Ibraheem

Dear all,
we landed last saturday as a PR and here is our experience, hope it helps:
We booked our flights Manchester - Montreal via KLM stopping in Amsterdam, the flight to Amsterdam was short and hassle free, airport is great and connecting time was reasonable, but the long Amsterdam - Montreal ride was a bit tiring, the service was good but the plane was not comfy, took over 7.5 hours (newer planes take less than 7 hours), TV screens were rubbish (if working at all), nothing special to kill time.
we arrived at Montréal Trudeau Airport at about 5 pm, there was a long queue at the passport control, we waited about 15 minutes before seeing an immigration officer who looked at our passports and the custom form then directed us to the immigration where we waited another 15 minutes, then we met the officer who took care of the landing process, pretty straight forward, just asked us a few questions, corssed the visas, had us signed the COPR form and signed it himself and thats it, we officially became PR, the process took less than 10 minutes, then he asked us to go to Quebec immigration desk, there we were warmly welcomed and had our CSQ examined and photocopied, we were set an appointment to help our integration, we were given loads of booklets,guides, maps ...etc about Quebec.
it was 7:30 pm by then too late to find our luggage as more and more flights arrived to we went to KLM office and they were of no help, so we searched ourselves in all the belts, it took us over an hour to find all cases which were taken off belts anyway, there was an Iraqi family who came to land on the same flight and they lost one bag due to the delay in immigration process.
now we went to cusoms, and that was fast, no body opened anything, the officer stamped our goods to follow lists without even looking into them, he took a copy and gave us one and said we need this when we bring the goods, he did not bother looking into the other list with goods with us.
We then went to thrifty car rentals to pick up the car we booked over the internet, that went smoothly as well, just the foreign driving licence and a credit card, but they asked us if we'd like to buy an insurance and I said yes, that was a mistake, they charged me $250 for a one week insurance !!! more than the rental itself.
Driving in Canada is easy they have clear signs, I used google journey planner to find my way to the rented flat I already rented over the internet, after 30 minutes of dribing we found the place, same as in pictures, nice and warm.
On Monday we opened a bank account with RBC, they were awesome, and then we applied for SIN was also very quick and we got a print out of our numbers and told the cards will be mailed within 6 working days.
On Tuesday we drove all the way to Toronto to visit a relative, it was a long journey but the motorway is not bad, but the speed limit is ridiculous 100 K/H and if you exceed it you get stopped by police, Toronto is larger and more modern than Montreal, you don't see the french signs there, we then visited Waterloo/Kitchner nice small city, next day we went back to Montreal. I had one work interview (pray for me fingers crossed).

quick observations
1- Whatever you buy there is a tax on top of it, that really annoying until you get used to it, why on earth they don't add tax to the price?
2- We used English in almost all our communications and that was absolutely fine, almost every one speaks a perfect english though people in montreal like it more if you speak in French
3- Canadians are very friendly, we were offered help several times without even asked for it.
4- Mobile phones are a total rip off compared to Europe or Mideast, esp if your on a PAYG, I charged my sim with a $40 and it did not last more than a few days, even though I did not use it a lot, if you receive calls you pay and I could not send international sms one more bad surprise is that if you don't top up monthly it stops working what a shame! the alternative is a $50 a month contract.
5- You see much more night life than in the UK, shops opens late, and streets are full even after 9 pm

ABW

Rock on...
Congratulation....dude.
Yeah, 401 goes a long way.

NewWorldMan

Felicitations.

Well done. Well worth the wait, eh?

mike321

congrats ibraheeem

milka

Just the info I was looking for without having to search! I land in Montreal on Tuesday 28th, a bit nervous about the IO's, but not sweating as I've met them many times as a foreign student.

Out of curiosity, how detailed was your goods to follow list, and did the Quebec IO give you forms for your Carte Soleil (med card)?

Wannabe

In my experience, you can do at least 120 without worrying about being stopped. I do the stretch Ottawa - Montréal frequently, and have been passed by copcars numerous times when I've done 120. Even the signs about speeding fines aren't mentioning anything under 120.

Disclaimer: I am, of course, NOT telling people to drive 120 in a 100-zone.

Ibraheem

NewWorldMan,
yes its worth it, downtown is just awesome.

milka,
don't worry about IO they are helpful all the time, the one I delt with never asked for proof of funds, he's just doing his job remember, if you have your visas and coprs then nothing to worry about. about medical card application, you have to do this in person (or by mail but have to send original documents and it will take longer), the forms are not easily available dunno why, but they also want a proof of address.


Wannabe,
I was not sure about this point, I wondered if the fines meant up to or exceeding because it reads 120 = $95? I asked people and they said you have to stick to 100 but I will try just under 120 and see what happens, if I got a ticket you have to share it with me though :P

Wannabe

Ummm...

I got my first ticket last week - $40 parking ticket...
I figure I've done so much speeding and not been caught, it's okay paying it without complaining.

milka

I'm now panicking :scared: . I have just realized that my dodo common-law partner never sent me the original CSQ, just a scanned copy. Mind you, my fault also, never thought to ask him for this. Do we have to present this to MICC at Trudeau?

AlexTsipkis

hi,

You should not panick. I called MICC probably a month ago when i received CSQ for my wife and asked if i need to send the original to my wife and they said "NO". Send just a copy of CSQ so that she present that to the IO when she lands.

Alex.

Ibraheem

Milka,
don't panic I don't have info about this exact point but I was admitted as a PR with visa and COPR, CSQ does not appear to have that importance, I was asked for it only later on, remeber MICC have a role in the selection and integration only, they look very friendly and I don't think this would be an issue at all.