Thank you to all the landers for your information-rich gists. May the good Lord grease your paths.

Please any advice for a baby psychologist that’s about to land: where to go, what to do?

Thank you.

Eheennnn!!! bet i trust you to deliver naa, I sure say this one that you waited till now, the sequel will reach like season 5. . Thanks jare

GlitteringStar2:
Kindly find below my landing and post-landing experience

GlitteringStar2:
Post-Landing Experience (Part 2)

Very packed landing Tori.Glitteringstar as we know her.Thanks for sharing

Thanks @Glitteringstar2 for sharing your experiences.

Great stuffs! Love your work!

Hello,

**Silent follower awaiting PPR

Please i need a bit of information. How do i get a TRV for my retired mum to enable her land with me or shortly after to ease settling down post PPR?
I am more worried about proof of ties to home country, lack of travel history and the fact that i am funding the trip- hoping that shouldnt be a problem.

Please if there is anyone who has had a parent over in short while after landing or alongside, i would really need your guidance.

@glitteringstar2....you referred to your mum in your landing gist, sorry to probe, was she on TRV?

Thanks alot

salford1:

Cough cough. Enjoying snow or "show"....Canadian baby loading...
Na joke i dey ooo

I concur jare. Nor be joke ....lol

aworldcitizen:
Thank you glittering star. We have decided to settle in Ottawa/Gatineau region. We are landing this week.

Please how did you journey from Toronto to Ottawa? Was it via rail or air?

How many hours?

Should we book in advance?

Thank you.

Flight time from Toronto to Ottawa is 1 hour. We travelled by air. I booked in advance but we paid for the extra baggage fees at the check-in counter (Air Canada check-in counter). I wanted to book direct flight to Ottawa from Lagos (with EgyptAir) but it was somehow expensive. So, we decided to break our journey (EgyptAir from Lagos to Toronto and then Air Canada from Toronto to Ottawa). It was cheaper that way. We chose 1pm but since we finished the landing formalities and co earlier than we expected, we explained to the woman at the check-in counter and she agreed to change our departure time from 1pm to 11am.

mimimum:
GS, this your hmm. Does it mean that it didn't work?

It worked. It was accurate but I allowed our bags (not all though) to exceed the limit by 2kg/3kg. My advice is that one should let the weight be less than the baggage allowance by 1kg or 2kg.

Newbeecey:
Eheennnn!!! bet i trust you to deliver naa, I sure say this one that you waited till now, the sequel will reach like season 5. . Thanks jare

Lol@season 5. Thanks.

DawnM024:
@glitteringstar2....you referred to your mum in your landing gist, sorry to probe, was she on TRV?

Yes.

Thank you. Did you handle everything for her? Please help with any info i can work with.

I appreciate.

GlitteringStar2:



Yes.

temmytee1:

A friend took ponmo n this was flagged. She spent almost 2k cad just cos of ponmo.
It was a big issue. And she was flagged to be checked for the next 5 years anytime she comes into Canada.

Hello... Responded to the PM, did you receive it?

To make it easier, Kindly click the whatsapp link on my siggy, it's faster & more convenient.

GlitteringStar2:
Kindly find below my landing and post-landing experience

So many tips! Amazing write up dear!

Glitteringstar2 I’ve been trying to reach you o! Sent you so many PMs! I have questions to ask, especially about your application

Please reply

Wow! Delicious read. Thank you @glitteringstar2.
The gist was richer and creamier than peak

From the experienced guys in Canada, please can someone earning about 20m naira per annum cope with his family (wife and 3 children) in Canada while he continue working in Naija? Is this doable or not...Will appreciate response from already landed seniors..appreciate

hoyo:
From the experienced guys in Canada, please can someone earning about 20m naira per annum cope with his family (wife and 3 children) in Canada while he continue working in Naija? Is this doable or not...Will appreciate response from already landed seniors..appreciate

I think you need to make your question more specific.

maternal:


I think you need to make your question more specific.

Ok thanks, the husband is not willing to relocate and has a gig that gets 20m plus per annum in Naija but wants family in canny and will be visiting. Can the amount cater running cost for the family over there? Pending when hopefully the wife secure a job. There's a baby as well so wife may not be able to start working just immediately but the other kids are of school age which I heard it's free to some extent

.

hoyo:

Ok thanks, the husband is not willing to relocate and has a gig that gets 20m plus per annum in Naija but wants family in canny and will be visiting. Can the amount cater running cost for the family over there? Pending when hopefully the wife secure a job. There's a baby as well so wife may not be able to start working just immediately but the other kids are of school age which I heard it's free to some extent

I am not sure anyone here can answer that question for you as no one knows the living expenses the husband would continue to bear in Nigeria. For example, are they home owners or do they pay rent? Do they currently have a mortgage or other debts they are paying off in Nigeria from that N20m? This is what I would advise -

Draw up a budget for the Canadian expenses. Ask someone you think is a kindred spirit (with the same spending habits or pattern as you) currently living in Canada (in a city which mirrors that which you want to settle in) to give you a sample monthly budget for their family. Expand or contract that budget based on your family situation (if you have more kids or less for example). Once you have a rough idea what it will cost to live monthly in Canada, determine how much that converts to in Naira and fit it into the husband's monthly budget. You will have your answer as to whether or not his monthly income is sufficient. Please also factor in one time settling costs e.g. car, furnishing your apartment in Canada etc.

....and the expected devaluation

Before I get into my epistle, let me just say that 'people who don't come back to give landing gist' don't do it intentionally. There are many many reasons why. Anyway, to the gist:


Landing


Not much to say here because I didn't depart from Nigeria. I flew KLM straight to Edmonton. The flight to Amsterdam was horrific ; terrible aircraft, uncomfortable seats, ancient in-flight entertainment, infact I almost regretted using them. Now to be fair, I was very pregnant during the flight so maybe that contributed to my discomfort . We had a 7 hour layover in Amsterdam which was spent roaming around the nice airport and resting in one of the lounges.

The flight from Amsterdam to Edmonton was a totally different experience The aircraft was newer, more comfortable and all around better. I did notice that most of the passengers were senior citizens.... We were about to land and they had not yet brought the landing declaration form for us to complete , so I went to ask one of the hostesses and she told me they have upgraded and no longer use the form. Landing in Edmonton was smooth, the airport is a bit small but looked newly renovated. They have little electronic kiosks where we completed a form (I think this replaced the landing form distributed in the plane) and from there we were directed to pick our bags and then go to the border control office by the right and that's where it got a little interesting...

Now I was landing alone and, as the PA, I knew that this shouldn't be a problem. But the border officer guy was confused and kept asking for my spouse. I told the bross that he will land after me, dude still wasn't convinced and had to call another senior colleague of his . The lady only asked me 1 question: Are you the PA? I said YES and she told him its fine. So, its good to know your onions so you can stand your ground as no one knows it all, not even the Canadian officials. I gave him the list of my accompanying goods and he was happy about that (saved time of asking plenty questions). I also gave him the address of my hosts, collected my welcome to Canada greeting and package and off I went

NOTE: If you are travelling in a group with more than 1 hand luggage, arrange them in such a way that you are prepared to check in some of them if the opportunity presents itself. During check-in, the lady asked if I wanted to check in my hand luggage (despite already using up my full kilo). Some of them are nice like that, so be prepared to take advantage of the niceness if it presents itself


Settlement

This was fairly easy thanks to God and my wonderful hosts. I spent the next day resting and the following day I got every other thing done. The key was to start early in the morning. I first went to get my SIN and then a Sim (Koodo prepaid plan of 45CAD monthly), then opened a bank account and got a Void cheque. Using the address on the void cheque as proof of residency, I was able to apply for my Alberta health insurance. I received my health card in the mail 7 days later but I called them after 2 days to get the health card number as I needed to see a doctor asap. Getting a family physician was easy as well and she referred me to an obgyn. Oh I had my baby recently as well (If there are any pregnant mamas in the house looking for information let me know and I'll make a seperate post about that experience when I can)

Getting a house was a bit of a challenge due to the lack of work/credit history. However, most of the landlords and rental companies were more willing to rent when I offered to pay 3 months rent upfront.


Advice: Try to get in touch with a settlement agency. I have received so much assistance and advice that it almost seems unreal. They are there to help us integrate easier so please make use of them. For women, I would like to recommend a free 6 weeks integration program (IWIN) offered by the Edmonton Mennonite Center for Newcomers. It is amazing and you get a certificate afterward.


Thats about it for now, let me know if you have any specific question, thanks

Bsbabe:


I am not sure anyone here can answer that question for you as no one knows the living expenses the husband would continue to bear in Nigeria. For example, are they home owners or do they pay rent? Do they currently have a mortgage or other debts they are paying off in Nigeria from that N20m? This is what I would advise -

Draw up a budget for the Canadian expenses. Ask someone you think is a kindred spirit (with the same spending habits or pattern as you) currently living in Canada (in a city which mirrors that which you want to settle in) to give you a sample monthly budget for their family. Expand or contract that budget based on your family situation (if you have more kids or less for example). Once you have a rough idea what it will cost to live monthly in Canada, determine how much that converts to in Naira and fit it into the husband's monthly budget. You will have your answer as to whether or not his monthly income is sufficient. Please also factor in one time settling costs e.g. car, furnishing your apartment in Canada etc.

....and the expected devaluation

Thanks alot

hoyo:

Ok thanks, the husband is not willing to relocate and has a gig that gets 20m plus per annum in Naija but wants family in canny and will be visiting. Can the amount cater running cost for the family over there? Pending when hopefully the wife secure a job. There's a baby as well so wife may not be able to start working just immediately but the other kids are of school age which I heard it's free to some extent

I see this situation frequently. You have a good paying job and don't want to leave it. But at the same time you want your kids to get that Canadian passport and live in a sane environment. So the wife goes while the husband stays back and only visits until it makes sense to make the jump. Nobody can answer your financial questions but yourself. What is you and your husbands financial obligation in Nigeria ? What will be your new financial obligation in Canada ? The better question to ask is what's the cost of living in each individual Canadian cities so you can try to create a Canadian budget. 20 Mill naira you're looking at over 70k CDN. Is that gross or net ? Will you be living in Toronto with high rent, or a cheaper city ? Will you buy a car or use public transport ? It all depends. I know a women in the same situation, except her husband was making over 100k CDN in naija. Financially they were ok, but it affected the marriage.

@Ethelia, thanks for sharing and thank God for safe delivery. How's our Canadian baby doing? May God bless you and yours.

maternal:


I see this situation frequently. You have a good paying job and don't want to leave it. But at the same time you want your kids to get that Canadian passport and live in a sane environment. So the wife goes while the husband stays back and only visits until it makes sense to make the jump. Nobody can answer your financial questions but yourself. What is you and your husbands financial obligation in Nigeria ? What will be your new financial obligation in Canada ? The better question to ask is what's the cost of living in each individual Canadian cities so you can try to create a Canadian budget. 20 Mill naira you're looking at over 70k CDN. Is that gross or net ? Will you be living in Toronto with high rent, or a cheaper city ? Will you buy a car or use public transport ? It all depends. I know a women in the same situation, except her husband was making over 100k CDN in naija. Financially they were ok, but it affected the marriage.

Hmmmmm, a big big factor...and not seeing the kids, sacrificing 20m net for canny is not an easy decision

hi guys, i havent gotten my ppr but i am going by faith that i will soon, so i just wanna ask a couple of questions, so i know what i am getting myself into.

Brief introduction about me, i am single, i have a masters degree in telecoms engineering, a Bsc in Chem and a diploma in IT, i did my masters in UK, and i lived there for 4 years, so i quite used to the cold a lil bit.

1. what province is the best to settle in ? i am thinking of Toronto, but i wanna get you guys take first before making that decision.
2. do i have to convert all my POF to foreign currency before boarding a plane to Canada?
3. what advice and tips can you guys give me, and what support system is available to fresh immigrants in canada?

i ask these questions because i do not want to make the same mistake i made when i first got to the UK, took me along time to adjust to life there, and u can imagine i lost alot of money on unnecessary spending

Hmmmmmm, maybe I can drop this here. A friend recently got a job in Dubai, job to pay close to 100k USD and he has gotten a three year residence permit already. He intends to move with his family.

Twist to the story is he has been trying this EE stuff, but points considerably lower than cut-off for ITA. Decided to go for plan B and eventually got Rotman MBA (University of Toronto), to start August next year.

Would be interesting to get your views on this, should he stay-put at the job or leave after some months for study at Canada?

Canada passport quite appealing to him, if I may say.

Ethelia:

Before I get into my epistle, let me just say that 'people who don't come back to give landing gist' don't do it intentionally. There are many many reasons why. Anyway, to the gist:

Congratulations on your baby! Such gladdening news.

Thank you for sharing your story too and for the tips.

May the land be your oyster indeed.

GlitteringStar2:
Post-Landing Experience (Part 2)

Congratulations GS, thank you for your very detailed post.

May you record many successes as you navigate this new path.

Thank you so much @ Glitteringstar2 and @ ethelia for the interesting and detailed landing gist....I was worth the read!!! Tnx Mommas! Congrats Ethelia...God bless and keep your new born.

[quote author=GlitteringStar2 post=73911624]Post-Landing Experience (Part 2)

Thank you for the details, well appreciate. May the land favour you.

einsteino:


I dont know if @wobstics is here. Dude literally knew I came to gamble and yet weeks to my landing, he invested his time helping me make inquiries and put my plans together, even after I landed.

When I decided to leave Montreal and was having a hard time securing accommodation in the GTA, @Derei and @Bimpsy99 took it upon themselves to help, my current job sef na based on referral from @Derei. @feygbe nko? I virtually turned @Kayla10 into my 'Consigliere', despite her very busy schedule she always managed to bring a new perspective,

So much thanks to you

@Kayla10
@feygbe
@Derei
@Bimpsy99
@wobstics

As surely as the Almighty lives, help will never be far from you.

Thank you for everything you did and would still do for our brother.

One day