At Arab Canada Newspaper, we work to be a bridge of communication between members of the Arab community, and therefore we support any work that contributes to introducing the community members to each other and shedding light on their successful models so that they become an inspiring motivation for others..

Today we meet Dr. Ali Al-Khalf, financial advisor and founder of Village Court Financial Brokerage

First, we welcome you Dr. Ali and we ask you to please introduce yourself to us?

Let me introduce myself, my name is Ali Al-Khalf, a specialist doctor in preventive medicine and epidemiology from the University of Baghdad in 1978, currently retired.. I practiced medicine in several countries such as Iraq, Lebanon, and the UAE, then retired in 2011 and settled completely in Canada.. I specialized in the financial sector and currently work as a financial advisor for about eight years and deal with a number of insurance, investment companies, and banks. I have a team working with me in many Canadian cities, and I work on training them and helping them obtain licenses and practice work in the financial sector.

How did you find the experience of immigration and moving to Canada, what were the challenges you faced, and how did you overcome them?

In fact, Canada is considered one of the advanced countries, and there are many opportunities for work as well as investment, especially for the younger generation. As for my experience in the medical field, there were challenges, the most important of which was age and the difficulty of equivalency of the certificate, which made me look for other alternatives and find a suitable opportunity.. I reached the appropriate solution after I decided to change my way of thinking and look at the reality of life from the perspective of Western life; as a result, I headed to the financial and investment sector, which represents the axis of life at the community and global levels. What I currently practice is helping the community in education, awareness, and benefiting from various financial programs such as savings, investment, insurance, saving for children’s university education, insurance, retirement, etc., and many people, especially the Arab community, are ignorant of them, which leads to the deterioration of their financial situation.

From the very first moment, I decided first to learn and understand what is going on around me so that I can manage my money and assets in accordance with the laws.

I had the honor of attending more than one of your electronic lectures, and you keenly clarified many important financial topics that concern all of us, such as retirement and various savings programs... Tell us about the idea of these lectures, how they started, and their goal?

Regarding the lectures I give every Tuesday at 6 PM on Zoom and in Arabic, they are actually part of the educational and awareness campaign that our company started offering to immigrants and citizens in Canada in 2015 for free to help them understand money management programs and introduce them to savings opportunities and ways to get rid of debts so they can manage their financial affairs properly and benefit from these programs.

As it is known that health culture is a prevention for humans from diseases, likewise financial culture is a prevention from financial crises. The goal of these lectures is to educate and raise awareness among the largest segment of the community in a simple and understandable way. This educational program includes information for all stages of life starting from university study savings programs for children, how to increase income, get rid of debts, reduce taxes, saving and investing, retirement planning, and then transferring inheritance with an explanation of the importance of writing a will.

Tell us about the nature of your office's work and the services you provide to the community members. Are the services limited only to residents in the city of Toronto, or do they cover all Canadian cities?

My office is currently located in the city of Mississauga, and I work in various available activities and programs such as saving, investment, insurance, etc., through my dealing with various financial companies and banks that offer the best financial services and programs in terms of prices, benefits, and privileges. Being an independent advisor gives me the liberty to choose the most suitable programs for all clients in all Canadian cities.

I have a principle in life which is not to surrender or succumb to frustration.

Many new immigrants suffer from frustration due to the difficulties they face initially, such as language, certificate equivalency, and integration into a new society different from the ones they came from. What would you say to them based on your experience, especially since you are one of the successful models in our Arab community?

I have a principle in life, which is not to surrender or succumb to frustration because God Almighty has given humans enormous abilities, and if used well, difficulties can be overcome.. Learning the language is the biggest fundamental challenge for integration into society and learning its customs and laws so that we can live in peace and harmony.

Most certificate holders face difficulties in certificate equivalency due to incompatibility with Canadian certificates plus the lack of Canadian experience. Many who have not succeeded in certificate equivalency become frustrated and sometimes are forced to work in any available and unsuitable opportunities, which results in many difficulties in achieving goals and consequently fail to secure comfortable retirement and a dignified life. Therefore, I decided to shorten the difficult path and start changing my concepts and mentality and decided to change my profession and take another path to achieve my future financial goals with minimal losses while developing myself and my profession to build a financial foundation I can leave to my family.

Most of us find it difficult to deal with the Canadian financial system and laws because we come from different countries with systems and laws different from Canada, so we lack experience in this field. Through Arab Canada Newspaper, what advice would you give to the members of the Arab community in the financial field?

At the beginning of my immigration and settling in Canada, I faced difficulties dealing with banks, taxes, bills, etc., financial dealings which are completely different from what we lived through in our countries. Therefore, from the very first moment, I decided first to learn and understand what is going on around me so that I can manage my money and assets in accordance with the laws. After obtaining my license to practice as a financial advisor, I was able to know the laws and financial systems and consequently transferred my experience to others to avoid future problems. Therefore, I advise community members to educate themselves in this area through media and social networking, in addition to attending my lectures in Arabic and English to avoid financial problems due to ignorance of programs and laws. From this honorable platform, I am ready to give consultations via phone or email free of charge, and to encourage community members, I offer them the opportunity to work with me in the financial sector and obtain the license to understand laws and financial systems to benefit and help others achieve their goals and dreams while earning additional income.

Finally, I extend my thanks and appreciation to you for giving me the opportunity through your esteemed newspaper Arab Canada to address the community members and talk about the laws and financial systems in Canada.

Thank you Dr. Ali for this fruitful interview which gave us the opportunity to learn about your activities and introduce the community to you. We wish you more success and prosperity.

Interview conducted by / Salwa Hammad