Welcome to new life at Canada

Moving to a new country can be difficult. Leaving behind friends and sometimes family is hard. There are many things which may be different from the country that you just left. School, health care, jobs and the law may all seem very strange depending on where you came from. Finding your way in Ontario can take a long time, especially if you don’t have the right information and don’t know what to do.

I immigrated to Canada in 2005 and remember my first days were pretty tough. So I would like to share my experiences with new comers to enable them to know answers to few questions that they might have and can help you take your first steps in making Canada your new home.

I would like you to know which things are important for you and how to proceed.

Some people have friends here already who can help them with some of the important tasks and explain how some things work in Canada. This can be really helpful, but be sure to explore the internet and find useful information anyway to make sure that you understand all of these important things yourself. You may not have a friend waiting for you so there are many things you will need to do for yourself. There are also many things you can do before you come to Canada that will help you.

In your first weeks in Canada, you have many things to do. You need to complete many government forms. These forms will help you get things with names you may do not understand, like your SIN, OHIP, CCTB, etc. You do not have to pay for these forms. Often you can download them from the internet. You do not need to pay for help to complete the forms. You can get free help for this at settlement agencies. You can find out how to contact them in this guide.

Below you will find a checklist of things to do in your first weeks. You can decide what to do first. You may not need to do all of them. For example, if you do not have children, you do not need to find a school near your home. There are some you should do right away like applying for your health card or your Social Insurance Number. Maybe you have friends or family in the city where you want to live. They will be a great help to you. They can show you where everything is in the city, and help you find a place to stay. They can help you learn about your new community.

I would try to contribute an article every now and then and in my next article would share more about housing, job and other issues.

Happy immigrating Canada!!