December 13, 2019
Two years ago, Sophia Jia and her family packed up their belongings and flew from China to Canada. After landing in Vancouver, they loaded up their car and spent three days driving to Yellowknife – where the January temperatures were plummeting to -40°C.
It was a leap of faith for the family and their two sons, aged 11 and 6, but they were surprised by how at home they felt so soon. The city felt small and quiet and its people were welcoming. “It is almost like my hometown, Anshan, in the far north of China,” Jia says.
Jia arrived in Yellowknife with a business plan, approved through the Business Stream of the NWT Nominee Program, to open a traditional Chinese hotpot restaurant in the territory’s capital.
While the YK Hot Pot restaurant offers a variety of dishes, the authentic 1,000-year-old style of Chinese cuisine is the main attraction. It features a regular or spicy soup stock, 15 types of sauces and more than 30 fresh ingredients including thinly sliced meat, seafood and leaf vegetables.
The unique cuisine even earned the restaurant a spot in WestJet Magazine’s article 13 Places to Eat and Drink in Yellowknife under its global eats section.
Understanding the local market for tastes and dishes was an important step in developing the menu, but YK Hot Pot is also thriving on the increasing number of travelers from China – which has grown more than 200% in the last two years.
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The cooking process, similar to fondue, is designed to be a communal one. As customers wait for their broth to come to a boil, arrange their ingredients for cooking and mull over whether they’ll try the leek flower paste or fermented tofu sauce, it’s a chance to unwind and catch up with one another.
Though the challenges of operating a small business can be daunting, Jia and her family have been buoyed by their customers - finding fulfillment when their guests enjoy a dish and making friends in the process.
“[Our customers] can teach us something – it is a benefit for business and for life,” Jia says.
Now, after two years of hard work, Sophia and her family have reached the last hurdle in the immigration process: they have been nominated for permanent residency in Canada.
It’s a major milestone that has made their leap of faith, learning curves and long nights all worth it.
The business stream of the NWT Nominee Program is designed to attract foreign national entrepreneurs with business expertise to settle in the NWT and enhance the economic environment by purchasing or starting a business.
Interested in learning more about immigrating to the NWT? Click here.