Congratulations on the receipt of your Canadian Immigrant Visa! We here at XXXXX are pleased that the immigration process has finally ended for you and culminated in the receipt of your visa.
To reiterate information you may already be aware of, NOTE that you must land in Canada on or before the expiration date listed on your visa. To land you must go through Canada Customs/Immigration at ANY Canadian Port of Entry, except for those within the Province of Quebec; do *NOT* land in Quebec. You may land either by air (i.e. at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, or other airports), or by land (i.e. by driving through Niagara Falls, or other border posts).
Once landed, note that you must reside on Canadian soil for a period of at least seven-hundred and thirty (730) days within a five (5) year period to maintain your Permanent Resident status (the days do *NOT* have to be consecutive). This leaves you with three (3) years with which to do as you please; you may travel, live abroad, resume studies abroad, shore up business abroad, etcetera, so long as you eventually reside on Canadian soil for those 730 days within a 5 year period. You may even visit Canada simply for the purpose of landing and return to your home country/country of residence the same day if need be.
You will apply for the PR Cards when you land. You will need to provide an address in Canada for these cards to be delivered to. You cannot provide our address, nor can the address be in Quebec. It typically takes approximately 8 weeks for the PR Cards to be delivered, so if you are not staying in Canada this long, you should not apply for the PR Cards at your time of landing (I guess there are ways around this, so it may not be gospel truth). You can apply when you enter Canada again, but will need to apply for a travel document to enter Canada again without your PR Card:
cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/travel.asp
You can discuss this matter with the official when you are doing your landing.
You will need to bring proof of funds with you when you land. There is no need to bring this in cash or cash equivalent. A current bank statement showing you have the minimum funds required is sufficient (Other forums have suggested going with draft or travellers cheque).
See the following URLs for further details:
cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/welcome/index.asp
For your convenience, attached to this email message as a Zip file is a folder entitled "Arriving in Canada," which includes information on OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance) and the Social Insurance Card (S.I.N.), as well as other information pertinent to your move to Canada. You will also find attached, as a Word Document, our firms Employment Resource Package, which includes an extensive list of agencies and contacts to help you begin your job search.
If you are interested in applying for citizenship once you meet the requirement, in obtaining visitor visas for family members or friends, or applying for a Super Visa for a parent once you are settled in Canada, please do not hesitate to contact our office to retain our services for these applications.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us. Once again, it was a pleasure assisting your with your Application for Permanent Residence, and we wish you the best of luck as a new immigrant to Canada. Welcome to Canada!