Preparing to settle permanently in Edmonton Alberta

[leofamily]

Hi All!
We are a family of 4 and we are from the Philippines. As of now, we are already preparing to settle as permanent residents in Edmonton Alberta on May 7, 2013.

We have no relatives in Edmonton Alberta and we have no place to stay yet. Edmonton is our choice because my husband is working as a Pipefitter in Australia now, and considering the nature of the place, we hope that his experience will help him look for a job much easier.

I have a lot of questions and I believe that the members could help us in the preparation. My questions are as follow:

1. Do you know a cheap hotel or budget hotel where we can stay for a week while looking for a 2-bedroom apartment near University of Alberta?

2. What are the essentials from the Philippines that we need to bring there?

3. Is it safe to bring vitamins and first aid kit to help us in the adjustment period?

4. Is there a prescribed format of resume that Edmontonian employers would like to see when we apply for work?

5. In general, what kind of survival job is available in Edmonton?

6. I am a teacher and a librarian by profession and I know that I can not teach unless I study while I can work easily as a librarian. Is this true?

Thank you very much for always helping me whenever I have queries.

 

[on-hold]

I live in Edmonton and love it -- I just moved here 6 months ago, and this is my advice.

1) living in a hotel while you search for a place to rent is very expensive, we spent 800 dollars in 6 days. Try to organize your interviews for apartments before you leave the Philippines, by email, for your first two days in Edmonton. Make sure that you arrive on Sunday night, so you are not paying extra rent for the weekend, and you have a full 5 days to find a place. Make sure that you have all the documents ready to open a bank account on Monday, so that you can apply with bank information.

U of A is a student sector -- also consider northern Edmonton, especially around 118th Avenue. It has a bad reputation but that is a few years in the past, and it is cheap, walkable, close to Chinatown with huge stores that sell Filipino food, and with work.

2) There are no essentials from the Philippines to bring here -- especially a lot of winter clothes, yours will not be warm enough, don't waste your time. Personally (I lived in southeast asia), I would try to bring a mattress, because I love sleeping on a hard mattress on the floor, those are useful here because they are portable. In Canada they cost a lot of money, and can only be bought at one place (The Foam King store). You are going to need a mattress, and you won't want to carry a Western bed with you when you move.

3) Vitamins, yes, first aid, I have no idea. Why will you need this in the adjustment period, are you planning on injuring yourselves?

4) Make a resume with all your information and no picture and nothing fancy, and take it to an immigration counselor as soon as you arrive. If you or your husband have Australian resumes, they should be fine.

5) There are many jobs in Edmonton, you just have to walk around and look. If your English is fluent and you have experience teaching or working in a library, you should find something very simple first, look for something better that requires experience after that, and then look for a real professional career. I'm sorry to tell you that the Alberta government is in the middle of a real budget crisis, and that it will be hard to find governmental jobs. The Sprucewood branch of the Edmonton Public Library has a Filipino librarian, you could go by there and ask her what she recommends.

6) I can't help you, but in general Canadian professional jobs have local licensing requirements. These can be very time consuming and extensive, I recommend before you come that you talk with your universities and arrange to have transcripts sent when you need them -- this can be a real problem, Asian universities don't like to do this, I've known people who have to travel home to go in person.

 

[leofamily]

Thank you very much for this useful information on-hold

i will try my best to do and/or prepare everything that you've mentioned.

Again, thank you soooo much!

 

[on-hold]

No problem, there are a couple of things I forgot to mention. One, look for a 6 month lease. That way, you can change if you don't like where you end up -- the only problem is, you might have to change in winter. If you arrive in spring or summer, it is easier to rent because many university students are out of town.

And, are you sure you want to live in Edmonton? It is a great city -- but, if you husband is a pipefitter, he might be working some distance from town. There is a chance you will end up in Redwater, Cold Lake, Fort McMurray, places like that.

 

[on-hold]

I forgot to mention also -- to rent an apartment, you will need a bank account; to open a bank account, you should have cash on hand; but Canadian banks do not like cash . . . It is not normal here to deposit large amounts.

I would recommend that when you travel, you bring at least 2,500 dollars in Canadian money (if you travel with U.S. money, you will lose twice when you change it). However, to deposit this, you should also bring a receipt from your bank when you withdraw it, and perhaps a receipt from when you change it -- with this there will be no problem depositing the funds. I agree, it's strange -- but it is not normal in Canada to wander around with large amounts of money in your pocket. In other words:

1) Buy Canadian money at Australian/Filipino bank (2,500 dollars minimum)
2) Save receipt
3) Monday morning, open Canadian bank account, using your address in the hotel and landing documents
4) Show receipt from foreign bank
5) Print out all account information for filling out rental applications

 

[leofamily]

hello on-hold!

thank you so much for your very informative post

you are great!

thanks again!

 

[leofamily]

Hi on-hold!

We might consider moving to Redwater, Cold Lake, Fort McMurray etc. when I go there in September.

My wife and I have decided that she, together with my two daughters, aged 22 and 18 will go ahead first this May while I stay in Perth Australia to finish my commitment and to earn money to support my family there.

Questions:
1. which bank in Edmonton do you recommend? I have instructed my wife to open a bank account as soon as they arrive.

2. it is hard to look for canadian money in the Philippines, and most of the money that my family will bring is in USD and Aus dollars without receipt since I would give them to my wife whenever I come home, do you see any problem? My wife has no receipt to present when she opens a bank account.

Unfortunately, they have already a plane ticket to Edmonton on May 7, Wednesday, which means they have already lost two days. They will stay at Argyll Plaza Hotel.

Again, thank you so much.

 

[on-hold]

Canada has a very strong banking system, with a small number of national banks. Any of the following are fine:

- Scotiabank (mine)
- Bank of Montreal
- Royal Bank of Canada
- CIBC
- Toronto Dominion Bank or something like that

I bet you can buy Canadian dollars in a Philippine bank -- when I was in Thailand, I bought Swiss francs in a Thai bank, and not in Bangkok either. I don't know what to do about the receipt -- one thing they should do is declare their money at the border, especially if it is more than $10,000. If they are coming as Federal Skilled Workers, then they can give a copy of the regulations to the bank that require them to have a certain amount of money. In the end the bank will take your money -- give your wife evidence that you are working in Australia, that you are a pipefitter and coming here -- it's just easier with a receipt. You could also contact the Phillipines Consulate:

http://www.embassypages.com/missions/embassy10259/

 

[leofamily]

Many thanks for all the help you have always been giving us on-hold!

 

[steph816]

If you go to TD Canada Trust, they have the best service and hours. You will have no credit in Canada, so ask them for help getting a credit card that is for new immigrants that help you slowly gain credit in Canada. If you dont want to pay any bank fees, then go to Superstore which is a grocery store butbthey have a bank that lots of people use cause they don't charge you fees.

If you already booked into Argyll hotel, see if you can cancel it without penalty. The hotel is not in a great neighbourhood on a busy busy street. Try the hostels in town, there's a Hostelling International hostel just off Whyte Ave which is a very popular area and also close to the University. Rooms will probably be cheaper and also gives you a chance to meet people. Edmonton has LOADS of Immigrants from the Philippines. Many work in the service industry, as nannies, or as LPNs in hospitals or home care. Really, you can walk into a fast food restaurant like Tim Horton's and it will be run by Philippinos! So you will have no problem meeting them! There are Asian supermarkets all over so you will find comfort food easily...Western markets like Superstore, or TNT which is a large Asian supermarket in West Edmonton Mall (the biggest in town) and on the north side of town.

Vitamins if you already have them, sure bring them, first aid...if you already have, but don't go out of your way cause you can buy everything you'd possibly need at any store in town.

Bring copies of school transcripts so that you have them to submit when you are here. Proof of high school graduation, or university etc.

It is VERY easy to find a job here when you arrive. Your kids can easily find a job in retail or service. Easily. But if you don't find a place close to home, or near a bus route, then a car will be essential to get around the city.

If you go to a Canada Service Agency, they have tones of info for new immigrants and lots of help for finding places to live, work, school etc. there's a great one in Meadowlark Centre, which is in the west end of town. You can also apply for your social insurance card there, which you will need to get a job.

Good luck!

 

[leofamily]

Hi Steph816!

Thank you very much for this information.

We will consider everything that you suggested.

We are already excited to go there at the same time fearful yet hopeful.

Again, thank you so much.

 

[bkd1969]

I forgot to mention also -- to rent an apartment, you will need a bank account; to open a bank account, you should have cash on hand; but Canadian banks do not like cash . . . It is not normal here to deposit large amounts.

I would recommend that when you travel, you bring at least 2,500 dollars in Canadian money (if you travel with U.S. money, you will lose twice when you change it). However, to deposit this, you should also bring a receipt from your bank when you withdraw it, and perhaps a receipt from when you change it -- with this there will be no problem depositing the funds. I agree, it's strange -- but it is not normal in Canada to wander around with large amounts of money in your pocket. In other words:

1) Buy Canadian money at Australian/Filipino bank (2,500 dollars minimum)
2) Save receipt
3) Monday morning, open Canadian bank account, using your address in the hotel and landing documents
4) Show receipt from foreign bank
5) Print out all account information for filling out rental applications

ON-HOLD, Could you explain more about the money loss if we bring US$ to CA? HOW? I need to change to CA$ in the US first before going to CA? THANKS.
"if you travel with U.S. money, you will lose twice when you change it"

 

[on-hold]

Suppose you have 1000 Filipino pesos -- you go to a bank to change them into U.S. money, and the rate is 2-3% below what the bank will sell them for -- so, instead of getting 1000 pesos worth of U.S. dollars, you get 975.

Now, you come to Canada and change your money on the first day -- every Canadian bank has the same rate, and it is always bad. They buy U.S. dollars at 2.5% below par, and sell them back at 2.5% above par (5% spread). You take your 975 pesos of American money and change it into Canadian money, and it comes out to 950 pesos worth of Canadian money. You've lost 50 out of a thousand dollars, 5% of your money. FSW with several kids are likely to be bringing $20,000 dollars with them -- change it twice, and you've lost $1000 dollars.

If you can, buy Canadian money with your original currency. That's the only way to minimize losses, and you might get a better rate there than you do in Canada.

It's absolutely infuriating, but there is no way around this. All Canadian banks give you the same rate. Gold in Canada is sold in U.S. dollars, so you can't get around it that way either. You can put your money in U.S. dollar accounts and use it to buy stuff cheaply down in the U.S. -- but you still need to live when you arrive here . . . I don't know why the rates are so awful, it's basically giving free money to the banks.

 

[leofamily]

Hello!

Thank you very much for all the suggestions that you have provided through this forum. We landed last Tuesday and we were able to do immediately what we needed to do as newcomers because of your suggestions

 

[steaky]

Just in case you are looking to buy a brand new home in Edmonton, you might be interested:

http://glenoraskyline.com/about/