nayaniasad said:
Guysss,
I need all the tips in regards to landing, settling down and finding a decent job in Toronto. I'm leaving Karachi on 16th March 2014 with my wife and need to gather as much information as I can before landing.
Would appreciate if someone who has already landed can help or guide for initial settlement as well.
Hi, first of all, i would like to congratulate that all of your formalities have been completed and you are all set to go. I am also from Karachi and landed in Toronto in the end of January. I would like to sincerely suggest you few things sincerely based on my own observation but i think you will find it useful.
Here are the few suggestions/information:
- Bring as much money as you can even if you have 100% guaranteed job here (in general, this is not the case)
- If you are bringing more than 10,000 then bring 10,000 in cash and rest in the form of bank draft. You can have a bank draft from any money changer. I have got it from Habib Qatar Exchange (Shahrah-e-Faisal Branch)
- I don’t know if you have any family or friend here but if so it would be thousand time better and you will feel very very comfortable.
- The process on the airport is though lengthy but systematic. I advise you to strictly refrain from bringing anything having meat or dairy items so if you planning to bring kabab, tikke sort of items for yourself or any of your friends or family better don’t do it. Many Pakistani here will tell you “yaar le jao koi nahee poochta” . Here in Canada, on the National Geographic Channel, they show a program named “ Border Security”. In this program, they show the real life encounters faced by the Canadian Customs Officials (CBSA). The reason for telling you this is that few weeks back they showed a Chinese who tried to be over smart with them and did not declare that he was having some kilos of beef with him. When he was caught with it, they not only confiscated the beef but imposed a fine of CAD $ 9500 just on the basis that he bring a banned item and the second offense was that he did not declare it. To cut the long story short, think 100 times before having this kind of adventure.
- On the airport, they will activate you social insurance number (SIN) so that from the very next day, you will be able to work in Canada. Your SIN card will arrive on the given address within 2-3 weeks. Remember, the SIN will not have your picture on it but it is the most dangerous document in Canada. Do not show your SIN number to any one unless it’s a legal requirement like your employer (who will use it for tax deduction etc) and may be the bank (i am not sure if the bank checked it when they opened my account or not). Don’t hand it over to anyone because if someone gets access to your SIN card, he can do all kind of frauds on its basis like he can apply for loans, cards, mortgages and put you in an irreparable trouble so always keep it on a very safe place.
- Also, keep the copy of the COPR (the customs officials will take all the copies of the COPR and give only one to you) very safe because it is not only used in all the documentations in the initial days/months but also you have to show it to the government at the time of your retirement to claim your pension etc because as you will not be a Canadian by birth, they will use the COPR as your proof of entry and to check date of birth etc.
- On the next day of your landing (you can take more if you want) go for your bank account opening. Here the best bank is TD Bank so i would advise you to go for TD. On the other hand, TD maintains high standards and don’t issues credit card to newly landed immigrants (a credit card is necessary to create your credit history) so go to Royal Bank of Canada (commonly known as RBC) because they have a special package for new immigrants that includes credit card also so split your money in two parts and start with TD and RBC both but i would again advise you to go with TD Bank because they have excellent products and outstanding customer services and less crowded branches.
- Rogers and Bell are the two biggest companies who offers mobile services (they offer internet and tv cable as well) so you can go to them for a “Pay As You Go” SIM (you can have monthly contract as well but that would be very expensive and needs a good credit history so if are interested in monthly contract better wait some months and create your history first).
- There are several programs which are offered to new immigrants free of cost and 100% funded by the government and its purpose is to facilitate the new immigrants. It includes programs for English language and most importantly the “Job Search Workshops”. This Job Search Workshop is very important because in this program, they teaches you everything right from redesigning your resume in the Canadian style, how to find and apply for jobs etc.
- If you have kids, then better buy medical insurance at least for him/her because you cannot avail any medical facility for the first 3 months.
- As far as job hunt is concerned, i would recommend you to search both a white collar as well as a survival job at the same time because sometimes, a good job takes some time so its better to have some earnings instead of sitting on zero and spending the money which you have saved with great hardships.
I am sure its a very very long and boring story now so i am concluding the matter here. You can send me a PM if you want to discuss anything else.Also, keep in touch in Toronto because i think, as new immigrants, we can help each other a lot in several things. I hope you will find the above useful.
