Aj

Dear All,
With your experinces, what all formalities a person is supposed to
complete after landing?

Thanks

AJ

Stuart Brook

AJ wrote:
    > Dear All,
    > With your experinces, what all formalities a person is supposed to
    > complete after landing?
    > Thanks
    > AJ

Apply for a Social Insurance number if you want a job.
Apply for a drivers license if you want to drive a car.
Apply for a health card from your province.

That's about it for the formalities - then it's all the hassle of
finding somewhere to live and somewhere to work.

\"Half-Canadian\

"Stuart Brook" <[email protected] > wrote in
message news:3D887F59.-
[email protected]...
    > AJ wrote:
    > >
    > > Dear All,
    > > With your experinces, what all formalities a person is supposed to
    > > complete after landing?
    > >
    > > Thanks
    > >
    > > AJ
    > Apply for a Social Insurance number if you want a job.
    > Apply for a drivers license if you want to drive a car.
    > Apply for a health card from your province.
    > That's about it for the formalities - then it's all the hassle of
    > finding somewhere to live and somewhere to work.

Stuart, where are your priorities??? The first thing I did after landing
was to buy a BC resident fishing licence :-)

bighead

addon... open a bank account...

Stuart Brook

\"Half-Canadian\" wrote:
    > "Stuart Brook" <[email protected] > wrote in
    > message news:3D887F5-
    > [email protected]    ...
    > > AJ wrote:
    > > >
    > > > Dear All,
    > > > With your experinces, what all formalities a person is supposed to
    > > > complete after landing?
    > > >
    > > > Thanks
    > > >
    > > > AJ
    > >
    > > Apply for a Social Insurance number if you want a job.
    > > Apply for a drivers license if you want to drive a car.
    > > Apply for a health card from your province.
    > >
    > > That's about it for the formalities - then it's all the hassle of
    > > finding somewhere to live and somewhere to work.
    > Stuart, where are your priorities??? The first thing I did after landing
    > was to buy a BC resident fishing licence :-)

Were it me, I'd be getting a Leafs season ticket if I were any where
near TO!

sysclp

Almost everything else you need to do depends on having your Social Insurance number, so do that first. You will need it to register for the health program, your driver's license, and get a bank account. Most banks here (I really hate them) are very difficult to deal with if you are new here. They will not give you an account without the SIN, a Canadian driver's license, and proof of your local address (like a lease or utility bills). The health program needed the proof of address too as I remember and I had to come back again once I could get a copy of my lease. When you go for your driver's license, be sure to bring proof of how long you have been driving or you will have to start out with a learner's permit first. I came from the US so I could just swap mine out for a Canadian license (and I brought the 2 previous expired licenses to prove I have been driving for over 12 years) but not every country can do that.

Migrant

Unfortunately Canada does not recognise many countries' driving licences on
a one-for-one swap basis. Driving for many years in a country the size of
the maritimes with twice the entire population of Canada and probably more
than twice the vehicles(the UK)is not recognised and Brits have to take a
driving test. It has nothing to do with driving on the left either, Japan is
recognised but Australia is not. Go figure. Regrettably this can also apply
to previous driving experience for car insurance reductions. I recommend
people get letters from their insurers on company paper to certify their
experience. This can help and it does pay to check different companies
before accepting no for an answer.

Not having a Canadian credit history is also a pain at first. No matter how
many gold cards you have from another country, a high Canadian income and
lots of money in the bank you will probably not get a lowly Sears storecard
for some time!


SIN numbers have to be applied for and can take anything from 2 to 6 weeks
to come through. There is a provision to get one within 24 hrs but I was
told this was for employers to pay wages only. Needing one for a mortgage
does not count......

"sysclp" wrote in message
news:419185.1032389731@britishexpats-
.com...
    > Almost everything else you need to do depends on having your Social
    > Insurance number, so do that first. You will need it to register for
    > the health program, your driver's license, and get a bank account. Most
    > banks here (I really hate them) are very difficult to deal with if you
    > are new here. They will not give you an account without the SIN, a
    > Canadian driver's license, and proof of your local address (like a lease
    > or utility bills). The health program needed the proof of address too
    > as I remember and I had to come back again once I could get a copy of my
    > lease. When you go for your driver's license, be sure to bring proof of
    > how long you have been driving or you will have to start out with a
    > learner's permit first. I came from the US so I could just swap mine
    > out for a Canadian license (and I brought the 2 previous expired
    > licenses to prove I have been driving for over 12 years) but not every
    > country can do that.
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

sysclp

You are so right about the credit problems! I have been here a year and a half and I still can't even get my daily withdrawal limit on the ATM for my checking account raised above $200! They tie that and a lot of other stuff to your credit rating. It can cause you problems trying to rent an apartment and forget about buying a house for a few years. The only local credit cards I have been able to get are a $300 limit Visa and a $500 limit store card for Eatons. Very frustrating considering I have very good credit in the US and have owned 4 houses in the past! I would love to get my car refinanced with a Canadian bank instead of my old US bank just to make getting payments in easier, but they won't even talk to me about that.

bighead

one catch-22 that a lot of people dont realise (and thereby end up screwing up their credit rating without knowing) is that each time you apply for credit, no matter how big or small, regardless of weather you are approved or declined, it goes into your credit file as an inquiry...

when potential creditor's look at your file, it tells them how many times your credit report was accessed in the last 5 years, who accessed it, what it was accessed for etc...

if you apply for a lot of stuff, or if you get into situations when there are more than normal requests for information from your credit file, if potential creditor's see such, they automatically become alert to a possibility that "hey this guy has been getting credit report inquiries left, right and center... there must be something fishy..." and will routinely decline you saying that your credit profile does not fit into the parameters of their requirement to qualify...

as a general rule of thumb.. try to keep inquiries to your credit file to under 2 a year...

sysclp

That is interesting and something I am sure most people don't even think about. Thankfully I have not applied much since I figured I would just get turned down anyway. Other than for our apartment and the two cards I do have I think I only applied 2 other places in the last year and a half. I wish they could just import your file from the US, but then I am sure there are just as many people who are glad to start over fresh. :-)

mymontreal

Hi

You may want to try a different approach - you may have to shop around a bit but I think it's worth a try

I had similar problems when I moved from Canada to the US - no credit history so difficult to get a credit card - they had no means of accessing my Canadian credit report.

So, I obtained a copy of my credit report from Equifax Canada and submitted it along with my credit card apps - nothing happened so I phoned up cust service and each time spoke to a supervisor - in 2 out of the 3 applications I was able to get a credit card on the basis of the Canadian credit report that I submitted from Equifax Canada.

I'm sure there are possibilities of it working if you move from US to Canada - get printouts of your US credit reports from all 3 of the main US reporting agencies and send them in with any credit card apps - it's got to be worth a try

Probably would not work if you are coming from the UK

Mymontreal