Landed Immigrant to Canada – First Steps

New to Canada as an Immigrant? Here are a few things to get started:

• Open a Bank Account – There are several banks that may suit your needs and offer various checking account plans. Basically, there is a fee to operate a checking account and is waived if you maintain a minimum balance. Some of the banks include Scotia Bank and Trust, TD Canada Trust, Bank of Montreal, PC Financial, CIBC,  RBC etc. PC Financial provides free chequing account and even provide cheques free

• Apply for Social Insurance Number (SIN) – This is similar to Social Security Number (SSN) in the United States and you need this number to work and recieve social benefits. You can apply at a local office near your residence. Please check Service Canada to locate an office. You need to produce your passport along with the landing paper as proof of immigration. Know more about SIN from here.

• Health Insurance – Canada has a  good helath insurance system and is paid by the State. Apply for a health card for all family members as soon as possible. Some provinces have a waiting period for which health insurance is not provided. For example, Ontario has a waiting period of 3 months and a landed immigrant will be given a health card only after 3 months. You may, however, apply in the waiting period. Please refer here for details and application procedures for the various Provinces. Apart from passport and landing papers one other proof is required. This could be a local driving licence or utility bill or lease deed etc. Check with your local office for this. More information available from the hyperlink referred earlier.

• If you are subject to a waiting period as explained earlier it may be advisable to get temporary insurance. One such company that provides this is CanadaSure

• Apply for a driving licence – Please check here for links to licensing agencies.
• Next what? find a job – get started with these useful links from Service Canada
• Start thinking about your child’s post secondary education. Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) is a good plan to save as the Federal Government matches contributions you make into the plan

The author of this article is also an immigrant to Canada and has gone through the all the baby steps required in finding an apartment,  getting a job, finding the well ranked schools for kids, and much more . . If you need any information, please use the Contact form and I would be pleased to share whatever I happen to know.

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