confused about accomodation

[dipu617]

Hello everybody,
I'm planning to land in the month of December but a bit confused about the accommodation. I intend to stay in a hotel or youth hostel for the first week. By the meantime I hope to rent an apartment or studio. I heard that most of the people apply for PR card, SIN card and Health card as soon as they reach Canada. Should I apply for them before renting an apartment??!! What if i don't get a suitable accomodation quickly?? Please advise me. Thanks a lot in advance.

Wish you all good luck

[thaiguy]

You apply for the PR card immediately when you arrive in Canada (airport, border, etc.).  If you don't have an address already, you can go online to update your address before it's mailed.  Ours arrived after 1 month and 1 day.

You can apply for the SIN card as soon as you get into Canada (not at the airport or border - in town).  When you do, you'll be given a letter with your SIN number immediately, meaning you can get a job immediately.  Your card will not arrive for a few weeks, though.  We chose to pick ours up - 3 weeks after we applied for them.

You can apply for health insurance any time within the first three months, but you must already have a permanent address.  So mail in the form as soon as you find an apartment.

In my opinion, it's going to take you more than 1 week to find an apartment.  But, maybe you'll get lucky.

TG

[dipu617]

hi thaiguy,
thanks a lot for the insightful advice. Hope it'll help me when i get there. thanks again.
cheers