Lots of people go through the process of soft-landing for various reasons. As a new migrant, I thought of noting down my experience and what I felt was useful to do during the soft-landing period in order to help others who may be planning this in the future.
My experience below is based on landing during the summer months (you will see why this is important towards the end) at the Pearson International Airport in Toronto. I think the experience at other airports will also, be the same, but I have tried to be very specific, even in terms of directions to head at the airport, etc.
Day 0 – Arrival day
At Pearson you will first, need to stand in the normal immigration queue (i.e. the queue where people arriving with visas go to NOT the queue for the machines for Citizens and Permanent Residents). Once you reach the immigration officer, they will check the visa on your passport, clear it and send you through. After clearing the first immigration officer, when you reach the area behind the immigration counters there will be another officer checking the passports/forms; they will direct you to the area for new migrants.
In the new migrants’ area, you will join another queue to see another immigration officer. Here the immigration officer will ask you for your COPR, address in Canada and the amount of funds you are carrying with you. They can also ask you for other documents that you submitted as part of your PR application so carry these with you in your cabin baggage. Once the officer has processed you, they will stamp your COPR with the landing date and provide you the COPR. Congratulations! You are now a landed migrant.
You will also see a Service Canada counter in the new migrants’ area. If this is manned, proceed to it and they will process your Social Insurance Number (SIN) and also provide you useful information about life in Canada.
You will then proceed to the baggage collection hall which is downstairs to collect your baggage. Once you’ve collected your baggage, you will walk towards the exit. Just before the exit you will meet another Customs officer who you will need to tell that you are a landed migrant arriving for the first time into Canada. You will then be directed to the customs area where you will meet a CBP (Customs and Border Protection) agent who will ask you about the items in your baggage as well as the list of items to follow. This is the area where you will need to provide your Goods to Follow List. The Goods to Follow List will be stamped, and you will be provided a receipt indicating that zero tax is due on those goods. Keep this list and the receipt safe as you will need it when importing the goods into Canada later.
Things to remember:
- Make sure you have a reliable address with you as this will be the address where your PR cards will be mailed.
- The queues for immigration can be long (we spent close to 2 hours). If you have children, carry something for them to eat with you in the cabin baggage (no fruits etc as these can’t be imported into Canada but industrially packed cookies etc. should be fine).
- Make sure to carry your original documents that you submitted as part of PR in your cabin baggage.
Day 1 – First Day in Canada
The first thing to be completed on Day 1 is to get the SIN if you haven’t been able to get one at the airport. The SIN is very important, and you would need this for work as well as for opening a bank account. Applying for a SIN is very easy, you just visit your nearest Service Canada office and they will help you apply for and get your SIN. You can locate the Service Canada office nearest to where you are staying using this LINK. Any Service Canada office can issue you the SIN so just visit the office nearest to where you are staying. They provide the SIN as a print out; keep this print out safe and secure. The SIN can be used for identity theft so ensure no one else knows your SIN but you.
Once you have the SIN; you should visit your selected bank to open a bank account for yourself and your family. Most major banks have account options for new migrants; the biggest bank in Canada is the TD Bank & the 2nd biggest is RBC. Both banks are good but bank accounts, especially checking accounts, can be expensive in Canada, with monthly charges. Research the available account options before visiting the bank. When at the bank ask them if they have any offers. They normally have offers running such as low/no charges for the first six months for high charge checking accounts. If these are available you can take these offers and then downgrade to a cheaper/free savings account after the offer period is over.
You should also get a credit card because this will help build your credit history. RBC provides a credit card to new migrants without a credit history in Canada. The bank will also provide you full details of the bank account to transfer money from your home country to the bank account as well as provide you the details for online banking.
Try to complete the bank account on the first day (or even on day zero if you have time) since the bank cards will take about 10 days to arrive in the post. The bank will issue you limited use ATM cards on the day you open the bank account, but these cards will only work in ATMs of your bank for withdrawing money (NOT at POS or at other banks’ ATMs). Even the credit cards and the pin numbers will come by post after about 10 days.
Things to remember:
- Ensure that SIN formality and bank account are completed on Day One itself as the bank cards take time to arrive in the post.
- Deposit the excess cash you are carrying into the bank account after keeping a certain amount with you for purchases etc.
- Check out this RBC page about Newcomers to Canada to find out their options for Newcomers. Check out this page for their most popular bank account options. Check out this page for their credit card options.
- Check out this TD bank page about New to Canada to find out their bank account options.
Day 2 – Driving License
Getting a driving license is an important part of living in Canada. Also, since Canada adopts a graduated test system, if you can manage to get the G1 (trainee) licence during your soft landing period, this will help when you move permanently in a few months.
So, on Day Two you should complete your driving license formalities to get a G1 (trainee) license. Visit your nearest Drive Test Ontario Centre to sign up for and give a theory test. You can find your nearest drive test center at this LINK. You can also search the web directly by googling ‘Drive Test Centre Hamilton/Mississauga/etc.’ There are many free resources available online to practice for the theory test. Make sure you go through a lot of them to practice thoroughly. You can find many options by googling ‘Practice theory test Ontario’.
Upon successful completion of the theory test, you will receive the G1 Driver’s license. When registering for the G1 theory test, give them the driving license from your home country (if you have one) and the certificate of experience issued by your home country. If they accept this, then they will allow you to directly book a G test upon passing the theory test. If they don’t accept the certificate, then normally on the basis of a driving license of another country (which displays information in English) they will allow you to directly book a G2 test, which will get you a G2 licence which is good enough for normal driving in Ontario.
After passing the theory test, on this day you will receive a temporary (paper) copy of the license and the permanent (card) version of the license will come in the post. It normally takes up to 2 weeks for the license to arrive in the post; hence you need a reliable address to collect the driver’s license.
Sometimes it can take very long to get the G1 driving license because there will be long queues and in case one of you does not pass the theory test in the first round then they will have to wait longer to retake the test. In our case, we spent the entire afternoon from about 11 am till 4 pm but our experience was unusual because the drive test center we were at was processing applications from 2 centers. But even normally, expect to spend a couple of hours there.
Remaining Days
Drive around different localities during the remaining days. You should rent a car and drive. If you land during summer like us, then it would be easier to do this. But for people landing during the winter months, driving in snow may be a challenge. My friends have advised that driving in snow is not too difficult until it is very heavy snow and that too when you are driving on high-ways, so it might be worth attempting, but this will be your call.
When driving, try to visit the local schools and also explore the areas around these schools. If you are a Desi/Arab then try to visit Mississauga and Scarborough as these places have several Desi/Arab stores. Even if you don’t eventually end up staying in these areas, it will good to at least see how they are.
I would also advise doing fun things, especially if you are a family with kids. Canada is going to be your new home and you should go back with good memories of the place to ease the process of the final move.
My experience below is based on landing during the summer months (you will see why this is important towards the end) at the Pearson International Airport in Toronto. I think the experience at other airports will also, be the same, but I have tried to be very specific, even in terms of directions to head at the airport, etc.
Day 0 – Arrival day
At Pearson you will first, need to stand in the normal immigration queue (i.e. the queue where people arriving with visas go to NOT the queue for the machines for Citizens and Permanent Residents). Once you reach the immigration officer, they will check the visa on your passport, clear it and send you through. After clearing the first immigration officer, when you reach the area behind the immigration counters there will be another officer checking the passports/forms; they will direct you to the area for new migrants.
In the new migrants’ area, you will join another queue to see another immigration officer. Here the immigration officer will ask you for your COPR, address in Canada and the amount of funds you are carrying with you. They can also ask you for other documents that you submitted as part of your PR application so carry these with you in your cabin baggage. Once the officer has processed you, they will stamp your COPR with the landing date and provide you the COPR. Congratulations! You are now a landed migrant.
You will also see a Service Canada counter in the new migrants’ area. If this is manned, proceed to it and they will process your Social Insurance Number (SIN) and also provide you useful information about life in Canada.
You will then proceed to the baggage collection hall which is downstairs to collect your baggage. Once you’ve collected your baggage, you will walk towards the exit. Just before the exit you will meet another Customs officer who you will need to tell that you are a landed migrant arriving for the first time into Canada. You will then be directed to the customs area where you will meet a CBP (Customs and Border Protection) agent who will ask you about the items in your baggage as well as the list of items to follow. This is the area where you will need to provide your Goods to Follow List. The Goods to Follow List will be stamped, and you will be provided a receipt indicating that zero tax is due on those goods. Keep this list and the receipt safe as you will need it when importing the goods into Canada later.
Things to remember:
- Make sure you have a reliable address with you as this will be the address where your PR cards will be mailed.
- The queues for immigration can be long (we spent close to 2 hours). If you have children, carry something for them to eat with you in the cabin baggage (no fruits etc as these can’t be imported into Canada but industrially packed cookies etc. should be fine).
- Make sure to carry your original documents that you submitted as part of PR in your cabin baggage.
Day 1 – First Day in Canada
The first thing to be completed on Day 1 is to get the SIN if you haven’t been able to get one at the airport. The SIN is very important, and you would need this for work as well as for opening a bank account. Applying for a SIN is very easy, you just visit your nearest Service Canada office and they will help you apply for and get your SIN. You can locate the Service Canada office nearest to where you are staying using this LINK. Any Service Canada office can issue you the SIN so just visit the office nearest to where you are staying. They provide the SIN as a print out; keep this print out safe and secure. The SIN can be used for identity theft so ensure no one else knows your SIN but you.
Once you have the SIN; you should visit your selected bank to open a bank account for yourself and your family. Most major banks have account options for new migrants; the biggest bank in Canada is the TD Bank & the 2nd biggest is RBC. Both banks are good but bank accounts, especially checking accounts, can be expensive in Canada, with monthly charges. Research the available account options before visiting the bank. When at the bank ask them if they have any offers. They normally have offers running such as low/no charges for the first six months for high charge checking accounts. If these are available you can take these offers and then downgrade to a cheaper/free savings account after the offer period is over.
You should also get a credit card because this will help build your credit history. RBC provides a credit card to new migrants without a credit history in Canada. The bank will also provide you full details of the bank account to transfer money from your home country to the bank account as well as provide you the details for online banking.
Try to complete the bank account on the first day (or even on day zero if you have time) since the bank cards will take about 10 days to arrive in the post. The bank will issue you limited use ATM cards on the day you open the bank account, but these cards will only work in ATMs of your bank for withdrawing money (NOT at POS or at other banks’ ATMs). Even the credit cards and the pin numbers will come by post after about 10 days.
Things to remember:
- Ensure that SIN formality and bank account are completed on Day One itself as the bank cards take time to arrive in the post.
- Deposit the excess cash you are carrying into the bank account after keeping a certain amount with you for purchases etc.
- Check out this RBC page about Newcomers to Canada to find out their options for Newcomers. Check out this page for their most popular bank account options. Check out this page for their credit card options.
- Check out this TD bank page about New to Canada to find out their bank account options.
Day 2 – Driving License
Getting a driving license is an important part of living in Canada. Also, since Canada adopts a graduated test system, if you can manage to get the G1 (trainee) licence during your soft landing period, this will help when you move permanently in a few months.
So, on Day Two you should complete your driving license formalities to get a G1 (trainee) license. Visit your nearest Drive Test Ontario Centre to sign up for and give a theory test. You can find your nearest drive test center at this LINK. You can also search the web directly by googling ‘Drive Test Centre Hamilton/Mississauga/etc.’ There are many free resources available online to practice for the theory test. Make sure you go through a lot of them to practice thoroughly. You can find many options by googling ‘Practice theory test Ontario’.
Upon successful completion of the theory test, you will receive the G1 Driver’s license. When registering for the G1 theory test, give them the driving license from your home country (if you have one) and the certificate of experience issued by your home country. If they accept this, then they will allow you to directly book a G test upon passing the theory test. If they don’t accept the certificate, then normally on the basis of a driving license of another country (which displays information in English) they will allow you to directly book a G2 test, which will get you a G2 licence which is good enough for normal driving in Ontario.
After passing the theory test, on this day you will receive a temporary (paper) copy of the license and the permanent (card) version of the license will come in the post. It normally takes up to 2 weeks for the license to arrive in the post; hence you need a reliable address to collect the driver’s license.
Sometimes it can take very long to get the G1 driving license because there will be long queues and in case one of you does not pass the theory test in the first round then they will have to wait longer to retake the test. In our case, we spent the entire afternoon from about 11 am till 4 pm but our experience was unusual because the drive test center we were at was processing applications from 2 centers. But even normally, expect to spend a couple of hours there.
Remaining Days
Drive around different localities during the remaining days. You should rent a car and drive. If you land during summer like us, then it would be easier to do this. But for people landing during the winter months, driving in snow may be a challenge. My friends have advised that driving in snow is not too difficult until it is very heavy snow and that too when you are driving on high-ways, so it might be worth attempting, but this will be your call.
When driving, try to visit the local schools and also explore the areas around these schools. If you are a Desi/Arab then try to visit Mississauga and Scarborough as these places have several Desi/Arab stores. Even if you don’t eventually end up staying in these areas, it will good to at least see how they are.
I would also advise doing fun things, especially if you are a family with kids. Canada is going to be your new home and you should go back with good memories of the place to ease the process of the final move.
