Hi
I landed 3 months ago. I live in Montreal. I did a lot of reaserch before i landed so i knew that at least the first year will be very hard. I was prepared for that i won't be working until i learn french. My husband has a job - it's a labour job, but he also knew that at the beginning it will be like this. He earns 15 CAD/hour. He works 8 hours a day/5 days a week. We've rentend an apartment - more expensive that we thought - it's 1100 CAD/month. But we have two children and i wanted them to live in good conditions and friendly environment. Also schools are better in the neighbourhood that we live in. Before we came here i've done some reaserch about banking market and i've chosen a bank - thanks to this we both got unsecured credit cards when we came here, so we've started to built our credit history immidiately - but first i made an appointment in my bank and talk about "how to build the best credit history". Thanks to this, after 1,5 month, we got a credit to buy a car - for newcomers (we could buy it for cash, but we wanted to built more credit history). Actually - we need to buy another one because with two children and totally different places of mine and my husbands daily destination, with one car will be very difficult.
Insurance isn't cheap - that's true. But i compared different offers, called insurance broker and find the right one for us (760 CAD for the FIRST ALL YEAR - the next year will be cheaper). I failed my first driving test
but i have another one at August 28th i now i know what to do to pass it
One of the firs thing i've done after landing, was a visit in local Integration Center for Immigrants. They:
1. Gave me all forms for child and tax benefits - thanks to this, now we have over 1000 CAD/month extra income.
2. Helped me to register in full time french course - thanks to this i'll have extra 460 CAD/month income + they pay for my daugters day care (so its another 150 CAD/month extra for us).
3. When i finish my french (or in any time if i want - they'll give me an "mentor" - he'll be searching a job with me - he'll help me with proper preparing documents for employers and wiht preparations to interviews. It will be "one to one" actice search and i know in person people who had find their jobs in their fields within three months.
Before i came here, i knew that i won't be working while learning french (that's about 15 months) so i did everything i could to secure as much extra income for my family as it's possible.
I don't need an internet in my cell. I signed three years contract with my wireless operator - the first two months i paid about 80 CAD/month for TWO cell line (mine and my husbands). But i've done more research, my husband registered his own company (his employer requires that, but it's actually good because tax reduction is very small). Right now i pay 48 CAD/month for TWO cell lines (with - it's business plan with extra discounts and it's fully suficient for both of us (250 voice minutes, Call & name display, Voicemail and many others i only pay extra for international text messages, but generally i use Skype to communicate with my family and friends).
I got a monthly plan in HYDRO - thanks to this i pay less for elektricity.
I also knew that i'll need an evaluation of my education done outside Quebec if i want to think about good job and i secured money for that. Evaluation costs 109 CAD in Quebec, but i 've paid 500 CAD for translations. It takes a few months and will be done while i'll be learning french.
I don't say that it's paradise - it's not. It's very hard actually. But i was prepared for that and i know that in a few years i won't regret decision about living in Canada. I also know that for my children - it's one of the best things that i could give them.
