When my grandfather fled Nazi Germany, he managed to sneak into Canada,....despite Mackenzie King's proclamation that "none is too many"...as ht turned back a ship of fleeing Jews and sent them back to their death in the camps.  He did not speak English, he could not work in the public sector as Jews were banned, couldn't work for city hall as janitor even.....he managed to work on a green chain in Lake Louise...learned to speak English on his own, never to write or read it, and died in his 80's a very very wealthy man.  No one lifted a finger to assist him and his family in ANY WAY., in fact the opposite being true.  Glad times have changed....