A few questions about moving to Canada from USA

[smallwhale]

Hello all,

I am planning to move to Canada from USA sometimes in the summer of 2017 (got my PR in 2014). I will be moving with my spouse and two kids. One of the kids is in elementary school and the other one is in pre-school. Being a software engineer, I am primarily looking for the suburbs of Toronto, Vancouver, and Ottawa. There may be other places. But a simple google search is showing me these three cities primarily. I am not interested in staying in the big city and that is the reason I am looking for nearby suburbs. As I will be new to Canada, so I have quite a few questions in my mind. Any suggestions would be deeply appreciated.

1) How is the school system ? When is the right time to contact them for the registration in the next school year ? Or, do I have to first find a home and the school will be decided depending on the home address ? If I come during summer, will it be too late for the registration in school ?

2) What are some of the good neighborhoods where I may rent a townhome/single-family home ? What are the websites that may be used to search for rentals ?

3) Applying for SIN and health insurance ? I am assuming SIN is mandatory even to get a receiving pay from the job. Can I apply for SIN even before I come to Canada ? How long does it take to get the SIN once applied ? Same questions with health insurance. I heard that it takes some time to get the benefits of health insurance once applied. How do you manage medical emergencies or doctor visits during that time ?

4) I do not think opening a bank account and transferring funds from my USA bank accounts would be a very big deal. But am I over-simplifying things here ?

5) Getting a job. Not yet actively looked for the job. Started using linkedin search. But any suggestions for job search would be really helpful.

6) Anything else which is critical and I did not mention ?

Have a nice day !!

 

[smallwhale]

Adding to the lists of my questions.
7) I think I will need to import my car to Canada. Can I do that with a loan on the vehicle from a USA bank ? I am getting conflicting answer on this from the Internet. On the US export site, I can see that with the lender's original letter, I can export a vehicle from USA. Not getting any information in Transport Canada's website.

 

[MilesAway]

Getting a SIN is easy. Go to any Service Canada office. They will get you one in about 5 minutes (excluding any wait time at the office).

Health care depends on the province or territory. Some provinces have wait periods. OHIP is 90 days I believe. You can either pay out of pocket for any expenses during that time, or you can purchase insurance to cover any emergencies.

 

[CDNPR2014]

I currently live in ottawa, so my answers are specific to this area.

1. in ottawa there are 3 public school boards - there's the english school board, the catholic school board, and the french school board and schooling is based on your location. the school boards have websites with contact information, so i'd recommend reaching out to them about registration times/procedures. As for how do the schools rate - it will depend on the specific school. There are 2 english public schools in our neighborhood - 1 is rated better than the other. My niece goes to a catholic school, and she receives a better education than when she went to the english school.

2. for ottawa, it will depend on which side of ottawa you want to be on. east is more french, and the suburb area is orleans. i think greenly is south, though more country. i live to the west. that area is specific to kanata, stittsville, richmond, carelton place. We live in a 3 bedroom townhome in Kanata and we purchased it for less than $300,000. the most common website for rentals is kijiji.com. there are big name real estate companies all over the place, so some may have rental leads as well. Grapevine is the website for homes sold by the owner. There are local "mom" groups on Facebook that may allow you to join when you determine which area you are moving to. They can be strict about who they allow in the groups, however they are super helpful with information about moving to the area. i know i've seen people in my local groups who join before moving to the area, so it's worth asking. They can be found by searching the area's name + Moms

3.like the other poster said, getting a sin is easy. just go to the service canada website to look up an office in the location you settle in and you'll get one quickly. For OHIP in ontario, there is a 90 day wait period. You can apply as soon as you have all the required documents, the coverage just would not kick in until 90 days. You would apply for this at a Service Ontario office in your area. The website will have the documentation requirements needed - they are VERY strict and will only accept the documents listed.

4. ha! banking between us and canada has been the biggest struggle for me. however, if you have a us and canadian account with the same bank (for example TD Bank), then there are ways to transfer between accounts even though you'll get hit with ridiculous charges. If you don't have a US account somewhere that has cross-border banking, it may be worth switching over before you move. While there are significant exchange fees, it probably would have saved me a lot of aggravation over the past 2 years.

5. Peter's New Jobs, LinkedIn. Kanata North is becoming the "tech hub" of Ottawa, and all the software companies are there - big guys to startup. The Ottawa Business Journal is a good resource for company information. as a PR, you get many free services. I highly recommend partnering with an immigrant service organization and specifically LASI World Skills. They have great programs for jobsearching, mentoring and networking for newcommers.

7. from what i understand it would require a letter from your loan holder, which can be difficult to obtain. i'd recommend calling the RIV. they are the agency responsible for the car import, and the agent was super helpful when i imported my car.

feel free to pm for anything specific.

 

[torontosm]

1) How is the school system ? When is the right time to contact them for the registration in the next school year ? Or, do I have to first find a home and the school will be decided depending on the home address ? If I come during summer, will it be too late for the registration in school ?
2) What are some of the good neighborhoods where I may rent a townhome/single-family home ? What are the websites that may be used to search for rentals ?
3) Applying for SIN and health insurance ? I am assuming SIN is mandatory even to get a receiving pay from the job. Can I apply for SIN even before I come to Canada ? How long does it take to get the SIN once applied ? Same questions with health insurance. I heard that it takes some time to get the benefits of health insurance once applied. How do you manage medical emergencies or doctor visits during that time ?
4) I do not think opening a bank account and transferring funds from my USA bank accounts would be a very big deal. But am I over-simplifying things here ?
5) Getting a job. Not yet actively looked for the job. Started using linkedin search. But any suggestions for job search would be really helpful.

1) Assuming you are referring to public schools, the school system is fairly good overall, but does vary by neighbourhood. Higher income neighbourhoods generally have better schools that are less crowded and offer better teacher/student ratios. You have to find a house first, and then the school your kids can attend will depend on the school district that the house falls in. Schools must allow students to join regardless of when they arrive in Canada, so don't worry too much about registration deadlines, etc. Use realtor.ca to look for homes to rent.
2) Canada is huge, and the three cities you listed are large markets. It's impossible to list all good neighbourhoods without you narrowing down the area, providing a budget, etc.
3) You can not apply for your SIN in advance of arriving in Canada, but the process to do so once you are here is very quick. The same goes for health coverage. Some provinces provide health coverage immediately upon arrival, whereas others require a 3 month waiting period. Most immigrants obtain some sort of travel health insurance to bridge the 3 month gap and to cover them in the event of any emergency.
4) Many Canadian banks have US operations, so opening a bank account will be very straightforward.
5) In your field, getting a job should be relatively easy. Find a few companies you are interested in and reach out to them directly. Most tech firms are starved for talent and should respond quickly.

 

[jes_ON]

7) I think I will need to import my car to Canada. Can I do that with a loan on the vehicle from a USA bank ? I am getting conflicting answer on this from the Internet. On the US export site, I can see that with the lender's original letter, I can export a vehicle from USA. Not getting any information in Transport Canada's website.

You will have to ask the lender if they will allow you to export the vehicle. Most will not. If you can pay off the loan and own the vehicle free and clear, you will then be able to export the vehicle. If you can't pay it off and you can't export it, you will likely want to sell it.

 

[jes_ON]

4. ha! banking between us and canada has been the biggest struggle for me. however, if you have a us and canadian account with the same bank (for example TD Bank), then there are ways to transfer between accounts even though you'll get hit with ridiculous charges. If you don't have a US account somewhere that has cross-border banking, it may be worth switching over before you move. While there are significant exchange fees, it probably would have saved me a lot of aggravation over the past 2 years.

This - banking was a shocking headache for me too. Just opening my first account was a PITA (on a work permit, though, not as a PR). And while you can deposit USD cashier's check, it takes like 2 weeks to clear.

Cross-border banking had been eliminated when I first moved here, it looks like it has been restored at BMO, TD, and RBC (of course, not at MY bank). If you can set it up before you move, you will save yourself some time.

I've been using a money transfer service (XE) to move funds between my US and Canadian accounts.
http://www.xe.com/xemoneytransfer/ca/

 

[CDNPR2014]

This - banking was a shocking headache for me too. Just opening my first account was a PITA (on a work permit, though, not as a PR). And while you can deposit USD cashier's check, it takes like 2 weeks to clear.

Cross-border banking had been eliminated when I first moved here, it looks like it has been restored at BMO, TD, and RBC (of course, not at MY bank). If you can set it up before you move, you will save yourself some time.

I've been using a money transfer service (XE) to move funds between my US and Canadian accounts.
http://www.xe.com/xemoneytransfer/ca/

the cross border banking at TD is not worth getting excited about. perhaps it's different when you have TD accounts in both the US and Canada. i only have a Canadian account and it's a total POS.

what kind of fees are associated with the XE service?? currently I exchange cash, get a us bank draft (free - the only good thing with my TD "borderless" account) and snail mail the bill.

Edit: Ummmm.... that website has no fees? is that too good to be true? can you tell me more about your experience with this? feel free to PM.

 

[APPNOV2014NY]

the cross border banking at TD is not worth getting excited about. perhaps it's different when you have TD accounts in both the US and Canada. i only have a Canadian account and it's a total POS.

what kind of fees are associated with the XE service?? currently I exchange cash, get a us bank draft (free - the only good thing with my TD "borderless" account) and snail mail the bill.

Edit: Ummmm.... that website has no fees? is that too good to be true? can you tell me more about your experience with this? feel free to PM.

XE does have fees. I recently got quote for 25k CAD to USD transfer from XE and Transferwise. I was getting around 100-150 USD more using Transfer wise as compared to XE.

 

[CDNPR2014]

XE does have fees. I recently got quote for 25k CAD to USD transfer from XE and Transferwise. I was getting around 100-150 USD more using Transfer wise as compared to XE.

did you go to the website linked by the other member above? the website is suggesting no-fee money transfers.

http://www.xe.com/xemoneytransfer/ca/#greatratesnofees

i am not looking at this site to do large transfers, i am looking at it to do monthly transfers to pay us bills.

 

[APPNOV2014NY]

did you go to the website linked by the other member above? the website is suggesting no-fee money transfers.

http://www.xe.com/xemoneytransfer/ca/#greatratesnofees

i am not looking at this site to do large transfers, i am looking at it to do monthly transfers to pay us bills.

"All transfers with XE Money Transfer are fee free. Note this does not include the cost of you transferring the funds to XE Money Transfer, any charges incurred where the funds are being sent in a different currency to the destination bank account, or correspondent bank charges."

 

[jes_ON]

did you go to the website linked by the other member above? the website is suggesting no-fee money transfers.

http://www.xe.com/xemoneytransfer/ca/#greatratesnofees

i am not looking at this site to do large transfers, i am looking at it to do monthly transfers to pay us bills.

Yeah, different services are better for different purposes. XE is one of the few that allows for transfers of smaller amounts. (Whereas Transferwise requires a minimum transfer of 2K). It is "fee free" but the exchange rate may not be as good as those that have high minimum transfer amounts. Still, XE's exchange rate remains better than banks or (for example) Paypal...

XE recently changed service partners, and they are still working out some kinks.

Transferring involves 2 transactions - example, transfer from my Canadian CAD account to XE, and then from XE (or more correctly, their USA partner) to my BOA account in USD. You have options for both sides of the transfer on how to do it, with EFT debit/deposit being "free" in most cases.

The first part still works fine, free electronic debit. The 2nd part - I am used to simply doing an electronic deposit, and my bank did not charge any fees to receive the deposit. All good. NOW, their new US partner does not (yet) have the capability ( for some reason) of just doing the EFT transfer - my most recent EFT transfer was deposited as a wire transfer (no fee for the transfer itself, but BOA charged me $15 to receive the transfer). When I contacted XE about it, they said they were working on it, that the EFT would be restored soon, and sent me a refund for the $15 fee. So I'm still happy, just will be happier when they work out ALL the kinks with their new partner.

It does take a bit of paperwork to get it all set up, but once you do, you're good to go. Still haven't found a better option for the small transfers.

 

[Rob_TO]

I am planning to move to Canada from USA sometimes in the summer of 2017 (got my PR in 2014). I will be moving with my spouse and two kids.

According to your other posts you will not meet the residency obligation starting Feb 2017. So if you cross the border in summer 2017 while not meeting the RO, there is a chance CBSA will notice you don't meet the RO (they will know easily if they simply ask you how long you've been outside Canada) and report you. If this happens, your PR status will be revoked. You can appeal but most likely appeal would not be successful since I don't think you have any real H&C reasons.

If you make it into Canada without being reported, you would need to stay here for 2 straight years without leaving even once during this time, since any subsequent travel out of Canada could lead to reporting and possible PR revoking upon your next entrance attempt.

 

[smallwhale]

Hello Rob_TO, interesting point. Now I am trying to think what is the actual residency obligation. I was told that it is 2 years out of 5 years. Does the 5 years start from the time the PR got approved or from the time I landed for the first time ? I got my PR approved from CIC in Feb 2014. But I landed in Canada in July 2014. Now if I plan to goto to Canada in June 2017, will that violate the residency obligation ? Please advise.

 

[Rob_TO]

Hello Rob_TO, interesting point. Now I am trying to think what is the actual residency obligation. I was told that it is 2 years out of 5 years. Does the 5 years start from the time the PR got approved or from the time I landed for the first time ? I got my PR approved from CIC in Feb 2014. But I landed in Canada in July 2014. Now if I plan to goto to Canada in June 2017, will that violate the residency obligation ? Please advise.

It's from when you actually did your PR landing in Canada.

So if you landed in July 2014 and left immediately after, technically you would be violating the RO starting exactly 3 years later so July 2017.

If you returned in June 2017, you would be cutting it close but still in compliance with the RO. Keep in mind this mean over the next 2 years in Canada you need to watch your RO very carefully as any trips outside Canada could cause you to violate the RO.

Also keep in mind when applying to renew your PR card, doing so while barely meeting the RO can cause very long delays if your file is sent for extra review.