Landing Experience at Toronto along with my wife ( no kids ) - FSWO
From: Los Angeles International Airport
To: Toronto Pearson International Airport
From Airport: I took a direct flight 'West Jet' from Los Angeles to Toronto - 4hrs flight journey. I had 7 check-in bags ( 23 kgs each ), 2 cabin bags ( 7 kilos each ), 2 personal bags. Yes we had hello lot of bags with us. After contemplating a lot, we decided to carry luggage along with us over cargo them because each ticket costed us USD $ 130, all luggage put together costed us USD $ 380. Hence, the whole trip costed us USD $640 which seemed to be economical rather than shipping or driving. The flight journey was smooth - 4.5hrs, no complaints.
At Toronto International Airport: Let me break this down at every level as you guys must be interested in this stuff
1. You will be given a declaration card in the aircraft. Don’t bother filling it as you must digitally fill it at the kiosks
2. Once you leave the aircraft, you stand in the que and scan your passport and declare if you are a first-time immigrant or otherwise. The kiosk will scan you and your dependents and print out a receipt with photos of each one of you. Keep it safely
3. Next que is where the immigration officer meets you. When your turn comes, the officer will direct you to a different immigration room since this is our first time.
4. In the immigration room you submit your COPR, Passports. The immigration officer asked me why Canada from USA, I said ‘ the world believes Canada is a better place ‘. Officer smiles and says it is indeed. He asked me how much cash I have. I said only $30 CAD, rest is in my bank and I will be using my international credit cards. The officer said don’t worry, this is only for our records. No POF documents asked. The officer asked me to sit down for 15 min and called me back. He takes our sign on COPR, keeps a copy and gives us a copy. He said we are all set and welcomes us to Toronto.
5. We are then directed to Service Canada department when they ask our passports again for SIN. They ask dad and mom full names, mom’s maiden name before marriage for their records. Within 5 min, we get our SIN which is just a printed document. They no more issue SIN cards, its all paper based.
6. After that, there is a small desk when there are different tourist, settlement, housing etc pamphlets. They did not interest me as I felt google is better and skipped this kiosk
7. I then go pick my luggage ( all the 7 big bags ) and move towards customs. I had the BSF186A form filled up for each of my bag and a summary form along with pictures of gold ornaments. I was all prepared. The custom officer just asked if I was carrying any hazardous equipment. I said no, he did not even bother toughing or looking into my BSF186A forms. Lol
8. I came out of the airport, had booked an AIRBNB in Etobicoke, Uber said $89. Local Taxi Van said $50. I went with the local taxi.
Now, trust me guys I just stood outside for a few minute, it was 17 deg C. The air was so fresh and crisp. Never enjoyed breathing so much. Canada really has fresh air to offer. I am sure in places like Alberta and British Columbia, the air quality is of much higher grade.
Came back home took a straight 6 hrs nap and headed out to the mobile store.
Mobile Network: Chose freedom mobile over the rest. They have the cheapest rates and best plans. The network and speed so far is fine. Wanted to try the cheapest one to begin life with. The store lady was super sweet. She suggested grocery outlets and malls which are reasonable enough to begin life here
Bank: Opened a joined account with TD bank. Process was super smooth. Gave passport, SIN and COPR. Within 30min our accounts were active. For new comers, they have many packages which can waive various fees depending on how you are going to use your account.
I am sitting at my window right now and staring at the beautiful lake outside with colorful autumn flowers embroidering it. I like the air here, tap water tastes good. People indeed seem to be calm and helpful. There is so much positive energy around here. I can only wish everyone the best of times ahead!
