We moved to Canada on the 9th December 2005 on a 2 year Work Permit, (our application for PR was submitted in the UK a week before we left).

On arrival we were staying in someone's basement...the wife, myself, and the 3 sprogs.  The folks we were staying with were wonderful, and the basement was a good size and complete with its own bathroom & shower.  That made staying there fairly easy.  Also during the daytime, we were not restricted to the basement.  In fact we spent most of our time upstairs with the couple who own the house.

I had 5 days before starting work.  My main priorities were to get a Social Insurance Number (SIN), open a bank account and find a place of our own.

Whilst still in the UK I had contacted my chosen bank, (PC financial - a joint venture of Real Canadian Superstore and CIBC that offer fee free daily banking), to find out what ID I would require to open an account.  It seemed I would need a form of Canadian ID in addition to my UK passport, and the only type I would be eligible to get was the drivers licence.

So, the day after our arrival I went and exchanged my UK drivers licence for an Alberta one.  No problems there, but it took over a week for the photocard licence to come through.  I was issued with an interim paper licence, but this had no photo on and did not qualify as Canadian ID.

Next day I took a trip to the Employment Services place and applied for the SIN.  It came through in a little over a week.

Alberta health care was also a priority, so the same day as getting the SIN application in, I filled out the forms for Alberta Health & Wellness.  They were faxed off and I received Health cards for the whole family within 3 days.

We picked up a couple of local papers, and started going to see houses.  We had looked at the online editions of the papers in the UK, so knew what kind of prices to expect.  In the end we viewed 4 homes, and picked the one we felt would suit us best.  December is a good month to house-hunt, and we ended up with a fairly amazing deal!  We were able to secure a nice home WITHOUT having to pay a damage deposit.  We also negotiated 2 weeks of free rent in December by agreeing to steam clean the carpets, clean out the oven and wash down the walls, (the previous tenants had left in a hurry and landlord had not had time to do it. The landlord provided all the materials too).

Getting phone, cable and utilities was next on the list.  I contacted Telus for the phone-line, and we had service 2 days later.  No deposit required and no-one needed to come to the house to activate it.

The cable guy came within 2 days and installed the equipment.  Again, no deposit was asked for, but I paid in cash for the 1st month of service and the purchase of the digital terminal and cable modem.

Contacted the gas company, Natural Gas.  They put everything for the new address in my name.  No deposit was required.

Contacted EPCOR, (Water and Electric).  They requested a $300 deposit which they would hold for a year.  Once I open a bank account and authorise them to take payment,s (just like a Direct Debit), I will get $150 of the deposit back instantly. That seemed fair enough to me, so I didn't even try to negotiate.

By this time we had got a car, and I needed to get it insured before collecting it.  I was able to get the insurance using my temporary paper licence with no problems.  It cost $1440 for the year, and that is for a 3 litre LWB 97 Ford Aerostar.  A lot more than we paid in the UK, but they gave me full no claims based on the proof of no claims I brought with me from the UK.

Once the Alberta photocard licence came through I went to the PC Financial booth at the Canadian Superstore.  I needed the Alberta licence and my UK passport as ID.  The SIN card was still not through, but wasn't required.  They took details of where I was working, (although didn't ask for any letter of employment or copy of contract).  After providing my details, I was asked to type some passwords into the computer.  These would be my internet & phone banking passwords.  A few minutes later I was given my account details and a banking card.  Following signing the card I was directed to the ATM just outside the booth and given instructions on how to choose a PIN.  Once the PIN was selected, I was away!  Unfortunately cash & cheques are subject to a 10 day clearing period, but direct deposits from my employer clear immediately.  Since most of my deposits will be from the employer, not a huge problem, although a bit frustrating.  Daily limit on card purchases is quite low (about $300), but we'll just have to place any bigger purchases on the UK cards.

I have only used the UK credit card once.  I have an account with Nationwide as they do not charge a fee when the card is used internationally.  Their exchange rate is also excellent, and better than a good bureaux de change.  My CAD purchase came in a 2.03CAD to the pound as oppose to 1.95 I got through Travelex when we actually came across earlier in the month.

So we are settling in well, and our experiences have been good to date and I have been pleasantly surprised at not having to pay big deposits on the utilities.