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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 3:05am On Feb 21, 2018

kazchick:
Hello People,
For someone moving to Canny (Single Mother of a toddler - about 8 months old). I wish to land in Ontario with the ultimate settlement being Mississauga. How do I go about searching and finding a job in Toronto or any other Ontario city when I newly land? Do I get an Airbnb place in Toronto for some months and do some searching or go to Mississauga and search from there / commute to Toronto when I have an interview? I also read about some daycare offering emergency services in Toronto to watch over the child for some hours?
Please I need serious advice. Note that leaving the baby behind in Naija is not an option for me.

if you find an airbnb in toronto that is affordable and private (as in not a shared living area since you have a baby) then that would work otherwise from what I have read I think you should be able to commute to toronto from Mississauga quite easily. When you land you can search for child care providers that allow drop ins and settle on one you are comfortable with...that way when you have an interview you can drop ur baby off for a couple of hours. I dunno much about job search in toronto but i believe if you read a couple of pages backward you would find relevant information on these. Also search for blackbuddy and read his posts

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 3:00am On Feb 21, 2018

lilyandie:
Hallo my people,
Thanks for all your insights, for our landed people, please how did u move your money our of naija?
I am leaving in April and kinda confused on how to move my funds without incurring major banking fees.

you can change to usd via pta services from the bank as well as the bdc operators. Keep the receipts just in case. Then carry the cash. This was what we did. There was a form we filled to declare the cash we came with when we landed. The immigration officer stamped and signed d form n gave it back to us.

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 7:06pm On Feb 18, 2018

rainazoe:
Please our frequent fliers, I saw that BA is cheaper and faster than Ethiopian airlines on Wakanow but the connection flight to CA is at Gatwick rather than Heathrow where we will land from Naija. Layover is also 6hrs+.

Would it be wise to take this option because Gatwick 45mins+ outside London, would BA transfer our lugggae and handle the flight transfer or we would have to debark at Heathrow and find our way to Gatwick and is the 6hr layover okay for all this waka upandan.

as long as the entire journey is all on one ticket you won't have to pick up your bags. You'll just have to get to Gatwick fro. Heathrow. There are national express buses right outside heathrow that can get you to Gatwick for about £20-30 and it's a 1hr ride i believe. However you'll need a uk transit visa or a valid uk visiting visa

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 12:02am On Feb 18, 2018

@mire222 that's great progress. *thumbs up*
@TBDL everyone is right. Airbnb is cheaper. When we landed we stayed at the radisson close to the airport n they picked us up.
@wura27 welcome!

Abeg i no be queen of calgary oh. Not even close at allll.

1 Like

Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 11:56pm On Feb 17, 2018*

Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 11:49pm On Feb 17, 2018

czaratwork:
I think you people read posts here with preconcieved idea. i am going to repost my initial post here for emphasis. i just felt within me after i spoke with one of us who was not having it good with her job hunt but got relieved when i shared mine with her and another that chatted me that my story encouraged her that people dont get balanced report here and so when it is not happening for them, they feel left out. I network a lot. i attend ACCA, ORACLE and presently mentorship programmes and have been sharing my experiences here.

In one of the ACCA networking programme i attended, the members shared their experiences and from what i got, i am still on track. i met a Nigerian lady at the oracle event i attended last month and we talked about my job hunt and she was like that she is impressed that i came for the programme.

The embolded too got me. i have also shared here how someone here helped me get my first job in December so what is it about feeling that survival job is not good for me. I also shared how i met someone at Meadowvale town centre who confirmed what God said concerning me.

I am tired of this distorted response and my mail being bombarded with solutions to my preconcieved job hunt problems.

Until you people make this place conducive for sharing balanced report. People will read what we have here and think that jobs in Canada are just for asking. I am already being made to look like a victim when i know i am a victor.

czaratwork, i used the pronoun "you" to address all intending immigrants or landed immigrants. There is no distortion here and I was only sharing my experience to contribute towards any available information out there. If you follow my contributions you'll realize that I am not one of the "jobs will drop miraculously" members of this thread and I have always maintained an objective stance as regards professional advancement for immigrants in Canada. So I'll prefer if you refrain from referring to me as "you people"

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 12:07am On Feb 14, 2018

ibnhasan:
Thanks vcole for this. What employability program were you enrolled in?

skills connection by career connections.

Ehrnie:
Thanks for your response vcole - Yes, i did a short landing [i must commend your very sharp memory ].
I work in the U.K and yes, the UK has a tax treaty with CAN. Just wanted to dot my "i"s and cross my "t"s hence my enquiry. I'm currently speaking to a tax expert who also echoed your points. Many thanks.

good one!

Fusion23:
@VCOLE 1million likes for this, I think Nairaland helped me a lot and helped a lot of people too...
But aside nairaland eveyone is responsible for their decisions. Also it is better to Motivate than too demotivate..
its just normal that good news is better than bad ones....
I wont even discourage anyone from sharing the downside thou if they want to its ok. And we should encourage them too

decision making process is crucial bro

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 7:23am On Feb 12, 2018

@czaratwork, hang in there. It takes a new immigrant on the average 5years to fully settle into Canada according to statistics. So it's easier said than done but you would be past this stage sooner than you think.

In my opinion, it is important to properly research job prospects in your intended field as well as jobs you may be able to get on arrival even if it is in a lower role or a "survival job" that you feel you would be comfortable doing to earn an income prior to arriving in Canada. It keeps you realistic and focussed by the time you get here.

For regulated professions, it is a realistic plan to be willing to settle for any job on arrival if you need an income quickly and then map out a route to obtaining your license if you so desire or map out a route towards an alternative career.

In my case, I already decided to go back to school prior to arrival to earn a qualification or two in an area that I have an interest in for the long term as well as one that would make me more employable. Obtaining my license is a long windy road that I would fit into the pipeline at some point along the way as it is not a top priority for me. I did job hunt for a few months and got a job working with special needs kids at a job fair but passed up on it for a govt sponsored employability skills training program. Most jobs readily accessible to foreign professionals with a health care background are nursing aides, dietary aides, care aides, community support workers, etc. I do not think I am well suited to those roles and did not want to get stuck in a job I didn't like for a while and so I enrolled in school and started this winter when my baby turned 6 months. So far, so good.

So if a survival job isn't something you feel you can handle, getting an additional qualification may be a good plan. Save up some funds for that purpose if you can. You could also consider applying for student loans from the government.

I find that Indian immigrants are a lot more realistic in their expectations as regards migration. They hit the ground ready to go and are willing to work at any job, get into school and work hard. It won't hurt for us to take a page outta their book.

For every success story of someone getting a job in their field soon after landing, there are several others slugging it out at Tim Hortons or Walmart. In the end, it will still turn out as a success story for both parties, just different timelines.

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 10:18pm On Feb 10, 2018

redocean:
Thanks for heads up. I plan to re route trip to visit US first. Any info on below question?
1. I plan to do a soft landing for about 3 weeks then return to Nigeria and resign properly. However, I do intend to have someone in Canada receive my family's PR cards ( wife, daughter and I) and courier same to us in Nigeria. Is this act in violation of any law or policy?

I am not sure how to answer this. We have discussed this on this thread before and people have been successful with that. IRCC does not state that it is a violation of any law. However, if a pr card is picked out by a security scanner while being conveyed by post/mail, the courier/postal company is mandated by law to return the card to IRCC since it is actually "govt property" I am not aware of anyone who has had this experience though.

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 10:12pm On Feb 10, 2018

Ehrnie:
Hi! Please does anyone have contact details of a tax expert I can speak to Re: Income tax enquiries/filing? Preferably someone who has been tried & trusted.Eagerly await your responses. Many thanks....

You may wanna try turbotax. A couple of people I know have used their online platform to file their taxes themselves. If I remember you did a short landing so you may be under the "factual resident" group. You may wanna check if the country where you work in has a tax treaty with Canada. If they do, then you'll need to submit your tax assessment n certificate from that country to CRA as well. You won't have to be double taxed. Surprisingly Canada has a tax treaty with Nigeria and accept our IRS tax certificates from canadian residents working in Nigeria and do not tax anything extra for foreign income in that instance.

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 9:59pm On Feb 10, 2018

daremum:
LOL.
Guess we have to go direct to you and all other seniors in the house.I Arrived Canada in Less than a week, should I consider filing tax for march or not.There is a huge knowledge gap with Nigerian folks here they seem not to really understand this Tax thing and I heard if I file now there will be some benefits.Everything sounds strange anyways.Please advice...
@40manlappy @all seniors

To the best of my knowledge, if you only landed a week ago I do not think you are meant to file taxes. Taxes filed this tax season (Feb 26 - April 30 2018) are for the period of Jan 1 - Dec 31 2017 (the tax year).

Since you were not a PR as at Dec 31 2017 and you were not resident in Canada in the year 2017, you do not have to file taxes.

As for benefits, newly landed immigrants apply for child benefits, provincial benefits and gst/hst with their landing documents as well as a completed statement of income form rc66sh or something like that. Going forward, you would file taxes during the 2019 tax season for the tax year 2018 (jan 1 - dec 31 2018) and this would be a requirement for continuous assessment of your income status by CRA for whatever benefits you are eligible for as well as accessing other government services and so on.

You can find out about what benefits you are eligible for on the canada.ca website. To clarify, you can call or visit free tax clinics....some of which you would find their contact info on the same website.

For clarity, you can actually call CRA directly on their helpline.

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 6:25pm On Feb 10, 2018

daremum:
Please who can help with File tax return education.
You don't have to be so detail.
Just the good and bad of file taxing.
Please help us!

not me lol! But google turbotax and it might help.

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 2:10am On Feb 10, 2018

@CAstruggle and soja84 welcome to Canada. May you find favourable paths.

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 9:29am On Feb 09, 2018

Fusion23:
The PR card can take from 8-15 weeks , but once you have land in Canada you are already a permanent residence and its in the database..she can get an emergency travel documents she might pay for it...don't know the process

nope. Only the prtd which can only be applied for from outside Canada after landing and takes an average of 12 weeks. Back in the day some people have been successful at crossing landed borders between Canada and the US with a stamped copr but I don't think that works anymore. A better option would be to re route the trip to visit the states first prior to landing

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 6:55am On Feb 08, 2018

@fusion23 I must have missed your "relocation" to Edmonton. Congrats on the new gig.

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 12:56am On Feb 06, 2018

@9jaAlien, I find the tipping culture in Canada to be more flexible than in the states. The reason may be that baristas and waiters et al are paid at least minimum wage per hour and their tips are sn additional income. In the states a barista may earn as little as $3/hr base pay and so the tips are their major source of income. I usually tip about 5-10% depending on whether i feel i was served well or not and it's at restaurants. I haven't tipped anywhere else or been asked to do so anywhere else.

Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 9:18pm On Feb 05, 2018

@saucepan, if your child is 12yrs or older they take a course and then they are legally allowed to watch their younger ones at home.i don't know what the course is though...probably baby sitting?

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 9:17pm On Feb 05, 2018

yokus:
I believe it can be any firm. Sorry im replying this late, so much to do.

thanks. I totally understand

Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 5:53am On Feb 05, 2018

daremum:
Chai...
Presently staying with a family friend at Northwest Calgary.
To me it's nice but lots of private building all over.
Are you saying there is no connected transit in NW?

There is transit. All depends on where you are. The lrt will usually get up to Tuscany and Dalhousie in the NW and then it's d bus from there. So it depends on whether the community you live in is closer to d lrt or farther away.

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 2:50pm On Feb 04, 2018

olajide21:
I hope that frozen car isn't yours? How often do people change their car battery in Canada?

well, you just jump start it if it's too frigid outside and the car doesn't start. I have a rechargeable jump starter kit, pretty easy to use.

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 2:46pm On Feb 04, 2018

@mummyjaygirs greetings from the other side of the snow cheesy

Please Edmonton peeps, what areas are to be avoided? I would need to be in Edmonton in a couple of weeks for a few days and I'm trying to book an airbnb place. I'll have stuff to do downtown and around WEM but would be driving so won't mind staying within a 20 min drive of that radius. Thanks in advance. Cc: @salford1 and anyone else with info on Edmonton

Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 6:44am On Feb 04, 2018

Adiahabasi:
Thanks so much Vcole. Didnt know all this! So the SW or SE are preferable areas for newcomers right? Downtown as well? Kids aren't of school age yet so more particular about a good transit system since I don't intend to start driving immediately. All the best with acada.

Thanks. My opinion is realllyyy subjective oh so you'll certainly need more informed opinions but if I were to pick I would say the SW and then deep south which is like the part of the SW close to the SE. There are areas in the SE that also have their issues lol! Downtown may not be great for you as per lil kids.... In no particular order these are the communities I would prefer to live in and would recommend if asked.....Sundance, Lake chapparal, Walden, Mahogany, Copperfield, New brighton, Milrise, Evergreen, Fish creek, Shawnessy, Somerset, Bridlewood, Silverado, Spring bank, Mckenzie towne.
Try to also look up areas with good school districts.....it sorta gives you a lil guide towards where you wanna live.
I think @salford1 and @maternal will be able to shed more light on this issue.

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 7:57pm On Feb 03, 2018

Nogen:
Hello Nairaland Family! Been awhile I visited. Congrats to Bigfido, and to those who got their PPR and jobs.I have had 3 weeks of lectures and it is not beans.

Hi Nogen. Well done. I totally get you. I went back to school as well in January and it's been all due dates and deadlines in my head. Really crazy doing it with kids. It's a whole different ball game. I've been waiting on my grades for 2 papers I turned in last week like the second coming. Lol! Hang in there. Hopefully ur folks would be here soon.

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 7:54pm On Feb 03, 2018

Adiahabasi:
Thanks @ senior Salford and Vcole. You guys are right! Came across the crime stats for Calgary(2017), shows same...just didnt want it to be a case of giving a dog a bad name and hanging it.The rent as compared to NW isn't so low for condos/apartments almost about same range.However, NE seems to have loads and loads of cheap basements

To be honest as a new landed immigrant in Calgary I really wouldn't pick the NW as a first place to settle. It is a lovely area but most areas are largely "suburban" for the lack of a better description. Also transit isn't so great there as the lrt only gets up to a point and you're left with the bus. So the NW closer to downtown is probably better in terms of transit. Also driving means hitting deerfoot or crowchild trail which are the major highways connecting the NW to the south or downtown. This would mean having to deal with traffic if/when there are accidents. Another thing to consider is that most jobs are located downtown or in the south. That being said, the NW is a lovely area grin

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 10:04am On Feb 03, 2018

Adiahabasi:
Please Salford, Vcole and all others in Calgary.
Is the NE truely to be avoided? If yes why?

Hi. Well, there are parts of the NE with high incidences of crime. Rent is cheaper there though.

Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 5:09am On Feb 01, 2018

careerwoman:
This is a very interesting to read. I've been wondering if Nigerians engage in politics in Canada and how often they are successful at taking up a public office. I'm very interested in public service, politics, and government as well. Reading her story serves as an encouragement to me.

hola. Yea Nigerians do. The mayor of Calgary at the moment is an Indian and his chief of staff is Nigerian.

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 1:05am On Feb 01, 2018

freeradical:
Sorry for bringing u back to this but I just feel to chip in my own position on this matter because it's a health issue and a little baby is involved. I studied biochemistry and I know for a fact that X-ray damage DNA.

http://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancy-health/x-rays-during-pregnancy/

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 10:46pm On Jan 31, 2018

chioma134:
Hello, vcole. Have been following your posts for a while now. Trying to make up my mind on whether to move or not. Please, can you explain the easiest way for an aspiring immigrant like me to practise medicine in Canada and the costs involved? Haven't seen a detailed explanation of that since I started following. Will appreciate. Thanks

I posted a link a few days ago on this thread. It has answers to your questions. I must warn that there is no easy way to practice medicine in Canada as an IMG. It is a long, arduous road. If clinical medicine is your priority, then you need to do a lot of research and reading about options available to you as an IMG here, pathway, estimated timelines and cost before you move. It is a different experience for everyone so it really is a personal decison.

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 7:29pm On Jan 31, 2018

Bigfido congrats.
@bethely, you could have just typed into Google and if you wanted clarification you could have then posted something like: c i found xyz as the top 3 provinces, what do you think?"
But what do i know?

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Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 3:17pm On Jan 31, 2018

yokus:
That is the easy part o, ARTICLING is the hard part cos the opportunities are scarce. So you may have passed all those hard exams and get stranded cos no firm accepts you to do the compulsory articling

ah ha! I knew it seemed too smooth. So this articling, can it be any firm? Or specific firms?

Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 9:15am On Jan 31, 2018

Ekinado:
Good morning House
Happy Last day in January. Please quick question
my husband who is the PA stays in Canada, hope I can travel alone to meet with him because I heard that dependent can't travel alone?Thanks

he has to land first before you can. So he'll complete the landing process in Canada before your arrival. Inland applicants usually know how that works, I do not know where they do it.

Travel › Re: Living In Canada/Life As A Canadian Immigrant by vcole: 7:00am On Jan 31, 2018

adesbaba:
Hi family,need advice.
1..is this a wise decision any experienced person abt dis too here?
2.my Pgwp will be for how long in this case
3.Any affordable college/university you can suggest that I can easily do PGD then MSC straight

kindly ask your question here https://www.nairaland.com/3948393/canadian-student-visa-thread-part/441

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