Newcomer in St. John's, Newfoundland

[annieann13]

Hello,

I am immigrating to St.John's, Newfoundland next week. I know many provinces have their own offers and rules with free of charge for landed immigrants. Due to my minimal research and time limit, I am looking for studying, working, apartment/housing, recreation/social club,etc. Here are my questions;

1) I am looking for studying in another field where my previous degree (Bachelor of Arts-English major) and work experience in business field possessed, but I am interested in studying in healthcare field such as pharmacy technician, aides care or nursing in St.John's. Which college/university is better choice apart from MUN?

2) With my age, I think I will probably go with college and get some work experience in healthcare field and if I will probably have to leave Canada due to my husband's job, do you think how many years of work experience should I possess before leaving Canada for finding a job with my Diploma in other countries (UK, USA, Australia)?

3) For accommodation, we want to find a rental apartment for 6 months contract with not exceeding C$ 500 per month and the location should be private, quiet, safe,inexpensive, easy to access to all facilities and transportation, recreation, etc. Do you think which areas are great to live in those criteria?

4) We will not have accommodation ready once we arrive there and while we are searching for a rental apartment, could you please advise where/which places/areas are good and cheap (not sure if any free service for accommodation is available/provided for landed immigrants) while searching for a rental apartment? It would be nice if you could give me some of your list as at least we can have an idea where to settle.

5) There are many free service places available in St. John's, but I would like to know which free service places can provide everything to landed immigrants in one place such as studying, employment, accommodation, recreation,etc. Could you please recommend?

6) I understand that to register SIN card, driving license, study, work, etc. These need passport, PR card and bills under immigrant's name/residential address in order to register all those. In my case, my husband will be with me only for 2 weeks before his overseas work, so we have time limit to have things done and all those documents are important as my concerns are to study, work and drive as soon as possible. Do you think which documents can be replaced for PR card and bills under my name? (I understand to get any bills under my name like bank account/telephone bill may take a month to show my Canadian residency). Could you please advise?

I appreciate your help

 

[annieann13]

Anyone can help? I'm looking for replies.

Thank you

 

[Love_Young]

Hi. Well I am hopefully going to be approved to immigrate here to Newfoundland thanks to my husband who is my sponsor.
We live around the Paradise area which is about 10 or so minutes away from St. John's. I may not be the greatest of help but I will do my best to assist you.

1. If you are wanting to go a public college then College of North Atlantic aka CONA is a very affordable and good school to go to. There are some other career colleges such as Academy Canada and private college like Keyin College here. If you would like some links I can send them to you. I love Newfoundland but when it comes to college here, there isn't much variety so don't be disappointed when it comes to that.

2. I am not sure how to answer this but I was curious, you did include your husband on your own immigration application right? If not, you won't be able to sponsor him later. And to qualify for a lot of skilled work and apply for immigration, many places like for you to have 10 years of experience. Now you probably don't need that many but if you had that many it would look real good. I am curious as to as to why you would want to live in other countries if you are immigrating here? You could run into red flags for that later.

3. No offense, I don't want to let you down but me and hubby have been looking for an apartment here for over a year. We had $600 as our limit and we couldn't even find but a few at that price and they went EXTREMELY fast. Most apartments here are $700 and up and most without utilities. Now I know you said you are immigrating to St. John's but I think if you are looking for something convenient, close to amenities, and more affordable than I would look around the Mount Pearl area. And just a heads up, the Metro Bus company is on strike here and has been since November so be prepared for that added expense to take cabs, etc.

4. As stated above Mount Pearl is probably the most affordable area you are going to get an apartment at and most are not furnished. And as far as I know there is nothing to help accommodate newcomers. However there is a program here for newcomers that help you learn the area, filing taxes, getting a job, etc. If you would like that link I can provide it. All the help they provide is free.

5. I am not sure where you are finding these free service places in St. John's but I have yet to find any. They do not provide free accommodation or anything of that sort. I must ask, are you fully prepared for this immigration move? I am not certain you planned this well in advance. There is a free service program that assist you in adjusting to life but they are not going to provide places to stay or education for free.

6. Sorry I am not quite sure I understand what you are asking here. Please rephrase and I will try and assist you better.

 

[annieann13]

Thank you for your reply, Love_Young

2) I asked this due to my husband's job unpredictably, as I am going to study in another field (healthcare field), so I would like to know how many years of enough work experiences should I gain in Canada before leaving for working in other countries? I don't mean I'm leaving too soon, but anything can happen due to my husband's job but if that happens, I will try to be here before we move out.

3) It seems Mt. Pearl is pretty affordable. Could you please advise how much is the price range with furnished apartment and unfurnished apartment in this area?

4) Could you please provide me the links?(I have found some, but I may miss any probably). Could you please also recommend if there are any French LINC course or any association that teach French for free or for newcomers?

5) Thank you for advice. I admit that I am not well-prepared for this due to my husband's job, so I cannot plan anything beforehand, but it would be great if you could advise me which places I can reach for free services for immigrants apart from Service Canada and ANC.

6) I think I will not bother with this question but I would like to know how long it takes to have Canadian driving license here? I have a foreign driving license but not from USA, UK, Japan,etc. Thus, they require me to have written test and road test (Class 5), could you please advise if there is any time limit of each test if I fail? How many times can I fail in written test and road test? I heard that if the test driver fails first time, that person can test within 6 months or a year after the first test, so I'm not sure if NL has limit of driving failure.

Thank you so much for your help

 

[Darkknight]

This information is useful with me,thanks a lot!