Tips For Newcomers To Canada PDF

TIPS FOR NEWCOMERS TO CANADA
By GAUTAM NATH JANUARY 2009 TORONTO CANADA (1st Edition)
Tips for newcomers to Canada
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. Introduction
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B. Before leaving India

B.1 The Canadian Visa B.2 Your Preparation
1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 11.0 Finances House Household Belongings Luggage Unaccompanied luggage Papers Certification Driving License Letters after your leaving India Tickets Finding a place to stay in Canada 4
6 7 7 8 9 11 11 12 14 14 14
B.3 The D Day Approaches

12.0 Meeting Relatives and Friends 16
C After you land

13.0 14.0 15.0 16.0 17.0 18.0 19.0 20.0 21.0 22.0 23.0 24.0 25.0 26.0 SIN Card Permanent Resident card Mobile phones Bank account and credit card Jobs Power of Networking Your resume English Language COSTI Food and Drink Toronto City Layout and travelling Things to do The sadness syndrome End of Document 17 17 17 18 18 20 24 26 26 26 27 30 33 34
Gautam Nath Future Citizen gautamnathnath@gmail.com
A. INTRODUCTION
It was a wise and good decision on your part to have taken this step and selected Canada as your destination. I do not mean that our home country is not good but if there was something that prompted us to migrate, then that was our personal choice. Having made that choice, Canada is indeed the best destination. Let me tell you why and then let me help you in coming in and finding your feet at the earliest. This document is based on my personal experience and so wanted to share it with anyone for whom it may be helpful. Others may have different experiences as there are no right or wrong answers. My email id is at the end of the page; do feel free to write to me for clarifications and I will respond asap. Do note that my experience is in coming from New Delhi India to Toronto Canada in November 2008 therefore there may be variations if you have a different origin or a different destination. Further, my notes are based on being here for 8 weeks now so perhaps the flavour may change months down the line. Lastly, please bear in mind that while I do give references and recommendations in this document, these are to be followed at your discretion please.
B. BEFORE LEAVING INDIA

Two things - the Canadian Visa and your own preparation.
B.1 - THE CANADIAN VISA

While many of you may have received this already and waiting for the weather to improve before coming, some comments for those who have not received the visa yet. I know it has been a long wait and for many of us, the last five odd years would have brought about quite a few differences in our lives. But you are close to the end now; the last stage of activity is having completed your medical tests and have either sent your passports or waiting to be asked for your passports. Within 3 to 4 weeks, once the medical gets cleared, you will get the passports back by courier and the wait is finally over. Excitement, party time, celebrations, distribution of sweets will take place. Congratulations to you and the family for the patience. Your life is about to change forever. But it does not come free so be prepared for the rest of the journey now that you have reached thus far. But there is a rainbow and the end of this ride - THAT I can promise you. Soon the excitement will go down and the next phase will begin. It is real now, you can leave any day you want and so you will then find the burden of the next step THE BIG DECISION. When the visa was not with you, you were ready to fly yesterday to Canada, but when it comes in your hand, then that is one milestone crossed and human nature soon builds the next one. Journey is far from over my friends; in fact a new chapter is beginning. And having reached thus far - be prepared for several more chapters coming up ahead.
So - What is this THE BIG DECISION? Tra la la
When do we leave for Canada?
Suddenly things that you did not take concern of earlier become mountains in front of you - our kids school year is not over, our parents are too old to leave them behind, what about my sisters marriage, the real estate market is down so why should we sell out now - a million and a half reasons to delay the decision. But do you know what the real reason is? It is human nature to fear change, and suddenly this change is staring you in the face. But dont worry, it is a natural instinct so let it not bother you nor let it hold you back. Get over it, sit down with your near ones and treat this very clearly as a life changing decision. Put all the aspects on the table and decide what is real, what is imagined and what can be compromised. And make a decision. Till you make that decision, mind you me, life will be hell for you as you will move in starts and fits, one day forward, one day backward. You all know how the path is when you have no destination in front of you. So make the decision, it could be second half of March 2009, which is good enough. It does not have to be Flight 216 on Air Italia at 2315 on the 8th of March 2009. That comes later. Once you have decided broadly but tight enough when you will leave then watch things come into place one by one. Treat this just as another project management role at work, it is no different; know that the winner at the end is you.
B.2 - YOUR OWN PREPARATION

There are a few things you have to think about before going, while many of you would have done much of this, perhaps there are one or two items that may have been missed. Let me share my experiences here: 1.0 - Finances What do you have in the banks, in real estate, in stocks and shares and in loans other have to return? Make a list; decide what you need to liquidate and what you choose to keep as is. Decide how much you want to carry and what you want to leave behind. Some people have lots of money so they have to decide what to carry and what to leave behind. Others do not have that much so they have to see what is the amount they can put together to carry with them. Carrying money, as I have experienced, is best through travellers cheques with some in cash. That is the safest. And if there are underground ways, I have no knowledge of that. Banks in India can not open an account for you in Canada while you are not here. They simply say that you have to go there and open the account. Banks here will not open an account till you get here so the best way is to carry TCs with you. You have to declare at the border when entering if you are carrying funds over CAD 10, 000 so please do that as else it may create trouble for you later because it may be seen as income that you have not paid tax for. So declare it and come here, open a bank account and deposit the funds. Most banks we have in India are not operating here as the common banks. But I believe ICICI, HSBC, SBI have some operations though are not wide spread. Common banks in Canada are domestic ones like Canada Trust, Bank of Montreal, CIBC, Royal Bank of Canada and others. Gautam Nath Future Citizen gautamnathnath@gmail.com 6
How much money one should carry is ones own choice but in this document, I have given some idea about the cost of living so check that out and make your own assessment. While the immigration requires you to bring a certain minimum, if you have the means, bring about three times that amount. It boosts your confidence to have money in the bank and actually in your first few months because of initial set up costs and little income, you will find it comforting to have money in the bank. Another thing, my experience here is that there is little or no interest that banks give and in fact some even charge to hold your account so do some homework about what kind of account and which bank you want to deal with. 2. House I lived in a rented house in Delhi before leaving so had no issues regarding what to do with self owned property. However, my view is that you should not be in a hurry to sell your property unless you need it in order to have funds here. Else hold on and think of selling it only when you really need to. Property will only appreciate and so keep it safe for a rainy day. 3. Household belongings Dont be in a hurry to give these away to friends and relatives in your happiness to leave. Hello this is not a free fund; it is your own hard earned money and so please sell off what you have. Yes close relatives like parents or siblings may not be asked to pay but others, resist in giving things free. I found that making an excel sheet with description and cost price and sale price which I sent across to friends and relatives worked very well as people then booked up things right away on the net and we really never had to have a open house sale. Please take cash from people and do not sell on credit that rarely comes back.
Mark down the goods so that it is a bargain for the buyer as you want to sell everything as soon as possible. Also as it would be among friends/relatives, you can put a clause against some essential items that you will hand over possession only on the last few days before you fly. We slept on a mattress on the floor for the last few days as our beds and tables had all been given away. Also, remember that there will be many things happening in your lives so do not promise delivery to anyone. They have to come and pick up the items themselves. 4. Luggage While airlines may be different, my feeling is that this is common One person can carry a maximum of two suitcases. Each suitcase may weigh 23 kilos thus giving you a total of 46 kilos free baggage. They say that if a suitcase is above 23 kilos and less than 32 kilos they charge excess baggage @ USD 50 per suitcase not by kilo extra. In addition, you are allowed one hand baggage of maximum 7 kilo weight. If they think you have too much, they will weigh it with your check in baggage. So one person can take 2 suitcases each weighing upto 23 kilos. If over 23 but less than 32 whether it is 25, 28 or 32 kilo weight, the extra charge is a lump sum of USD 50. If above 32 kilos, they will not take it on the flight. If you have a third suitcase, they charge USD 150 for upto 23 kilos and if above 23 yet less than 32, they add USD 50 to it. We were two people with 4 suitcases, each was packed about 25 - 26 kilos and they let us through with no excess baggage but that was taking a chance and being ready to do some last minute juggling between suitcases. I dont know about you but we found how little 100 kilos really is once you actually begin packing. We initially felt that we will take excess baggage but after giving/selling most of our household goods, we were finally left with the 100 kilos for our check in baggage with one hand carry bag extra each. We wore our heavy jackets on our body so they did not add to the weight. And I had my laptop separate and
our guitar case also. We were lucky, and got through with all this at no extra cost. What to carry - Carry clothes and shoes as you will find things available but expensive to start with. Leather items for one are quite costly here. Medicines if any of you have a health condition are essential. Personal papers/documents are critical. Good western clothes for interviews or during networking. Other items include Jewellery, watches, alarm clock, under garments, some home clothes, couple of sturdy locks, chappals and track shoes for walking. Eye glasses including one extra pair. Electrical items are not useful as the plug points are square type unlike our round pin variety. Indian stores here have all ingredients including frozen and fresh meat and vegetables. There are stores called Dollar Stores or Dollarama where you purchase initial vessels, crockery, and many household and toiletry items each for one dollar only. As life begins to improve, you will slowly stop shopping there but initially it is a good support. Some may not like this but there are shops called Thrift Stores which sell pre owned furniture, clothes, shoes etc. If you do not feel shy, this offers an option in the early days to reduce the burden of your spend. Television here has some free but largely monthly payment options just like Star TV in India. You get Zee Television, Sony, Indian movies etc but check out your budget and the price options. Indian movies are available here on DVD as they soon as they are released in India, usually at CAD 1.00 or 2.00 each. We just saw Gajini last week. 5. Unaccompanied luggage Hah! The fun is not over, you cannot be running a home without memories and we had so many photographs, curios collected from all over the world, some nice paintings, books, movies, music, papers and clothes, bags and shoes. No furniture, but we brought along two new pressure cookers. Daal is best made in a pressure cooker and so is my meat vindaloo. So after we sold off so much, gave so much to our parents and our house help, we found that we still had so much that we could not leave behind. We left about 50 kilos of old papers and photographs
in a carton at my parents but were still holding almost 300 kilos. We may be crazy, but this stuff we wanted with us and began researching to find out how it was possible. Sea freight you may think but they take very large consignments. Then someone told us about DHL jumbo packs or door to door deliveries at a lower cost but these were all very expensive options. We finally used Om Freight Agents The difference here is that you have to pack your own cartons and collect the goods at this end but works out at less than half the cost. Here are the unaccompanied baggage costs we came across: Airline as excess accompanied baggage Approx 50 USD for excess 9 kilos, USD 150 for an extra bag of 23 kilos. Courier costs DHL jumbo box Approx 650 INR per kilo Air freight door to door Approx 700 INR per kilo Speed post parcel Approx 700 INR per kilo Air Freight unaccompanied Approx 180 INR per kilo This is the option that works out the best if you need to use it. The agency we used was called Om Freight Logistics, Mrs. Kanta, 9818973701 and they are in Nehru Place in New Delhi. The email id is omfreightlogistics@hotmail.com. Under this option, you have to arrange the packaging of your goods and they will take it from your house in Delhi and have it checked in at the air cargo at New Delhi. They give you an airway bill which you require at this end to get it cleared at customs. You have to arrange customs clearance and pickup at this end yourself but it was not difficult.
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We hired an Uhaul van, drove it to the airport and picked up our cargo after 5 days of arriving here. The van hire cost 84 CAD and there was a small customs handling fee of 63 CAD. I did this by myself without an agent but you may want to ask one of the settlement offices to help you out. 6. Papers/documents You should carry all the original degree and certificates for each one of your family members with you as these may be required by a new employer. School certificates for the kids will be helpful while trying to get admission. As we did not need school admissions, am unable to give you guys with kids much here but again the settlement offices have all the information. 7. Certification This is essential to have. Canada has two categories of employment, regularised jobs and private jobs. Regulated jobs are those such as Public School teachers, doctors, lawyers, dentists, and others. Google and you will get the full list. Regularised jobs require certification as mandatory. Private jobs do not but employers will yet ask for it. What certification essentially implies is that a Canadian organisation assesses our degrees and certifies them as equivalent to Canadian degrees. OCT or Ontario College of Teachers http://www.oct.ca/ does this for teachers, WES or World Education Services, does this for other degrees e.g. my B Com and MBA were done by WES. http://www.wes.org/ Other professions, you have to Google and get to know which agency certifies your degrees.
Now this is important - please get started on your

certification while you are still in India. What the certifying agency here requires is for your institute to send some of the papers/mark sheets directly to them in Canada. They do not accept it by hand delivery. And our dear institutes in India are quite slow or non responsive so it requires you to be present and chase this requirement. Therefore kindly Google and download your specific certification requirements and while you are in India, chase your institute/s to ensure they do what is required. There will be a fee involved and if you pay that from India you can get Gautam Nath Future Citizen gautamnathnath@gmail.com 11
started earliest. Mind you, this takes longer than you think so get it done right away. I would get the Teaching certification started also if any of you are looking to teach here. And would also ask you to see what is required from your childrens existing school as paperwork so you can have all that done before leaving. Distance education certificates from most countries are not given full value here so they may ask you to complete some bridge course for full certification. You may find that some of the requirements asked for needs a fair amount of running about especially if you have completed your education many years ago. We are facing a peculiar problem with my wifes Annamalai University degrees. OCT required us to ask the University to send the documents directly to OCT but Annamalai office says that they have to receive a request directly from OCT. OCT here says that they do not send direct requests as they are not staffed to offer that service. So we are stuck mid way in spite of being on this case since July 2008. If any reader has a contact at Annamalai, please write directly to me. My degrees got cleared by the Delhi University but required me to go about 4 times up and down to the University. They also have a fee so be prepared to pay the India institute in some places. If any member is having a problem of harassment pertaining to Delhi University on this count, and your case is genuine, send me your case details and I can try help you there. 8. Driving Licenses I dont know how many plan to start driving here but things are not so simple. Our India licenses are valid for 60 days after we arrive and using that you can hire a car and drive. However you can not buy a car with the Indian license. Here if you buy a car, you need to have insurance on the car and the insurance companys only sell insurance if you have a local Ontario license. In Ontario, there are three levels, G1 or beginners license, G2 or intermediate license and Full G or permanent license.
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G1 requires that you clear a vision test and do a written examination on driving signs and rules. This is easy if you have been driving in India but Google Ontario Driving Tests and take the mock tests online to practise. Once you get the G1 license; you have to wait for 12 months to take the G2 test (also called G1 exit) which is a road test. Based on our Indian driving license, they give us 12 months driving credit and so you are able to go immediately for the G2. They do not just acknowledge our driving license by itself for the full driving experience without a supporting document from the RTO. Earlier the Indian High Commission used to help but they do not offer us the service now. So while you are in India, go to your RTO and get a letter that they normally issue which states that they have actually issued you that driving license. They have a set format and a fee. We did not know this and what they did in our case was give us one year acknowledgement of driving based on our license and asked us to get this letter from the RTO if we want our full driving years acknowledged. As a G1, you can not drive a car by yourself, you have to have a full G driver with 4 years experience always with you. Once you get the G2, you can drive by yourself. And now you have to wait another 12 months after the G2, to apply for the full G license (also called the G2 exit). However by having the RTO letter and your local license, this 12 month period is also waived so you can apply for the full G license. Then comes the case of car insurance. Our insurance history has no value here but you can try using your past insurance papers so you can bargain for better insurance rates.
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Insurance companies give you insurance only once you have a G2 license. But they will treat the G2 license as one years driving experience and therefore your insurance costs will be high. They have a concept here called drivers Training certificate which you get after joining a driving school. This brings down your insurance costs more than the cost of driving school. Joining a driving school gives you the proper knowledge about driving here as well as trains you to pass the G2 road test. Here they are very particular about road rules and any kind of accident so if you are going to want to own and drive, be quite prepared for taking this training. Although we did go this route, my suggestion is to bring your paperwork, but dont buy a car just yet. Settle down, get your job, and understand life here before going for your own transport. 9. Letters after you leave In many of our cases, after you leave India, there will still be mails coming into your mailbox at home. It is a good idea if you leave behind several pre stamped envelopes so that either your landlord or your neighbours/relatives can post these to you here. Usually these people will not pay for stamps so by doing this in advance it may give you access to some important mails that arrive at your last address after you leave. 10. Tickets - Buy one way and not return tickets as you do not need to have return tickets. We did our research and found the most economical was flying Etihad Airlines which had just a 3 hour stop over at Abu Dhabi. If you are vegetarian, please ensure you state this during your booking. Find out in advance when the lean travel season is and check whether that suits your travel plans. 11. Finding a place to stay If you dont have a place to stay arranged already, you need to find one before coming to Canada. Go to www.craigslist.ca. This has lots of places for rent. http://www.torontofurnishedsuite.com allows you to short term rent furnished apartments.
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Apartments come in various price ranges but an average expense of 750 to 1000 CAD per month may be expected. This may be expensive when compared to INR but is on the lower category here. There are different options as homes, independent houses, apartments, condominiums, basement flats etc. Cut your cloth according to your size. Then some come furnished, some partial, some with none. Some come with utilities extra and some come with it included. Some apartments have parking included and a common laundry room in the basement. Understand what all is available when you rent before you agree. Another idea could be to take a furnished place for the first three months so you have an immediate place and then after landing personally go about and see what else is available. There is a gentleman named Prince Manickam who came here 19 years ago from our side of the world and has been very helpful to us. I spoke with him today and he was happy for me to give you his email id in case he can be of help. Prince can help you with accommodation arrangements, helping you move about to get your SIN card and other papers as well as any insurance requirements as they come by. His email id is prince_manickam@hotmail.com He could also help by picking you up at the airport in case you have no one here. While his experience is his pleasure to share with you, where some expenses are involved, he would naturally want to charge but will state the amount in advance with you. Please do note that any financial arrangements are between you and him as two responsible adults and I am not involved. So no complications tomorrow.
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B.3 - THE D DAY LEAVING FOR CANADA

12. Meeting relatives and friends Please complete all your arrangements at least a week before you leave as the last week becomes very busy with relatives and friends wanting to meet you. Therefore you will be stressed if you have left things for the last week. Think in advance and complete all your work as you will be happy for the time with people before you leave. Make a list of people you want to meet including those you may not seen for a while and meet them before you leave the country. You never know who knows who in this world and you may find someone has given you a great contact. Also take a small gift for those you meet as it leaves a good impression. Lastly, keep a little empty space in your luggage as people will give gifts and even if there is something you do not want to keep, another family member may insist that you take it along. Postage in Canada costs 52 cents for mail within the country and CAD 1.60 for International, whether to Europe or Asia. So best is to have email ids of all you have to be in touch with.
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C - AFTER YOU LAND
13. Social Insurance Card CIIP would have explained about this. After you have reached your town, you need to visit a Service Canada office and apply for the SIN card. You will need to carry your passport and proof of landing document. The proof of landing document is a very important piece of paper so keep it in a safe place. You will need it several years later when you apply for citizenship. Your SIN is a confidential number that is restricted to income reporting purposes. There are a select and limited number of federal government departments and programs specifically authorized to collect the SIN only so dont give this number to just anybody. Visit http://www.privcom.gc.ca/fs-fi/02_05_d_02_e.asp to read all about it. Also in Ontario you are covered under the Health insurance scheme but only after 90 days. You will be told about what is required to file for this under OHIP. It is your choice whether you are taking personal health insurance for the first 90 days and that depends on your health situation. We at least did not as we were told it would cost about 200 CAD per person per month for the coverage. COSTI will be helpful with all of this but you have to keep up the follow-up as they are short staffed and usually stretched. 14. Permanent Resident Card This will come to the address that you have put on the Proof of landing document in about 4 to 6 weeks by post. This card is your proof of residency
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and will be required in case you travel in and out of Canada. Keep a photocopy in a safe place while you carry the card in your wallet. 15. Mobile phones It is important to have at least one mobile phone so you can contact people as well as have them contact you. No point in bringing your phones from India because most economical mobile connections come with a handset. Buying just a SIM card is more expensive. There are many options available so do your Google search. We got a Bell Solo connection and with a modern Samsung handset, it comes to 25 CAD per month. http://www.solomobile.ca 16. Bank Account and credit card You can walk into a branch of the bank closest to your place of stay and ask to open an account. You can deposit your TCs here. We also got our bank to issue us a credit card. Here the bank gives you a debit card which is accepted by most shopping establishments. They will ask for the paperwork and so carry your documents. 17. Jobs This obviously is the biggest challenge facing all of us. Some have left good jobs to come here while others may have left businesses and or teaching positions. As in India, Canada too is facing recession. This is true for all countries so one must work with the situation. Different people come here at different ages and with different amount and field of work experience. Everyone has to find a job or start their own business. As I do not have experience in business, am unable to help there. On the other hand, there are two types of people landing here. One who has limited finances and needs to urgently
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find a source of income and others who have some amount of finances and can apply and wait till they find their choice of job. On an immediate basis, you can find contractual jobs like security guards, salesmen, data collectors, etc. These jobs mind you are not seen in the same manner as we in India look upon them and thus allow a source of income here. However, in my opinion, if one can afford to wait, it is better to be networking, applying for own choice jobs and going that route. CIIP consultants would have given a list of websites for job hunting. What I would recommend even before coming here is to join a few of these portals. www.monster.ca www.workapolis.com www.careerbuilder.ca http://www.mbajobs.ca/ www.bluechipexperts.com http://www.higherbracket.ca (Have to pay here) www.kijiji.com http://www.applytoeducation.com (Teachers) Having your own laptop is obviously most useful after you get yourself an internet connection. If you are one of the lucky ones and have more than two laptops at home, get a wireless router at a local Future Shop store (about 50 CAD) and convert your home into a wireless internet zone. We find it useful as it allows us to use the laptops in any corner of the house. We brought our laptops from India and use a round to flat adapter to plug it in. If you do not have a computer, dont worry about it, just find your nearest public library and enrol
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there. You will have to show them two proofs of id but once that is done, use of the internet is free and you have access to so many books, journals and information. In fact, am told that many new people make this their base camp and follow a strict regime using the free facilities at the public library during their job hunt. Some people decide to come on their own first leaving family behind to carry on till they settle in here. Seems like a financial decision and if your spouse has a good job which can cover the expenses back home, may just work fine. If not then being alone here can be somewhat depressing. May as well share the experiences together. This is a personal and a financial decision as things are not rosy on the job front at this point of time. 18. Power of Networking (Also known as net giving). If you have more than 10 years of work experience, you will be looking for some kind of a senior enough position in a good company. In todays recession, while you see positions being advertised in the portals above, there are many jobs that get filled up by networking. There are two networking sites I would recommend. One is for social networking and this is called Internations http://www.internations.org This is a global network of expatriates who interact regularly in different cities across the world. In fact New Delhi has a chapter itself. You may decide to join your local chapter today so you get familiar and once you come here, then it will not be a new thing for you. We have joined the Toronto chapter and enjoy it. We meet once a month at a local restaurant and get to know one another. Two hours once a month and over a few drinks, we have made several friends who share local learning experiences. It helps you to meet people who you will not connect with in your day to day life otherwise. The second and most important networking group is relevant for middle and senior professionals only. This is a group called Happen.ca
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www.happen.ca Happen is Canadas largest professional networking group of people in transition helping one another. It is primarily located in GTA (Greater Toronto Area) and recently opened in Vancouver. This membership, if you are really serious about getting a mid to senior job, is a must have. Think of it as an investment and watch it work for you. You have to pay CAD 90 as a one time joining fee and CAD 60 as an annual membership. There are about 10000 members in all. Happen arranges weekly meetings in various places, Toronto Downtown, Mississauga, and Burlington. As a member, you pay CAD 10 at the door to attend and it allows you the opportunity to interact with many professionals who attend these meetings. Every week they have a particular speaker so you get the value of that input. Then they break into small groups and each one tells the other about themselves and what job they are looking for. You thus get to physically meet up with people who are also in transition looking for jobs but of a certain level in the market. Then as part of the membership, you have access to a databank of job opportunities which comes direct from companies to Happen. And furthermore, you become members of a yahoogroup of Happen members who are always posting job opportunities they come across for the group. So if this can be your one serious objective, you can register online and get started before you come and not wait till you get here. The number of corporate level people that I have met via happen in barely few weeks here would have never been possible. Also attending these meetings gives you an idea how senior executives carry themselves and how you stand in comparative. Very good exposure hearing them talk and
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interact as these people are similar to those who are applying for the same jobs you will be. So many a fold benefit here and a must have in your basket item as far as I can recommend. Start now so you get familiar with the group in advance to landing. Also, if you plan to live in the GTA, being a Happen member is a good thing as many Corporates have Happenites working there and they are always a little partial to other Happenites. Here is a sample of one of their job opportunities pages under the IT field.
You are logged in as : Gautam Results 1 - 20 of 37 Information Systems Page 1 of 2
Ref No.
Position
Industry
Location
Salary Range Not Specified Not Specified Not Specified $100k$125k Not
Education
IS101124 IS101123 IS101122 IS101121 IS101120
Java Developer Flash Developer Database Administrator Director of IT UNIX/LINUX
Other Other Other Computer Computer
Toronto, ON Toronto, ON Toronto, ON Markham, ON Markham,
Bachelors Not Specified Bachelors Not Specified Bachelors 22
Tips for newcomers to Canada Support Specialist IS101119 IS101118 Software Technical Support Analyst Flash Developer/Interactive Media Specialist Webmaster Senior Web Developer/Manager LAN (Local Area Network) Manager Senior Designer Computer Other ON Toronto, ON Toronto, ON Oshawa, ON Toronto, ON Oshawa, ON Foster City, California, USA Foster City, California, USA Foster City, California, USA Waterloo Cambridge, ON Brampton, ON Fergus, ON London Specified $35k$50k Not Specified Not Specified Not Specified Not Specified Not Specified Not Specified Not Specified Not Specified Not Specified Not Specified Not Specified $75k$100k Not Specified $50k$75k Not Specified Bachelors
IS101117 IS101116 IS101115 IS101114
Government Education Government Computer
Not Specified Bachelors Not Specified Not Specified Not Specified Bachelors
IS101113
Interactive Flash Designer Director of Web Marketing and Communications Sr. Billing Systems Designer IT Programmer Chief Information Officer Web Developer Senior Electrical Engineer - Embedded Systems French/English technical support representative IT Manager
Computer
IS101112
Computer
IS101111 IS101110 IS101109 IS101108 IS101107
Telecommunications Manufacturing Medical/Health Computer Other
College Bachelors Bachelors Not Specified Bachelors
IS101106
Specified
Mississauga
Not Specified College
IS101105
Manufacturing 1 2 Next
Woodstock
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Tips for newcomers to Canada 19. Your Resume This is very different here as compared to in India and a critical aspect that you have to know. There is a particular style in which your resume has to be formatted. Without it, your application is bound to be rejected right away. Google about it as North American Style resumes and change yours accordingly. Your age, sex, marital status, family size, religious beliefs are not required here at all. It has to be a crisp 2 pages document. And every job application should have a short cover note and the resume attached. I find that they are very particular about your resume being in the North American format so kindly pay attention to this aspect. And take advice from people when they give it to constantly update the format till you get it perfect. Here is a book which a friend has recommended. In case you can find it while in India or order it on Amazon.com. If not, when you get here, visit the public library for free use of it. Title: Pitch Yourself Authors: Bill Faust and Michael Faust In addition, here are some clues:
Ten Rsum "Don'ts" By Peter Newfield Before mailing your next rsum, check the ten rsum "don'ts" below: 1. Appearances Count -- Don't try to save money by printing your rsum on cheap copy paper instead of good quality stock. Check for typos, grammatical errors and coffee stains. Use the spell check feature on your word processor and ask a friend to review the rsum to find mistakes you might have missed. 2. Does Size Matter? -- If your career warrants a two-page rsum, then go ahead and create a document that reflects the full range of your experience and accomplishments. Don't reduce the type size to such a degree that your rsum becomes difficult to read.
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3. Truth or Consequences -- Don't fudge over dates or titles on your rsum to hide the fact that you have been unemployed, that you switched jobs too frequently or that you held low-level positions. If a prospective employer conducts a background check and discovers that you lied, you can kiss the job good-bye. 4. State Your Case -- If you are seeking a job in a field in which you have no prior experience, don't use the chronological format for your rsum. By using a functional or skills-oriented format, you can present your relevant experience and skills up front. 5. Put Your Best Foot Forward -- Don't simply copy the job description jargon from your company's HR manual. To show that you are more qualified than the competition for the positions you are seeking, you need to do more than simply list your job responsibilities. Present specific accomplishments and achievements: percentages increased, accounts expanded, awards won, etc. 6. No Excuses -- Don't include the reasons you are no longer working at each job listed on your rsum. The phrases "Company sold," "Boss was an idiot" and "Left to make more money" have no place on your rsum. 7. What Have You Done Lately? -- While it is certainly acceptable to have a twopage rsum, don't list every single job you've ever held. Personnel managers are most interested in your experience from the last 10 years, so focus on your most recent and most relevant career experience. 8. Target Your Audience -- Don't mail out your rsum to every ad in the Saturday newspaper. If you are not even remotely qualified for a position, don't apply. Read the ads, determine if you have the right credentials and save the wear and tear on your printer. 9. No Extra Papers, Please -- When you send out your rsum, don't include copies of transcripts, letters of recommendation or awards, unless you are specifically asked to do so. If you are called in for an interview, you may bring these extra materials along in your briefcase for show-and-tell. 10. Don't Get Personal -- Personal information does not belong on a rsum in North America. Don't include information on your marital status, age, race, family or hobbies.
Another thing is to get your own visit card so you can hand it over to people while networking. You can use this link to get free cards but they make you pay for postage/shipping. If you take a 21 day shipping order, it works out very cheap for 250 cards. http://www.vistaprint.ca/frfca?frf=617293630379
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Tips for newcomers to Canada And here is a computer clue, when you upload your profile on any job site e.g. Workapolis, go in at least once a week and make a minor tweak to your profile and save as update. The computer software treats it like a new profile and puts it in front of the search engine. That way any recruiter or employer searching will get your profile in the front pages of their search. And if you dont do this, your profile may be on page 15 of their search results and they will never get to see it as who goes down that far. So remember this little clue. 20. English Language English is the common language across the country unless of course you are planning to go to Quebec where French is spoken. If you do know French in other parts of the country, it is fine but not of too much advantage. But your English has to be explicit and if you are not already doing it, would suggest that you begin watching English movies especially from North America so you get used to the accent and common lingo. 21. COSTI CIIP would have told you about Costi. They help in giving you free settlement advice but you have to be proactive and contact them for appointments. They are over loaded with new settlers and so unless you push your case and take the effort to go see them, you can just be waiting. They are very helpful with contacts of what to do for various things. Including classes for picking up English and making resumes etc. 22. Food and drink Canada is a land of plenty - fruits, vegetables, meats, breads, cakes, juices, ice cream, wafers, nuts, chocolates and more are available a plenty. Shop at one of the big food chains - No Frills, Zellers, Valuemart, Loblaws, Price Chopper, AGI, and many others exist. And big size packs are often cheaper than small servings. Enjoy cooking and eating in Canada. Food is not very expensive especially if you buy large pack sizes. For a family of three adults here, we must be spending about 400 CAD in a month at most on groceries eating very well. CAD = Canadian Dollar. The currency here has coins of 1 cent, 5 cent (nickel),10 cents (dimes), 25 cents (quarters), 1.00 Dollar (Loony), 2.00 Dollar (Toony). Then notes of 5, 10, 20 50 and 100. Visit revenue .ca for all tax /revenue related information.
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Tips for newcomers to Canada Stores on Gerrad Street and Danforth Street carry everything you can think of from India. I found Hilsa fish, frozen from Bangladesh in abundance. Eating out at a restaurant is expensive so avoid that till you start earning (about 20 CAD per head). Eating lunch at Food Courts situated in the large shopping malls works out to about CAD 8 per head. Now two sensitive items, liquor and cigarettes. Both are expensive so if you can quit before coming please do so. Smoking as in India is not allowed in restaurants and subways etc but only in your house, your car and on the road. But given the price, you can decide if you want to give up even if temporarily till you get a job. Hard liquor Rum, Whisky, Vodka etc is about 40 CAD for a 1.14 litre bottle (INR 1600/-) Beer is about 1.50 to 2.00 CAD per pint size bottle/can (INR 60 - 80) Cigarettes One King Size pack of 20s is about 7.50 CAD (INR 300) This is really high compared to India so think about it. 23. Toronto layout and travelling in the city Toronto has two aspects, the city of Toronto and suburbs. Toronto City is called Toronto and adding the suburbs is called GTA or Greater Toronto Area. Suburbs are Mississauga, Burlington, Etobikoe, York, Markham, etc. Toronto city has streets that criss cross each other. One set goes West to East and one set goes South to North. So literally the city is segmented by this grid of roads. So people may say, lets meet at Yonge and Queens Street and you will know where this cross over takes place. Obviously some exceptions but largely it is laid out in this manner. Do not know the suburbs so can not say much about them though. Toronto city is serviced by TTC (Toronto Transit Corporation) which runs three modes of transport - street cars (like Trams),
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Tips for newcomers to Canada subway system (underground) and buses. One journey ticket costs 2.75 CAD which you can pay by tokens or by exact change. No one gives change so you have to have the exact change with you or buy a minimum of 5 tokens and use that. Now they have a peculiar system of what is called transfer slips. Basically one journey can be undertaken by paying 2.75 once but if one mode of transport does not go to your destination, you can take a transfer slip, get off say the street car and continue by showing your transfer on your journey on another mode. This is valid only for one direction so you cannot use the same ticket transfer for the coming back journey. Then they have what is called the monthly pass. Here you pay CAD 109 and get a plastic card. This is valid from Day 1 of the month till the last day of the same month so do not buy it mid month. The pass is best for you according to me as you can use it for any number of journeys back and forth and do not have to be concerned about transfer slips at all. And the pass is transferable i.e. you buy one pass and use it when you want, then give it to your wife and she can use it if she has to travel. Just that one person can use the pass at a time. My wife and I have found this the best thing after we spent much more in our first month travelling about being concerned about whether the transfer is valid and what is not. So add this to your monthly expense budget. Otherwise, there are taxi cabs, quite easily available as you stand on the street or call for them. Avoid rush hours as that is when they are all going full. Good to use these when you are making any bulk grocery purchases as a street car or bus is inconvenient. Not very expensive but do not make it a habit till you start earning. Now a bit about the people you will see here. If you have not been to Canada before, or at least I can speak for Toronto, please do not expect to see all Caucasian people walking about. Toronto is the city where 70% of the immigrants land and try to find jobs. So you will find people here from all origins, Chinese, Indian, South East Asian, East European, Russian, African, South American and more. It is really a mixed bag of ethnicities and therefore we are all here but with one focus, to
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Tips for newcomers to Canada make our life better and collectively make this a best place to live. People are usually very friendly and helpful although you may find the odd oddball. Help others when you can as they help you and your days will go well. Usually people just say hello as they pass or make small talk in elevators, this is different from back in Asia but is the way here.
A bit about the weather, winters are officially declared on 21st December but the cold starts a bit earlier. Worst months am told are January and February and ice starts to melt as we reach into March. March and April you get into spring and over May to September, the summer and that is when everyone is bright and happy. Schools start in September so best you do your homework and get kids enrolled beforehand. Remember to bring all their school papers including teacher recommendations and certificates of any accomplishments. At school just as in work, they do not feel experiences outside Canada are equal to that here so keep time and paperwork to help your case.
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Tips for newcomers to Canada 24. Things to do In the first few weeks you should be busy getting all your paperwork in order. During weekends, go visit the following places; (Pictures are courtesy web/owned by self) CN Tower Must see and if you have not been there before, have to buy the ticket and visit the tower.
Lakeside Park water front Beach and picnic area which is popular during the summer. Take a packed lunch, buy a coffee and sit and enjoy the scenery and people around. Yonge Street Downtown area where all the shops are there and teaming with tourists. Eaton Centre on Queens Street has all the shops that big huge malls do. Remember the food court for the approx CAD 8 per head cost for a meal.
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Tips for newcomers to Canada Coxwell and Gerrad Street when you miss India, this area will bring you back. I think India has progressed more into the era of modernity than they have here so will bring back memories of early days. If you go to church there are some nice ones like Knox Church on Spadina, The Catholic Church on Church Street and many others. Am not sure where the other religious places are located but there is one for every faith, just Google it. Movie Halls and Plays Avoid in the beginning as they like other outings, tend to eat a hole into your pocket. Wait till you are earning.
Niagara Falls Even if you are tired and feel you cannot afford it now, you can not come to Canada and not see Niagara. See it in your first month here so you can feel you have really come to Canada. Take a day bus to as a round trip from Toronto and they will show you everything. Try not to rope in a friend or relative who lives here as God is watching and if you do it, others will do it to you. And after living here two or three years, if you are not careful, every three months some relative or friend or friend of a friend will come to Toronto and expect you to take them to Niagara. You will remember these words then if you ask your relatives to take you now. Ask them to help you buy the tickets and drop
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Tips for newcomers to Canada you to the bus stand at most but do this journey on your own please. I am saying this to save all of us from a similar fate in future. Thanks.
Canadas Wonder world A full day enjoyment for adults and kids. A little outside Toronto but this amusement park is a whole days fun. Again tour groups operate so find out and buy tickets. This can actually wait till it is summer season so no need to hurry. Get your jobs in line first. Algonquin Park About 5 hours drive from Toronto but great for a summer weekend to take the kids out camping. read up and gear up accordingly. The Toronto Zoo This can be seen especially if you have kids as it is a full days trip. Have your walking shoes ready and your camera. Nice days outing. And many more things to do and see. Remember, there is a lot of walking in Toronto so be prepared for that in advance. Bengali people can contact Ranen Ghosh at this website for a lot of the local cultural flavour. And most communities have similar websites so just Google them. http://www.torontobengali.com
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Tips for newcomers to Canada 25. The sadness syndrome Hope this does not fall upon you but it comes from underneath when you are trying your best to settle, it starts to undermine your confidence. CIIP told us about this - the initial high after getting the visa and preparing and landing and then what, BOOM - a sense of disillusionment, remember the dip in the graph they drew on the Board? Suddenly you are feeling all alien, left your family and friends, left familiar territory, no car, no Star TV and no Rajender ka Dhaba. That is when the dip comes. Starts close to 4/5 weeks after landing and can last for another 4 to 6 weeks if you do not acknowledge and work on it. And guys, no bias but it may not be you; it could come from others around you. You may be highly charged with all that has to be done and the running around but the others may be tired of being in the house, missing all of the above, not going out so much and really when starting from scratch, even the wealthiest bread earners in India have to tighten the belt here. Till the income comes rolling in, Rupee to CAD conversion is a big fat enemy. Difficult times but actually the answer lies in keeping the others occupied and updated about little wins in your progress to success. So watch out for these symptoms and address them gently rather than with a fight. I found that joining a gym works wonders, as we take in an hour of fitness schedule each day and with travel, this takes up about 2 hours of our time and keep the body and mind fit and running. It costs us 60 CAD per month per couple hence not too bad. If you have any inclination, please add this to your budget. The other thing we found was using Call Select a phone service that gives you calls to India at 3.9 cents per minute from
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Tips for newcomers to Canada Canada. That means if speaking to parents/friends for one hour, you spend 2.84 CAD or about 100 INR. Not to bad to help release some tension from the new little home. --------------------------------------------------------------------------So thats it guys, enjoy your new life and remember, have patience Rome was not built in a day. We are all very hard working and determined people and will surely make a mark in society here. Take a printout of this document as a small ready reckoner which you can refer to later also. Once again, welcome to a new life ahead. Cheers,
The author Gautam Nath has travelled across many countries over the world and is a regular contributor of travel and management articles to the media. He is noted among the who is who of marketing and related professionals in India. Gautam Nath, MBA, is an experienced senior Marketing professional looking to settle down in Toronto or Ottawa with a consumer products/marketing services organization. All help appreciated. He presently resides with his wife in Toronto City. If you are interested in reading some of his articles, follow the links below: http://www.livemint.com/2008/05/31003033/Survivor-inthe-wilderness.html?d=1 http://www.impactonnet.com/V4_issue2.asp http://thehappenblog.wordpress.com/how-to-contribute/ http://www.ameinfo.com/114014.html http://www.financialexpress.com/old/print.php?content_id=1 42386 http://www.righttalent.com/industry_speak.html - End of Document -
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TIPS FOR NEWCOMERS TO CANADA

By GAUTAM NATH JANUARY 2009 TORONTO CANADA (1st Edition)

Tips for newcomers to Canada

B. Before leaving India

B.3 The D Day Approaches

C After you land

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B. BEFORE LEAVING INDIA

B.1 - THE CANADIAN VISA

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Tips for newcomers to Canada

So - What is this THE BIG DECISION? Tra la la

When do we leave for Canada?

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B.2 - YOUR OWN PREPARATION

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Tips for newcomers to Canada

Now this is important - please get started on your

Tips for newcomers to Canada

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B.3 - THE D DAY LEAVING FOR CANADA

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C - AFTER YOU LAND

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