Hey guys, my name is Krutarth and it has been 5 days since I landed in Halifax, NS and I wanted to share my complete experience with you guys. One of my new friend who lives in Halifax helped me so much settle down and another friend who landed a week before helped too.
Firstly, the summary on the flights: I took an Air India flight Ahmedabad - Delhi – London – Halifax on 26th April. I had my 5 month old daughter with me so I had to take a direct flight to Halifax rather than taking a Toronto – Halifax flight because of the luggage and also the length of the flight. It was 24hrs flight, 30hrs from home to home. Also because it was Air India, I had the international terminals both at Delhi and London. So technically I just needed to change gates. The flights took off and landed from and to the same terminal. Delhi was a 2hr layover, London about 4. London was the hard one because it is way too big. With all the hand baggage and the kid, it’s almost an impossible task as a husband to carry the entire luggage. Fortunately, there are carts that go to and fro from one gate to other. Used it and got time to freshen up at London.
For those who still are confused if you need a transit visa to travel via London, YOU DON’T NEED A TRANSIT VISA TO TRAVEL VIA LONDON IF YOU HAVE A VALID PR (or any other valid visa) for CANADA.
Next, the immigration: The flight was late by 20mins from London. So reached about 2pm Halifax time. There were 3 immigrants before me. It took about half n hour for them to clear. There are 3 immigration windows in Halifax. The staff is extremely helpful. During the immigration they will ask if there is any cargo that is going to follow. I did put a yes even though there is no plan to get one. Contents I declared as spices, clothes and utensils. If you aren’t carrying more than CDN 10000 CASH you don’t need to declare. Even if you are carrying CDN 20000 or CDN 200000 in you forex card, DD or TT or ZZ or whatever, you don’t need to declare. (CDN is Canadian Dollars BTW)
The easiest way to get to your destination (Airbnb or a friend’s home) is to get a taxi. There are buses but you usually have to change buses to reach your destination. For the immigrants, the luggage will be too much. For me 23x4, 7x2 10x1 and 2 backpacks. So you may need to get 2 cabs rather than one. So once you get out get a taxi from the airport itself, they charge something around CDN 70-80 for each cab.
Third, the processes new SIM, SIN, Health card, ISANS, Bank Account, Home Internet: For new SIM, they are a lot of options, check it out online and choose the one that depends on your needs. I got Fido. Documents that will be needed for getting the new SIM is COPR and a credit card (forex card will do). For the SIN, you need to visit Service Canada in Quinpool. You will need your passport and COPR to get the SIN. For Health Card, you need to visit MSI in Dartmouth. Again you will need your passport and COPR. (BONUS: apply for pharmacare as well which takes care of your drug bills as well). For ISANS, you need to pre-book your appointment (over phone or email) which is in Mumford. They give you an appointment date which is usually after a week. There you can talk to them about your career questions. They also provide a few courses that will help you in your career. As for the banks, choose a bank from Scotia Bank, TD or RBC. Here there is ECS everywhere. For tenant insurance, rent, phone, electricity bill etc. You will need a void cheque which includes a bank number, transit number and you account number to process the ECS. So make sure to ask for the same. For the bank account you will need to have the passport and the COPR again. There is no such sequence that you need to follow to get all these things done. If you spend 2 full days, it should be enough. For the home internet, there are many ISPs. And if you Google your options, there are mixed reviews and expensive too. I booked City Wide. The google reviews are poor but my friend has been using it since a year and is more than satisfied so I got that. That too takes a week to get the it.
Additional Note: There are activation charges everywhere you go for the first time. Fido - 20, NS Power – 85 (deposit), home internet – 55, etc. It is ridiculous but everyone has to pay so come mentally prepared.
Extras: The buses services are very good. They will take you anywhere and everywhere you will need to go. Google maps à Directions will show you exactly which buses will reach when, where and how. You get a CDN 2+ bus ticket (something more than CDN 2 about 25c or so). You can get prepaid tickets for CDN 2 each from Lawtons or Shoppers or any other big drug store. They usually have a 10 tickets booklet that they will issue you for CDN 20. Each CDN 2 ticket is valid for 2 hours. You can roam around wherever you want, how much ever you want. Just make sure to get a TRANSFER from the bus you get into to travel further in any other bus. Monthly passes are available for CDN 78 which is a better thing to do because it is an unlimited travel pass.
Indian Groceries are available at many places but may be out of stock at times. Good things are available at Walmart, Wholesale Club, Antlantic Super Store, etc. to name some at very good prices. Sometimes there are things on sale in there. So sometimes it is comparatively cheaper at places where the prices may have been higher before so you have to just keep a good track. Flipp is an app that uploads flyers of various stores regularly. So check them out before you go out to buy stuff.
There are a few things that are not available in here in Halifax. Bathroom Tumbler, a few spices, etc. make sure to get that from India. Mostly you will be able to find the things you need in the stores. Of course not as good as you would get in Toronto.
Total expenses I made in the first five days including 3 months advance rent, mattress, pillows, other kitchen/home essential things and groceries is about CDN 4000 (Includes things like 16 L cooking oil, 5kg sugar etc that will be used for at least next 6 months). I will be spending a little more say CDN 200 on a few more things like car seat and stroller etc. So all in all just under 4500.
I hope I cleared a lot of things for you guys before you came. I hope this helps you in planning financially and mentally your landing and first few days of life in Halifax
Thanks
Firstly, the summary on the flights: I took an Air India flight Ahmedabad - Delhi – London – Halifax on 26th April. I had my 5 month old daughter with me so I had to take a direct flight to Halifax rather than taking a Toronto – Halifax flight because of the luggage and also the length of the flight. It was 24hrs flight, 30hrs from home to home. Also because it was Air India, I had the international terminals both at Delhi and London. So technically I just needed to change gates. The flights took off and landed from and to the same terminal. Delhi was a 2hr layover, London about 4. London was the hard one because it is way too big. With all the hand baggage and the kid, it’s almost an impossible task as a husband to carry the entire luggage. Fortunately, there are carts that go to and fro from one gate to other. Used it and got time to freshen up at London.
For those who still are confused if you need a transit visa to travel via London, YOU DON’T NEED A TRANSIT VISA TO TRAVEL VIA LONDON IF YOU HAVE A VALID PR (or any other valid visa) for CANADA.
Next, the immigration: The flight was late by 20mins from London. So reached about 2pm Halifax time. There were 3 immigrants before me. It took about half n hour for them to clear. There are 3 immigration windows in Halifax. The staff is extremely helpful. During the immigration they will ask if there is any cargo that is going to follow. I did put a yes even though there is no plan to get one. Contents I declared as spices, clothes and utensils. If you aren’t carrying more than CDN 10000 CASH you don’t need to declare. Even if you are carrying CDN 20000 or CDN 200000 in you forex card, DD or TT or ZZ or whatever, you don’t need to declare. (CDN is Canadian Dollars BTW)
The easiest way to get to your destination (Airbnb or a friend’s home) is to get a taxi. There are buses but you usually have to change buses to reach your destination. For the immigrants, the luggage will be too much. For me 23x4, 7x2 10x1 and 2 backpacks. So you may need to get 2 cabs rather than one. So once you get out get a taxi from the airport itself, they charge something around CDN 70-80 for each cab.
Third, the processes new SIM, SIN, Health card, ISANS, Bank Account, Home Internet: For new SIM, they are a lot of options, check it out online and choose the one that depends on your needs. I got Fido. Documents that will be needed for getting the new SIM is COPR and a credit card (forex card will do). For the SIN, you need to visit Service Canada in Quinpool. You will need your passport and COPR to get the SIN. For Health Card, you need to visit MSI in Dartmouth. Again you will need your passport and COPR. (BONUS: apply for pharmacare as well which takes care of your drug bills as well). For ISANS, you need to pre-book your appointment (over phone or email) which is in Mumford. They give you an appointment date which is usually after a week. There you can talk to them about your career questions. They also provide a few courses that will help you in your career. As for the banks, choose a bank from Scotia Bank, TD or RBC. Here there is ECS everywhere. For tenant insurance, rent, phone, electricity bill etc. You will need a void cheque which includes a bank number, transit number and you account number to process the ECS. So make sure to ask for the same. For the bank account you will need to have the passport and the COPR again. There is no such sequence that you need to follow to get all these things done. If you spend 2 full days, it should be enough. For the home internet, there are many ISPs. And if you Google your options, there are mixed reviews and expensive too. I booked City Wide. The google reviews are poor but my friend has been using it since a year and is more than satisfied so I got that. That too takes a week to get the it.
Additional Note: There are activation charges everywhere you go for the first time. Fido - 20, NS Power – 85 (deposit), home internet – 55, etc. It is ridiculous but everyone has to pay so come mentally prepared.
Extras: The buses services are very good. They will take you anywhere and everywhere you will need to go. Google maps à Directions will show you exactly which buses will reach when, where and how. You get a CDN 2+ bus ticket (something more than CDN 2 about 25c or so). You can get prepaid tickets for CDN 2 each from Lawtons or Shoppers or any other big drug store. They usually have a 10 tickets booklet that they will issue you for CDN 20. Each CDN 2 ticket is valid for 2 hours. You can roam around wherever you want, how much ever you want. Just make sure to get a TRANSFER from the bus you get into to travel further in any other bus. Monthly passes are available for CDN 78 which is a better thing to do because it is an unlimited travel pass.
Indian Groceries are available at many places but may be out of stock at times. Good things are available at Walmart, Wholesale Club, Antlantic Super Store, etc. to name some at very good prices. Sometimes there are things on sale in there. So sometimes it is comparatively cheaper at places where the prices may have been higher before so you have to just keep a good track. Flipp is an app that uploads flyers of various stores regularly. So check them out before you go out to buy stuff.
There are a few things that are not available in here in Halifax. Bathroom Tumbler, a few spices, etc. make sure to get that from India. Mostly you will be able to find the things you need in the stores. Of course not as good as you would get in Toronto.
Total expenses I made in the first five days including 3 months advance rent, mattress, pillows, other kitchen/home essential things and groceries is about CDN 4000 (Includes things like 16 L cooking oil, 5kg sugar etc that will be used for at least next 6 months). I will be spending a little more say CDN 200 on a few more things like car seat and stroller etc. So all in all just under 4500.
I hope I cleared a lot of things for you guys before you came. I hope this helps you in planning financially and mentally your landing and first few days of life in Halifax
Thanks
