Newbies in Canada - STRESS ALERT
 

Good Evening everybody,

Wow!!! Where to begin.
For all of you that have been through the move and took the time to post here then only you know how stressful it can be!! I am only beginning to appreciate the enormity of the challenge now.
It has been a very frustrating time and some what infuriating.
collecting our dog at the airport was an absolute pantomime as we had to use Swissport cargo via freight forwarding. After going through immigration which took nearly 2 hours we then had to find our luggage stacked between the carousels which was like a needle in a haystack. Thank goodness our 7 year old has eyes like a hawk!!
I decided to put my wife and kids on the hotel shuttle bus and then set about collecting our dog. 2 hours later and multiple trips by taxi between the airport, swiss port cargo and customs (which is at the FAR SIDE of the airport) not to mention some $200 in taxi fees I finally collected our dog at 9.30pm. Surely there has to be a simpler system than this??

Anyway we have moved into a town in South West Ontario and have settled into our new home which we are renting. Having moved from temporary accommodation which was also owned by the home builder who we are renting from things are finally starting to feel a little more normal if that is the right terminology!!
Word of advice; Realtors are not interested in anyone who wants to rent homes as there is no commission in it for them plain and simple. Our land lord who is a home builder has been an absolute star and we are now in a new home not to mention our container arriving in the last week undamaged (thank you Pickfords).
It made no sense to us getting on the property ladder straight away and we have be very lucky to rent such a good home before we think about possibly buying in a few light years time!
That brings me to the subject of CREDIT!!!
This has been extremely infuriating and in fact we have been made to feel like paupers and/or criminals in some situations due to lack of history. I understand that we are in a different country but we are part of the commonwealth and in 2017 there should be some way of looking across. After all we are supposed to be in a digital era as everyone is plugged in now and apart from a few we seem to have lost the art of conversation.
To date we have had to pay deposits on mobile phone plans which by the way we brought our own devices and just needed a sim only plan. Each handset sim plan incurred a $200 deposit and apparently in 6 months if we are in good standing we will have 5 free months of phone calls. We have also had to pay hefty 1st time deposits for Hydro (electric) and Gas due to lack of credit history. Word of advice come to Canada with plenty of cash in reserve and do not expect things to be cheap as they are not!! It is not nice at the start forking out left right and centre for things that are 2nd nature back in the UK.
Eating out in Canada at the weekend has been an experience as 99.9% of restaurants serve Cardiac Arrests on a plate and we have tried a variety of establishments not just the chains that are known nationwide.
Visiting local stores and asking basic questions on products similar to what we would have used back at home has been a nightmare. People just stare blankly and dont know. In fact we have been told by shop assistants in big stores like Walmart, Canadian Tire and Loblaws that I dont work in that Dept. so i wouldnt know:eek::eek::eek:
Do they not work with other people in the store who they could grab a hold of to help:confused::confused::confused:
Where do they get these people from:confused::confused:

Anyway it has definitely been a challenge and very much a work in progress but we will get there.
On the plus side from what we have seen so far Canada is a very clean and safe country and our kids have settled into school well which is important. Already we have registered them in soccer and dance and this has allowed us to meet new people.
Its early days and nobody said it was going to be easy but I just thought I would give any of you out there a heads up to our experience thus far....:amen:

Re: Newbies in Canada - STRESS ALERT
 

Yes, the cultural intricacies of living in a country thousands of miles from your own. Canada is different alright.

Some of the things I find frustrating....tissue paper in little packs, can't find these anywhere. People with a lack of imagination....oil and vinegar shops...wtf is that all about, your being sold a sham of a product that is expensive and overrated. I expect we will see many of these close and go bust! Oh no, I'm about to go into meltdown, time for some medication.....I do feel for you, but you should know it gets worse before it gets better.

And then there is those with no personality, you coming from NI with the humorous view on life will suffer more than most, good luck.

Re: Newbies in Canada - STRESS ALERT
 

Moving is bound to be stressful but did you honestly expect anything less? As for shopping differences, don't forget Walmart can sell you a sausage, patio set and a gun all in the same store. I seem to remember sone pretty indifferent service in the likes of Asda and Teso's too. Deposits are standard. I still don't think it's any more expensive here than I remember back in the UK. Perhaps times have changed. I must admit I haven't been back to the UK for 6 years.

Re: Newbies in Canada - STRESS ALERT
 

:p I knew I would receive a couple of witty posts back!!
So far I have been accused of being a Newfie as apparently New Foundlanders have the same sense of humor as Irish people.
Hopefully some of my rant will help people before they travel but really i just wanted to let of some steam!!!

I will just take the advice that the majority of the forum suggests : Adapt, Overcome, Improvise or else give up and go home which is not an option!!!

Have A Great Evening:sarcasm:

Farmboy

Re: Newbies in Canada - STRESS ALERT
 

Ah yes, the Newfie thing ... as a fellow Northern Irish person, I have been asked many times whereabouts in Newfoundland I'm from. I was even asked once upon a time where in Australia I'm from, wtf?!?! The big difference, however, between Newfs and Irish, is that the Newfs are more Irish than the Irish, they take it to a whole new level, lol!

Re: Newbies in Canada - STRESS ALERT
 

It works the other way too. There was a mum on my son's hockey team that I talked to a lot throughout the season. I was utterly convinced she was Irish for months until she mentioned going on a road trip to visit her family in the summer.

Re: Newbies in Canada - STRESS ALERT
 

Bizarrely I've been mistaken as though I'm from Quebec several times. I don't even speak any French haha. Although my accent must have changed as I've been asked on several occasions what country I'm from in the U.K.

Re: Newbies in Canada - STRESS ALERT
 

As regards lack of credit history, it has been suggested here (I think it might have been a thread rather than a wiki article) that you obtain a full credit score and history report from one of the UK credit agencies first.


It is easy enough to do this by signing up for the free one month trial and I have already done so with Equifax (seemingly preferred as this is the larger credit agency in Canada).


I will let you know how I get on in our landing trip later this year and whether these reports cut and ice!

Re: Newbies in Canada - STRESS ALERT
 

Yes, that does seem the way to go. Although some well heeled types managed without.

I supplied the bank with recent copies of my UK credit card statements so they could see the activity that would be transferred their way and that did the trick for me.

Re: Newbies in Canada - STRESS ALERT
 

Farmboy my sympathies. The sheer mental and physical effort of moving to Canada is knackering...and I don't mean just for a few weeks...when you then add kids and animals...and frankly, marriage or a partnership into the mix it's warp factor mega stress. For many of us return or failure is not an option which ratchets the anxiety up even more.

The thing is, Canadians speak English (or French) in theory, they look like us, so you'd think they might be similar, but nothing could often be further from the truth. England has endured thousands of years of civil unrest, waves of immigration from all sides, the blitz and every type of social bombardment, and it's made us pretty resilient and rounded off our edges. Canada has been sheltered in so very many ways, and is just really starting to grow and it tends to make them very reserved, nice and friendly, but reserved.

You just have to wait it out. Your stress level will reduce. It might go up quite high again too before that time, but you have to see it as a process. You can't hurry it, you might have days when you feel so low, lonely and sad that you'll wonder what the hell you've done - but after all the cost and palaver of getting here, you probably had a good reason to come, so try to keep that reason in mind.

Write a journal, a family journal, then when you have a good day, or a particularly trying day you can look back on it in a few months time. It's good too to remember all of those 'funny Canadiandifferences/irritations' that a while down the road don't phase you at all.

Forget about the food, its all generally crap but they don't demand better, so they don't get better...there are I'm sure exceptions but not many. Canadians are either super healthy, well exercised and eat good food at home or they eat the sugar and corn oil filled pap that is dished out by the trough load.

Very best of luck, it will get better, but it can be frustrating as hell on occasion, as many of us on here can attest to...but the sun will come out soon, then everything will be better:thumbup:

Re: Newbies in Canada - STRESS ALERT
 

Pleased to see another immigrant that likes living in Canada

All you have to do now is 'get on with it' and to 'never compare things in Canada to back home'

In a few years you will likely become a Canadian citizen :nod:

Just watch the calorie intake of all that great Canadian food & booze ;)

Re: Newbies in Canada - STRESS ALERT
 

LOL! thats funny....you being referred to a Newfie! Ill rasie you on that one though....I constantly get referred to as Irish and ive never set foot in Ireland in my entire life! (North or South)

I am actually from the black country which is the industrious region to the west of Birmingham......ive yet to work it out how a black country accent sounds remotely similar to Irish! lol

Re: Newbies in Canada - STRESS ALERT
 

:goodpost:

Thats where many new immigrants fail....they compare it to the UK....dont, its as simple as that.

When i came to Canada my rule was to forget about the activities i could no longer do here and the things i could no longer get (that I could in the UK),

And instead embrace the activities i can now do and things I can now get in Canada (but couldnt in the UK). If you know what i mean.

Re: Newbies in Canada - STRESS ALERT
 

The deposit on the sim only seems a bit odd to me. Me and my partner didn't have to do that when we moved to Canada but I was a Canadian citizen already so don't know if that made a difference.

Re: Newbies in Canada - STRESS ALERT
 

On a point of order, this is not necessarily true. There is usually half a month's rent commission for finding a tenant. It may not seem much to a realtor who has built their business around buying and selling but it is there.

It was in the last century when we moved here. When I came to hook my phone service up the Utility company (BC TEL as it was then) asked for a deposit. I said can I put the deposit on my Visa card? Oh, you have a Visa Card? In that case a deposit is not necessary.