milly_m

Yes we are, looks like we can both keep our current and a savings account open. We also have a help to buy savings account which we'll keep just in case we do end up coming back to the UK in a few years and want to use it to help us buy somewhere. If not we can just close it down and transfer the money at some point. I'm hoping that I'll be able to transfer between my UK and Canadian HSBC accounts without too much trouble but we'll see!

I need to sort out my Equifax credit report though as I just received it and it has super old and out of date address details on it (although the financial details are up to date/correct) and my sister's credit history as well as mine! Not sure she'll be too happy to know I can see her credit card balances for the past few years...

milly_m

Landing

So we landed in Vancouver as permanent residents yesterday, via a flight into YVR. The flight was delayed by almost an hour, so it was around 8pm by the time we landed. We were helped by staff to figure out how to proceed - there are these new terminals where you do your customs and entry declaration rather than filling out a paper form, so we used those to state that we were new immigrants and had goods to follow, which printed out on a bit of paper. We then got into the line for UK passports and were asked some basic questions by the initial border staff. This is where some confusion then happened. We were told to collect our luggage and proceed to the exit and we would be directed from there. There was however a big section and sign pointing to the immigration area and a line for new immigrants. We collected our luggage and checked with a member of staff who said that we should go to the immigration section. We showed a staff member our COPR and he provided us with a welcome to Canada booklet, took some details and then directed us into a line to get everything stamped etc. We were waiting about 45 minutes I'd say, to then be told that we should in fact have gone to the exit and secondary immigration!

So off we trotted to the exit line, and our paper customs form that was printed from the terminal directed us to the customs section, where we handed over our goods to follow lists and got our COPR signed and activated. They didn't provide us with the welcome pack that we got from the main immigration section though, so I'm still confused about what the procedures should be. They didn't ask us for proof of funds, and said that they didn't need a goods accompanying list although we brought one. That part took around another 45 minutes.

It was about 10.30 pm by the time we were done and through, and we then just had to pick up the cats! This was the most stressful part, as the cargo people kept calling us as they were supposed to close at 10.30pm. My husband had to go to the cargo office, obtain the paperwork, come back to arrivals, get it stamped by customs and then we went back to collect them, not long before midnight. It was busy and there was a huge queue for taxi's initially, but luckily it quietened down, and for the last trip we asked the taxi marshal to flag us a big taxi which would fit all our cases/cats, which luckily only took a few minutes. The cats were fine and happy to see us (e.g. noisy), luckily we'd arranged for some cat supplies to be delivered to our temporary apartment. We had specifically chosen a serviced apartment with a concierge for this purpose as they could accept and keep the parcels for us.

Today has been full of other practical things which I'll summarise another time as I am knackered! Jet lag has been rough today - we woke up at around 4am, again at 6am and have been on the go since. Desperately trying to make it past 8pm before going to bed It's a very weird (but nice) feeling being here as a resident not a tourist!

Siouxie

Congratulations - and welcome home to Canada!!!





With regards to your Goods to Follow list, it's very important that you go and get it stamped at the Customs Office - else you may have issues when your shipments arrive.

Engineer_abroad

milly_m

Thanks Siouxie and Engineer Abroad (I think.... haven't seen any beavers yet, very disappointing!!) We'll go find our local customs office, I'm assuming as long as we get it stamped before we try and get the shipment released it'll be fine?

Day 1 in Vancouver

After waking up at 4am and then 6am, we dragged ourselves up for a day of getting the essentials done. Obviously the essentials came first - coffee and a croissant - and then we did a bit of wandering around the neighbourhood, found where our local shops were and went to a pet store to grab a few extra bits and bobs for the cats. We then made our way to the nearest Service Canada centre for our SINs, it was dead quiet so we went straight in and it just took about half an hour.

Next on the list was getting Canadian sim cards. From some investigating (and a thread on this very forum, thanks guys!) we had decided to go look at Koodo prepaid plans. When we got there we had initially planned on getting the $15 monthly plan with a $30 1GB top up which would last around a month, and a $30 call minutes top up which would probably last ages. However, as we were bringing our phones we both ended up getting a $45/month sim only plan. Unlimited international texts and Canadian minutes, and 2GB of data per month, plus we did a referral between us so will get $10 off per month for 5 months. It's probably around the same as I was paying in the UK (was on £27/month which included an employer discount for 1GB/month) but I had to sign a 24 month contract, so this is much more flexible.

Finally, we opened a bank account at HSBC. It was a bit confusing due to the differences in requirements for UK and Canadian accounts, but we ended up on a new immigrant option that lets us have an advance account for a year without any fees if we don't make the usual requirements, and that gives us access to global transfers from my UK HSBC account. We may well go for other accounts later on, but this will be good until we get all our UK money over at least.

This weekend we're just going to do some exploring and acclimatising. We're staying in Yaletown which is lovely but wow so expensive. I wish we were rich enough to live here permanently but we really want a 2 bed place, and could only afford a 1 bed in this area. We're fitting in fairly well into the 1 bed temporary place but then I remember we've got 20 boxes being shipped over in a couple of months hah!

Siouxie

You have been busy! Sounds like you are finding your way around Well done you! That seems a lot for your phone plan - did you look at Freedom - no contract with them and they have lots of wifi hotspots in the Vancouver area (and LTE). Did Koodoo also give you a discount for bringing your own phones and bonus Gb of data? Freedom do. https://www.freedommobile.ca/plans-a...special-offers

Regarding your goods-to-follow list. Don't wait - get it done early next week, the sooner after landing the better. You were misinformed at the airport and it should have been stamped as you were establishing residency. You'll probably find this thread by Beckiwoo very useful as she had to do it as well (after an Inland landing). taking special note of the posts by Former Lancastrian ..tGoods to Follow list (BSF186) after an inland landing

https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/do-rb/menu-eng.html

Engineer_abroad

milly_m

There's one freedom plan for $40 that would have more data with a bonus but a weird home/away plan? Didn't see much else for less than that with decent data.

We printed out and took B4 forms of some kind and I'm sure they got stamped/signed at customs, just not the goods accompanying lists that we also took. It was 10pm ish by that point though and we'd been travelling for 12 hours so my memory is a bit fuzzy!

Yaletown is very yuppie-esque it's nice to be close to lots of stuff, false creek, Granville island etc. If we can find something we can afford we might stay here for a bit, but we're pretty flexible where we live. As long as the space is ok, close to good transit towards gastown for hubs work and lets us bring the cats! We may look around Kits, Commercial or whatever the area is around West Broadway... Or possibly over in Burnaby. Someone suggested Chinatown to us earlier as it's cheaper although I know why given the proximity to Hastings!

Engineer_abroad

milly_m

What's the commute like to downtown, if you know? It's hard to pin down where will be best before I know where I'll be working, and my husband may also move jobs in a few months. I think it's likely he'd end up working either downtown or Burnaby as that's where the bigger tech companies seem to be.

Engineer_abroad

milly_m

Day 4
We attempted to get a few more things organised but didn't really get anywhere!

Medical surveillance: Due to the suspected inactive TB my husband needs to undergo medical surveillance and was told to report to the local health authority within 30 days of landing or his PR may be inactive. After scratching our heads trying to figure out exactly who we needed to speak to, we figure out it's the BC center for disease control (the border agent told us to contact a panel physician!). However when we call them up they say that they have been informed already and we just need to wait 6-8 weeks and they will contact him.

Registering for MSP: We can register for the BC healthcare plan online, however it needs us to upload scans of our COPRs so we'll have to do that tomorrow when my husband starts work and can access a scanner. The website also mentions needing a BC ID to enrol which you can get at the ICBC drivers licencing so off we trotted to get that sorted.

Exchanging our driving licences: After initially forgetting our COPRs and needing to go back to the apartment to get them, we go back to the drivers licencing place to ask about exchanging our licence. We are told that we can do but will only get issued with a paper licence and not a proper ID, until we get our PR cards. They confirm that we can still register for MSP but won't get our health cards until we have the PR card/BC ID. So again, we just have to wait now until we get the PR cards. They did say that if we don't get the PR cards within 90 days we can inform them and they can extend the period we can exchange our licences.

So with all of that stuff not really done, we took ourselves off for a wander around Stanley Park. Last day of freedom before my husband start's work tomorrow and we start getting into a normal routine and not feeling so much like we're on holiday! Hopefully that will also mean we spend a little less... we have been stocking up on things over the past few days that will last us a while (cleaning supplies, toiletries, groceries, cat stuff) but also eating and drinking out a fair bit. We are still using Monzo cards from the UK which are fee free, and show us the exchange rate as we spend which is quite useful to keep our eye on what we are spending and prices compared to the UK. Obviously things cost what they cost, but it's interesting to see what is cheaper and what is more expensive. Our local supermarkets seem pretty expensive but they are the more local markets rather than big superstores. I did raise an eyebrow at raspberries being $8 but there's a local stall selling 3 punnets of local fruit for $15 which isn't too bad.

beckiwoo

You are not a 'Yaletown Yuppie' without the obligatory french bulldog or in my partner's best friend's case, a Boston Terrier! That and you require a yoga mat strapped to your bag everywhere you go!

I moved downtown in May after living in South Vancouver for 2 years (previous to that I was in East Vancouver). It is def not where I want to be but as a starting point for someone new its great!

beckiwoo

I was given wrong information at my inland landing at IRCC office (as Siouxie has stated). Def go and get it signed and stamped. There is a CBSA office on Main and 1st avenue (by Main Street/Science World skytrain station)

Lychee

Eeek! Start shopping on Commercial Drive. I used to live in Yaletown many years ago and it will rob you. My recommendation is to take the Skytrain to Broadway-Commercial Drive while hubby is at work and shop at Donald's, the little indie markets like Norman's. It's so much more affordable. Yaletown's as expensive as it gets. Or walk east down Davie Street from Yaletown past Burrard Street and do some shopping at that supermarket "Independent Grocer". Good luck and welcome!