So… it’s Tuesday again. At this point, I think the newsletter has quietly decided that Mondays are just too hectic, so Tuesday it is. Let’s call it a strategic move and not poor planning.

At home, things are a bit chaotic because we’re in full-blown Canadian citizenship oath ceremony mode for this Friday.

There are haircuts happening. Outfits being debated. Shoes being judged. According to Belinda and Angelique, Connor and I cannot be trusted to dress ourselves for this occasion. Our shoes are “too ugly”, our ideas are “silly”, and my suggestion of jeans, work boots, and a Howzit Canada T-shirt was shut down immediately.

Connor and I, of course, clearly don’t get it. We thought we were looking perfectly fine, but apparently this just proves (once again) that we don’t understand these things at all.

But ja, jokes aside, I suppose I do get it. It’s a big moment. Years of paperwork, forms, waiting, moving countries… and then standing there, swearing allegiance to a new country. That’s not nothing.

So we’ll do what the girls want. We’ll get the haircut. We’ll buy the shoes. We’ll try and look presentable.

Anyway, that’s the current vibe in our house — a bit of chaos, a bit of excitement, and a clear reminder that Connor and I have absolutely no fashion sense whatsoever.

In this week’s newsletter

• Upcoming events

• Taxes, Audits & Lessons Learned

• Saffa Thought of the Week

• Bits & pieces

• That’s a wrap

Upcoming events

North Shore Pub Night
We’ve got our next North Shore Pub Night coming up this Monday, February 16, at Sailor Hagar’s in North Vancouver.

It’s a relaxed South African pub night — guys and girls welcome — just a chance to grab a drink, have a laugh, and catch up with some familiar accents.

6:00 pm – 10:00 pm at 86 Semisch Ave, North Vancouver.

Rugby Sevens – heads up before you buy tickets

Rugby Canada has reached out to us through the South African Institute and is putting together discounted tickets for the upcoming Vancouver Sevens.

If you’re thinking of going, hold off on buying tickets just yet.

We’re expecting:

• 10% off single-day tickets

• 20% off multi-day tickets

They’re also looking at ways to help groups sit together, so if a bunch of us want to go together, that might be possible too.

More details and discount codes coming next week, so don’t rush into buying tickets yet.

And if you know of any other events coming up — or you’re organising one yourself — let us know. We’re still building out the events side of the site and would love to get more listed and help spread the word.

Taxes, Audits & Lessons Learned

So I had a chat with Gwen the other day about tax season in Canada, and it brought back a few memories… mostly the expensive kind.

First year here, we paid almost two grand for someone to do our personal taxes. And just to be clear — We just got completely ripped off because we didn’t know any better at the time.

Second year, we decided we were clever and did it ourselves online for free.

Third year… we got audited.

So ja. Turns out we weren’t quite as clever as we thought.

That’s kind of the thing with taxes — you’ve got to find your fit. What works for one oke doesn’t always work for the next one.

One thing a lot of people don’t realise is just how much you can actually claim in Canada. If you’ve got kids, for example, the government literally gives you money back. And it’s not some rare loophole either — almost everyone qualifies for something. The problem is, if you don’t know what you’re looking for, you don’t even know you’re missing out.

That’s where chatting to someone like Gwen actually makes sense. She’s a tax consultant in both South Africa and Canada, so she understands the whole story — immigration stuff, cross-border finances, and all the small things that are easy to get wrong when you’re doing this on your own. She’s also really sharp when it comes to financial immigration, which is one of those things you absolutely want to get right the first time.

If tax season is coming up and you’re not 100% sure you’ve got it right, it’s probably worth at least having a conversation with someone who knows the system properly. You can connect with Gwen here: https://maslow.pro/

Also worth mentioning — Gwen is one of the founding member sponsors of the South African Institute, so she’s someone who’s backing the community as well.

The video’s up now if you want to have a watch. It’s a lekker, practical chat — no doom and gloom, just real talk: https://youtu.be/SOwvR3VrWmE

Saffa Thought of the Week

Something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is how other communities seem to do this stuff better than we do.

You look at so many other groups — Iranians, Indians, Chinese, whoever — and they’ve got solid support networks. People talk to each other. They share info. They warn each other. They pass on contacts so the next person doesn’t get ripped off.

And if I’m honest, I’ve always felt this is something we South Africans sometimes struggle with.

Take the tax story above. Paying two grand because we didn’t know any better is exactly the kind of thing that should be avoidable if we were talking to each other more. But a lot of us don’t ask. Maybe it’s pride. Maybe it’s not wanting to look clueless. Maybe we just think we should figure it out on our own.

The thing is, the world runs on communities looking out for each other — and we’re part of a community too. We’re part of the South African community here in Canada. Whether we like it or not, that’s our little tribe – and it only works if we actually help each other.

So here’s my ask this week:

If you’ve got a good tip, a lesson you learned the hard way, or a mistake you made that someone else could avoid, hit reply and tell me. It doesn’t have to be big or clever — just something real.

If we can save the next oke a bit of money, stress, or frustration, that’s already a win.

Bits & Pieces

• Thanks for the replies last week

  A big thank you to everyone who replied to last week’s newsletter. The number of messages about the “did we do the right thing?” question honestly surprised me. Clearly a lot of us are sitting with the same thoughts — and it really does help knowing you’re not the only one.

• WIN a copy of The Democratic Republic of Braai 🔥

  We’re so close! We need three more followers on Facebook before we do the live draw.

  If you haven’t yet, go and follow The South African Shop on Facebook:

  👉 https://www.facebook.com/thesouthafricanshopcanada

  We’ll do the live draw for The Democratic Republic of Braai as soon as we hit the number!

• Best Chilli Bites & Droëwors competition – closing soon 🌶️

  Entries are closing on Sunday, 15 February. If you’re planning to take part (or know someone who should), please get your order in.

  Official tasting packs are available here:

  👉 https://thesouthafricanshop.ca/products/the-best-droewors-chilli-bites-in-bc-tasting-pack-official-howzit-canada-bc-competition-kit

  We’ll be placing all the orders on Monday and then start shipping everything out for the tastings.

• Howzit Canada Facebook Group

  We’re going to start building out the Howzit Canada Facebook group a bit more and sharing more relevant, useful info over there.

  If you’ve got questions, need advice, or just want to see what others are dealing with, jump in and join the conversation:

  👉 https://www.facebook.com/groups/howzitcanada

  Let’s see if we can help each other out.

• South African businesses – get listed

  If you run a South African-owned business, or supply South African products or services, we’re currently updating the Howzit Canada website.

  Here’s the new form to submit your business for listing:

  👉 https://form.jotform.com/260376126137051

• Got something for Bits & Pieces?

  If you’ve got something worth sharing — an event, business, job, tip, or win — hit reply and let me know. This section is exactly for that kind of thing.

That’s a Wrap

That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading, and thanks for all the replies, messages, tips, and stories that keep this whole thing going. I genuinely read every one, even if I don’t always reply immediately.

If you’re heading to the pub night, hopefully we’ll see you there. If not, keep an eye on the events page — more bits are coming as we catch up.

And as always, let me know how I did.

Anything you want more of? Less of? Something we missed?

Hit reply and give me a shout.

Chat soon,

Callie 👋🇨🇦