“It took a while to get to where I am, but I love my job,” Laetitia Levevessuer beams. She was born in Yellowknife and raised in Fort Providence, Northwest Territories where she spent most of her life until seven years ago when she moved to Edmonton. Her mom is Indigenous and her dad is French from France. Her professional life has been diverse, from waitressing to bartending and school bus driving, all jobs working with people. She also worked in banking, and worked with CitiFinancial, going over financial applications and for the Bank of Montreal in a commercial role. She decided to go back to school to Northern Alberta Institute of Technology’s diploma program in business administration in accounting program.

After graduation, she went back to work with Bank of Montreal as a portfolio assistant for BMO Private Wealth. Working alongside an investment counsellor, she works with investments like RRSPs, TFSA and non-registered accounts. Her role is clerical and behind the scenes, working as an office manager, scheduling, preparing for meetings, opening accounts, buying and selling. Levevessuer is happiest when she gets to work with people and that’s a big part of her job. She’s been there for three and a half years and she’s very happy.

Moving to Edmonton was hard and was only supposed to be for two years. Eight years later,  her children have found opportunities to thrive socially,  through sports and their education and they found activities they enjoy as a family. Having a supportive spouse made the transition easier and she graduated with honours. Levevessuer and her husband plan to move back North when their kids are in university, but they are enjoying their new community.

The experience was even more meaningful because her mother had been accepted to NAIT when she was in her twenties but she didn’t have the support funding to attend, so she didn’t get to go. In pursuing her education, Levevessuer had the opportunity her mom never had and her mom cheered her on the whole way. While the pandemic meant she didn’t have a real graduation, her name was printed in the paper and she bought copies to send to family. Being able to show her kids the importance of post-secondary education despite how hard it is was important to her.  “I remind them all the time that education is something that nobody can take from you so it's all worth it in the end,” she confides.

Her advice for students leaving their home communities to pursue their education is to talk to their peers and others who have gone through the system and to consider their options. Levevessuer opted for NAIT because it was a polytechnic institute, very hands-on and Indigenous-run. She found it was designed to support students from smaller communities and provided funding and support group options that worked for her. She was able to make the course schedule work with her family responsibilities and she benefited from all the Indigenous support that felt like her home community.

Levevessuer says, “It's difficult, but you have to stay positive, and if you can find a good community and a support system, it makes things so much easier…. Learning is something that should be fun, and if you can stick with it, you’ll be so proud of yourself.”

If she could give a message to her younger self it would be, “Stick with it. If I could have told myself to go back, pick something, and you're not stuck with what that choice, there's different people that can support you in the program.” Levevessuer recalls how she went for her Bachelor of Education and she stepped back after one semester thinking it wasn’t for her. Looking back, she wishes she had asked more questions.

“I wish somebody had maybe pushed me a little harder. Ask questions. Don't be scared, because at the end of the day, there's other options. You're not stuck. If you don't feel like that's for you, you can still stay within the education system and go to school and do different things,” she continues. While everything worked out for her in the end, she regrets not doing it sooner and not being more open minded about her options.  

When it comes to inspiration, Levevessuer is inspired by her family and her mom, being able to live out her dream and make her proud. She also wanted her kids to stay in school and pursue an education and she felt like she had to practice that herself. Going to school was hard but she has no regrets, knowing it was bettering life for her husband and kids and she was doing it for them. Having a good support system, staying open minded and talking to people helped her through the hard times. She also got to model going to school for her kids and for her niece who has struggled but has dreams of returning to post secondary and realizing her dreams.

She’s hoping to set an example for youth back home in Fort Providence as she pursues her dreams. “I really hope that that resonates, especially with the generation back home… Being able to see that Fort Providence isn't the end all and be all. It is a beautiful community, but if you're not happy there, or if you're not finding your passion or something that makes you happy, then there are other things. There are other places,” she explains. Thinking back on her experience of moving to Yellowknife for job opportunities, it made a big difference moving away.

She hopes people in her home community will see what she has been able to do and be inspired. “Kids have access to all the things on the internet, but to be able to see your people, your peers, succeeding is always a good thing. That hopefully gives them motivation to know they're not alone and that they can do it,” she muses.

It took a while to get to where she is, but Laetitia Levevessuer loves her job. In pursuing the educational opportunity her mother never got a chance to, she showed her own kids how important school really is. Two years in Edmonton turned into a whole new phase of life, a career she’s proud of and hopefully inspiration for the next generation back home that they can do anything they can put their mind to and they can do it anywhere.

Thank you to Alison Tedford Seaweed for authoring this article!