StormIt
A home for thoughtful, deeply-researched writing.
Occasional, editor-selected issues. Unsubscribe any time.
StormIt is an independent publication for writing that begins with something real: lived experience, an obsession, or a question carried for years.
Health and the body, history and myth, the mind, music, society — its essays and guides are researched, edited, and designed to be kept, not skimmed. Each article carries its own editorial credit.
The full archive
350 pieces
What Baby Actually Needs
Pregnancy has a strange shopping portal hidden inside it. One minute you’re thinking about ultrasounds and baby names; the next, an algorithm is convinced your newborn needs a wipe warmer, twelve swaddles, five bottle s…

The Childcare Waitlist Game
There’s a sentence Canadian parents hear too late: “You should have put your name down while you were pregnant.” It sounds absurd until you try to find infant care twelve weeks before returning to work and discover the…

Your Baby’s First 30 Days in Canada: Paperwork and Action Checklist
The first month with a baby is a strange little country. Tiny socks everywhere, someone always hungry, time turned to soup. And just as you learn to hold a newborn one-armed, the Canadian paperwork parade begins. This i…

EI Maternity & Parental Benefits
There are moments in pregnancy when the future feels soft and cinematic. Then you open a government page and you're eating toast over a spreadsheet, wondering whether “standard parental” means “normal parent.” This is t…

From Permanent Resident to Canadian Citizen
Becoming a permanent resident is a major milestone. Becoming a Canadian citizen is another one — and it does not happen automatically. PR lets you build a life in Canada: live, work, study, access benefits, and gain leg…

Getting Your Foreign Credentials Recognized in Canada
Many newcomers arrive with degrees, diplomas, trade certificates, licences, and years of hard-earned expertise — and then Canada asks a small mountain of questions. What is your Canadian equivalent? Is your occupation r…

Canadian Workplace Rights & Culture
Getting a job in Canada is a major milestone. But before you sign a contract, accept a shift, hand over personal documents, or start working, you need to understand two things: your workplace rights and Canadian workpla…

Finding Your First Job in Canada
Finding your first job in Canada can feel like trying to enter a building where every door asks for Canadian experience, Canadian references, a Canadian-style résumé, local credentials, and a password nobody included in…

Schooling in Canada
For newcomer families, school is more than a classroom. It is where children learn English or French, make friends, rebuild confidence, understand Canadian culture, and sometimes help the whole family settle faster. But…

Health Care in Canada
Canada’s health-care system is one of the first things newcomers hear about — and one of the first things people misunderstand. Yes, Canada has publicly funded health care. No, it does not mean every service is free. Ye…

Buying Your First Home
Buying a home in Canada is not just a real estate decision. It is a mortgage decision, credit decision, tax decision, legal decision, location decision, and long-term settlement decision all wearing the same front-door…

Renting Your First Home
Finding your first rental can feel like a race where everyone else already has Canadian credit, local references, and a landlord who knows them by name. Newcomers face no credit file, no Canadian landlord, unfamiliar le…