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Empirical-Scientist

Hero Member
Jun 4, 2012
738
64
Hi folks,

Here's a by all means not exhaustive, but useful, checklist of tasks one needs to do after landing. Two preconditions may immediately apply: (i) You were an international student at some college; (2) You have been living in Canada under a study permit and possibly a work permit. Note that the list is BC-centric, but can apply to any province.

  • Apply for a permanent SIN.
    • Go to Service Canada with your passport and the COPR attached on it as well as the temporary SIN card containing the SIN number starting with 9. They will immediately issue you a permanent SIN. Your card will arrive in 10 business days; however, they'll issue an official proof of SIN you can use in lieu of the card.
  • Once you have the SIN, go to your banks.
    • Have the customer adviser update your file (checking & savings account; investments; credit cards). They'll also need to see your COPR and SIN.
  • If you were ever employed, your record contains tax forms (such as TD1) with the temporary SIN number.
    • Go to your institution (be it a university or not) and submit a copy of your COPR and new SIN. If it's a university, you'll need to go to your department's secretary as well as to the graduate records and admissions so that your status can be changed to that of a domestic student, thus decreasing your tuition and fees.
    • Regarding your tax forms, just fill out new ones with your new information.
 
Even if you were never on a temporary SIN, the checklist is almost the same:

1) Apply for a SIN number which you will get immediately. The card will be sent by mail later but actually, they will soon be doing away with the plastic cards, see http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/15/ottawa-phasing-out-sin-card-to-fight-identify-theft/

2) If you are staying in the province, apply for a health card. There may be a 3 month waiting time. However, if you are not ready to settle and are leaving shortly again to tie up loose ends in homeland, do not bother to apply as you are not eligible in that case.