My wife and I landed yesterday. We flew in from Boston, a short 90 min flight, and landed at about 3:30 PM. Billy Bishop airport is really small, which is great because there were absolutely no lines.
At passport control we told the CBSA officer that we were landing as permanent residents. She was very friendly and welcomed us to Canada, and wished us the very best. She looked over our the entry form and wrote some stuff on it with a pink sharpie, and then told us to go inside to the CBSA counters where they would complete the rest of the paperwork. This first step took less than 5 minutes from getting off the plane.
We walked in to the baggage area and collected our bag. After that, we went to the baggage inspection area, where they send you if they need to check your bags. This is a biggish room that's just to the left of the baggage claim. We saw four CBSA officers manning the counters, and they were attending to people who had walked in before us. I don't think those people were landing as PRs, it sounded like they just needed a secondary baggage inspection.
We waited about 5 minutes for our turn, after which a lady called us over. She was less friendly - perfectly polite, but not smiling or as welcoming as the first lady. Still, nothing to complain about, she just looked like she was having a long day, and she certainly wasn't rude or anything.
I told her we were landing as PRs. She then took our COPRs and passports, and asked the following questions - my answers follow the questions. It was a rapid fire series of questions and answers - I answered briefly and she moved on to the next question.
1. Where are you coming from? Boston, Indian citizens
2. What's your status in the US? H1B,H4
3. Have you ever been in trouble with the police in any country? No
4. How much money are you bringing with you? 500 CAD cash, and we have ~$xx,000 CAD in a bank account
5. Canadian bank account? No, US bank, we can access the funds in Canada.
6. Are you two married? Yes
7. Do you have any other dependents? No
At this point she said that we should go and sit down in the waiting area (a few chairs line the hall), and she'd call us back. She didn't ask for any documents except for the COPR and passports.
We sat down and she took about 10 minutes on her computer, after which she called us back. She asked for our Canadian address, and we gave her our friend's address in Quebec. This was the only snag - she told us that would not be allowed, and that she would admit us with no address, and we'd have to change it later. We obviously weren't going to argue with her, so we said sure, no prob.
After this, I gave her our list of goods to follow. We had a nicely organized list with the total value of goods prominently listed right up top. She took that list and told us to go back and wait.
We then saw here take our list into an office and make photocopies. This took about 5 minutes, and then she called us back and gave us a Customs form that stated that we would be bringing in $xx,000 worth of goods, and we owed zero duty on it. She gave us one copy of the list, and kept one copy.
And that was it. She told us were all set, and we could exit the hall on the left. We thanked her, and walked through the turnstile, as permanent residents. It felt really good.
The entire process from getting off the flight to walking out of the airport took roughly 40 minutes. We have no complaints about how we were treated - the second lady wasn't effusive like the first one was, but she was professional, polite, and did everything as quickly as she could.
We reached our hotel by 4:30, and took the rest of the evening off to have fun.
Next morning (Friday), we went to City Hall at 8:45 AM. The SIN process was quick and easy, taking about 30 min from start to finish. Everyone was really welcoming and kept congratulating us on arriving as PRs - it helped that it's Canada day and Toronto is essentially in party mode.
With SIN numbers in hand, we went and opened 2 bank accounts, one with TD and the other with Scotia. Again, the bank employees were really nice to us. All you need to open a bank account is your SIN, COPR and passport, along with a Canadian address (can be your friend's address, they don't need proof of address).
We got unsecured credit cards with a $2,000 limit from both banks as part of their Permanent Resident package. This is without any credit history in Canada.
The bank accounts took a few hours since we had to make appointments and wait a bit (they're understaffed with the long weekend coming up), but it was no big deal. By 5 PM we were done, and later that night we watched the Barenaked Ladies perform live, and also enjoyed our very first Canada Day fireworks! We felt very Canadian
PS: Poutine is even better than they say it is!
