is ridiculous, I was just helping Sam to tidy up her flat before she sold it so we could get a place together. I was treated like a criminal and told I have eight days to get out of the country – it has wrecked our plans.’
And Tom’s helpful nature doesn’t end there either – he had planned to open a dog rescue centre in his girlfriend’s home city of Edmonton, Alberta.
He applied for a resident’s permit in order to do so, and had to leave Canada in order to get his new passport stamped at immigration control.
But when the couple returned, they were locked in separate rooms for three hours while immigration officials searched their belongings and car.
‘They found photos on my camera of me helping Sam fill cracks in her walls’, Tom said.
‘They said that by doing that I was denying a Canadian person a job. I was completely staggered when they said I had eight days to get out of the country.’
Yesterday, Tom was preparing to return to the UK, and while his girlfriend will follow in a few months with their dogs, he has no immediate plans to return to Canada.
‘I’m done with Canada now. I thought they were part of the Commonwealth so I’m surprised to be treated like this’, he said.
In a statement, the Canadian Border Services Agency said: ‘We do not provide any specific information on any traveller’s entry or status in Canada due to Canadian privacy laws.’
