They come from countries around the world, leaving almost everything they've known to start a new life here.

But is Saskatchewan a welcoming place to immigrants?

According to the University of Saskatchewan's Taking The Pulse survey, it is.

Fully 92 per cent of people in Saskatchewan either somewhat or strongly believe the province is a welcoming place to new immigrants.

Yet for immigrants themselves, it's a complicated question.

Khadijeh Ahmed, who came to the province 13 years ago, is doing what many women in Iraq can only dream of — living in Canada and operating her own business.

"I'm very happy, I'm very thankful," she said. "Compared to back home it's so a million times better because of the opportunity I get here."

Ahmed grew up in Iraq during the 1990s and lived through a violent era.

"I've seen people killed when I was like, 9," she said. "You see people are shooting on the street and you're like, 'Oh my God, this is a real dead man.' It's like, 'Oh, we go home and have nightmares.'"

Ahmed knew that if she wanted a future she would have to leave Iraq, so when she was 18 she fled to Turkey.

Two years later, when the chance to move to Saskatchewan came up, she jumped at it.

She can recall a number of happy moments after she arrived, even in interactions with strangers.

"They were so nice and friendly," she said. "The nicest things used to happen when I went shopping and stuff. When somebody walks by ... they give you that little smile and it's like, 'Oh do you know me? Do they like me?'"

However, there have been some darker moments as well, including one nasty encounter with a strange man at a mall.

"I go in the mall and he said, 'Hey, you little bitch, go back home. What are you doing here?' she said.

"I was like, 'Who the heck are you?' And he's like, 'Just go back home' and I don't know him, out of nowhere. I was like, 'What the heck?'"

Ahmed says she thinks people treat her differently sometimes when they realize she's not from here.

"You can tell their reaction, like they have that mean look. You can tell they really don't like me."

For the most part, Ahmed said, she's shrugged off these kinds of responses.

They don't change the fact that most people in Saskatchewan welcomed her and her family with open arms, she said.

Ayesha Baig of Saskatoon's Newcomer Information Centre, says sometimes new Canadians have bad experiences in the workplace and wonder if discrimination is a factor. (CBC)