Hello - just wanted to pick some brains of people who have already moved over, or are in the final stages.

Did you find your accommodation beforehand or once you were there? If so, could you point me in the direction of some good websites? What documentation did they need, etc?

Ideally we would like to find a place ahead of time so that we completely minimize our exposure to hotel/furnished accom. charges. I'd be looking at fairly short term (ie 6 mths) so that we can decide on/get to know areas once we're there and look for more permanent housing. (We're not in a position to buy).

Things I'm concerned about:
I won't have a job to go to - it'll be something I'll be sourcing straight away when we land. (Though I'm hoping to contact some placement agencies before we leave just to get the ball rolling).
Whilst we can afford to pay a couple months rent up front we certainly don't have the funds to be able to do a full years lease.
We're not moving with furniture so should I be looking at a shorter term lease furnished - although we have budgeted for kitting out an unfurnished place but not sure its worth it unless we know that's the area we want to stay in?

Can you advise on any pitfalls I should watch for? (Hence also trying to see what others have done).

The mind boggles at all the logistical details to think of!!

Where abouts in Canada are you moving to?

The answers will be influenced by that!

to add to what withabix posted - and yes depends on which part of Canada you'll be going to

Accommodation before you arrive is doable but it is expensive (much like the price of a hotel - slightly cheaper) given that you want short-term & likely furnished with full amenities

A general comment on rental accommodation unfurnished you'd be looking at a 12 month lease unless you can find a sub-lease.

Take a look at the following link for short term rentals web site to get an idea. You can enter the town or city that you'll be going to as well as sort by price low-high.

https://www.roomorama.com/short-term..._out=&guests=1

The MLS (Multi Listing Service) has rentals.....it is a bit like RightMove website in UK.

http://www.realtor.ca/index.aspx?cul=1

You should (subject to province rules) only have to pay 2 months rent up front. That is the first month and a months deposit. We are moving out of our rental and the last months rent was the deposit. Some people state on here that they had to pay a years rent but I wouldn't have gone down that route.

We found our rental between MLS and Kijiji but we saw it quickly on a recce trip. We offered up a copy of our UK credit file (which you can get online free if you have not do so before) as evidence. The landlady even said we should only pay rent once into the property and didnt mind that would be a months time.

Thanks! And yes, haha, I should've mentioned where we were hoping to end up <smacks forehead>

Currently undecided about our end destination. We'll make the final decision in about a month and then kick into fast gear. Current shortlist is Calgary & Ottawa. (I lived in Calgary for about 15 yrs but Ottawa would be nice & new for both me & hubby)

Hmmm - hadn't thought of MLS. Good tip. I've also been looking at sublets on Kijiji which seem a good early compromise. Tbh if its Calgary I could probably send some friends/family to have a recce but Ottawa we'd be going in blind which is why I'm loathe to commit to a place for a year in case we're inadvertently in a crap area, or the place is a dive, type thing.

We booked a short term furnished apartment for the first 6 weeks near to the city. This gave us time to get phones, visit recruitment agencies etc but more importantly time to look around for a property to rent. Whatever you do, please do not rent something on a longer term without seeing it! Some people have very vivid imaginations when describing their property lol

Yes, that's what I was thinking as well ... lots of jammy people out there!

We found Padmapper really useful for creating a shortlist:
https://www.padmapper.com/
You can narrow the search down to sublets etc.
We did come over for a short recce trip to check out the places we'd listed and sign the lease but it was all pretty hassle free and very quick.