Settlement in Canada: All you need to know
Thought to do some social service today for you guys because I was in your shoes sometime back.
Before all you people were tensed about getting the Canadian PR, now it is to settle in Canada. And here I am to make your settlement in Toronto easy and help you to escape from the so called settlement service people who charge 1000+ dollars for nothing! Save the money, you have so many expenses here until you find a job in your field.
What to bring before you start from your home country?
Carry all your original certificates
Get attested certificate from your university in sealed envelope, same like you did when you applied for WES/ICAS evaluation. This may be required in case you are planning to do some course in Canadian universities.
Get the driving license extract from your country’s regional transportation office. This help you to add your back home driving experience in your Canadian license and you can directly sit for G2 or G depending on the experience you gained back home.
Carry as many clothes as you can. It is very expensive here unless until you go to value village (valuevillage) to buy used clothes.
Take some necessary utensils if space permits.
Don’t buy any electronic items from your country. Those are not expensive here. Save your weights!
Where to stay once you land?
This is one of the frequently asked questions in your mind.
I know many of you might have tried using kijiji.com for booking basements. It is good but it may not work always as some landlords require to submit your pay stubs to prove that you are employed or they just do not want to entertain as you are still in home country.
Alternatively, you can book some short-term accommodations like Safe Home Stay (safehomestay.com) which is very economical to stay for few days. Once you here you can easily find the basement as many landlords may not have the strict requirement to submit the pay stub as you can easily convince them you are new immigrants.
This is the best suggestion as you get the full authority to decide which area you have to settle and which basement/apartment to choose than the expensive settlers dumping you in some places according to their convenience.
Furniture/bed/benefits?
Once you find your basement/ apartment you can book your furniture from Mississauga Furniture bank (mississaugafurniturebank.org) . You can get the recycled furniture for very cheap rate.
Newcomers can get free bed/beds through Catholic Family Service (cfspd.com) you just need to book an appointment for them through any newcomers centre (ncpeel.ca). The catholic service people also guide you to fill the GST/HST forms and Trillanium benefits forms where you can get some money from the government every month and once in 3 months if you are falling under income in your home country comparing to the Canadian income level.
Health?
First 3 months you do not get medical coverage in Ontario. But there is an alternative. You can register with Four Corners Health Care (fourcornershealthcentre.ca) where you can avail free health checkups and many other benefits relating to health. Note- medicines are not covered
Transportation?
You will get travel discounts if you have the Presto card (prestocard.ca). Get it done once you are here.
Library?
You can also go and join in the nearest library (mississauga.ca/portal/residents/library) and community centre
(mississauga.ca/portal/residents/mississaugavalley). Also get the active assist form filled from the community centre (mississauga.ca/portal/residents/activeassist) which help you to get some amount to use the services if you are falling below income level.
Survival job?
You can land in survival job even on the same day you land in Canada. Some good agencies offering survival jobs/white collar jobs are below.
appleone.ca
randstad.ca
adecco.ca
gc-employment
Miscellaneous?
Banking:- Following are some of the top banks here.
tdcanadatrust.com/products-services/banking/index-banking.jsp
cibc.com/en/personal-banking.html
rbcroyalbank.com/
scotiabank.com/ca/en/0,,2,00.html
They always have some offers for new immigrants. Find the best and open a chequing account with anyone.
Phone connection:-
windmobile.ca
chatrwireless.com
Above 2 are the cheapest here. If you want premium go for the below.
bell.ca
fido.ca
virginmobile.ca
Always make sure you have taken the data along with your connection atleast for few months because you are not familiarized with the places here and you need the assistance of GPS/internet to find the route/buses etc.
I hope the above information will help you guys to a great extend to do the initial settlement in Canada. Let me know if you have any other queries.
ALL THE BEST.
