Landing experience

[keesio]

Anyways, all in all it has been a poor landing experience and my husband says that he kind of hates Canada now. I can definitely see that given even as a Canadian I feel like this has been an awful experience that makes me question our system. I can even further imagine how difficult it would be for people with English as a second language. Hopefully this will help other people and make it smoother.

Sounds like the landing itself was nice and it is just the other stuff (exporting/importing vehicle, OHIP ,etc) that was not so good.

 

[keesio]

For OHIP, yeah the proof of address is a bit of a pain. When my wife opened a bank account here, they asked us if e-statements were fine and she had to explicitly ask for paper. Otherwise they default to e-statements. But since I added her to the lease, She simply showed that to OHIP and that was enough for them.

 

[mauronico]

OHIP process is really annoying, I had some letters from the bank when I got my credit card, but they didnt like it, So I applied for the Ontario ID, for that you only paid and then you can use it as a address proof, It is really "stupid" they dont ask for address proof for something you ll use for that. Now I am waiting for the bank statement or Ontario ID, whatever I receive first I ll use for the OHIP.

 

[truesmile]

Sounds like the landing itself was nice and it is just the other stuff (exporting/importing vehicle, OHIP ,etc) that was not so good.

Yes, the "landing" itself went great right. As far as the rest goes . . . "Welcome to Canada, Hurry up and WAIT" ! !

 

[truesmile]

anyone know where to find this list of saftey qualifications for importing a car to canada?

Here is a comprehensive list of items inspected for an automobile Ontario safety certificate (which is what the OP needed):

http://redliners.ca/forums/showthread.php?34558-Ontario-Safety-Inspection-List

 

[fandv]

They wouldn't accept the proof of residence of a bank statement that we printed off with his name and address on it from the bank. They said that it has to be mailed, in the envelope. We have paperless statements and I told them this but they said change them to paper to get them mailed and then bring it in. We couldn't use a driver's license since we didn't have one.
Have to go back for OHIP after driver's license then since I think it's dumb to change all my statements to paper and wait another month for the next statement.

Can't you just print out your e-statements and show the printouts to the OHIP office?

 

[MapleLeafBride]

For the safety certificate, they have a list floating around somewhere on the web and it's super extensive what they check. They gave us a list of things after the inspection that it needed to pass and give us the certificate. Some stuff was valid, like sure, brake pads, ok...but we needed to get a whole set of tires too even though we had only got them changed 1.5 years ago. It was also 3 hrs of labour for all the stuff so that was $$ too.

For the license thing, I hope it goes better for you. New York state just has a poor driving abstract though and other states are probably better. My husband also had a license in Washington state before and the driver's abstract was fine and showed date of issue. They wouldn't accept it though for driving experience because he had exchanged a WA license for his current NY one (even though they told us to get that abstract!) Basically just don't live in NY and you'll be fine Good luck!!

Ugh. My hubby has been in NY for 2 years now. Just another thing to look forward to.

We were going to import his car once he gets his PR, however, it has a big dent in the passenger side from a time his brother borrowed it (have to love family!). Since they seem picky on most things, is it safe to assume Ontario is going to want the car body to be relatively damage-free?

 

[squishypenguin]

Nope, statements from the bank have to be mailed apparently.

And not sure about the dent in the car.
http://redliners.ca/forums/showthread.php?34558-Ontario-Safety-Inspection-List
Could be okay as long as it doesn't have any "sharp protruding edges" and the door works. But I would at least price it out that if you did have to get it fixed if it's worth bringing the car over...

 

[rhcohen2014]

Nope, statements from the bank have to be mailed apparently.

And not sure about the dent in the car.
http://redliners.ca/forums/showthread.php?34558-Ontario-Safety-Inspection-List

thanks for sharing the link. seems pretty straight forward and similiar to state inspection guidelines. I remember california being extremely strict!

 

[MapleLeafBride]

Nope, statements from the bank have to be mailed apparently.

And not sure about the dent in the car.
http://redliners.ca/forums/showthread.php?34558-Ontario-Safety-Inspection-List
Could be okay as long as it doesn't have any "sharp protruding edges" and the door works. But I would at least price it out that if you did have to get it fixed if it's worth bringing the car over...

I really appreciate you sharing your experience. Thank you. As much as I sometimes I think I know about this process, there's always something that gets overlooked and I'd like to try and avoid surprises.
I wish you and your husband many wonderful years in Canada!

 

[squishypenguin]

I really appreciate you sharing your experience. Thank you. As much as I sometimes I think I know about this process, there's always something that gets overlooked and I'd like to try and avoid surprises.
I wish you and your husband many wonderful years in Canada!

No problem and thank you! I hope you hear back soon and the process goes smoothly for you.

 

[Zarilenth]

No problem and thank you! I hope you hear back soon and the process goes smoothly for you.

Thanks for sharing this! I have a question though - what did you eventually bring in to get the license transferred to an Ontario one? My husband got his license in Buffalo NY December 2012, had it for 5 months there, then moved to Arkansas where he is now. I'm just wondering, will we even need the abstract from NY? Did you do anything in particular to get the correct one? I'm a bit worried about being able to get his Ontario license!

 

[Zarilenth]

Regarding OHIP, you must bring in one of the specific proofs of residency from "List 2" of this document: http://www.forms.ssb.gov.on.ca/mbs/ssb/forms/ssbforms.nsf/GetFileAttach/014-9998E-82~1/$File/9998-82E.pdf
It very clearly states: "monthly mailed bank acct statement"

There is really no point to applying for OHIP first day of landing. You won't be eligible for 3 months anyways, so wait until you have one of the specific documents and just apply anytime during the first 3 months.

Rob_TO - I know this isn't on the list, but my husband got his COPR mailed to my (our, now) address in Toronto, so it has his name and a Canadian address on it. Would we be able to use this for proof?

 

[Rob_TO]

Rob_TO - I know this isn't on the list, but my husband got his COPR mailed to my (our, now) address in Toronto, so it has his name and a Canadian address on it. Would we be able to use this for proof?

If it's not specifically on the list, it most likely won't be accepted.

You have 3 months to apply, so by then you should be able to get at least 1 of the docs OHIP will accept.

 

[keesio]

If it's not specifically on the list, it most likely won't be accepted.

Agree with Rob here. I can tell you from personal experience that they are very strict. They don't give much room for leeway on this.