Hi all,

I keep on thinking up questions i've neglected to ask - so here i am again! (Man, i LOVE this forum!)

Firstly, when purchasing in Canada, is it the same as in the U.S. - as in, you pay tax on top of the items' marked price?

Secondly, will my U.K. driving licence be honoured indefinately if and when we land in Canada, or will i have to re-test? And if so, what do the Canadian driving tests involve?

Take care y'all,

Kev.

Answers to your questions Kev


1) generally Yes, if the goods are taxable in that province, in Ontario we have GST and PST which add 15% to the price of most goods (prices marked are without tax)

2) Again depends on the Province - Ontario has just started swapping UK licences for Full Ontario licences. Since this has just been started it should be in place for a few years yet. Tests depends on the province you apply to, some have graduated licencing others do not.

Hope that helps

Ray

Hi

Yes, you add taxes on top - varies depending on which Provience, we are 14.5% here in BC.

Yes, you have to re test. You take a computer test and then the car test.

JJ

Thanx for the info guys. As you may or may not know, we're hoping to relocate to Calgary, Alberta, so i guess i'll have to see what their regs are.

Here's another question for you and anyone else reading this;- In order to work, do i need a social-security number or anything like that, or will my permanent residence visa give me all i need?

Kev.

You'll need to apply for your SIN card. Social Insurance Number.

If you're coming to Alberta you will definately need to re-test. Unfortunately they do not swap UK licenses here!

And, yes, I believe you do need a SIN before you are able to work here .. but I could be wrong! My employer was able to use a 'temporary SIN' so that I could start work. The SIN application is very easy and was fairly quick to process. Once the form was completed and handed in, I phoned them in a couple of days and they gave me the SIN over the phone. A card followed shortly after.

It's so great that these answers are so fast in coming!! Thanx again.

How about this one;- What about mortgages? Can i get one easily enough as a permanent resident, or must i be a citizen? (which i guess would mean renting for about 3 years!!)

Kev.

I'm not even a PR and HSBC are giving me a mortgage, so it is definately possible. Having said that, I had a large sum of money from the sale of my house in the UK to put towards a house here so the mortgage is very small. A small risk to them I guess.

I don't think you'll have too much trouble as a PR. Presidents Choice wouldn't even speak to me because I am not a PR, but they did suggest I go back to speak to them when (if!!) my PR visa eventually comes through.

Good luck. What style of Karate do you do?!

In Calgary you should have no trouble getting a mortgage if you have a 35% deposit and either enough to live on for a bit or a job to finance it.

If you hit a brick wall PM us and we will point you to a fairly friendly bank.l

As someone that grew up on the hidden tax thing in the UK, its a bit of a pain buying stuff here now, only to be told at the checkout that some marked for X, now totals Y.

Driver's licences, only 4 provinces do the swap right now, and they as follows:

New Brunswick, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Quebec. They will all credit you with your years of experience from the UK, so if you had more than 4yrs in the UK, that is what will show on the system here after the swap, i.e ontario charges you $50, they take your pic there, and they want to see some ID ( your passport ), 4 white dots on a red strip under your pic indicates you have been driving for more than 4yrs, which is what is needed to be in a car, with someone learning to drive.

which province have you got in mind?

Firstly, Glaswegian - thanx for the info. It's gonna be at least a year or more til we land. I'l make sure I keep in touch though, in case we need that info about that friendly bank.

Secondly, Squarepants (Spongebob's my son Josh's favourite show, by the way) - If our application for permanent resinency is successful, we aim to settle in the Calgary area of Alberta.

Thirdly, Ed & Karen - I started Bujinkai Karate (a widespread style throughout the South West of England in the 70's and 80's) back in '78, then in '83 I kinda had a break from Karate and started Aiki-Jitsu. I returned to Karate (Zen-Shin-Ryu this time, due to a bit of a fall-out with my previous instructor) in about '86, but kept up my 'Jitsu training too. In '91 I helped 'found' the style 'Ashiita-Kai', which roughly translated meas 'Tomorrows' Fighting School' - this is a style which tries to incorporate everything, i.e., competition karate, self-defence, and submission-grappling.
It's explained a little better on my site - www.kevindavey.com - in fact, that's just about all there is on my site!!!

Anyway, thanx again everyone. Take care y'all,

Kev.

Oh, by the way, a workmate of mine recently went to Calgary for a family members wedding, and he took many many many many photos.
A few were from the top of the Tower, and i'm sure in the distance, i saw a stadium of some sort that resembled a horses saddle! It's a hell-of-a building - but what is it??

Kev.

That would be the Saddledome, home of the Flames, built for the Calgary Olympics and a civil engineering marvel for the roof structure alone.

I was curious to se what you were talking about, and now I know. If people are going to be in that part of the world this summer, look at what is going to be happening there.

http://www.pengrowthsaddledome.com/

One of the highlights of being involved in minor hockey is that the kids get to play on the Saddledome ice - we had a local Timbits mini-tournament and one of my kids also got to play during the intermission of a Hitmen game.

That's major kudos when you're only 5 years old ....