Plenty of opportunities awaited couple back home

Justin and Line Arsenault kept a long distance relationship going between Prince Edward Island and Western Canada for eight years, but now they’re back to raise a family and build careers in their hometown.  

The pair met at age 15 in Abram-Village but were separated when Justin moved to Alberta for work when he was 18.

It was a difficult time; he was working on heavy equipment in a gravel quarry and would arrange flights to and from the Island to keep the relationship alive.

Today, at age 33, Justin operates his own successful business, AJ Repairs. Line is a grade three teacher at École Évangéline, and the couple has three kids and a home in Abram-Village.

Justin fixes heavy machinery for everyone from farmers to foremen on construction sites. He has many clients from Hunter River to Tignish but mostly in the Miscouche area.

 “If I wanted to, I could work 12 hours a day seven days a week,” he said. “People I knew became my clients. I never really advertised, and it just took off – and now I’m busy enough I don’t need to advertise.”

Prince Edward Island was a good place to start a business  thanks in part to great support from Skills PEI, he said.

“Especially in the first year, it helped me a lot to get set up."

Justin says it is priceless to be close to family and have his kids experience the same kind of childhood he did growing up on the Island.