EngCan

Aviator

In 3 nights there is not a lot you can do. You get about 2 days here, with travel time allowance. I would not worry too much about the SIN either, easy to do when you move permanently. I had a bank account before moving, rest of time spend researching the areas I preferred to live in.

rivingtonpike

I remember our 1 week "landing trip" back many years ago. The think i regret more than anything else is trying to cram so much unnecessary stuff into 7 days. I wish we'd just drifted around the place, getting a feel for the area. As Aviator said, SIN numbers and the like are easy and quick to get when you land permanently. If you have kids one thing you might want to do is tour a couple of prospective schools. That's perhaps the one thing I'm glad we did organize in advance. Everything else? phhht! Go to Canadian Tire, Walmart, Costco, the beach, the city, the lake. Relax, enjoy your new Canadian status! No doubt you've earned it!

MelVan

On one day of my landing trip, I was able to get my SIN first thing in the morning, and have my bank accounts opened and credit card applied for by lunchtime. The bank accounts and credit card have been very handy for transfers of money over to Canada and to start building a Canadian credit history ahead of the permanent move. I've set up a few monthly automatic charges/payments to 30% of my credit card limit and set up automatic payment of my credit card from my cheque account. I'm building a Canadian credit history without having to "do" very much at all.

Aviator

Credit bureaus also hold addresses and years at that address, which is used when making a credit application, such as address, years at that address and if less than, previous address.

MelVan

The fact that I'd only been at a Canadian address for a few days after landing didn't seem to interfere with me getting an unsecured credit card (albeit with a low limit).

EngCan

christmasoompa

https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Goods...panying-Canada

HTH.

Phaedru5

You can only 'land' once, from which point you become a 'Permanent Resident'. This is the only time you can declare goods to follow duty exempt. If this trip is to activate your PR you must have all your Goods Accompanying and Goods to Follow form completed to be stamped at the airport upon arrival.

ontario70

Checking out local schools in the area is essential if indeed you have kids lol. Checking out real estate and what you can afford both renting and buying. These are a few of the things we did when we landed in Vancouver.

Former Lancastrian

Link to this please.

Hurlabrick

Not correct. There are different 'landings' for different organisations. For CIC you can 'land to declare PR'. This can be a different event to a later 'land as settler' for CBSA and declaration of goods accompanying and goods to follow. I won't even get into 'land as a CRA taxpayer!!'.

Wiki is your friend as it explains the difference between the landings and contains links to official sources:

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Landing_as_PR-Canada

Having said all that, when we landed to declare PR (i.e. soft landing), we obviously encountered an ill-trained CBSA officer at Ottawa airport who insisted that we MUST declare our goods to follow and that this was our one and only chance! Fortunately, we had this ready and rather than argue at the end of a jet-lagged flight, handed the list over. Unlikely that you will encounter such poor training at major hubs like Toronto and Vancouver! But hey!

Phaedru5

It seems I encountered similarly trained staff at Vancouver when we 'soft landed' last summer then - luckily I too had it all ready and just did as I was told. Best to have it done to avoid problems.

Former Lancastrian

But sometimes its impossible to have a list of goods to follow and this is why.

A person who does the landing and does not establish a residence cannot be classed as a settler. We all know that the goods to follow must be for personal use and that were owned, possessed, and used abroad by the settler prior to his or her arrival in Canada.
So if I did a landing say in August 2018 but then returned to say the UK for 2 years to sell house etc and intended to return to Canada in August 2020 I can still acquire goods for 2 years before arriving in Canada so how do they go on a list I am supposed to present in August 2018?

Bad training, lack of knowledge or whatever I would simply ask to speak to a Supervisor and show them this

https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publicat...2-2-1-eng.html

1. For the purpose of tariff item No. 9807.00.00 of the Schedule to the Customs Tariff, settlers mean all individuals who enter Canada with the intention of establishing for the first time a residence for a period of not less than 12 months.

8. Persons admitted into Canada under IRPA who do not meet the requirements of tariff item No. 9807.00.00 and the applicable regulations are deemed as non-residents under tariff item No. 9803.00.00.

9. A person's status for customs purposes is not always the same as their status for immigration purposes.

10. As an example, a person can become a permanent resident without the intention of residing immediately in Canada. However, this person is not determined to be a settler as defined in the customs legislation, and be eligible for the provisions of tariff item No. 9807.00.00. In this case, since the person does not have any intention of remaining in Canada at that time, and will live outside Canada for an undetermined period of time, that person is considered a non-resident of Canada and not a settler, for the purpose of the Customs Tariff, and is eligible to temporarily import goods under tariff item No. 9803.00.00.

Bucks_Family

Very good advice from FL, as usual.
We activated PR in Vancouver on a 10-day soft-landing visit and didn't present a Goods to Follow (or goods accompanying) list, we just said we weren't settling yet. We moved for good to Calgary 8 months later and presented the lists on arrival at that time. We had the info provided by FL ready just in case in Vancouver but our explanation was readily accepted without question.
I wouldn't necessarily agree that you should have one ready to avoid problems - how can you know what you'll buy before you make the permanent move over, or that you'll bring everything you put on that list at the time of your landing visit? Better to insist on seeing the supervisor than providing an accurate list that will not match what you eventually bring over.