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Plan your travel to Canada and Tips to Settle.

Start by looking for a potential city, with employment opportunities in your field of interest.

Everything works out well if planned in advance. Stay positive and explore alternatives, invest time and effort in finding more with the help of internet.

I chose to move to suburbs of Toronto mainly because of the availability of IT jobs in Toronto. It is a major hub for tech jobs focusing all experience levels. Why suburbs, you ask? Well, I did not want to pay $1600-$2000 CAD for a 1bed 1bath in Toronto Downtown right after moving. I needed some time to settle in, find whats around that is more important to me, how affordable can I live in a new city yet not be too far from finding a job. I was lucky enough to continue my US job remotely from Canada, so part of my future thinking brain got accommodating space to go down on budget and commuting distance to work. But again, I kept the idea for a future job, availability of public transport and travel time in my mind. Above all, I was single, so I did not have priorities other than to continue a comfortable life like in the US.

I always had Toronto as my number 1 option, but considered Vancouver, British Columbia for its not so harsh winter weather, amazing nature and how close it was to Alberta. Yes, I love outdoors, hiking and all other fun activities. I eventually dropped after hours of research majorly considering cost of living, potential IT jobs and rain among other factors. I think Toronto is a great place to start your new life as an Immigrant based on the fact that more than 17 per cent are immigrants. A catch-all reference you will see or hear is Greater Toronto Area (GTA), which covers near by cities and townships like Ajax, Brampton, Burlington, East York, Etobicoke, Markham, Mississauga, Newmarket, North York, Oakville, Pickering, Scarborough to name a few. All are connected by public transport and within 20-40minutes drive distance from Toronto Downtown or in few cases more than that.

Kijiji will be your best friend in searching for apartments, condos, used furniture and much more. Filter your preferences, budget, locality and try to contact the owners if you like a place. I wouldn't transfer any money as a deposit without seeing the place. Few owners can be very welcoming and might agree to let you move in directly when you arrive and use the address for PR formalities which is not a bad thing, please take extra caution!

More than 70 per cent of Canadian households are homeowners and you will mostly find apartments in high-rise buildings. Although not impossible, it is very tough to get an apartment as a new immigrant as there will be a credit history check, renters history check, proof of income, new internet connections, utilities hook-up if the apartment complex does not include with the rent. So, next available options are shared accommodations like share an apartment, share a basement, rent a condo. Renting a condo can be expensive and mostly have more than one year lease agreements. You can get a decent shared apartment with a private room or a shared basement with a private room within a range of $400-$700 CAD, if you get lucky you get your own bath as well. It purely depends on your preferences and how flexible you can be with your monthly budget. In general, these shared accommodations come furnished and monthly bills like utilities, A/C, heat, water and internet are included in the rent. You will be able to find a whole basement for rent if you have a family or a group of friends moving together that could have 2-4 bedrooms and 1-3 bath(s).

List and prioritize your preferences

Unless you have family or friends where you can crash for few weeks, the safest option is to book an Airbnb closest to the main potential location you have shortlisted after exploring. Airbnb is much cheaper and clean compared to regular motels. There are many frequent travellers who post discount promo codes that work if you stay for more than a week in any city. Plan your travel such that you have enough time to search for a place, finish all your first-time immigrant formalities in Canada. Rentals usually start first of the month with very few exceptions to let you start in middle, so choose the perfect time!

If you absolutely do not have any address in Canada that you could use to receive the PR card, let the officer know and you will be given a form to add an address to your application within 180 days once you have moved to your new home. This might take some extra time for processing than the usual 58-60 days for first time PR cards. I do not know if you can give an out-of-province address if you have someone in other province.

Flight and moving costs

Toronto Peason International Airport (YYZ) is one of the busiest airports and the major airport covering Toronto and GTA. Monitor prices and book your ticket(s) well in advance. There are many packers and movers who can internationally ship your household items safely and you do not have to sell all your stuff and start from scratch again if you are moving on your Permanent Residency. Government of Canada lets you bring your personal stuff even after you land in Canada when you declare your belongings in the "Goods to follow" document. When you start to pack to move to Canada, make a note of Items coming with you AKA BSF186 form (during travel) and Items that will follow after you settle in AKA BSF186a form. These forms are very important during customs declaration as you do not have to pay customs duty tax when you import your personal belongings through packers and movers. Goods declared on your BSF186a can be imported any time but additional gifts received for Engagement or Weddings can be imported only within 3 months of your first date of arrival.

BSF186 and BSF186a forms

Include information of goods that you are bringing with you at the time of travel on the BSF186 form. You can generalize them as Clothes, Cookware, Bath stuff etc and use BSF186a form if you need to list more than 8 items. Use the BSF186a form to list goods that will follow at a later date. Include items that you might reconsider shipping too, as you will have to pay customs tax if they are not in the list. For items in BSF186a, give more details if applicable like 10-piece cookware, 8 knives etc instead of Kitchen items. This helps speed up the process at the Customs and Declarations. The Customs officer will review both your BSF186 and BSF186a forms, verify if any dangerous goods are included, ask you the total value in CAD (give an estimate), sign and stamp the forms and you are good to go. Remember to make 2 copies of each form before you travel and your personal belongings are yours to move at your own cost, the Government just wants you to declare them to avoid customs duty tax. It is suggested to have these forms pre-filled even if you do not have any goods to follow. If you plan on importing your Vehicle or other motor equipment there is whole different procedure to export in your home country and import to Canada. Once you finish those requirements, include the VIN in BSF186 form. Read more on how to Import vehicles into Canada.

Checklist to travel to Canada after getting your Confirmation of Permanent Residency

Make sure you DO NOT sign on any document until asked by an officer. Accompanying travellers along with the primary applicant should have the same documents as above except for combined BSF186, BSF186a, proof of funds. If you carry more than $10,000 CAD in cash during the day of your travel, declare them during the customs, if found not declared, the extra funds can be seized. You do not have to take/show the whole proof of funds on the day of travel. Have a document to prove those funds are in your home bank account.

Other important miscellaneous documents

Soft Landing in Canada as a Permanent Resident

You might have heard of "Soft Landing" or read about it when you explore deeper to move to Canada as a Permanent Resident. It might sound simple how a soft landing might be good for your as you get to claim your Permanent Residency and go back to your home country to finish up left over formalities at home or whatever it might be. Basically how it works is, the primary applicant lands in Canada with a COPR, finishes PR formalities at the airport where the address given would be of a family or friend trustworthy enough to mail the PR card when it is delivered after 60 days, get the optional Social Insurance Number (SIN) at the airport on that day, finish customs and goods to follow declaration and board a flight back home. Later when the primary applicant has received the PR card to their home address, they can travel to Canada.

Few of the risk factors here are:

The Government of Canada does not just simply grant Permanent Residency for yours to play with. There are some criteria to be met to maintain lawful status as a PR. You have to live in Canada for 2 years out of 5 years to be eligible for renewing your Permanent Residency. They are counted as days you have physically stayed in the country and any false information provided can result in a ban and losing your PR status.

Canadian Permanent Residency is a privilege provided by the Government of Canada, make the right use of it. You can live and work anywhere in Canada, receive excellent Government provided social benefits, be protected by local and federal laws of Canada, be eligible to become a Canadian Citizen after physically staying in Canada for at least 1095 days (3 years) of the last 5 years. Your PR card can be used as an official travel document that proves you are a lawful permanent resident of Canada.