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New Immigrant Series: Part 2 – Your first week in Canada as a new immigrant

15/3/2018

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Last week I wrote about the first time someone enters Canada as an immigrant and the legal process to land in Canada. After you become a landed immigrant, there are a number of things you should do. If you are new to Canada and have not lived here before, everything may seem new and overwhelming. However, I hope that with the list below you will be able to plan your first week with the top 5 things you need to do in your first week in Canada as a new immigrant:

1. Apply for your Social Insurance Number
In Canada you must have a Social Insurance Number (SIN) in order to work and to receive services and benefits from the government. Each person who is a citizen or immigrant must have a SIN. You should apply for your SIN as soon as possible after you arrive in Canada. The process is easy and you will need to attend at a Service Canada Centre and provide documents to prove who your are (e.g. Your passport that you used to land in Canada) and confirm your immigration status. Since you will not yet have your PR Card (it takes several weeks for your PR Card to be mailed to you), you can use your Confirmation of Permanent Residence form that was given to you as part of your landing process to prove your status in Canada.

Your SIN is issued to you as a 9 digit number. You will need to provide your SIN number when you start to work (it is not legal for an employer to pay you without this number) and when you apply for some government services and complete your Canadian tax returns. You should protect the number and keep it in a safe place because if someone gets your SIN they can commit fraud or you could become a victim of identity theft where the person may use your information to get credit or other financial benefits in your name. To help protect your SIN never use it as a form of identification, do not write it on job applications or give it out to other people in person, by phone or in emails. If you are asked to provide your SIN by a business, always ask why they need it, how it will be used and whether it will be shared with anyone else.

2. Apply for Health Insurance in your province
Across Canada each province has its own health insurance program. In Ontario, we have the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP). OHIP pays for most basic and emergency health care services that you may need. This includes visits to the doctors, hospitals and walk-in clinics. There are exclusions as well - OHIP does not pay for the cost of medication or dental services.

Each province has its own rules for when you become eligible for their health insurance plan. In Ontario you cannot get a OHIP card until after you have lived in Ontario for 3 months (although there are some exceptions). During your first week of living in Ontario you can apply for your Ontario Health Card. However, the Health Card will be sent to you after the 3-month waiting period.

For the three month gap in coverage, I advise clients to obtain private health insurance to give them the necessary coverage if they need medical services before their OHIP coverage starts. You can contact insurance companies to obtain coverage as a new immigrant and it is best to do so before you arrive in Canada.

3. Driver's Licence
Each province in Canada issues driver's licences to residents in the province. In Ontario, you must have a valid Ontario driver's licence in order to drive. Ontario has a graduated licencing process and so the process for getting your Ontario driver's licence will depend on whether you are a new driver or if you have had a driver's licence before.

As part of the licencing process you will need to provide proof of your name, date of birth and a document with your signature – typically this can be your passport and Confirmation of Permanent Residence document. You will also need to undertake an eye exam and have your picture taken for your Ontario driver's licence. Depending on whether you had a previous driver's licence, and from where, you will be required to do a written test as well as one or two driver's tests.

If you have a driver's licence from a country that has a reciprocal agreement with Canada, such as the US or Australia, you do not need to go through the driver's licencing process and can typically exchange your foreign licence for a local Ontario licence. However, if you have a driver's licence from another country, you will need to provide specific information and documents, and depending on how long you have previously been a driver you may be able to go through the Ontario licencing process faster.

4. Open a bank account
In order to open a bank account, you will need to go into a local branch and provide original identification documents. There are five big banks in Canada: Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank), Bank of Montreal (BMO) and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). These banks have branches throughout Canada and for the most part provide similar services to all customers.

When you attend to open your bank account you can ask the account manager helping you to explain the difference between chequing and saving accounts, and how you can track your account activity. And do not forget to ask them to tell you about any special programs that they have for new immigrants such as free banking, free cheques or an initial credit card.


5. Get a cell phone plan
When you are buying a cell phone or selecting a service provider you should be aware of the different services available and also your rights as a consumer. There are a lot of options available but generally you will be able to choose between:
a) prepaid service – you will pay ahead each month for a certain number of minutes of airtime, number of text, and data usage.
b) postpaid service – you will be billed after your use each month, depending on how much you have used. These can also include different packages in terms of number of minutes of airtime, text messages and data usage.
​

You should also be aware that if you enter a two or three year contract, particularly one in which you receive a new phone, that the contract is binding and may have significant early cancellation policies. If you do not pay your monthly fees throughout the contract or pay the early cancellation fee, it can adversely affect your credit score and cause you problems when you later want to rent a house or get financing to buy a car or house. So make sure to shop around and fully understand the plan and commitments before signing up.



One final note: 
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You will undoubtedly have many questions in your first week and beyond about your status, the steps you must take as a new immigrant, what your rights and obligations are, and so on. My word of caution is that while you may speak with other newcomers or to family and friends who have been here for many years, you should be aware that the advice you receive from non-professionals based on their own experience may not apply to you. For example, if a family member applied for citizenship ten years ago their experience may not be very useful for you to understand what the requirements are now. Take the advice you receive from others in consideration but in important cases make sure to reach out to a professional to verify the information and advice based on the specifics of your case.  
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New Immigrant Series: Part 1 – Preparing to Enter Canada for the First Time

9/3/2018

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When you are approved for immigration to Canada you will receive a Confirmation of Permanent Residence, and if you require a visa to travel to Canada you will receive a visa stamp in your passport. But when do you actually become a permanent resident (PR) of Canada? What process do you have to go through and how can you prepare for your first time entry to Canada as a new permanent resident?

Below are the top 5 tips I provide to clients who are preparing for their landing in Canada for the first time as new immigrants:
1) Plan your landing date and location
You do not become a PR when you receive your approval of your immigration application. When your permanent residence application is approved you will receive a “Confirmation of Permanent Residence” and a visa sticker in your passport allowing you to enter Canada to land. The visa sticker will provide a time frame during which you can land. You must make arrangements to land in Canada before the expiry date of the visa otherwise you may lose your visa and have to restart the whole immigration process. You only become a PR when you cross a Canadian port of entry with your passport and Confirmation of PR documents and you are processed as a new immigrant to Canada.

Once you know the date you have to land you should also determine where you want to land. You can enter Canada through any airport or border crossing to undertake your landing process. All Canadian Permanent Residents and Citizens have mobility rights that are part of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, allowing them to move freely between the provinces of Canada.

However, you should not that you may have obligations to comply with if you applied for immigration through a provincial program (either Quebec or one of the provincial nominee programs). Typically if it is not possible to land directly in the province of your destination you then can land in one airport and then fly to your province of destination after the landing process has been completed.

There is currently a pilot program in place for applicants who are living in Canada when their immigration application is approved that allows them to undertake the “landing process” in a telephone interview with an Immigration officer rather than having to travel to a border. This program makes it much simpler and faster for you to achieve PR status when your immigration application is approved. As it is a pilot program it is only available to applicants in Canada and we will have to wait to see if this program will be extended to other applicants as well.

2) Understand who has to land first
When you have a family that needs to land, you can either all land at the same time or the primary applicant in the immigration application must land first before the other family members can land separately. It is not possible for dependants to land before the primary applicant but there is no requirement that everyone must land together. Therefore, as long as the primary applicant lands first, the other family members can land separately before the expiry of their visas.

It is also very important to note that you are required to update the information related to your status up until the time you land in Canada. For example if there is any change in your marital status or you have a new child between the time your visa is approved and the time you land you should inform Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) immediately. At the latest, you must declare such a change at the time of you land in Canada.

This is extremely important because witholding such information may be determined to be a misrepresentation that could later result in the loss of your PR status. Further, in some cases where new family members are not declared in can result in a situation where the family member (new spouse or new child) becomes an excluded family member and cannot be later sponsored to join you in Canada. If your situation is complicated it is best to seek legal advice before you make plans to land to ensure you provide complete and accurate information and avoid potential misrepresentation or exclusion of family members.

3) Documents to bring with yourself
There are a series of documents that you must have with yourself at the time of landing:
  • Passports
  • Confirmation of Permanent Residence – these are in duplicate and issued to you at the time your immigration application is approved
  • Proof of funds (if your immigration application required this)
  • Lists for Customs - “Personal Effects Accounting Document” - this consists of two lists: goods that accompany you and goods to follow later

In addition you may also prepare and bring the following documents with you that may be needed after you land in Canada. If any documents are not already translated you can obtain official translations before you come or have them translated after you arrive in Canada:
  • Family records: Birth certificates, adoption papers, marriage certificate or divorce papers
  • Immunization Record for dependent children – this will be required to enrol your children in school
  • Official school records for children
  • Educational diplomas, degrees and transcripts as well as any qualification certificates or trade licences
  • Work reference letters from previous employers
  • Driver's licence or international driving licence
  • Health and dental records
  • If you are immigrating to Quebec you will need your Quebec Selection Certificates to access services in Quebec

Make sure that the documents you are bringing with you are in your hand bag and not checked into luggage. There is always a risk that your luggage may be lost or delayed which may prevent you from being processed by the Immigration officers when you arrive in Canada.

Finally, before you leave for Canada you may consider preparing and signing a power of attorney with a trusted family member or friend to follow up any outstanding matters after you leave.

4) Find temporary accommodation
While you may choose to stay in a hotel for the first few days after you arrive you can try to find furnished apartment rentals for the short term for your first few months. This will allow you to get to know the areas in the city before you enter a long term rental agreement or buy a house. You can use online websites such as www.airbnb.ca or www.kijiji.ca to try to find suitable short term accommodation.

5) Address in Canada for Permanent Residence Card
If you already have a place that you will be staying when you arrive in Canada (a short term rental or a family or friend's home) you can provide this address at the time of landing for your permanent resident card (PR Card) to be mailed to you. Make sure that you have the complete and correct address including apartment numbers and post codes. One of the main problems that causes delays in obtaining your PR Card is an incorrect or incomplete address so check the address and make sure it is correct. If you do not have an address at the time of landing, you will need to inform Immigration of your new address after you have obtained accommodation so that your PR Card can be processed.

Once you receive your PR Card you will be able to use it to re-enter Canada after any trip that you take overseas. It will be your responsibility to ensure that you meet the conditions for keeping your PR Card and being able to renew it in the future. I advise all clients, particulary those who travel a lot, to keep a complete list of all their travels after they become landed in Canada (and if possible copies of tickets and boarding passes). This accurate list will be invaluable when you later want to renew their PR Card to apply for Canadian citizenship as the stamps in your passport may not fully document the dates that you have entered and left Canada.
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New Immigrant Series: What you need to know as a new immigrant to Canada

1/3/2018

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As the cold days of winter are coming to an end, there are thousands of excited individuals around the world planning to make their first entry to Canada with the coming of spring. Whether your immigration application has taken a few months or a few years, when your immigration application is approved you are typically provided with a few months to plan your arrival and make your first entry to Canada. This first entry is often referred to as “Landing” in Canada and it is only after you land in Canada that you will obtain the status of permanent residence.

While there are some new immigrants who choose to land in the winter, many new immigrants try to plan their trip for the spring and summer and when the weather is better to make their first trip to Canada.

When my clients receive the good news that their permanent resident visas are ready to be issued they are very excited to embark on this new journey. However, their excitement is accompanied by a lot of questions: how do I prepare for my move to Canada? What documents do I need to bring with me? What happens at the airport or border when I land? How much money do I need to have with myself? What steps do I have to take after I land and what documents do I need to obtain in Canada? What are the steps I have to go through to become settled in Canada? When can I obtain health insurance? Can I get a driver's licence? How can I find a job? Can I access language classes? Can my children enrol in school? And the list of questions goes on.



New Immigrant Series
Over the coming weeks I will be writing about matters related to landing and settling to assist those who are planning their move to Canada as new immigrants and answer common questions in this area.  

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    Authors: 
    Zeynab Ziaie 
    Zahra Ziaie 

    Note: This information is not intended as legal advice or opinion. You should always seek specialized legal advice with regards to your situation as the facts of each case are unique and the application of law varies in every case. 

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