catpea33

Hi,

I just received my COPR but won't be landing until the end of June. I was just wondering what I should do about getting my new SIN. Specifically, I won't have an address for the card to be sent to, which is the same situation (at least initially) for my PR card. Do you know if I can have them sent to a local CIC office?

Before anyone suggests it, yes I've checked the Wiki! It doesn't clarify the procedure for the SIN card situation. For the PR card it says: "If you do not yet have a mailing address in Canada, but if you have a relative or friend in Canada who is willing to forward your PR card to you (I don't), you can provide the address of the relative or friend. If you do not have an address to which the PR card can be mailed, it does not matter."

Any help or suggestions anyone can give would be most helpful!
Cat

iaink

There is no rush to get your SIN, just wait till you get here and have an address. If an employer requires a SIN number up front they can give it to you at the time you apply at a Service Canada office, and even without the actual number most employers can divert appropriate payments to a dummy account until your card arrives. I seem to recall I had my card mailed to my work address as I was initially living at a hotel until I sorted out an apartment and didnt know how long I would be there.


PR cards you have 6 months to give them an address IIRC, so again, its no biggie.

catpea33

OK that's great. Thanks for the info Iaink!

Aviator

You could always go to confession if it makes you feel better!

lindamchugh

we got our SIN's the same day no hassle on a temp piece of paper then cards were posted out. good luck

ann m

The plastic cards are no longer being issued - it will be a paper print out from now on, FYI.

lindamchugh

really? Must just have stopped as we got ours in January

dlparry

i got my sin last week and was told i would receive a card but any issued after the end of march would only get a piece of paper. also after the end of march if there was any need to be reissued with a card again you would only get a piece of paper,

catpea33

Ah ok, I wasn't aware of that. Looks like it's only the PR card to worry about then and I'm sure I can find an apartment within six months!

scrubbedexpat091

The letter my payroll department sent out says March 31, 2014, so I assume anyone who applies after this date with just get the letter in the mail.

Seems this letter will end up easier for people to lose, misplace, and such. I think the card is a better option.

Tony_Tiger

If your really in a pickle. Some post offices have mail boxes you can rent for the year.

Siouxie

You can apply for an SI number from outside Canada, if you need to.

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/sin/apply/how.shtml

pdarwin

That's pretty much what we did. In Ontario we used Mail Boxes Etc and I'm sure there are equivalents everywhere. Rented a mailbox for a quarter year. Cost about C$48 (that was a while ago though) and the address looked just like a regular street address. We used it for SIN, for banking, cell phone, everything.

orly

Probably one of those numbers you should memorise. I can see why they're getting rid of the cards though. You're rarely, if ever, asked to produce it. Service Canada say you shouldn't carry it with you so it's not really any more or less likely to go missing that a sheet of paper if you have any sort of "important documents" folder.

99problems

We spoke to them nicely and asked them to have the numbers (just a letter with Sin numbers on really) posted to the Service Canada office where you applied for SIN numbers. They should hold them for a week or so and you can drop by or ring them to check if arrived. But OP is right there is no panic to get these, my suggestion is get a rental property first and having an address makes everyting easier - before this you will need a bank account - this ws fun too as most banks want an address first - BMO were helpful in this regard and allowed us to use the branch address for a few weeks while we got sorted. Rental properties in Calgary are few and expensive!