Originally Posted by Bleech

What was the best piece of advice you had before moving here?
Easilly for me it was to get an equifax credit report before we left (cheers Rich), that's been invaluable and has helped us out on so many occasions like getting a mortgage, bank account, car even saving us a shed load on the electricity bill deposit.
Maybe we could gather a list to help anyone else on their way?

Originally Posted by Bleech

What was the best piece of advice you had before moving here?
Easilly for me it was to get an equifax credit report before we left (cheers Rich), that's been invaluable and has helped us out on so many occasions like getting a mortgage, bank account, car even saving us a shed load on the electricity bill deposit.
Maybe we could gather a list to help anyone else on their way?

Originally Posted by Bleech

What was the best piece of advice you had before moving here?
Easilly for me it was to get an equifax credit report before we left (cheers Rich), that's been invaluable and has helped us out on so many occasions like getting a mortgage, bank account, car even saving us a shed load on the electricity bill deposit.
Maybe we could gather a list to help anyone else on their way?

Originally Posted by grumpy

What p's me off and makes me Very Very Grumpy is the inconsistency in this country - different rules in different places, so just when you think you've got it sussed, it all goes pear-shaped. :mad:

Originally Posted by Bleech

What was the best piece of advice you had before moving here?
Easilly for me it was to get an equifax credit report before we left (cheers Rich), that's been invaluable and has helped us out on so many occasions like getting a mortgage, bank account, car even saving us a shed load on the electricity bill deposit.
Maybe we could gather a list to help anyone else on their way?

Originally Posted by love_it_here

..we got a credit report, a reference from our bank manager and letters from all our utility providers eg british gas. We also got letters from our old car insurance companies which ICBC are really anal about.

Originally Posted by Bleech

I forgot all about our letter from the insurance company :rolleyes: , so our first insurance quote on an old $2000 GMC Safari (which was hanging!) cost us $700 for 3 months!!!!! They wanted $2800 for the year which was more than the car was worth :D
So I Emailed the old insurance company and asked them to send me a letter stating my no claims, bought a considerably bigger truck and ICBC accepted the quote no problems. Insurance went down to $1800 for the year on the new truck :cool:
Another thing to put on the list, letter from Insurance company.

Originally Posted by Mans

How does one get an equifax credit.....is it too late for me as I have been here in Canada for 6 months?

Originally Posted by R2D2

I was spitting fur and said to the guys that we were probably a lot less risky to lend to than half the Canadians who come in and he agreed. Still couldn't get the low finance rate though. :mad:

Originally Posted by R2D2

We also got the equifax credit report, took it with us when we tried to finance a car from a dealers..................they read it, said yes we know equifax, BUT, they wouldn't recognise it. Said they don't even recognise US reports let alone all the way from Blighty !

I was spitting fur and said to the guys that we were probably a lot less risky to lend to than half the Canadians who come in and he agreed. Still couldn't get the low finance rate though. :mad:

Originally Posted by Mans

I brought insurance ref letters too.......did no good at all......I was told by all the insurance companies that you have to build up your no claims from start again in Canada....another inconsistancy in this vast country :(

Originally Posted by Posidrive

This may just be an Alberta thing, but I get impression that it all depends upon the broker, how honest they are and how much they want your business. From my experience some will just think of news immigrants as a way of making a quick buck, whereas others will go the extra mile to get you the best deal in order to build a long term relationship. My history paperwork was not perfect but the deal we ended up getting for both family cars plus the home insurance ended up being less than some quotes for my car alone when I first arrived.

Shop around!!!

Originally Posted by Posidrive

This may just be an Alberta thing, but I get impression that it all depends upon the broker, how honest they are and how much they want your business. From my experience some will just think of news immigrants as a way of making a quick buck, whereas others will go the extra mile to get you the best deal in order to build a long term relationship. My history paperwork was not perfect but the deal we ended up getting for both family cars plus the home insurance ended up being less than some quotes for my car alone when I first arrived.

Shop around!!!

Originally Posted by britishvixen21

I see everyone on here has replied in a practical sense so il give my emotional views.

Be open minded

Embrace the canadian way of life (you may say well duhh! but its easy to walk around the supermarket and buy as much english grub as you can find, and only want to watch english tv, or have english habits)

Dont get into the habit of converting everything you buy into pounds (itl drive you nuts)

Get to know your community introduce yourself to neighbours and make friends theres nothing like a bit of isolation in those first few months to make you want to pack up and leave.

If there are times when the poop is hitting the preverbial and your fed up, remember the joy and excitment you had when you finally got your visas and how full of hope and aspiration you were to come here and make a good life, and how hard you worked to get here in the first place. it will give you a little push to continue to work through the problems that you are facing.

utilise all the services that are offered to new canadians youd be amazed at how much you can actually get (i.e.) resume building, job searches, college courses.

and laslty have fun, your in a new country for crying out loud, be proud that you worked bloody hard, fought the system for so many years and finally did what millions think about doing but never do.