Reached Toronto -5th May

[canadarace]

Congratulations Ankit on your Landing. 8)
Nice to read your experience. I hope you get settled quickly, our best wishes to you.

Kindly let me know your experience on staying at Safehomestay. I am intending to book the same for August 2011.
Give details of rooms , cleanliness , kitchen and your overall experience staying all these days. Do you recommend me to stay there for 15 days with my wife and 5 yr old daughter?
Also which flight you chose to travel from Delhi-Toronto ?
Hope to hear from you soon.

OP is not replying at all, obviously he has to do so many things this is why I assume he is busy. As advised by "SATDXB", write them e-mail and book right now for your trip in august. I am aware that I contacted in April 03 for booking of may 25th, they didn't have place at all. I again contacted on 17April and luckily found a place. I am going to stay there as well and definitely share my experience but just for your satisfaction, this place is used by many members of this forum and more specifically by "QORAX", so this should be used as guarantee that place is good to use.

 

[pearl2010]

Hi ankit_20,

Congratulations for the smooth & successful landing

happy to hear that u had a smooth landing experience.Thanks for sharing buddy.
Wish u all the very best with ur job hunt and settlement process.

Regards
pearl2010

Finally Reached Toronto on 5th May 2011. Took the long route through Hong Kong using Cathay Pacific Airlines. I travelled alone without my family and plan to get them here after suitable accommodation etc is arranged.

Arrived at Pearson International airport at 1 PM. There was not much of crowd at the airport. First went though preliminary immigration (Customs) and then was directed to immigration counter. For this stage you need to fill in the custom form which is given in the flight. Form has details like name, address, DoB, flight no. and declarations regarding what u r bringing into Canada.

At immigration counter the COPR was checked and I was asked about total funds that I was carrying including the one that I already transferred to Canada via Scotia bank. I told the officer and offered to show get the proof and she said it is ok and did not see the proof. She verified COPR details from Passport took my Canada address and stapled the copy of COPR to m passport and welcomed me to Canada. I was directed to the welcome area for new immigrants. There two kind ladies greeted me with the smile gave me a bag and bunch of material and was asked to collect the baggage and move to customs for checking. I was also told this is the place where I should declare good to follow list. To help you with the luggage there are porters. You can politely decline their services and use trolleys if you choose to do so. You need 2 CAD for trolleys. CAD 1, 2 and 5 denominations are accepted for trolleys.

At customs I shared the B4, xls sheet backing B4 and photos. This is same as published on forum many times. The officer was impressed and said her job was done by me already. She called other officer and showed him the paper work and asked him to give me form 15 and stamped copy of B4A. She did not check my baggage at all. Rest all guys around me were asked to open the baggage and get it checked. So there I was out of immigration and at the arrival lobby of the Airport.

Here I needed to make some local phone calls. Calls cost you 50 cents and if you do not have 50 cents, you do not get the change back. I wasted a dollar because of that 

I did my advance booking in safe home stay along with the airport pick up, so got the pickup and reached the guest house. Was feeling little low to be alone in new country. It is a challenge to land without any job, it sure is and it tells on mind. I pepped myself up, went to nearby mall had my lunch cum dinner and bought a chat-r phone connection for CAD 56 (10 for SIM Card+35 for plan+ takes) it gives me unlimited incoming and outgoing across Canada for a month w/o contract and now am writing this.

Next steps – Get some sleep, apply for the SIN, get the Bank account activated and start the job search........

 

[mayankpandya]

First of congrats Ankit for safe & successful landing.

Wish you good luck for your new life in Canada.

I need to know about " safe home stay" . Can you please let me know in details about it ? As i hv also plan the same way that you did. I will call me wife to join after i get my foots stable .

Waiting for your reply.

Regards,
Mayank

Finally Reached Toronto on 5th May 2011. Took the long route through Hong Kong using Cathay Pacific Airlines. I travelled alone without my family and plan to get them here after suitable accommodation etc is arranged.

Arrived at Pearson International airport at 1 PM. There was not much of crowd at the airport. First went though preliminary immigration (Customs) and then was directed to immigration counter. For this stage you need to fill in the custom form which is given in the flight. Form has details like name, address, DoB, flight no. and declarations regarding what u r bringing into Canada.

At immigration counter the COPR was checked and I was asked about total funds that I was carrying including the one that I already transferred to Canada via Scotia bank. I told the officer and offered to show get the proof and she said it is ok and did not see the proof. She verified COPR details from Passport took my Canada address and stapled the copy of COPR to m passport and welcomed me to Canada. I was directed to the welcome area for new immigrants. There two kind ladies greeted me with the smile gave me a bag and bunch of material and was asked to collect the baggage and move to customs for checking. I was also told this is the place where I should declare good to follow list. To help you with the luggage there are porters. You can politely decline their services and use trolleys if you choose to do so. You need 2 CAD for trolleys. CAD 1, 2 and 5 denominations are accepted for trolleys.

At customs I shared the B4, xls sheet backing B4 and photos. This is same as published on forum many times. The officer was impressed and said her job was done by me already. She called other officer and showed him the paper work and asked him to give me form 15 and stamped copy of B4A. She did not check my baggage at all. Rest all guys around me were asked to open the baggage and get it checked. So there I was out of immigration and at the arrival lobby of the Airport.

Here I needed to make some local phone calls. Calls cost you 50 cents and if you do not have 50 cents, you do not get the change back. I wasted a dollar because of that 

I did my advance booking in safe home stay along with the airport pick up, so got the pickup and reached the guest house. Was feeling little low to be alone in new country. It is a challenge to land without any job, it sure is and it tells on mind. I pepped myself up, went to nearby mall had my lunch cum dinner and bought a chat-r phone connection for CAD 56 (10 for SIM Card+35 for plan+ takes) it gives me unlimited incoming and outgoing across Canada for a month w/o contract and now am writing this.

Next steps – Get some sleep, apply for the SIN, get the Bank account activated and start the job search........

 

[rsb2010]

thanks for sharing experience..........all the best to you........hope u find a job soon.........

 

[kpopi77]

Congrats on your safe landing

 

[lubob]

Dear Ankit ! congratulations for your dream come true and safe landing. thanks for ur experience shared about landing. i wish you all the best for your bright future in Canada. regards.

 

[JCSR]

Finally landed on May 8, 2011.
It was smooth, just 45 minutes at airport and we were out, no checks were made. I had a list of all items I was carrying which I had it also listed on the B4 form and the officer made no hassles. All was well.

Thanks for the many who contributed their experiences.

 

[fariza]

Finally landed on May 8, 2011.
It was smooth, just 45 minutes at airport and we were out, no checks were made. I had a list of all items I was carrying which I had it also listed on the B4 form and the officer made no hassles. All was well.

Thanks for the many who contributed their experiences.

Congrats JCSR for making your landing... All the very best for your settlement. Keep sharing your experiences whenever you find time. Take care

 

[ankit_20]

Apologies guys, for not being able to respond earlier. As a new immigrant, I had my share of troubles getting my internet set up properly

Thank you all for your good wishes.

The main questions that have came so far to me on thread and PM are
1.) Job Search
2.) Apt. Search
3.) How I like Canada
4.) Safe Home stay

Job Search - This is second working day, since I arrived in Canada, so I have nothing to share. But IT market looks good with the kind of e-mails and phone calls that I am getting. I hope given 2-3 months should not be a problem finding job in IT

Apt. Search: I have not started that yet. But What I learned is, it is better to have one around Yonge Street, as ttc runs under it and commute becomes real easy.

How I like Canada – I like it, it is not much different than US and with 16 degrees and bright sun it is all the more good

Safe Home Stay—Excellent location, opposite to a mall and library. Next to Dons and mills ttc subway. Very good owner. Recommended highly, it is already booked till June end, book it early if you want to stay here

I am regular on internet now, so hopefully will be able to respond faster now

 

[mayankpandya]

Dear Ankit...

Need to know from where i can find details on SafeHome that you did ?

Regards,
Mayank

 

[fariza]

Safe Home Stay—Excellent location, opposite to a mall and library. Next to Dons and mills ttc subway. Very good owner. Recommended highly, it is already booked till June end, book it early if you want to stay here

Thanks Ankit. It was really good to have your Exp and rec shared of safehome stay.... Just one query... Did you use safehomestay as your address to get your PR card? How safe/convenient it is to use of them? Do you recommend safehomestay for a family?

 

[fariza]

Dear Ankit...

Need to know from where i can find details on SafeHome that you did ?

Regards,
Mayank

Here you go.....
http://www.safehomestay.com/

 

[ankit_20]

Thanks Ankit. It was really good to have your Exp and rec shared of safehome stay.... Just one query... Did you use safehomestay as your address to get your PR card? How safe/convenient it is to use of them? Do you recommend safehomestay for a family?

@Mayank
Fariza already replied to your question


@Fariza
I did not use Safe home stay (SFH) for PR, I have used a friend's address in Canada
I think SFH address can be used safely. I see lot of mails here put safely in a basket waiting for people to come and pick them up

For a couple, this place is good. It may not be best for family with kids as there are many more immigrants sharing the house and kids need more space

 

[laxmikanthms]

Welcome my friend to Toronto.

Lets catchup over the phone.

Regards,
Laxmikanth

 

[DELHI INDIAN]

Hi Ankit,

First of all I would like to congratulate you for landing in Canada and wish you all the best for your job search. Well I have not been very active member in this forum but I would appreciate your contribution in this forum in past while in India and now when you have reached Canada.

Not many people contribute to this forum after landing in Canada. HATS OFF TO YOU and all the best. Also don’t miss Delhi summers, it is really very hot these days and enjoy pleasant weather of Toronto.

DELHI INDIAN