Hi everyone,

So we have just booked our flights to Toronto on the 17th August! Scary stuff!
Myself and my fiancé are moving over for 18 months, I have a place on a course as I have previously said in another thread of mine, i have a study visa and my fiancé has an open work permit.

I was wondering if I could get any advice on things I can sort before arriving eg health insurance, bank account?

I know there will be so much to do to as its a new start!
We have just under 2 weeks to sort everything before I start college on the 29th so id like to do as much as I can before!

Also I was wondering if anyone had advice on renting, with my partner not having a job yet (will be looking closer to the time and when we arrive) will we struggle to get somewhere to rent? I've been looking at adverts and most of them say proof of employment and credit check, we will have neither!

Thanks for reading, any advice you have is really appreciated, need all the help we can get!
Olivia

You will/should need health insurance. As part of the WIKI on this site, it's discussed and list of providing companies is provided.

Without jobs and credit references you will have difficulty finding rentals. You may well need to pre-pay from 6 to 12 months rent.

Much Good Luck.

You will need health insurance. The institution at which you will be studying can advise you.

Accommodation: most reputable educational establishments can & will have advice/links/general info on their websites. If not, contact the students' association for the establishment.

Exciting!
For a bank account you could open up an account with the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). If you head to their website you will find info for newcomers to Canada and you should be able to get all the forms emailed to you. They will then open up a savings account for you initially which you can transfer funds into before you leave the UK.

Renting. You could try AirBnB initially until you find your feet, and then there is no need for references etc which you might struggle with in your situation. They do have some longer term rentals on there and it would then serve as a reference if/when you move to a more formal rental arrangement.

I'm no help at all but I'd like to welcome you in advance.

If you have good UK credit history take a copy of your Equifax report. They use Equifax in Canada and although they wont transfer your score it can be reassuring for some landlords. I posted a thread on here a few weeks ago about my experience of renting in Vancouver. May be worth a read if you find the time.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/canad...couver-870124/

In most cases you will want to make sure you register for your provinces MSP ASAP on landing as it can take some months to be eligible, in BC its 3, and this is from the time of registering not from arrival.

Good luck

where is the best to get health insurance from? just random quotes googling Canadian health cover or is it any better way/deals?

The Wiki has a list of recommended companies.

HTH.

I know that when we came over we brought letters from the UK banking institutions that indicated that we were creditworthy...certainly helped.