Hello Everyone, I'm so sorry I'm sharing my landing experience 5 weeks late, just wanted to settle in well and tell you "my story"
I landed on August 12, 2010, through Air India, via London Heathrow, from Amritsar. I hate to say this because being an Indian, I want to be proud of anything Indian, but Air India is the worst airline ever! The standard is too low, i felt like I was travelling Delhi via Shatabdi Express, only difference, it was air bound! I would never recommend this airline to anyone and the only reason why I had to take it was because i couldn't get any reservations on any other airline. I am a seasoned traveler having travelled the world a lot, and I can tell you from my experiences that Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Thai Airways are the best airlines ever, and I hope that these flights would start functioning to and from Toronto. I didn't get the food i requested, the screen was not working, some of the travelers were so insensitive cos they were just so loud..i can go on and on!
Anyways, on a brighter note, my landing procedure was very very smooth..they checked my visa, sent me to the new immigrants section and my paperwork was done in 20 minutes.They did not even check my funds. The staff is very very friendly! The immigration officers are polite. After immigration procedures are over, there are 2 counters which give out a whole big bag of information with readings, booklets on anything and everything about immigrating to Ontario.
I am staying with my relatives and on my 2nd week of landing, I got a job at a department store in the mall, which pays $11/hour, and I don't mind at all because I need to build up Canadian work experience. While working, I am also looking for a job in my field which is communications and I have had a couple of interviews. I have a lot of future goals and plans to achieve but right now, I'm focusing with what i have, that is a job to take care of my finances and to keep me busy.
I have phone services (wireless) from Wind, it's pretty good if you're in the GTA cos incoming and outgoing calls are free anywhere in the zone it works. right now I have a $35 monthly plan (prepaid, and trust me, the post paid ones have the same plans, so i decided to take a prepaid for a couple of months) which includes free incoming and local outgoing calls..50 txt messages and call forwarding etc...I have added an extra $20 for UNLIMITED calls to India, anywhere, anytime!
I take the local transit services to work which are really easy and trust me, the customer service agents and bus drivers are very helpful.
I opened an account at Bank of Montreal and I applied for a secure credit card wherein i was approved for a $500 credit limit where I had to put $625 as security deposit. Now that I'm working, after 2-3 months,they will release my $625 into my chequing account, so it's good cos then it's important to build up credit.
So far so good, the weather's amazing, although unpredictable at times!
Canada is a very very "immigrant-friendly" country, and i am loving it!
I wish you all the very best!!
I landed on August 12, 2010, through Air India, via London Heathrow, from Amritsar. I hate to say this because being an Indian, I want to be proud of anything Indian, but Air India is the worst airline ever! The standard is too low, i felt like I was travelling Delhi via Shatabdi Express, only difference, it was air bound! I would never recommend this airline to anyone and the only reason why I had to take it was because i couldn't get any reservations on any other airline. I am a seasoned traveler having travelled the world a lot, and I can tell you from my experiences that Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Thai Airways are the best airlines ever, and I hope that these flights would start functioning to and from Toronto. I didn't get the food i requested, the screen was not working, some of the travelers were so insensitive cos they were just so loud..i can go on and on!
Anyways, on a brighter note, my landing procedure was very very smooth..they checked my visa, sent me to the new immigrants section and my paperwork was done in 20 minutes.They did not even check my funds. The staff is very very friendly! The immigration officers are polite. After immigration procedures are over, there are 2 counters which give out a whole big bag of information with readings, booklets on anything and everything about immigrating to Ontario.
I am staying with my relatives and on my 2nd week of landing, I got a job at a department store in the mall, which pays $11/hour, and I don't mind at all because I need to build up Canadian work experience. While working, I am also looking for a job in my field which is communications and I have had a couple of interviews. I have a lot of future goals and plans to achieve but right now, I'm focusing with what i have, that is a job to take care of my finances and to keep me busy.
I have phone services (wireless) from Wind, it's pretty good if you're in the GTA cos incoming and outgoing calls are free anywhere in the zone it works. right now I have a $35 monthly plan (prepaid, and trust me, the post paid ones have the same plans, so i decided to take a prepaid for a couple of months) which includes free incoming and local outgoing calls..50 txt messages and call forwarding etc...I have added an extra $20 for UNLIMITED calls to India, anywhere, anytime!
I take the local transit services to work which are really easy and trust me, the customer service agents and bus drivers are very helpful.
I opened an account at Bank of Montreal and I applied for a secure credit card wherein i was approved for a $500 credit limit where I had to put $625 as security deposit. Now that I'm working, after 2-3 months,they will release my $625 into my chequing account, so it's good cos then it's important to build up credit.
So far so good, the weather's amazing, although unpredictable at times!
Canada is a very very "immigrant-friendly" country, and i am loving it!
I wish you all the very best!!
