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This post will explain how I could extend my closed work permit to my common-law partner while we were inside Canada. I leave here a story with the details of our trajectory concerning the permits to continue in Canada. If you come to Canada and get a job that classifies you as a skilled worker, you can extend your work permit to your common-law partner or spouse. Here's how we did it. Table of contents 1. How to know if you are a skilled worker 2. How to know if you have a common-law relationship 3. How to see if you have to apply on paper 4. Forms to fill out 5. Applicant's documents 6. Skilled worker's documents 7. Documents proving the common-law relationship 8. Send the envelope 9. Additional tips Let's go back to the year 2021 when we arrived in Canada. Aldo and I are a couple who have been together for almost five years, 4 of them living together. In Canada, if you can prove that you have been living with another person for more than a year, it is considered a common-law relationship which, for immigration purposes, has the same validity as a marriage. On the one hand, I entered Canada with a one-year work permit under the Working Holiday program, valid until February 2022. On the other hand, Aldo entered Canada with a study permit to take an English course for nine months (this study permit does not allow him to work), valid until March 2022. In December 2021, I obtained a new work permit to extend my stay; in this case, I received a closed work permit sponsored by the company where I worked, valid until 2024. Since my work is classified as NOC B (I will explain later what NOC is), I am considered a skilled worker for Canada. With that information, in January 2022 (two months before his study permit expired), Aldo applied for an open work permit as a common-law partner of a skilled worker. He had to make this application on paper because the option to apply from within Canada was unavailable online. Finally, after six months of waiting, Aldo got his open work permit, valid until 2024, and I will explain how we did it. Here are the steps we followed to get the work permit. 1) How to know if you are a skilled worker. A skilled worker in Canada is considered when your job is under National Occupational Classification (NOC) A, B or 0. As I mentioned, NOC stands for National Occupational Classification; Canada has a list that classifies each job (occupation) with a number so you can quickly identify the position and related duties. On this official site, you can find out what your NOC should be, and you can filter by job name. If you find out your job is NOC A, B or 0. You have the first step to be able to extend your work permit to your common-law partner. 2) How to know if you have a common-law relationship As per the glossary at Canada.ca, a common-law partner is a person who has been living with another person in a conjugal relationship for at least one year. The term refers to opposite-sex and same-sex relationships. 3) How to find out if you have to apply on paper First, you have to go to Canada.ca and simulate within your profile whether you can apply online or not. Use the option Apply to come to Canada that appears once you scroll down inside your profile and answer the questions. According to that result, you will see if the online application is available. Doing this, we noticed that Chileans were available to apply online if they were outside of Canada. This was not our case, so we decided to do it on paper because we knew that Aldo met the requirements to stay in Canada. 4. Forms to fill out Once you know that you must apply on paper, you will download a documentation package available at this link. These were the forms we had to complete: IMM 5556 Document Checklist You will have a Document Checklist that you will need to attach, marking the documentation you submit on it. IMM 5710 Application to change conditions, extend my stay or remain in Canada as a worker. This form is mandatory and is where you explain what your current situation is and what you want to do next. You must include your details, identification, resident status, marital status, passport, contact information, education and employment history. IMM 5409 Statutory declaration of common-law union I will explain this document later, but in summary, it is a declaration signed by a notary where you declare that you have a common-law relationship. 5. Applicant's documents As Aldo was applying to change from a study permit to an open work permit, these were the documents he had to submit: Photocopies of the passport pages. This photocopy has to clearly show the passport number, the dates of issue and expiry, name and date of birth, the stamp made by the Canadian authorities on the most recent entry into Canada and any other marked page. Photocopy of his current immigration document In this case, Aldo presented his study permit. Proof of payment Once he had all the documentation, he could pay through the Canada.ca portal, and the system gave him proof of payment which we also printed and sent to IRCC on paper. The cost of this work permit was 255 CAD. 155 CAD for the work permit and 100 CAD for the open work permit fee. Explanation Letter It is not a required document, but we decided to include a letter explaining why Aldo was applying on paper and not online. It also clarifies our permit deadlines and why we believe he qualified for an open work permit. If you want to do something similar, send me a DM on Instagram and I can share what we included there. 6. Skilled worker's documents As I mentioned at the beginning, the work permit that Aldo was applying for was the open work permit as a common-law partner of a skilled worker (me). Therefore, the application consists of sending a series of documents proving my status. These were the documents we sent: Work permit My current work permit, which in this case was a closed work permit valid until 2024. Letter from employer I needed to ask my employer for a letter explaining my NOC, confirming that it was NOC B. Pay stubs As additional proof, we attached the last three pay slips I received from my job. Job offer We sent the job offer I received stating the date of hire to work and the address where I was working. Job Description In addition, we attached the job description, which matches the NOC description I was performing. 7. Documents proving the common-law relationship Finally, we have to attach a series of documents that prove that our relationship was real; these were the documents. Declaration of common-law relationship (IMM 5409) To complete this form, we pre-filled the content of the form indicating the initial date of our relationship and listing the evidence that we have shared accounts, shared credit cards, life insurance, etc. We went to a notary with all the evidence, and the notary signed. If you are in the Toronto area and don't know where to go to sign, send me a DM on Instagram, and I can give you the contact. The paperwork was simple, and the signing cost about 13 CAD or similar. Supporting photos. You need to add photos to show that you have been with that person. We created a 3-page PDF and included 4-5 photos on each page, including the event, location and date we were there. We included photos with Aldo's family, my family, trips together and photos showing when we moved into our apartment together. We tried to cover all the years together with highlights. Supporting documents In the Statutory declaration of the common-law union, we had to mention evidence that we shared an address. We included the following information. The electric bill with Julieta's name to prove my address in Chile. The cable TV bill with Aldo's name shows that we shared the same address in Chile. Life insurance showed that Aldo was the beneficiary. Shared credit card Bank statements in Canada to prove that our address is the same here. 8. Send the envelope Once you have retrieved all the documentation and reviewed it gazillion times (we did). Go to this page to make sure you are sending the envelope to the correct address and send the sealed envelope. At the end of that page, you should mark the option that applies to your case to know where you should send the envelope. In our case, we marked the following options, and we must send the envelope to an address in Edmonton, Alberta. 9. Additional tips Of course, we made a couple of mistakes, so please pay attention to the following: Don't send the envelope without proof of receipt. We made this mistake and never knew if the envelope was received. We sent it by Canada Post and did not realize we did not ask for proof of receipt. So please send it with this or another agency and ALWAYS ask for an acknowledgement of receipt where a person signs for it at the destination, so you will have confirmation that your envelope arrived. It was painful to send several emails to IRCC for confirmation of receipt. After two months, we received an email confirming that the envelope was there. Validity of the Statutory declaration of common-law union It is valid for three months, so don't sign it in advance if you are not going to send the application yet. Proof of payment Make sure you are paying the correct amount. If you forget to include any fees, your application will come back, and you will need more time to process it. The cost of this work permit was 255 CAD. 155 CAD for the work permit and 100 CAD for the open work permit fee. Organize the documents inside the envelope Remember that a human will be reviewing your application, so be sure to organize the documents logically. We include some clips and follow the order of the document checklist to make it easier for the IRCC agent to review. Be patient This process takes time; in our case, it was a six-month wait. So make sure you send in the paperwork as soon as you have the work permit and ensure you have saved money to maintain yourselves while you wait because you won't be able to work. Apply early The recommendation is to apply at least 30 days before your current permit expires. We did it 60 days before the study permit expired because we knew it would take time to process. Maintained status If you submit your application before the previous permit expires, your partner will have maintained a status that allows him/her to stay in Canada. This is held as long as you are in Canada. I hope this post has shown you some light on how you can extend your partner's stay from your work permit. And, of course, this is not immigration advice; it is just how we completed this process. Make sure you read the official information in Canada.ca and check if any other document is needed according to your case. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me by email or send me a DM on Instagram.

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission when you purchase from the links at no additional cost to you. Don't worry; I only recommend products I use myself, and all opinions expressed here are my own. In this post, I will cover how you can travel directly from Toronto to the city of Victoria in British Columbia, passing through the city of Vancouver using a domestic flight and public transportation. Table of Contents 1. Why visit Victoria in British Columbia? 2. Flight from Toronto 3. Take the subway 4. Take the bus to the ferry 5. Take the ferry 6. Take the bus downtown 7. Take another bus connection, if necessary 1. Why visit Victoria in British Columbia? Victoria, located on Vancouver Island, is the capital of the province of British Columbia in Canada. Some advantages this city has are mild temperatures and lower rainfall compared to Vancouver. Due to this weather, this city has beautiful gardens and landscapes. For this reason, it is known as the City of Gardens. I had the opportunity to visit the Butchart Gardens; believe me; it was worth it. I am going to leave here a photo to inspire you. In addition, there are whale watching tours, more outdoor activities to do, not to mention access to the Pacific Ocean, museums, and a miniature world. If you like insects, there is a bug zoo and a butterfly garden. Once you've decided you want to go to Victoria, here are the steps to follow to get there if you are in the Toronto area or from Vancouver 2. Flight from Toronto First of all, you need to schedule a flight. There are flights directly from Toronto to Victoria, which you can also check out, but in this case, we flew from Toronto to Vancouver to connect via ferry to Victoria. The experience is beautiful, so we recommend making the ferry crossing. To find a flight, check sites like Kayak, Google flight and Skyscanner to find the most reasonable prices. 3. Take the subway Once you arrive in Vancouver, and as it is a domestic flight, you have to follow the signs, and you will be just a few steps away from taking the train, which is internally connected to the airport. To use the Canada Line subway, you must use a Compass card (similar to Toronto's Presto and Montreal's Opus). The price of this card is 6 CAD; there are totems just at the station's entrance where you can pay with a debit or credit card to get one, and you can recharge it with the amount of money you prefer. The system works by zones, so you can buy tickets according to the zones you will travel through. However, it was confusing for us, so we purchased the card. To enter the subway, you must scan the card at the YVR airport station entrance and tap it again when you arrive at your destination, in this case, Bridgeport Station. The trip here is only three stops, and you must stop at Bridgeport Station. 4. Take the bus to the ferry When you arrive at Bridgeport Station, you must walk down the stairs, scan your card to exit the station and locate bus number 620. When we went, it was in bay 12. As soon as you exit the station, a message says, "Passengers on bus 620 to Tsawwassen should go to bay 12," so it is not challenging to locate. On this bus, you pay by scanning the same Compass card you use for the subway. The ride takes about 50 minutes and will get you into the Tsawwassen terminal. 5. Take the ferry At the entrance to the Tsawwassen terminal, there are self-service machines where you can buy your ticket. The price for two passengers was 36.90 (18.45 per person), but you can check for updated prices at the website of BC ferries. In summer, when we made this trip, the ferry from Tsawwassen to Victoria had a one-hour frequency; we made the trip at 10 am. With this ticket, we went in, and it showed us which berth number the ferry would arrive at; in our case, it was berth five, and some screens told us where the berths were. This is important because different ferries are going in and out to other islands, so make sure you don't get the berth confused. Once the ferry arrives, you will see people start boarding. The ferries are enormous; this one had two floors for cars; we explored floors 5, 6 and 7. The ferry that took us to Victoria was the Coastal Celebration. This ferry has a cafe on deck 6, where you can buy and eat. The cafe is large enough, but unfortunately, it had no vegan options when we travelled. The only option was sold out when we arrived, so we ate fruit and bread with peanut butter/jam. The drive is 1.5 hours and is beautiful. I recommend going to the 7th floor and walking to see the islands; we even saw a whale 6. Take the bus downtown After 1.5 hours ferry ride, you will arrive at Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island. From here, there is a bus number 70 (I think it also serves the 72) that will take you downtown. The passengers cannot pay for the ticket with a Compass Card; they only take cash, so make sure you have 2.5 CAD with you to pay for it, or if you know you will be using more than two buses that day, you can buy a day pass for 5 CAD which allows you unlimited travel that day. 7. Take another bus connection, if necessary. In our case, we came to Victoria to babysit two beautiful kittens through the Trusted House sitters website, which allowed us to stay for free, as I explained in the post about How to travel on a budget in Canada. Therefore, we took another bus to connect to the house we were staying at. So that you know, there is no Uber or Lyft in Victoria. Someone recommended using Bluebird taxi, but we didn't use it, so I'm not sure if it's a good option. I hope this post helps you understand how to travel from Toronto to Victoria or Vancouver-Victoria. Who knows, maybe plan your next adventure travelling within Canada or choosing this city as your place of residence in Canada.

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission when you purchase from the links at no additional cost to you. Don't worry; I only recommend products I use myself, and all opinions expressed here are my own. In this post, I will review 17 mistakes to avoid when moving to Canada. When we're planning a big move like this, we don't want to make mistakes so let's go over them beforehand so that you can be prepared. Table of Contents 1. Lack of research 2. Bringing your whole life 3. Bringing an insufficient budget 4. Not learning the language 5. Don't focus on your mental health 6. Renting a place while still in your home country 7. Buying winter clothes in your country 8. Carrying electrical appliances 9. Buying expensive tickets 10. Forgetting to check entry requirements 11. Not carrying medical insurance 12. Exchanging money at the airport 13. Forgetting your passport or documentation 14. Wearing uncomfortable clothes while travelling 15. Not carrying at least one travel adapter 16. Running out of battery on your phone 17. Having your cards declined These are the 17 mistakes you should avoid when moving to Canada. 1. Lack of research. Don't wait for someone else to give you the necessary information; do your research. Make sure you research every step you take, so you will be accountable for what you do. Be sure to look for paperwork, applications, places to live, etc. Seek help from people who have already made a move when you have additional questions, but ultimately, the primary responsibility is yours. 2. Bringing your whole life. One of the recommendations I give in 40 things to do before moving abroad is to declutter your space. Don't take your whole life with you, don't take appliances, pots, pans, or too much stuff. Instead, bring the minimum you need to survive. Don't bring a ton of towels and sheets. Remember that at least here in Mississauga, the apartments have a washer and dryer, and you can easily wash everything in one day. The rest of the stuff you can buy at affordable prices here. 3. Bringing an insufficient budget. It is true that depending on the program, Canada asks for a certain amount of money to prove that you can maintain yourself initially. For example, for the Working Holiday Program, you must demonstrate 2500 CAD, but please bring more. In the worst case, you will have an amount as a plan B. So make sure you save as much as possible while preparing for your trip. 4. Not learning the language. You may find a job where you don't have to speak English or French, but if you want to increase your chances in Canada, make sure you take action and practice the language. I recommend you explore the Italki platform, where you can access tutors and teachers worldwide at affordable prices. I used it before I came, and it helped me to connect with a tutor from Canada, who told me details about my trip. A shout out to my Canadian tutor who lives in Croatia, just in case she reads this :) 5. Don't focus on your mental health. Moving to another country is not easy. If you are not feeling right, seek help, visit a therapist and start a process to heal or resolve what you need. This will help you healthily focus on your process; believe me; it will help you overcome difficulties. 6. Renting a place while still in your home country There are (unfortunately) a lot of scams out there, so don't rent a place or send money to a potential landlord while you're still in your home country. Use platforms like Airbnb or Booking when you arrive, and then give yourself a couple of days to visit the places to rent. This is the only way to make sure the site exists. If you still don't know where you want to live, visit the post with 13 tips to choose the perfect place to live in Canada. 7. Buying winter clothes in your country. Winters in Canada are cold, and I understand that you might be concerned about that when planning, but don't buy winter clothes in your home country. They are generally not going to be helpful for the Canadian weather. Everything you need you will find here at affordable prices and prepared for the colder temperatures. I brought the only jacket I had for three years in Chile and wore it during spring and fall. Then I found a parka to get through the winter and had time before it got cold. 8. Carrying electrical appliances At this point, I am guilty as charged. I brought my hair dryer, and it worked, but it was so weak that it was better to blow my hair. So there is no need to bring electrical appliances of this type. You can easily find them in Canada at affordable prices. 9. Buying expensive tickets As I mentioned in point 1, be sure to research every step you will take. This also applies to the purchase of tickets. There are sites like Google flights, Skyscanner and Kayak where you can search for prices and compare when they are cheapest. Be sure to use incognito or private mode to browse so that prices do not increase during your search. 10. Forgetting to check entry requirements Since the pandemic, everything has changed in terms of entry requirements. Be sure to check what you need to enter Canada when you are close to your trip. 11. Not carrying medical insurance Another requirement of some of the programs to move to Canada is medical insurance. Depending on the province you arrive in, you may not immediately have access to a health card under the provincial system. Make sure you come with insurance for the entire time you will be in Canada. Sometimes, as with Working Holiday, your work permit will tie to the length of your health insurance. 12. Exchanging money at the airport Try to find a place to exchange money in advance, and avoid changing money at the airport because usually, those rates will be more expensive. Also, don't carry much cash since almost everything accepts credit and debit cards. 13. Forgetting your passport or documentation Make sure you have valid documentation and that your passport and permits are valid upon arrival. 14. Wearing uncomfortable clothes while travelling When you are taking the plane, make sure you are dressed comfortably. Don't come with high heels, clothes that tighten your body or similar, because your trip will likely be long, and you will suffer during the journey. Bring comfortable clothes and something that will make you enjoy the trip. 15. Not carrying at least one travel adapter Be sure to look for a universal adapter, which will be helpful for at least the first day here to connect whatever you need. I bought this one; it was helpful in charge of my computer and cell phone from the first day. 16. Running out of battery on your phone Make sure you print your documentation, but if you need to show something from your cell phone. Make sure you have your battery charged or recharged at the airport. You may need it at the airport, to call someone, locate an uber, etc. You can also have a portable battery charger. 17. Having your cards declined Make sure you have activated your credit and debit cards before leaving the country and have some cash in reserve. Sometimes the card activation process takes time, so be sure to ask your bank in advance. I hope these tips will help you be more prepared for your trip. Also, don't forget to check out 40 things to do before moving to Canada to complement this list and how to travel with a cat if you are travelling with your pet. Let me know in the comments below if there is any other mistake that comes to your mind.

In this post, I will review 26 good things about Canada compared to the life I had when I was in my country, Chile. When you have the opportunity to visit or live in another country, it is inevitable to compare and see what is better in one or another. We are going to review 26 things that, according to our personal experience, stand out from Canada and that maybe can awaken in you the desire to explore this country. Table of Contents 1. Multicultural Country 2. Multiple programs 3. Official languages 4. Minimum Wage 5. Trades are well valued 6. Health care 7. Weather 8. Sports 9. Heating system 10. Green areas 11. Clean air 12. Beautiful landscapes 13. Oceans and lakes 14. Good infrastructure 15. Public transportation 16. Importance of family time/vacation 17. 40 hours per week 18. Crime rates 19. Use of piercings/tattoos 20. People do not give their opinion about your body 21. It is safe to walk outside of constructions 22. People apologize 23. Nobody touches you in the subway 24. Close to the U.S. 25. Big country 26. Food 1. Multicultural country When you migrate to Canada, you meet people from all over the world with different beliefs, religions, languages, etc. I have already mentioned that I have a coworker from India, and I love to have conversations with her about her country. The richness of all the people living in Canada is incredible. This country is so open to migration that people from all over the world come here and live in harmony. 2. Multiple programs As I mentioned, this country welcomes immigrants from different parts of the world yearly. They even set goals on how many immigrants they will receive. For example, in 2022, the goal is to receive 431,645 immigrants. The good thing is that it is increasing; by essential 2023, they plan to receive 447,055 immigrants and 451,000 immigrants in 2024. For more details, you can visit this official website with information on why immigration is important for Canada. There are so many programs; I encourage you to visit the only official website Canada.ca and find the program that fits your profile. I came to Canada with the Working Holiday program and am planning to get permanent residence through the Canadian Experience Class. Some come as students and allow their husband/wife/partner to work full time. You can apply online from your home country and come to Canada with permanent residence. 3. Official languages Canada has two official languages: English and French. If you obtain permanent residence, you have the benefits of learning French, especially in the provinces where French is more spoken (Quebec, for example). Imagine, if you have children, all the possibilities open up for them if they can speak not one but two languages. 4. Minimum wage I know that Chile has a better minimum wage than other Latin American countries, but it is still about $500 per month. In Canada, you can earn your salary per hour or as an annual salary. The minimum wage depends on the province. According to updated information, I found while researching for this post; this is the minimum wage in Canadian dollars in each province and territory per hour: Ontario: $15.50 Quebec: $14.25 Manitoba: $13.50 Saskatchewan: $13.00 British Columbia: $15.65 New Brunswick: $13.75 Prince Edward Island: $13.70 Nova Scotia $13.60 Alberta: $15.00 Newfoundland and Labrador: $13.70 Northwest Territories: $15.20 Nunavut: $16.00 Yukon: $15.70 This is the source I got the information from, so for more up-to-date information, you can check it. 5. Trades are well valued What we know as trades are well valued in Canada. I am referring to jobs that are more manual or require skills learned on the job. You can have a professional or a trade job here in Canada, and both are treated well. Depending on the level of experience, the salaries are pretty similar. For example, plumbers, mechanics, and construction workers are well paid. I found this article with interesting information that can serve as a guide. 6. Health care I know, I know... this is free, but not free. Since we pay taxes out of our salaries, that is how healthcare is funded. Knowing that...if you need any care from a health standpoint, you go to the doctor and present your health card, and they will take care of you. However, dentists and ophthalmologists are not covered. Usually, that coverage is given to you by the company where you work. Here you can find details on how to get a health card in Ontario with a work permit. 7. The weather Believe it or not, Canada has four seasons and believes me, they are beautiful and well defined. The winter is long, and the summer is shorter, but it exists four seasons, and as there are many green areas, each one is very noticeable. 8. Sports Each season has its sport, and you can see people practicing in the parks. There are sports that I didn't commonly see in my country like ice hockey, baseball and winter sports like ice skating, snowshoeing and more. You can enjoy and learn about something you didn't know. 9. Heating system As I mentioned in point 7, there are four seasons, and winter is long, but... I have felt colder in Chile than in Canada. Although the temperatures are much colder here, everything is set up to keep you warm. Buses, offices and houses are fully equipped with a heating system to keep you warm. In addition, when there is snow, it is removed by people with special equipment, so in a couple of hours you can go out again. So don't be afraid and come and enjoy the winter. In other seasons that we have lived, we have received profuse rains, and there is no flooding in the city, which is something that in Santiago, Chile, was always a problem. 10. Green areas This is something that has us mesmerized. What beautiful parks there are in this city. We live in Mississauga and never get tired of discovering a new park every week. You can check out my compilation of 14 parks to visit in Mississauga for you to enjoy this summer or winter. And you can explore 14 reasons to live in Mississauga, Ontario. 11. Clean air I had not seen smog in Mississauga, as we saw it in Santiago when we were in a high place to see it. That dark cloud of smog is not present here. 12. Beautiful landscapes Canada is a big country, and so far we have visited a couple of cities, but they are beautiful. There are not enough words to describe it. 13. Oceans and lakes Unlike Chile, which has access to the Pacific Ocean all along the coast, Canada has access to the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and lakes. So you can choose where you want to go according to your preferences. 14. Good infrastructure We have enjoyed many activities prepared by the city for the community. The parks have good infrastructure for children, and this place is family-friendly. There are bike paths and trails available all over the place, and they are in good condition. 15. Public Transportation Nothing is better than waiting for the bus in the middle of winter and having it arrive when it says it will come. I find the system to be punctual and connected. For more than a year in Canada, all our trips were by bus or train, as we had no car. We recently purchased a used car, and you can see the process of buying your first car in this post. 16. Importance of family time/vacation This is a priority for Canadians. They respect their time off so much that it is crazy. I rarely took vacations in Chile (don't do this) so as not to impact the company or because there were problems. I have learned that what is important is our family and our mental health. 17. 40 hours per week In Chile, we have to work 45 hours per week. In Canada, it's only 40 hours per week. 18. Crime rates Canada is considered one of the safest countries in the world. I found this information in the Global Peace Index Map, where you can see the difference between countries. The lower the score, the more peaceful the country is. For example, in a list of 163 countries, Canada appears at number 10 and Chile at 49. I also checked the crime rate and compared it with my country here. In this case, Canada appears with 41.89 events per 100,000 inhabitants (Ranking 82) and Chile with 53.42 events per 100,000 inhabitants (Ranking 41). 19. Use of piercings/tattoos In my country, it is still frowned upon in some places for someone to have a face piercing, a tattoo or even hair of a different colour. Here that is not even a topic of discussion. Those elements are part of your personality, and no one will tell you that you have to take them off for an interview or if you work in an office. I got my nose pierced, and Aldo has long hair and an ear-piercing, and that's fine. It's cool, isn't it? 20. People don't give their opinion about your body At least in Chile, you get comments about how fat you are, how sick you look, why you are so thin, etc. Here people understand that it's none of their business and don't bother you with any comments. What a relief... 21. It is safe to walk outside of construction. This is special for women. In Chile, when a woman walks outside a construction site, men always shout "piropos" and things nobody asks for. This is uncomfortable. In Canada, that doesn't happen. You can walk outside the building, and it's quiet. No one will say anything to you. 22. People apologize You may have heard Canadians always apologize, even when they are not to blame for the situation. This is nice, in my country this is not common at all. 23. Nobody touches you in the subway This is a big difference. People respect your space and do not touch you in the subway. If there is not enough space for them to take the subway, they will wait for the next one. And if someone accidentally touches your arm, for example, they apologize. Nobody invades your personal space. 24. Close to the United States and the Caribbean Another advantage for the United States and Caribbean fans is that if you live in Canada, you are closer to travelling to Disneyland, Miami or for vacation wherever you want to go. 25. Big Country This country is vast; there are always places to visit. We have travelled a lot this year in Canada, but we have been all the time in one province (Ontario), and we went for one week to Montreal, in the province of Quebec and another week to Vancouver/Victoria in British Columbia. So we still have a lot left to do. 26. Food You can try food from everywhere, as there are many immigrants and restaurants worldwide. You can visit places you wouldn't have had the opportunity to see elsewhere. And you, is there any reason why you are still on the fence to decide to create your plan to move to Canada?

This post may contain affiliate links and that means I may earn a small commission when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. Don't worry, I only recommend products that I use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. Being a newcomer is not easy, especially when you are just starting and trying to figure out how this new country works. In this post, I will go over how to buy groceries on a budget in Canada so that you can save your money for other things. I will share some strategies we use to save money on groceries while you buy in supermarkets in Canada. Table of contents 1. Make a list of what you need 2. Explore different supermarkets 3. Buying in bulk 4. Go to the farmer's market 5. Use apps that prevent food from going into landfills 6. Check flyers weekly 7. Store membership 8. Buy generic brands 9. Going meatless 10. Buy in season and freeze 11. Cashback 12. Walking to the supermarket 13. Have a shopping cart 14. Use reusable bags 15. Cooking at home 16. Food cravings 1. Make a list of what you need The first thing is to be prepared. Make a list before you go to the grocery store. Please make sure you take inventory of your items, note the essential things to buy, and stick to them when you get to the grocery store. It can be on paper or digital, Aldo has a checklist on his cell phone, and we review it every time before going to the supermarket. I've read that our ability to make decisions deteriorates as we go through the day, so try not to shop late in the afternoon or when you're hungry because you'll end up with many things that catch your eye. 2. Explore different supermarkets We did this process early on to understand prices, foods of our preference, distance from home, etc. We went to all of these stores: No Frills, Walmart, Sobeys, FreshCo, Whole Foods, Superstore and Wholesale Club. We had great experiences and expensive ones, but we discarded them accordingly. Today our grocery shopping is a mix of Walmart, Wholesale and Farmer's markets, but I'll tell you more in the body of this post. 3. Buying in bulk As I mentioned earlier in our initial tours of different stores, we found some things worth buying in bulk. One affordable store we found was Wholesale Club. They usually sell products to small businesses, but you can go in like a regular person and buy. We used it to buy rice, some vegan desserts and veggies sometimes. 4. Go to the farmer's market Try to find out in your area if there is one available. So far, in Mississauga, we have discovered two and both are highly recommended: Burnhamthorpe Fruit Market and Mississauga market. Both are far from home, but we take advantage of the weekend to walk there and get our week's worth of veggies. 5. Use apps that prevent food from going into landfills I think I've mentioned this in several posts. There are two apps that we use almost weekly. Flashfood (you can use JULI36R8D as a referral code - if your first purchase is over $15, you’ll get $3 in rewards) and Too Good To Go. We love them because they combine saving money with keeping food out of landfills and the products are in excellent condition to be consumed. Flashfood has agreements with supermarkets; once the product is close to its expiration date, they post it on the app with photos; you buy it through the app and pick it up at the supermarket. We use it to get fruits and vegetables. Usually, each box costs about 5 CAD. We have used it in Wholesale Club and at the SuperStore. Here are some examples of the packages we have purchased. Too Good To Go, on the other hand, has deals not only with supermarkets, they include restaurants, so at the end of the day, they have surprise bags with food that food didn't consume. They have Instagram, where you can check, and I can assure you that it is abundant and worth the money. As we are vegan, there are not too many places, but they have the Burnhamthorpe farmers market, and so far, for 7.99 CAD, we have received huge boxes with fruits and vegetables. 6. Check the flyers weekly. You will notice that sometimes you will get junk mail in your inbox. Lately, I started checking it, and we found great prices at some supermarkets, so when we get it, we review and organize to buy some products that we usually use that are discounted or on sale. There is an app called Flipp that a colleague told me about, but I haven't used it yet, in case you want to check it out too. There you can find digital flyers. 7. Store membership. I know this is something I have heard many times, but I have to admit I haven't used it. There is a Costco store where you pay a membership and have access to buy in bulk. We went there once to know if it was worth it, but for us vegans, it wasn't because most offerings were milk, meat, etc. It's an option you can explore, but go first to check if the offers are aligned with what you usually buy. 8. Buy generic brands As usual, supermarkets run their brand, usually cheaper than others. If branding is not something that bothers you, I recommend you get them. For example, Wholesale handles No Name, and Walmart handles Great Value. 9. Go meatless I know you're going to say... Oh, here she is talking about veganism... so bear with me on this one. You may not have noticed, but meat is usually expensive. If you want to cut your budget, try other products. For us, beans, lentils, and tofu are much more affordable than the prices we had in our home country. They are also readily available in regular supermarkets, so being vegan or vegetarian is cheaper here. Anyway, it is not necessary to become vegan or vegetarian, but you can reduce meat consumption and try other options, at least for your budget. 10. Buy in season and freeze Buying in season and freeze is beneficial if you visit farmers' markets or places where you can buy in bulk. You can find good deals; for example, we have bought a box of 12 mangoes for no more than CAD 10 and then cut them up at home and separated them into bags to freeze and make smoothies later. 11. Cashback Another way to get a little money back by buying groceries is to shop through apps that give you cashback. I know of Rakuten, which gives cashback when you buy through their page; it can be an option if you grocery shop online. What I use is to pay with the Neofinancial credit card that gives me cash back every time I go to Walmart, so you can check this option as well. 12. Walking to the supermarket This tip is not directly related to grocery shopping, but it will work for you. When you're a newcomer and you don't have a car. You will be forced to use public transportation or walk. I recommend walking to get to know the area and save money on transportation. Check the area where you live, know the stores you have nearby and look for the most convenient one. We live 1 or 2 km from the supermarkets and 3-5 km from farmer's markets, and we also take it as an exercise. You will have to carry your shopping, that's why we have the details in point 13. 13. Have a shopping cart Sometimes you will have to buy larger quantities of food, and if you are like us, who don't have a car, you will have to carry these products home. We used to carry everything in bags, but sometimes it was so heavy that we asked for an uber and a couple of blocks. This cost around 10-15 CAD. We highly recommend getting a cart. We bought this one last year, which has helped us greatly. We go everywhere with it; I think so far, this cart is running more than 5 km per week. Two wheels are broken, so if you have the opportunity to invest in one with bigger wheels, I recommend it. We have also used it all winter long I have seen this one even with kids, but it is more expensive. If we upgrade someday, we will go for this one. 14. Use reusable bags This is something that changed this year, now it is mandatory (I think) to have your bag, but recently if you didn't bring it, you had to pay for it. However, back in Chile, we used to use reusable bags, so we bought ones here from the beginning. I suggest you invest in reusable bags and take them with you whenever you go to the grocery store. We also bought these reusable bags for fruits, so you don't have to use the plastic ones, and you help save our beautiful planet from generating more plastic waste. 15. Cooking at home One of the most effective ways to save money is to cook at home. Our food was delivered several times a week when we lived in Chile. However, when we arrived in Canada, we found that ordering deliveries were much more expensive. Additional charges, taxes, and tips are not included in Chile. I still remember one time we ordered food for the two of us, the dishes cost 28 CAD in total, but with all the taxes, fees and so on, the order cost around 50 CAD. So our meals are almost always prepared at home. It's not easy because sometimes we crave something different, but we try to have a mix of other foods. Aldo sometimes cooks for dinner and lunch, so we have covered at least two meals. 16. Food cravings I can relate to the idea that sometimes you want to try something from a restaurant. In that case, the best thing to do is check out places near your house and pick it up. That way, you save yourself money on deliveries and additional expenses. In addition, we have a couple of places nearby where food is affordable and easy to pick up. In Mississauga, vegan options are Copper Branch, Meltwich Food Co and Fresh Burrito. Dinner for both is around $20-30 CAD when we pick up. Another strategy is to complement what you have at home and buy a portion of food. For example, we learned that the regular burritos at Fresh burrito are huge, so we buy one to share and add a cup of homemade soup. That's about 10 CAD. I hope you find these tips helpful and save a few dollars you can use on other things. If you know of more apps like Too good to go and Flashfood, let me know in the comments below because I'd like to do my part to keep food out of landfills.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission when you purchase from the links at no additional cost to you. Don't worry; I only recommend products that I use myself, and all opinions expressed here are my own In this post, I will cover what your cat requires when settling in Canada to ensure all your cat's needs are covered. Once you arrive in Canada and bring your cat, there is a list of things to check to ensure you have everything covered. I will share the experience with my cat Corita, some of the things might be different, but you can use this list to guide you and have a separate budget for these things. Table of Contents 1. Registration with building management 2. Registration with the municipality 3. Pet insurance 4. Buying a bed 5. Buying a litter box 6. Buy a water fountain 7. Buy a bowl 8. Buy a nail clipper 9. Buy a scratching post 10. Food 11. Cat litter 12. Mat under the litter box 13. Find a veterinarian and do check-ups 14. Catnip 15. Inhaler Here are the details of each of the options I mentioned in the table of contents: 1. Registration with building management. It will depend on where you are going to live. In our case, we live in a condo (42-floor building), and they need to have our pet registered, especially for emergencies. This way, firefighters or similar can know the number of people and pets to evacuate in an emergency. 2. Registration with the municipality Be sure to check the city's website where you will be living. For example, here in Mississauga, every pet has to be registered. You must pay for a license for 1 or 2 years and renew it. In my case, the cat license only costs 20 CAD a year, and then they send a unique identifier with the license number. If Corita escapes and someone finds her (it is supposed to go on her collar, but Corita doesn't have one), this can help to identify her. 3. Pet insurance This is not mandatory, and there are divided opinions on this topic. But, in general, I think it happens with all types of insurance. You never know if you will use it, but you must pay for it if you take it out. The premium will depend on the age of your cat or pet and other characteristics. We have one for Corita with Fetch. We pay about 100 CAD every three months, covering 5000 CAD with 300 CAD deductible. Fortunately, we have not had to use it, but Corita is 8 years old, and we prefer to have her covered, just in case. We prepared comparison charts to ensure we were buying the most convenient one. We quoted these companies: Petsecure, OVMA, PetsPlusUs and Petplan (Now it is called Fetch). They usually have an online calculator where you can simulate the premium. So check with them and see what is most convenient for your cat. 4. Buying a bed Corita is unique; she has 345 places she considers her bed, but we started with one and bought another to give her the best. These are the beds we have. This was the cheapest one, it's all messy and sloppy, but she is obsessed with this bed. This was the premium one, but she only used it for one season. Corita is constantly changing her mind. I'm sure she'll be obsessing over this one again very soon. You can find similar beds here. 5. Buy a litter box Important from day one. As I discussed in the post on How to travel with your cat to Canada, this was the first accessory we bought. This litter box is great because it can be in a corner and use less space; you can move it around and come with a little scoop. 6. Buy a water fountain. When Aldo came with Corita, he brought the water fountain we had in Chile because Corita loved it, and it worked. This model keeps the water running all day, so Corita goes there and can have fresh water. A few months later, the fountain stopped working; after three years of use, the system failed, so we decided to buy a new one. We tried Amazon to buy the same one, but it seemed expensive. So we went to the supermarket and bought this one. Long story short, she didn't like it. She wouldn't drink water at all. I think the fountain was too high for her, and she would get wet. Also, the customer experience (Corita's experience) was not very good, so... Finally, we had to buy the old one. And now she already goes and drank water. 7. Buying a feeder or bowl We had an automatic feeder in Chile, but we decided to buy two bowls here: wet food and dry food. I read that bowls in this position prevent the cat from vomiting, and I think it works because we have had very few incidents. 8. Buy a nail clipper Going to the vet is expensive, so we decided to buy this nail clipper to cut her nails at home. With a lot of effort, churus, and teamwork, we can cut her nails every few months, and there's no need to go to the vet. And the couch thanks us. 9. Buy a scratching post. I bought one, and she only used it once. Writing this post, I have discovered that I have more failures than victories purchasing things for her 😄 Anyway, we still hope it will be used when we adopt a new kitten. You can find other cardboard cat scratchers here We got lucky because we found this one on the street. It's common for people to leave things outside their houses when they no longer use them, and that's how we found it. You can find some similar ones here. 10. Food Corita eats Taste of the Wild brand dry food and Hills brand wet food, or that's how it was in Chile. Our only problem was the shortage of wet food (Hills), and we had to change it to another brand. If you are bringing your pet, you could try looking on the internet to see if the food you use in your country is available here, so you don't have problems figuring out on the spot which one to switch to. 11. Cat litter Like the food, we could keep the litter we had in Chile. Our one is called Odour Buster - MultiCat, and it works great. We have been taking care of pets in at least four different places with cats, and we have not found any litter that works better than this one, so we highly recommend it. If you want to learn more about how we do pet-sitting, check out The Beginner Guide to becoming a Pet Sitter. 12. Mat under the litter box In a short time, we noticed that Corita would spread the litter when it came out of the litter box, so we found this mat that helps retain the debris and can be easily cleaned up. 13. Find a veterinarian and do check-ups When we got insurance, we were asked for an initial exam. We looked for a vet in the area, and from then on, we always went to the same place. Keep your cat updated on his vaccinations, and remember that routine checkups are not covered by insurance (at least not ours), so have an amount dedicated to that. 14. Catnip This is optional but great if you want them to feel playful and crazy momentarily. We bought this jar and think we'll have it for eternity because we use so little. 15. Inhaler Corita uses an inhaler every morning, and we found this special chamber for cats, which changed our lives. No kidding, in Chile, we used one for babies, but it was too big for her kitty face; it irritated her eyes a little bit, and this one is perfect. There are for dogs and cats. This is a particular situation, but if you need one. It was expensive but worth it. I hope this post has guided you to at least some basic things you will need when arriving with your cat in Canada. If you have any questions, write me directly on the contact page or send me a DM on Instagram @julietafromhappysoy.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission when you purchase from the links at no additional cost to you. Don't worry; I only recommend products I use myself, and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post will cover the strategies we use to travel on a budget in Canada. If you are in Canada and have been able to plan and execute the move from your home country to Canada, there is a chance you will enjoy travelling. We are part of that group, and like you, we want to travel. Travel is not the priority when you are a newcomer because your savings are focused on settling you and your family in Canada. I will leave here a story about our trips in Canada. If you prefer, we can skip straight to the content. Table of Contents 1. Travel for the day 2. Use the TrustedHousesitters platform 3. Find cheap accommodation 4. Using public transportation 5. Use the GO bus 6. Using the train 7. Local trips to nearby parks and trails 8. Places with free admission 9. Bring your food 10. Bring a reusable water/coffee bottle 11. Bring a picnic blanket 12. Go to the grocery store In 2021, I was in Canada but working on a contract in Chile for the same company. I had accumulated a lot of vacation days in Chile because I rarely took a vacation there. I decided to take a week, but since we were newcomers, our budget was tight. Also, we were living with our cat and had no friends or anyone who could take care of her. We decided to stay in Mississauga and make daily trips to nearby cities. It was amazing!!! It's not so important the place. What is important is the person you travel with and the experiences you take away from there. I also journaled what we did each day during our vacation, and weeks and even months later, I was able to go back to my notes, and we still remember what our experience was like. Let's go over the systems we have in place for taking a vacation affordably, which allowed us to travel in one year to Oakville, Toronto, Toronto Island, Oshawa, Montreal and Niagara Falls (3 times). ACCOMMODATION Here are my tips for saving money on accommodation 1. Travel for the day If you don't have money to pay for a hotel or accommodation or you have obligations at home like a pet, as was our case, it may be uncomfortable for you to leave your home for a couple of nights. My recommendation is to plan daily trips to nearby places. We did this on our first vacation. We did not have anyone to take care of our Corita (now we have discovered a new platform), but we did not know how to get someone to take care of her before, and we decided to travel only for the day. We live in Mississauga, and under this model, we went to Oshawa, Oakville, Toronto, Toronto Island and Niagara Falls, all in just ten days. We took at least one day between trips to rest because we did it all by public transportation, but it was well worth it. 2. Use the TrustedHousesitters platform. For us, it has been the discovery of 2022. TrustedHouseSitters is a platform where you pay an annual membership and create a profile as a pet owner, pet sitter or combined. You have access to travel worldwide, take care of pets in their homes or have someone take care of your pets for free. Every time you find a place you want to go, you apply to be the pet sitter, and it's the pet owner who chooses you; you can coordinate with them what you need to do at home or any special care for their pet, and that's it! We joined this platform this year with a combined membership, and in 5 months, we have used it three times, so it has been worth it! We used the platform on our second trip to Niagara Falls; we found someone to look after Corita for a long weekend. Then we used it to travel to Montreal, where we took care of a precious cat (named Joey - we still miss him) for ten days, and we had someone to take care of Corita for those ten days as well (imagine what it's like to spend ten days in another city for free). We are now planning our second stay as house sitters in Canada. I highly recommend it, and it is available in many countries, you can check the platform here. 3. Find cheap accommodation. Ok, let's imagine that your trip can't be for the day and you didn't find a house to stay in Trustedhousesitters either, but you still want to go on a trip. So, let's look for cheap accommodation. When we planned to go to Niagara Falls (which we love), we found ourselves in that situation and decided to look for a hotel or similar. We weren't looking for something luxurious because we tend to do a lot of walking and are pretty much out all day; it was more like something necessary to rest at the end of the day. We were on a tight budget and were looking for something about 1-2 km from the falls, but walking was not a problem since we are good at it. Also, we were travelling in February (winter) when prices are usually lower, so we finally found a cheap place on booking.com Here you can find accommodations in Niagara Falls. TRANSPORTATION Let's see how we get around. Remember that we like to travel without spending too much money, but we are also willing to deal with how slow it can be to use public transportation, so bear with me on this. 4. Using public transportation Most of our trips have been made using public transportation. Our trips to Toronto, Oakville, and parks more than 10 km away have been made entirely by public transit. So the first thing is to make sure where you are going they have public transportation and how you can pay. You can use the same Presto card for local trips in Toronto and Great Toronto Area (GTA). We have used it to pay for trips in Mississauga, Toronto, Vaughan and Oakville, so no problem. Just make sure you have enough money because it takes a while for the online reload to show up on your card. The trips will be longer, but take it as an experience. 5. Use the GO bus GO bus is a series of buses that connect different cities. We used it to go to Niagara Falls and also to Toronto. Check the itinerary and make sure you arrive on time. From our perspective, they work well and are reliable. In this case, remember to tap on the Presto on the way up and down. The price will depend on the distance travelled. 6. Using the train Another way to get around comfortably is to use the train. We travelled using the GO train to Oshawa (our first experience) and Niagara Falls. There are many destinations you can go to, and most of them connect to Union Station in Toronto. We also used Via Rail to go to Montreal, it was almost a 5-hour ride, but it was super comfortable. They have a loyalty points system, and also if you buy the ticket on Tuesdays, they have special discounts. Check it out in case you are interested. They have an escape fare, the cheapest, and an economy fare. PLACES 7. Local trips to nearby parks and trails. If you don't know where to go, start with something nearby; if you are in the Toronto area, check out my post on 14 parks to visit in Mississauga. All of them are free admission and are fantastic. Don't miss the opportunity to get out and enjoy what this country has to offer. 8. Places with free admission Do your research before you travel. Nowadays, most of us have access to the internet, so look for information ahead of time and find places with free admission. Maybe you can look on Pinterest; I always go there for inspiration. When we went to Montreal, we could go to a garden that did not charge admission. 9. Bring your food Another strategy we use is not just to save money, but because we are vegan and often there are no options available to eat, we decide always to be prepared with a stock of our food. We plan, and if we go to a park, we carry some fruit, iced coffee and snacks distributed in our backpacks to make sure we don't crave something sweet. We also did this on the train to Montreal, and it was a good idea because they didn't have vegan options. They have no problem with you bringing your food, so take advantage of the opportunity. 10. Bring a reusable bottle with water/coffee. Same goal as point 9. Suppose you don't want to get thirsty on the trail and have to buy a bottle of water or coffee or similar. Bring your bottle with the liquid of your choice. We have had these two water bottles for three years, and they work perfectly. We go everywhere with them. In addition, you'll be helping our planet by not generating trash and buying single-use plastic. 11. Bring a picnic blanket Last year we bought one for about $20 CAD and took it wherever we went. You never know if you'll have a seat in the park, so bring a blanket, and you will have a safe space to sit and enjoy. And you can also easily improvise a picnic with your family or friends, and you will have a great time. Being a newcomer can be challenging, especially from a mental health standpoint, so get out, bring your blanket, reconnect with nature, and get some sun. 12. Go to the grocery store Usually, when you go on vacation, it's understandable that you want to go somewhere to enjoy food, but sometimes that takes a lot out of your budget. When we went to Montreal, we ate at home most days. We went to a supermarket on the first day and stocked up on our usual vegan food, which eased our budget. Of course, we still went out a couple of times, but eating at home saved us money. You can also check out these apps that I frequently use, called Flashfood or Too Good to go, where you can find food at lower prices. I hope this helps motivate you to get out of your comfy place and enjoy the sun or winter, depending on where you are. If you have any other tips, let me know in the comments below!

This post may contain affiliate links and that means I may earn a small commission when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. Don't worry, I only recommend products that I use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. In this post, I will go over the 25 challenges of living abroad and some tips on how to overcome them. We always try to show the positives of living abroad, because it's true that when you add up the good and the bad, the sum of them is always positive. BUT, it would be a lie to say that everything is rose-colored, full of rainbows and unicorns when you move abroad. There are several things that are difficult and I'm going to show you these 25 challenges of moving to a new country and let you know how to overcome those obstacles (there are some we still struggle with). Here I'm going to leave a story that made me cry too much when I first arrived in Canada, but you can skip it by following the table of contents below. Table of contents Initial formalities and paperwork People & relationships Missing your country Health Getting used to your new country Work Finance Due to the pandemic and flight cancellations, Aldo (my partner), Corita (my cat), and I had to travel separately. I arrived first on February 4, 2021, while Aldo and Corita were able to fly on March 29, 2021. So I had to be alone for a little over two months. I stayed in an Airbnb in Toronto for the first month and after the 15-day quarantine (at that time) I had to find a permanent apartment to stay in for the rest of the year. I had studied ahead of time and before I came I found a realtor. I emailed her and she was very nice. At that time there was snow and she took me to Mississauga to visit different apartments. At the end of that day, I chose the apartment and she told me what documents I had to send her. I arrived at my Airbnb, super happy, and sent her all the documents she asked for. 5 minutes later, my phone rings and it was her calling (it was Saturday afternoon) she was telling me "They have doubts about accepting you or not because you don't have a Canadian credit score, so they are asking you to pay 6 months in advance". She also asked me to give an answer right away. I asked her to give me a moment to think about it. Just so you understand, those 6 months in advance would take more than 70% of the savings I had taken to Canada, it was a lot of money to give up all at once. I called Aldo, I started to feel desperate and I remember crying a lot. I felt very pressured, I didn't know whether to trust. She hadn't told me anything before, like that could happen, plus she told me that I had no other option and that everyone would ask for the same. I accepted, I signed a contract, but that document is activated once you pay the deposit and that was not going to happen until Monday. To sum up, on Sunday I was feeling mentally bad and I had an English class with my Canadian teacher through Italki (I had classes since I was in Chile with her) so she always gave me the best tips to survive in Canada and I barely connect with her. She told me "No, that's not legal. Don't pay anything." I started to feel very stupid and scammed. My next step was to email my manager for her opinion as well, I literally had no network or someone who could guide me, so I went to her who was the other person who had helped me come. She wrote me back almost immediately, saying that to her that sounded a bit like a scam, so I decided to call the realtor and tell her I wanted to cancel the agreement. When I called her, she got angry and told me that the landlord would sue me for not honoring the agreement and that I was giving her too much work. It was very scary for someone who had just arrived in Canada. Finally, my manager connected me with a co-worker from Venezuela, who was in my situation at one point. My co-worker gave me the contact of her realtor, who helped me find the place where we live now. He was super nice and also mentioned to me that being in the middle of the pandemic there were too many offers compared to people looking for a place, and I didn't need to pay extra. So I just paid what was the legal amount, 2 months. That was my happy ending. I would love to say that you will not face any of these challenges, but I'm pretty sure you will at least face a couple of them. Let's review them... Initial formalities and paperwork 1. Banking There is nothing more difficult than showing up at a bank to open a checking account, without any Canadian background on who you are. This was the first thing I did after my quarantine. I went to a traditional bank, brought my work permit, and my passport and they opened my checking account. However, I was not accepted for a credit card because of my non-existent credit score. After that, I had to wait 2 weeks for an evaluation and that's how I discovered secured credit cards where you add an amount, which the bank retains and then they give you a credit card with a similar amount, in case you don't pay, they take the retained fund. Anyway, I had no other option so I took it. My advice on this matter is don't overthink it, they are assessing your financial history in Canada (which you don't have) not assessing you as a person. Just take the secured card and make sure you have a couple of dollars saved up for this. Make sure every week you log into your account and pay frequently so you don't use more than 30% of your credit limit. After a year, seeing that I didn't have many benefits in that bank and asking for months to increase my credit limit, I decided to look for another alternative. I found a new bank where everything is done virtually, the application process was done from my cell phone, the credit card arrived at home in a few days, I get much better cashback and I can withdraw it whenever I want. They are Neo Financial, they also have secured cards, so I recommend you to explore this, rather than a traditional bank. 2. Canadian credit score This is not so easy to understand. In my country, if you have a credit card, you buy, you pay on time, you are ready and also they increase your limit as soon as you are paying on time. Here the Canadian credit score depends on different things, one is the time you have your credit card (zero when you are a newcomer), then you have to use no more than 30% of your credit limit, and you also have to pay on time and more. So, for that reason, you have to "build" your credit score over time. I would recommend monitoring your credit score weekly. It will take time to build a decent credit score, so don't let this get you down. I use the Borrowell site to see how my score is moving and their inquiries do not impact your score. 3. Too much paperwork that takes your time As you are starting out, you have to process everything from scratch, from the health card, driving license, local ID, and more, and you have to take your time to study what you have to do and go for it. You just have to prepare, follow the step by step and flow with it. You'll see that over time, step by step you'll be able to close the pending. That was one of the reasons that made me open this blog, to make your life easier with step-by-step processes. 4. Permits that are not processed as planned This is something we are still struggling with, the plan was to extend my work permit to Aldo after he finished his English course. We are waiting for over 4 months, and recently the page was updated saying it may take 8 months. That means he can't work and we have to cover everything with one salary. So, keep in mind that the unexpected can happen, and finally focus on what is in your control, because this is not (How do I tell myself to follow my own advice? 😄). 5. Finding a house Well... you can read my story here. This can be a challenge. I would recommend finding a realtor (if possible, on the recommendation of someone you know). I learned that when you are a tenant you don't have to pay the realtor's commission, it's paid by the landlord. Therefore, it is worth looking for one. This will save you time because they can show you several properties in one day with the characteristics you want and represent you to the landlord with all the paperwork. People and relationships 6. Making friends In my previous life, it was already difficult to make friends. I had some, but I didn't go out into the world looking to meet new people. Well... I realized that when you arrive in a new country, people are already part of a community, usually from their home countries, and it's a bit difficult to enter those communities. As for my job, for several days I cried on the bus ride home because no one would talk to me at my job, I had lunch alone, etc. I imagine I was expecting the warm welcome we give in my country when someone new joins the group, guiding them, accompanying them, offering help, etc. So, after several weeks, one day I told myself that I had to do something different, (maybe it sounds stupid to you) but I decided to buy some vegan candies and take a couple to my work, just to offer them to my colleagues. I started to feel them open up a bit and start to have a little chat with me, so it kind of worked. Nowadays, I always have lunch with one of my co-workers and, by the way, sometimes, I still bring some candy. 7. Afraid of people talking to you and don't know how to respond Uff... I consider myself an introvert, this is a big challenge for me. Having a stranger come up to me and ask me something in the street, in the supermarket, or wherever, makes me very uncomfortable, because sometimes I don't understand or I can't find the words to answer. I just don't run away because it would be too weird of me. Be kind to yourself and get used to also asking to repeat the question, but it's better to ask for repetitions than to say yes to something you don't want. 8. Your name is not pronounced well. From my point of view, this was not important, what happened was that sometimes if someone asked me something and I did not feel that was my name, it was a little awkward, but nothing more. One day a co-worker told me that I had to teach others how to pronounce my name, because our name is part of our culture and who we are in the world, that was great and today most of my co-workers do it. So, when you have the opportunity, make sure they pronounce your name correctly. 9. Different accents You will meet people who have different accents when speaking English and at first it will be difficult to understand them. With time you will get used to them, just as they will get used to yours. It is part of living in a multicultural country. 10. Inappropriate comments The only thing I have faced related to this was a comment from someone saying that we newcomers were coming to take advantage of the system, but in general I would say that Canada is a very tolerant and welcoming country to immigrants. For me, it has been an opportunity to learn about diversity and inclusion. I have learned about other communities, religions, traditions, other concepts such as microaggressions, etc. Missing your country 11. Missing loved ones If you have a strong attachment to your family, you are going to miss them a lot. I have a little niece in Chile, and she is growing up very fast. I miss her, but I know this is the path I chose. In any case, there is technology available today to connect with loved ones, if that's the way you want to be. 12. Missing local holidays You will miss celebrations, birthdays and important ceremonies in your country. You will find it strange that days that are commonly holidays in your country are not holidays in your new place. You can't imagine what it's like to work on September 18th. On the other hand, you will embrace the new holidays. In the past, I have never had a holiday in February, and in Canada, they celebrate Family Day. Remember why you decided to travel abroad and in time you will get used to it. 13. Missing food from your country We live in Mississauga, and after a year we have only found 2 vegan food places. In Santiago, I have to admit that we had a lot more vegan food options. This can also happen to you, but I am sure you will find at least one place with food from your country. Health 14. Mental struggles (Bad & dark days) Some days this is going to hit you very hard, you won't want to get out of bed sometimes, you will feel like crying and you will have dark days, days where you will question your decisions, days where you will feel like this is not for you, and more. I think the best advice I can give you is to seek help and get therapy. It is completely normal and I am sure this process will help you cope with all the changes you feel when you move abroad. 15. Health issues and insurance coverage Make sure that when you move to another country, you take out travel insurance. You never know In September 2021, Aldo was playing soccer and fell, a couple of weeks later he woke up with a lot of pain in his wrist and we had to go to the hospital. Fortunately, we had insurance that allowed us not to pay at the time, BUT after 8 months we are still struggling because they have not paid the hospital and now Aldo is getting a letter that he is over 1700 CAD in debt. Make sure the insurance you choose, has good reviews from people who have had to use it. 16. Feeling that you don't belong I feel that when I arrived here I stopped being Chilean. If someone classifies me here, I am part of the Latin community and that is rare because we know that every country in Latin America has its particularities and cultural richness. Even in surveys, they ask you which group you identify with, and Latino is the closest. Somehow, I am no longer what I was in Chile, but this is not my permanent place either, I feel we are in limbo. Getting used to your new country 17. Getting used to traffic rules An example of this is that there are corners with 4 stop signs. We don't have that in Chile and it was completely new for us. Aldo has 17 years of driving experience and had to take classes to understand how to drive here and what the differences are. So, my recommendation is if you don't feel confident, take a couple of classes to be able to get your driver's license. 18. Getting used to new weather When you think of Canada, you think of snow. This can be a struggle, but since we had never lived with snow, we have learned to love it. I recommend that you get out during the winter and enjoy the season. For example, we still walked every day, even at minus 20 degrees, and now that we are past it, we feel that for us the winter was not so hard. 19. Get used to short days in winter I think this was more of a struggle than the snow. Late December has the shortest day of the year. I remember when it would get dark around 4:30 pm. I would leave home in the dark and after work, I would come home in the dark. I wanted to go to sleep at 6 pm and I did some days because my body was telling me it was time to go to bed. The good news is that after those days, everything will get better because the days get a little bit longer and a little bit longer. 20. Public transportation If you used to have a car or a motorcycle in your country, it is very likely that at least at the beginning you will have to go back to using public transport. You will have to learn to take between 30 minutes and 1 hour to go to a place that is 15 minutes away by car. I try to be productive during this time and use it to my advantage by listening to music I like, podcasts or audiobooks. This helps to make the trip more entertaining. Work 21. Canadian experience There seems to be an unwritten rule that you have to have Canadian experience to get a job. At first, it is difficult to get a job at the same level as what you had in your home country. It doesn't matter how many years of experience you have. I would say don't worry, the important thing is to start, with time you will improve your English or the language you speak and you will be able to look for a better position 22. Preparing for meetings I have been working in the same company for more than 4 years but in Spanish! When I started working in English last year I had to prepare and rehearse what I was going to say. I consider myself an introvert and oh my God, it's hard. Add to that taking notes, catching what others are saying, and articulating what you want to say. Have I overcome it? Not 100%, but it's getting better day by day. I love this video and for a while I had it written on a note near my computer "Fake it till you become it". It talks about power poses, I use it to have the courage to speak in a language that is not my own. Please check out this video if you resonate with what I am writing here. 23. Unemployment When in your country you had stability and years of experience, it is difficult to face unemployment. You lose your economic freedom and sometimes you can't enjoy things that you took for granted in your home country. It is distressing to know that your savings are getting smaller and smaller and even though you have the desire, you can't find a job. Finance 24. Currency The first few months are the worst. Everything you want to buy when you go to the supermarket, or whatever, you immediately calculate it to your local currency. Don't do that, because you will find that everything will be more expensive than in your home country. Once you start earning a salary in Canadian dollars or the money of the country you are moving to. You won't worry so much about translating into your home currency. 25. Savings are never enough You will find that your savings run out quickly, especially in the beginning. As I recommend in the 40 things to do before moving to Canada post: Save more than you think. Consider saving for things like paying the 2 months' rent, furnishing the place where you will live, winter clothes (if applicable), airplane tickets, health insurance, etc. I hope these challenges give you an idea of what life is like for a newcomer. I don't want you to be discouraged by these challenges, because you will learn how to overcome them. Will it be easy? No. Will you suffer for a while? Yes. Will it be worth it? Absolutely. Let me know in the comments if there are challenges mentioned here that resonate with your personal story or send me a DM on Instagram

In this post, I will go over how you can create an Express Entry profile to apply under the Canadian Experience Class in 2023, especially if you want to apply in a common law relationship. You can choose the topic you are interested in according to the table below. Table of Contents 1. What is Express Entry? 2. How does the Canadian Experience Class work? 3. Determine your National Occupational Classification (NOC) 4. Work experience in Canada 5. Determine your language level 6. Getting your Educational Credential Assessment 7. Summary of what you need to create your profile 8. Log in or register with Canada.ca 9. Find out if you are eligible to apply 10. Complete the Express Entry Profile 11. Submit the Express Entry Profile 1. What is Express Entry? Express Entry is an online system that Canada uses for people to apply for permanent residence. This system is managed with scores, each applicant creates a profile, and each of their qualifications gives a score. When you create a profile, you enter a pool of candidates (similar to a Working Holiday). The best scores have the possibility to be selected and receive an invitation to apply, unlike the working holiday, the higher the score, the higher the possibility to be selected. Under the Express Entry umbrella, there are 3 different programs: Federal Skilled Worker Program: you can apply for this program even if you have never been to Canada. It is usually used for people with professional profiles living in their home countries to come to Canada. You can find more information on this official website. Federal Skilled Trades Program: This program is offered to skilled workers in a skilled trade such as cooks and chefs, equipment maintenance and operation trades, industrial, electrical and construction trades, among others. More information can be found here. Canadian Experience Class (CEC): We will focus on this program because it is the one you normally qualify for, once you have been working in Canada for at least 12 months on a Working Holiday for example. 2. How does the Canadian Experience Class work? In general, the following minimum requirements must be met to qualify for the Canadian Experience Class: Language test results: English level CLB 7 for TEER 0 or 1 positions or English level CLB 5 for TEER 2 or TEER 3 positions (I explain what is NOC in item 3 and the English test here). Have 1 year of work experience in Canada, within the last 3 years before applying, in TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 positions. No job offer is required (but you get more points if you have one). No education is required (but having an educational credential assessment gives you more points). To check in more detail all the requirements, you can read the information here If you want to apply as a family, there is a main applicant and your spouse or common-law partner must be included as a dependent. 3. Determine your National Occupational Classification (NOC) First, you may be wondering what NOC is. NOC stands for National Occupational Classification; Canada has a list that classifies each job (occupation) with a number so you can easily identify the position and related duties. Since November 2022, Canada has introduced a new categorization called TEER (Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities.) On this official website you can find out what your TEER should be; you can filter by job name. 4. Work experience in Canada One of the requirements for you is to have at least 1 year of qualifying work experience in Canada under TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 positions. To be considered 1 year of experience you have the following options: Full time in a job: 30 hours/week for 12 months= 1 year full time (1,560 hours). Equal amount in a part-time job: e.g., 15 hours/week for 24 months = 1 year full-time (1,560 hours). You can work in as many part-time jobs as you need to meet this requirement. Full-time work in more than one job: 30 hours/week for 12 months in more than one job = 1 year full-time (1,560 hours). 5. Determine your language level To create your profile you need to have taken one of the available exams that are accepted by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), this can be IELTS or CELPIP. In my case, I took the CELPIP exam, if you want to explore more about this exam, visit this post. The level of English you must meet will depend on the type of job you have. If you have a TEER 0 or 1 (professional jobs) you will need to get a CLB 7. On the other hand, if you have a TEER 2 or 3 (Technical jobs & skilled trades) you will need CLB 5. Keep in mind that you will need the result to create your profile, so plan your scheduling and test preparation so that you can create your profile in time. 6. Getting your Educational Credential Assessment As I mentioned before, for this category there are no education requirements, BUT if you want to improve your ranking in the Express Entry pool you can get an educational credentials assessment for immigration purposes and increase your chance of being chosen. We evaluated our credentials, and it gave us 133 points in total for the pool, so we recommend it. For more details on how we did this credential evaluation visit the post How to get an educational credential assessment (ECA) for employment and immigration purposes. So far, if you've gone through the above points and you know you meet the requirements. Let's jump right into the system and move on to creating the profile. 7. Summary of what you need to create your profile In summary, to create your profile, you will need at least the following Passport Language test results (CELPIP general or IELTS general) Canadian work experience Know your TEER The following will help increase your score if you have one: Educational Credential Assessment Provincial nomination Written job offer for an employer in Canada Certificate of qualification in a trade occupation issued by a Canadian province or territory 8. Log in or register with Canada.ca With the above information, enter the official website, and you should see a page where you have to choose whether to read the content in English or French. Choose the language of your preference Click on Immigration and Citizenship Click on My application Click on Sign in or create an account Log in with your GCKey if you already have one. If you do not have one, create an account. Read the terms and conditions and accept them if you agree. You will be logged into your account and can see all your previous applications and permits (if any). Next, scroll down and see the Apply to come to Canada option. A personal checklist will appear, and you should select the Express Entry (EE) option - for the purpose of this post. 9. Find out if you are eligible to apply. Once you click on Express Entry (EE), you will complete a checklist to see if you are eligible to apply for it. 9.1 Province or territory where you plan to live Choose to include which province or territory you plan to live in. If you do not know, you can choose the place of your choice. If you want to check what you should take into account to choose the best place to live in Canada, visit this post. The drop-down menu will open and you will choose what you want. In our case, we live in Ontario and chose that option. 9.2 Language level Next, you have to choose which language test you have taken. For English, you will have the IELTS or the CELPIP. If you tested French as well, you would have the TEF and the TCF. Include when you took the test Include what the result was in each of the skills tested. If you took more than one test, you must include it here. 9.3 Work experience The questionnaire will ask you how many years of experience you have working in Canada. Respond according to your situation. If you have completed all the information so far and are eligible to apply, you should see a message like this one Once you click continue you will begin to fill in your profile information so pay attention to the details of each item. 10. Complete the Express Entry Profile In this step, you must fill in identification information, gender, date of birth and click next. Then you must include your marital status; in our case, we checked common law in this option. The answer is according to your situation. Then comes a confirmation question asking if that person or people will accompany you to Canada. In our case, we checked yes, so a new series of questions appeared to identify my family member Once you have answered all the above, you will be presented with a series of options to continue completing your profile. This is an example of our profile. As you can see, there are several categories to complete; let's go through them one by one as follows: 10.1 Personal details Within this category, you must confirm your name, make sure that it is written the same as in your passport and click on next You must include the information from the personal description below your marital status then the system will ask you if you have a passport or other identity document. Depending on your answers, it should open something like this to complete the information. You will then be asked to answer questions about your application history in Canada. Then questions about your family members are included. Once you finish this section, you can click on Save and Exit to go to the next section to complete. 10.2 Contact details Here you will be asked which language you prefer to use to receive correspondence your email address and click save and exit to go to the next section. 10.3 Study and languages The system will ask you for your level of education. In my case, the answer was yes, so more questions were displayed to complete. Once you fill in the details of your studies, if applicable, you must click on Save and add Then, questions regarding language assessment are included Click save and exit to go to the next section. 10.4 Application details In this section, you will be asked to indicate if you have a province of preference or you can choose All Provinces and territories if you want. Next, the system will ask if you have a nomination certificate from a province or territory. We did not have one, but if you do, you must include it here and click Save and exit. 10.5 Representative In this section, you are asked to complete if you hired a representative to do your application for you; in our case, the answer was no. The answer is according to your situation and then click on Save and exit. 10.6 Work history The first information in this section will be to complete the National Occupational Classification (NOC) to which your occupation belongs. Then you must include if you got any certificate of qualification from a Canadian province or territory and if you have a job offer in Canada Then comes a question to find out if you have work experience, and here you have to include the positions you have held one by one. In our case, this question appeared only for research purposes, I think it was in relation to the perspective one has on whether it is easy or not to find a job, but it is optional if you want to answer it. At this point, the questions concerning the principal applicant are finished, and the sections for the accompanying spouse or common-law partner should be completed. In general, you have to check the names. Personal description Immigration history and citizenships Questions about the accompanying person's family members Questions about the accompanying person's studies Information on whether the accompanying person has taken any language tests and the work history of your accompanying person Then you have to click on save and exit 11. Submit the Express Entry Profile At the end, when you have completed all the items, you must click on Save and exit. If everything is in order, you should see a message like this one Your profile is now in the pool of candidates, and you should receive notifications within your profile to confirm this. Now you have to wait for an invitation to apply. I wish you much success in this process! Let me know in the comments if you found this step-by-step guide helpful, and follow me on Instagram for more content.

In this post I will explain everything you need to know about the Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP) Test. If you are finishing your working holiday, you managed to extend your stay in Canada and now you are thinking that maybe... mmm... I can qualify to apply for permanent residence!! Well... if you want to apply under the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), as I did, you will have to take a test to assess your level of English. I'm going to leave a little story here about how my experience with this test went. Table of contents What is a CELPIP test? Do I have to take the CELPIP test? Do I have another option for testing my English level? Is CELPIP harder than IELTS? How does the CELPIP test work? CELPIP test overview How much does the CELPIP cost in Canada? Where can I take the CELPIP test? How to schedule the CELPIP test? How to prepare for the CELPIP test? How can I improve my CELPIP score? Recommendations I chose to take the CELPIP exam on December 30, 2021, just one day before New Year's Eve. I wanted to get that weight off my shoulders I guess. I selected that date because at my job at the end of the year we have the last week off so I had time to study and prepare. The test center I chose was close to Toronto Pearson airport and I had to get there 45 minutes before the start time of the exam (around 9:15 am). I went by Uber, arrived early, about 9 am and the office was closed. I started to doubt that maybe I had made a mistake, but suddenly someone arrived and it was correct. There are strict protocols to follow there. You can't enter with jackets, no cell phone, or anything other than ID, so you have to be prepared and watch the videos they have available to be clear on what to do. I was a little surprised that they checked if you had something in your socks, they ask you to lift your pants to check it and also the sleeves... anyway.... I had nothing to hide so I just took it as part of the process. Looking for a guide to understand the entire process of this English test? Let's jump right in. 1. What is a CELPIP test? CELPIP stands for Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP) Test and is a test of general English proficiency. It is a recognized computer-based English language assessment tool. In simple terms, it is a test that is taken to measure your level of English. It is commonly used because it is accepted to apply for permanent residence and citizenship in Canada. There are two types of CELPIP: CELPIP general: Assesses listening, reading, writing and speaking skills and is officially designated for permanent residence applications and is also accepted for professional designations. CELPIP LS: Tests listening and speaking skills only and is officially designated by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for citizenship applications and is also accepted for professional designations. Once the test is taken, the results are valid for 2 years. 2. Do I have to take the CELPIP test? You will need to take the CELPIP test if you want to apply for permanent residence in Canada or if you want to apply for citizenship. This test is also accepted by some professional organizations, universities, colleges and vocational training programs. You can find out more about these institutions on the official CELPIP.ca website. One of the programs you can apply for permanent residence by having a CELPIP test result is the Express Entry program. To create your profile you already need to have your CELPIP test results, as well as your Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) so be sure to calculate when it is convenient for you to take the test and get your credentials assessed as well. 3. Do I have another option for testing my English level? Yes, the other acceptable option is to take the IELTS, which stands for International English Language Testing System. The main advantage of this test I would say is that it is available in more countries than the CELPIP test. Both tests assess the 4 skills: Speaking, Writing, Reading and Listening and are acceptable for immigration purposes. 4. Is CELPIP harder than IELTS? Personally I did my reviews and I think CELPIP is more convenient and not so difficult compared to IELTS. These are the reasons why I chose the CELPIP: The CELPIP is completed entirely on a computer, whereas for the Speaking area on the IELTS you have a separate speaking session with a person (This made me very nervous, so I preferred to speak with a computer). Since the CELPIP is completed entirely on a computer, you have to go one day to complete the test in one sitting, for the IELTS you will have to go 2 days. The CELPIP only takes into account the Canadian accent, in the case of IELTS you can face different accents (from Australia, Scotland, New Zealand, England, etc.). CELPIP results are available within 5 days after you take the test. 5. How does the CELPIP test work? The CELPIP is a test that you have to complete 100% on a computer. You have a limited time to go over all the tasks to be tested. The test is taken by an institution called Paragon Testing Enterprises. The scores range from M (Minimum Competency or insufficient information to assess) to 12 (Advanced Competency in work and community contexts). Each English skill is evaluated separately, so you will receive a score for each of them. On the official website there is a lot of information about scoring and examples that you can review. 6. CELPIP test overview The CELPIP test contains 4 areas to be tested, here are some details: 6.1 Writing: The time available is between 53- 60 min You have to answer 2 questions with written answers of about 150-200 words each. You will have about 30 minutes for each one. The test has a word counter at the bottom of the page. They are usually about everyday situations that you may face living in Canada. One of the texts is related to responding a survey and explaining your choice. The other is related to writing an email on an everyday subject (The instructions will give you the situation) It is important to plan what you are going to write and what to include in each text in order to get the best score possible . 6.2 Listening: It takes between 47-55 min You must listen to the passages and answer the multiple choice questions The audio is played only once for each question This part has 6 questions and the audios increase in difficulty each time. You will have a paper and pen to take notes. In the preparation available once you pay for the test, they teach you good techniques to be able to take notes. That helped me a lot because I knew in advance if the next one was going to be one person, two or three. Here are the details of the tasks: Task 1 - Conversation between 2 people divided into 3 sections. Each section has 2-3 questions. Task 2 - Conversation between 2 speakers, all in one section. Task 3- Conversation between 2 people. One of them has specific knowledge to help the other one. Task 4- Report about local news Task 5- Video with 3 people talking. They have different points of view Task 6- Report from one speaker with different points of views. 6.3 Reading: It takes between 55-60 min You will have to read passages and answer questions. There are 4 scored parts. The text will appear on the left and the questions on the right These are the task details: Task 1 - Reading correspondence, this is to read an email and answer the questions. Task 2 - Reading to apply a diagram (brochure, menu, instructions, webpage, etc) Task 3 - Reading for information Task 4 - Reading for viewpoints 6.4 Speaking: The time available is about 20 min. You will have to verbally respond to on-screen prompts. There are 8 tasks to complete Each task has a preparation time (30-60 seconds) and then a recording time (60-90 seconds) Tasks 3-4-5-8 include text Tasks 1-2-6-7 include text and images You'll read the instructions, have a couple of seconds to prepare your answer and then you'll have to record each of your answers. I think preparing and practicing this part will make you feel more confident. This part was difficult for me, mostly because it's the last part and at this point my brain was already tired and consumed by all the stress and pressure. These are the task details: Task 1 - Giving advice Task 2 - Talking about a personal experience Task 3 - Describing a scene Task 4 - Making predictions Task 5 - Comparing 2 situations, choose one and then persuade someone with your choice. Task 6 - Dealing with a difficult situation Task 7 - Expressing opinions Task 8 - Describing an unusual situation 7. How much does the CELPIP cost in Canada? The CELPIP - General exam costs 280 CAD + taxes. You can check the updated price on the CELPIP.ca website. 8. Where I can take the CELPIP? Currently, the CELPIP test is available in the following countries: Australia Canada China India Japan Republic of Korea Nigeria Philippines Singapore United Arab Emirates United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) United States of America Details for this specific location can be found here. 9. How to schedule the CELPIP test? The scheduling process is completed online at CELPIP.ca. You have to answer a couple of questions that will guide you through the process to understand which location is best for you. You will choose the reason you are taking the test, then the country, the city, you will see the locations that are open and the availability. 10. How to prepare for the CELPIP test? When you pay for the CELPIP exam you have access to a portal. You are automatically given a couple of video lessons called the Starter set with an overview of the test. I highly recommend to review this material, as it is helpful to understand the structure of the test. They also give you 2 free practice tests. If you want to see the content more in depth you have to buy it separately. I would recommend to buy at least the CELPIP Accelerate - Listening & Speaking and CELPIP Accelerate - Reading & Writing. During Black Friday (end of November) they reduced the prices to 50% and I bought both for 20 CAD approx. so maybe you can consider doing the same. Once you understand the structure, I suggest you start looking for examples and practice. 11. How can I improve my CELPIP score? I would say the key is to practice and understand the type of questions you will be presented with and how the exam is structured. At this point the focus should be on the structure and not on practicing the English itself. (Obviously it is helpful to have a foundation but it is important to feel confident with the type of questions). Another thing I would say is to take the test before you have to create your profile for the express entry, this way if the score is not good enough you still have more time to retake the test. I would suggest scheduling some study time into your schedule. That's something they recommend as well, so you can adjust and feel confident with the time you have available. 12. Recommendations In addition to the resources you will have available on the official website I suggest you explore the following resources: YouTube videos such as the official CELPIP test channel. Podcast: The official CELPIP podcast I leave here some recommendations for the test day based on my personal experience: Be punctual. Don't bring too much stuff. They provide a space to leave your jackets or parka. Bring something to eat after the test. It will be 3 hours and a little more and you will be exhausted by the end of the test. Go to the bathroom before the test. You can go during the test, but the test keeps going, it doesn't stop so I don't recommend it. Follow the instructions. During the test, you have to speak not too loud, if you are loud the examiners will ask you to lower the volume so as not to disturb others. I hope this post orients you about the process and the steps you should follow to have a great experience. Have you thought about what exam you are going to take? Have you already taken it, how did it go?

In this post I will explain the step by step of how I obtained an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) to have a Canadian equivalency of the degree I obtained in Chile. I must clarify that this is NOT a certification or licensing process to work as a Pharmacist (my case) in Canada. That is a more complex process and depends on the province where you want to live. If that is your case I would recommend that you contact the appropriate regulatory body for the profession and the province. This is for employment and immigration purposes only. I will tell here why it was useful for me to have evaluated my credentials beforehand. Table of contents 1. Why is it useful to validate my credentials? 2. Have an idea of what you are going to need 3. Contact your educational institution 4. Create your account in WES 5. Get the documents 6. Translate the documents 7. Additional authorization 8. Send the envelope I decided to validate my credentials back in May 2020 when the pandemic was starting. I knew I was coming to Canada on working holiday and that it was not necessary to do so, but I wanted to take advantage of the fact that I was in Chile and could prepare that documentation in advance in case it would help me to get a position in Canada or later in case we wanted to apply for Permanent Residency. I lived in Santiago - Chile and I had studied at the University of Concepción located in a city south of Santiago (5 hours by car). The first thing I did was to start asking my university where I had to get the documents from. It was not an easy process and not cheap either, each document, stamp and signature had a cost, but when I was working here last year and suddenly during an audit preparation they requested our credentials. I was able to attach that document with my degree and it was worth it. Also, this year we created our profile for Express Entry and it was worth it to have those extra points and not have to manage everything from Canada. 1. Why is it useful to validate my credentials? Validation of credentials is necessary when you need to demonstrate the Canadian equivalence of a diploma or degree you obtained in your home country, so that local institutions can understand your background. In simple terms, what you studied in your home country is equivalent to having studied something in Canada (e.g. a 2-year diploma, a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, etc.). There may be different reasons why you need a credential evaluation: Education Professional licensing or certification Employment Immigration In this post I will focus on the latter two (Employment and Immigration). 2. Have an idea of what you are going to need As I mentioned I will focus on Employment and Immigration. If you believe that having your credentials evaluated can give you an advantage in looking for a job. If you plan to apply for permanent residence in the future under the Express Entry program or another program that gives you points for this. It is a good decision to prepare these documents in advance, especially because the validity of the report is for 5 years. The credentials evaluation can be done with different institutions, I will focus on World Education Services (WES) which is the one we used. To see more details of what other institutions do it visit Canada.ca. Once you have decided this, I recommend that you get an idea of what you will need. In WES.org you can check what documents you will need to present by checking the name of the institution where you studied and the diploma/degree you obtained. 3. Contact your educational institution Once you have reviewed the required documents. You will need a contact person at the institution to guide you on how and where to get the documents as well as to put the final documentation in an envelope, so the first recommendation is to try to find that contact person. If you don't know where to start, check the webpage of the University or Institution where you studied and try to find someone who can be related to the documentation, alumni, etc. Some institutions can send the documents online directly, check with your institution to see if they have an agreement with WES. If so, you avoid all these next steps. In our case, our institutions were not in agreement so the normal paper process was necessary. 4. Create your account in WES I suggest you create the account at this time, once you know where to get the documents from. To create your account click here. On the WES page you will see at least 3 assessment options, this is where you choose Employment (WES Standard Application) or Immigration (ECA Application for IRCC). The main difference is that in the case of immigration WES will send your report directly to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). You can start with an Employment evaluation and then pay an additional fee and move on to an Immigration report (I did it this way). At this point you will have to pay the Educational Credential Assessment directly to WES and they will assign a reference number to your case. They will also give you complete instructions on how to submit the documents. WES will then wait for the documents to arrive to perform the evaluation. 5. Get the documents It is very likely that the documents requested will be the academic transcript and degree certificate. In this link you can check what documents you will need to present by checking the name of the institution where you studied and the diploma/degree you obtained. Ask in which department of the institution you can obtain these documents. Then find out if they are provided in English or only in their original language. If they are in English, great! You will save a lot of time and money. If not, you will need to complete step 5. Once you have confirmed where you can get the documents from, pay for them if necessary and go to the next step. 6. Translate the documents If the documents are not in English, you will have to translate them. Here different situations can occur, you should consult with the institution if they can give you the documents in your original language, you find a translator to do the job and then return with the translations to the institution. This was the case with Aldo. Another situation, is what happened to me, when I processed my documents and explained the reason for doing so, the contact mentioned that it was mandatory to do the translation with the language department of the University. Whatever the situation is, do the translation and then go back to your contact at the institution. 7. Additional authorizations By now you already have the documents in the original language and in English. Check with your educational institution if any additional authorization is required. In my case the signature of the Secretary General of the University was required, so after getting the documents in Spanish and English I had to go back for that signature and pay some fees to get it. 8. Send the envelope At this point the original documents, translations and additional authorizations, if required, have been gathered. In addition, WES provides a form to be filled out by the contact person at the educational institution with the reference number and some basic information, which should be added to the envelope as well. The WES requirement indicates that the institution must enclose all documents in an envelope that is signed and sealed across the back flap. It is important to include here the reference number corresponding to your case, so that WES can identify your documentation when it arrives. The educational institution can send it directly to WES, but normally the institution will give the envelope to you or someone you have there and that person should send the envelope to WES. Then you have to wait for it to arrive and be processed. Finally you will receive a report from WES indicating what your Canadian equivalency is. I hope this post gives you an idea of how to start collecting the information and give a logical guideline on how to do it. If you have experience with another institution performing the ECA let me know in the comments. If you have any questions that you think I can help with feel free to contact me by email, comment here or message me on Instagram.

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission when you purchase from the links at no additional cost to you. Don't worry; I only recommend products I use myself, and all opinions expressed here are my own. You are about to land in Canada with your study or work permit, and you have doubts about what are the steps to follow upon arrival? In this post, you will find ten steps you should take as soon as you arrive in Canada to get settled in the best possible way. All this information is based on the province of Ontario and my personal experience, but it can help you get started and then look for the equivalence in other provinces. As always, I will leave an anecdote here of what happened to me on my supposedly super-planned arrival, but you can jump straight to the content if you wish with the following table of contents. Table of contents 1. Get your SIN 2. Get your Ontario Photo card 3. Get your driver's license 4. Get a cellphone plan 5. Get a Presto card or similar 6. Activate some useful apps 7. Look for a rental 8. Look for a job 9. Get winter clothes 10. Open a bank account If you have read the about me page of my blog, you will see that I always try to be prepared and plan to avoid mishaps or improvisations. When I travelled to Canada, there was a mandatory 15-day quarantine that I had to comply with. So, I started preparing when I was in Chile by looking for a supermarket and decided (I don't remember why) that I would buy all the food I would need online at Walmart during those 15 days. Well... with that in mind, I created my Walmart.ca account and added products to my shopping cart to ensure I wasn't missing anything (not to mention that I didn't cook, so I needed to be prepared with Aldo's tips). As soon as I arrived at the place where I was going to be for those first 15 days and connected to the Wi-Fi, I logged into my account (so proud and confident of my preparation process) and hit Check out.... my surprise was that the earliest delivery was in 3 more days!!!. I panicked for a moment because I wasn't prepared for that and only had coffee and sugar at that location. So I had to start looking from scratch where I could buy groceries online with same-day delivery until I found it, and my story had a happy ending. I don't want you to have these inconveniences, especially when you arrive after many hours of flying, jet lag and all. I will give you the first ten things you should do during your first week or a little more in Canada. Let's jump right in! 1. Get your SIN The SIN is the Social Insurance Number, a 9-digit number that identifies you as a worker in Canada and also allows you to access government programs and benefits. There are three ways to apply for a SIN: Online, by mail, or in person. The online way is easy, but it takes 20 business days to receive the letter with the SIN in the mail. The second option is to do it by mail by sending the documentation manually. The third option and one that I highly recommend is to go in person with your documentation to Service Canada. I recommend doing this if you are free to leave because you will receive your SIN immediately. For the documentation, see all the details on the official website here. 2. Get your Ontario Photo card The Ontario photo card is an identity document issued by the government when you do not have a driver's license. You can use this document as proof of identity or for everyday business transactions. It makes your life easier when you have to identify yourself, as you will not be using your passport, and in simple terms, you have your local ID. If you know you will not apply for a driver's license; you can get an Ontario photo card. You have to take your original ID documents to Service Ontario, they take your photo, and you will receive your card at home in a couple of weeks. It costs 35 CAD. Here is the link to find out all the details on how to apply. 3. Get your driver's license If the Ontario photo card is not the option you wish to use, you may apply for an Ontario driver's license. If you have experience in your country, you can get a G full driver's license quickly; if you want to know how to do it step by step, I recommend you to read this post. I suggest you do this procedure as soon as you arrive so you can get your driver's license soon, mainly because appointments are needed to complete all the steps, and sometimes it can take time. Here I explain the whole process. 4. Get a cellphone plan If you already have a cell phone, make sure it is unlocked so you can buy a SIM card, install it, and you are ready to go. In my case, I bought a SIM card at the Toronto Pearson airport upon arrival. I advise you to see which companies have coverage in the province and then decide. I have mine with Chatr and have not had any problems. 5. Get a Presto card or similar You are likely going to use public transportation in the place you choose to live. In the case of the Toronto area and surroundings, the card is called Presto card; it costs 6 CAD; you buy it, then you can recharge the money and buy the monthly pass or whatever is more comfortable for you. I know in the Montreal area, the equivalent is the Opus card so you can check with that name, and in Vancouver is the Compass card. I suggest doing this because although you can pay with cash, it is usually more expensive than paying with the presto. For example, in Mississauga (Mi Way), they charge you 4 CAD if you pay with cash and 3.1 CAD with presto. They are usually purchased at the nearest subway station, so you know which is one of the trips you have to make. 6. Activate some useful apps When you arrive, you probably don't have any food or anything you might need in the place you rented, so you first need to find a supermarket. If you don't have to do a quarantine (very typical these days), you can walk and go to the nearest place, but if not... I would suggest activating Instacart if it is available in the area, that was the app I used, and I had groceries available within a couple of hours. I would also suggest looking at these apps: Flashfood (you can use my referral code JULI36R8D if you want) and Toogoodtogo. They allow you to buy food at lower prices because they are close to the expiration date, or they are the dishes left at the end of the day from a restaurant. I would also suggest creating an account with Amazon Canada. They can deliver within a couple of hours or the next day, which is helpful for the other things you may need while figuring out if you live near a mall or similar. For example, if you are travelling with a pet, as was my case, I bought everything I needed on that site. I recommend you to visit 15 things your cat needs when settling in Canada so that you can have an idea. 7. Look for a rental Several sites can help in this search, for example, Facebook marketplace, Kijiji, etc. In my case, and after searching several places, I contacted a real estate agent. I learned that when you are the tenant, you don't have to pay for the service; they receive a commission from the landlord directly. I feel it is better because you can give the characteristics of what you are looking for, and they present you with several options; they schedule viewings which saves time and represent you to close the deal. 8. Look for a job If you want to look for a job, I recommend creating a profile on the following sites: Indeed, Glassdoor, LinkedIn, and Jobbank to get started and activate alerts for the jobs you are looking for. Also, be sure to create a Canadian-style resume and cover letter tailored to each job you are applying for, using the keywords of the posted position, not including a photo, and in a brief format. If you want more details about this process, visit How to get a job in Canada as a newcomer. You may also find this resume builder tool helpful, My Perfect Resume. 9. Get winter clothes, if required This will depend on the season of the year you arrived. For example, I arrived at the end of February 2021 (ending winter) and could buy my winter boots at a reasonable price. So, I highly recommend looking for deals, especially as winter is ending. I would recommend Winners (I love this place - you have to go physically), Noize (vegan winter jackets), and SoftMoc (Winter boots of different brands). You can get more information about what to wear during winter in Canada. 10. Open a bank account This is something you will need to get your salary deposited and start building your Canadian credit score. Some of the banks in Canada are Scotiabank, RBC, CIBC, TD Bank, and more. Some banks do everything virtually. I use Neo Financial because there is no cost; you can have a high-interest savings account or a credit card and earn cashback. As you do not have a Canadian credit score, the banks will likely offer you a secured credit card where you put in an amount they retain equal to the credit limit. It is a common way to get started. I hope this list clarifies the steps you need to take to set yourself up for success. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to write me through the Contact page. If you are already in Canada, what is another must-do activity that you think people should do when they arrive in Canada? Let me know in the comments below.

Since I moved to Canada a year and a half ago, I would say that my lifestyle has changed. Back in Chile, I used to be a sedentary person and here, I have taken a taste of morning walks and walks in the parks every day. I am sure this is due to the enormous number of options I have here. Near our home in Mississauga, there are several parks where we can go to refuel each day. I have compiled a selection of 14 parks and trails you should try that, in our experience, are spaces to connect with yourself and nature. Admission to these parks is free, family and pet-friendly. I will organize them from closest to furthest from Mississauga (Square One area). In addition, if you are considering Mississauga as your destination, check out this post about 14 top reasons to live in Mississauga. This will be one more post of photos of the options you can find in this beautiful city. I will also add the link to the location on the map so you can quickly locate it. As always, I will leave here a story about how I got motivated to start walking. Table of contents 1. Kariya Park 2. Zonta Meadows 3. Ashgate Park 4. Deer Wood Park 5. Dr. Martin L. Dobkin Community Park 6. Cooksville Creek Trail 7. Sgt. David Yakichuk Park 8. Heritage Hills Park 9. Applewood Park 10. Etobicoke Creek Trail 11. The Riverwood Conservancy 12. Erindale Park 13. Sawmill Creek Park 14. Lake Wabukayne Park When we arrived in Canada in the middle of the pandemic, I worked from home, just like in Chile. While here I bought a smartwatch to count my steps while we figured out how to start exercising more. I realized (shockingly) that on a regular office day at home, I did no more than 300 steps! That was brutal for me. 300 steps are like going to the bathroom, then to the kitchen a couple of times, and that's it. When I noticed (with numbers) the level of sedentarism, I started going out to see if that would change. I started with a goal of 2000 steps per day, and if I had met 2000 the next day I would add 300 more steps. Doing that during the summer I got up to 16000 per day, but then when the days started to get shorter I couldn't make it through the day to complete the steps, so I set a limit of 15000 during the summer and 10000 during the winter. This walking routine has changed everything, now I feel that I need to walk every day: for my physical health, mental health and for my energy. I hope this motivates you to start walking daily, a couple of steps. If I was able to do it from my sad 300 steps a day, you can do it too. I have prepared this list with some of the parks we have visited in Mississauga to motivate you to go there and enjoy, so here we go! 1. Kariya Park It is a small Japanese park close to the Square One shopping mall. It is like an oasis in the middle of the city. During the summer, everything is green and colourful. There are ducks and several places to sit. It is super family-friendly, so if you are visiting Square One mall, take a couple of minutes and enjoy this space. Here you can find the exact location. 2. Zonta Meadows I think this is the park I have visited the most, essentially because it's the closest to my house. This is where I do my lunch walk when I have a couple of minutes to do so. It only takes 15-20 minutes to walk, but I love it. There are always families and people with dogs walking. Here you can find the exact location 3. Ashgate Park This park is about 2 km walkable and easily accessible as the Rathburn Street trail is really convenient to walk. A walk from our house to this place takes about 45 min. Here you can find the exact location 4. Deer Wood Park This requires a little more effort than Ashgate Park; if you continue your hike, you will soon reach this place. During the summer, it is full of vegetation and trees. Here you can find the exact location 5. Dr. Martin L. Dobkin Community Park This is one of my favourites. I never remember the name and identify it as "El Caminito del parque". The trail is well defined and can be hiked in all seasons of the year. It is well protected from the wind, so especially in winter, you won't have any problems. Here you can find the exact location 6. Cooksville Creek Trail This is another favourite walk, again I never remember the name and I call it "El caminito del río". I go here especially when I am not feeling well and need to breathe. I have to say that this park is essential for my mental health. I have visited this park during all seasons of the year because I love the trees and the sound of the river. It is located near the Absolute towers (Mississauga iconic buildings) and is beautiful in all seasons. Here you can find the exact location. 7. Sgt. David Yakichuk Park This is a lovely park, from the city center it should be about 2 km, so it is a great walk especially in the morning when the sun is rising. Here you can find the exact location 8. Heritage Hills Park We got to know this park because Aldo started going there to play soccer. Every week during the warm seasons, a group of strangers, who enjoy playing soccer, use the Meetup app and come to play. It's a big park, and there are spaces to sit as well. There are about three soccer fields if you like to play, you can go with a soccer ball, and I'm pretty sure someone will join you. Here you can find the exact location 9. Applewood Park We have been visiting this park on weekends due to the fact that it requires almost 2 hours of walking from the city centre of Mississauga. You won't believe it, but in this park, back in November 2021, the idea of having a blog was born. If you live in Toronto, this park is almost on the border between Mississauga and Etobicoke, so it may be more accessible for you. Here you can find the exact location. 10. Etobicoke Creek Trail This is a long trail; if I say long is because we were not able to finish it. We walked 6 km and decided to turn back because we had to walk 6 km to return to our home. It is a great place to hike, but you have to be careful in summer because there are parts where there is no direct protection from the sun, so hydrate yourself and take something to protect yourself from the sun. We will try again next summer. When we walked those 6 km we were able to get close to the airport and see the planes taking off very close. Here you can find the exact location 11. The Riverwood Conservancy This is a beautiful place; you also have access to a garden during the summer. It is internally connected to Erindale Park as well, so if you want to take a long walk, you can do it in these two parks. There is also a river, and the sound is great. Here you can find the exact location 12. Erindale Park This was the first park we decided to hike in the spring of 2021. We went there walking approximately 7.5 km. When we got there, we realized there was another shorter way to go. There are places to sit and share with the family. Here you can find the exact location. 13. Sawmill Creek Park We have been here three times. The first time it was wet because it had been raining the day before. Everything was flooded, the water had gone over the trails, and apparently, the river had washed some things away. The second time was during the winter; it was beautiful with snow. The third time was during summer transitioning to fall. I recommend visiting these places every season of the year because it's kind of magical how the changes are. For me, it's like a whole new place. Here you can find the exact location. 14. Lake Wabukayne Park This is the only one on this list where we took a bus first. It is a beautiful place with a lake in the center. I highly recommend it. You can walk around the lake and then walk near other parks. Also, you can sit in a giant blue chair in the park. Here you can find the exact location. I hope you enjoyed this virtual tour of these parks, and I hope it motivates you to get out and enjoy a walk. We have learned to value our walks and believe that now that we have a car we use it to go to the other parks that are not so close to Mississauga. So far, we have discovered benefits to our mental health and our energy levels; most of our plans have been created during these walks, and even these walks made the winter not so harsh, and we had some winter sunshine every day. I highly recommend you embark on a routine of daily walks, especially during winter, here you can find what we wear during winter to stay warm. And you... are you motivated to go and visit some of these beautiful places?

When you move to Ontario, you can use a valid license from another province, state or country for 60 days. After the 60 days have passed, you must exchange it for an Ontario driver's license. There are some countries that allow you to exchange your driver's license due to an exchange agreement in place with Ontario. If you are coming from Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Isle of Man, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Switzerland and Taiwan, you do not need to follow the information in this post, you will need to check the exchange agreement mentioned above. If you do not meet the above category requirements, you may still be able to speed up the process and get credit for previous driving experience. In this post I am going to focus on how you, as a newcomer, can get a G full driving license, in a couple of months, by demonstrating that you have driving experience in your country. As always, I will leave a story here about what happened to Aldo when he was trying to complete this process. Table of Contents 1. General requirements 2. Gathering documentation 3. Practice for the G1 exam 4. Take the G1 exam 5. Practice for the G full 6. Schedule the G full driving test 7. Day of the test for G full Aldo, my partner, completed the written test in December 2021 and scheduled the G full test for January 2022. We decided to pay for some private lessons to regain his driving confidence, especially since some road signs were different here in Canada. Just the day before the test it was snowing, which was normal because it was winter, but the day of the test started out nice and sunny. The instructor we hired lived in Toronto and the test was scheduled in Mississauga for that reason before the instructor arrived he asked Aldo to go to the driving test center to ask if the appointment was ok or if they needed to reschedule because of the weather. Aldo went there by bus around 9:30 am and the appointment was at 12:00. However, they needed to arrive earlier, plus the instructor and Aldo were going to complete one more hour of practice before the test. At the center they confirmed that the appointment was fine and that he had to give the test that day at noon. Aldo waited for his instructor to arrive and they completed the hour of practice, then, they parked outside the center and Aldo went to take the test around 11:30 am. When he went to the counter, the clerk told him, "All exams have been cancelled for today due to the weather." He could not believe it, as he had supposedly confirmed at the same counter a couple of hours ago. Finally, he had to reschedule, pay for a new class and an additional day to rent the car, so our big recommendation is that if you can do this whole process in the summer, it would be perfect, in the winter you could expect rescheduling due to the weather. In general, to get your Ontario driver's license you must get the G1, G2 and finally G full driver's license. For most people, the process to go from a G1, then G2 and finally G full takes about 20 months to complete. This is the long run, but you, as a newcomer to Canada, can expedite this process if you have had experience in your home country. With your current driver's license plus your country's experience you can get your Ontario driver's license by going from G1 directly to G full, saving the time of 12 months of practice for each. As I mentioned in the introduction in this post I will focus on how to get the G full driver's license as a newcomer by showing that you have experience in your country. If you have a driver's license from your country, with 1 or more years of experience, you can process your Ontario driver's license faster. How can you do this? Follow the steps described in this post. 1. General requirements To apply for an Ontario driver's license, validating previous experience, you must: Be at least 16 years of age Have your documents validated through your country's consulate in Canada. Pass an eye test Pass a knowledge test on traffic regulations and road signs (G1). Pass a practical test on city driving and highway access (G full). It doesn't sound that difficult, but let me break down each step in more detail. 2.Gathering documentation 2.1 Original foreign driver's license and official letter The first document you need to prove your driving experience is the original foreign driver's license. If you want to prove more than one year of driving experience, you will also need an official letter from the foreign government or the agency that issued the driver's license, confirming the authenticity of your license. This letter must be in English or French. To complete this document, Aldo contacted by email the Consulate of Chile in Canada, located in Toronto, and they responded with a series of instructions to follow. He was asked to mail the Consulate his driver's license, his national identity card or passport, a letter addressed to the consul explaining the requirement, 2 Canada Post XpressPost prepaid envelopes and a money order for 10 USD. The Consulate scanned the driver's license and enclosed a letter. In addition, they issued a driver's record in Spanish to prove experience. Note: If you are a Chilean citizen, this is the email to contact the Consulate of Chile in Canada (Toronto): toronto@consulado.gob.cl If you are from another country, try to find the contact of your corresponding consulate. 2.2 Translation of documents If your documentation is in a language other than English or French, you will need to have it translated. This translation must be done by some specific institutions. Once you have your documents validated, you will need to have them translated into English by a certified agency. You can find the list of certified agencies on this link. Aldo did the translations with the Ontario Translation Agency. They were quick and easy to arrange. He scheduled an appointment and brought his original documents, they reviewed them and prepared copies. Then he paid and a couple of days later they contacted him by email with a preliminary draft for his review. Once he approved the draft and confirmed it by email, they printed and stamped the translations in final format. They also informed him by email of the date to pick up the envelope. The average turnaround time is 2 days from the date of your approval, so from the time you pay until you have it in your hands, you should have approximately 1 week. The value of translations varies, with a regular rate: $59 (Ontario) per sheet (at the time of Aldo's processing). You can make your quotations and consultation on the website. In total, Aldo paid $150.29 CAD for the translations. 2.3 Acceptable ID To apply for an Ontario driver's license at a Drive Test center you will be asked to show proof of your legal name, date of birth (day, month and year) and signature. In this case there are several options of documents you can present. Aldo used his passport. Here is the link where you can find other options. 3. Practice for the G1 exam Once you have gathered all the documents, you are ready to take your G1 exam. So if you want to save study time, parallel to gathering the documentation, follow the process of preparing for the exam. The G1 exam is a written test with driving regulations in Ontario. You must be prepared for the exam, even if you have some or many years of experience in your country, it is necessary to keep in mind that Canada has some particularities, such as signaling, speed management and school zones, to name a few. Therefore, remember to be well prepared to pass the exam on the first try. You can study on different platforms, here are the ones that helped Aldo pass his exam on the first try: Online through Service Ontario (Free) App: Canadian Driving Test (Free) App: Ontario G1 - Driving Test (Free) Official Ontario Driving Manual ($14.95 plus taxes) - You can purchase it physically from Service Ontario. 4. Take the G1 exam To apply for and take the knowledge test, you must find a Drive Test center. I recommend that you make an appointment after you have prepared or while you are studying for the test, as you may be able to take the test the same day you schedule it, as was Aldo's case. The knowledge tests are done fluently, every day and in several languages, so when you pay they will ask you if you want to take the exam the same day and in which language. The cost at that time was 106 CAD. To apply for and take the required knowledge tests, visit: a DriveTest center (no appointment necessary) - You can search for one near you here: the Service Ontario Bay and College location in downtown Toronto schedules by appointment only. Ideally, you should be prepared to pass the test on the first attempt. But don't worry, if you fail you can retake the exam, but you will have to pay each time you take it. If you pass the exam you will be given a provisional G1 license, on paper and with an expiration date. Your final plastic card license will arrive at your mailing address in about 15 days). 5. Practice for the G full Even if you have enough experience in your home country, some rules are different in Canada. It is very important that you practice as much as you can with a friend, family member or driving school that is qualified and knows how to guide you on the key points to keep in mind. Our suggestion is that you look at some of these alternatives: Hiring a course at a driving school. Hire a driving instructor. Renting a vehicle It is necessary to have a car to take the driving test. If you do not have one, a good option to avoid renting a car is to purchase a course or driving school, since they include packages of classes and the car for the day of the test. Some private tutors also do this, of course with an associated cost. 6. Schedule the G full driving test To schedule and perform the road test, you can do it online, by phone or at any Drive Test Center. The cost is 91.25 CAD. I recommend you schedule it while you are already practicing, as appointments usually have a 1 month wait date (at least that happened to Aldo in December 2021). Here are the options: online by phone at 647-776-0331 or 1-888-570-6110 at any DriveTest center To book an appointment for the road test, you will need to provide: your Ontario driver's license number (including expiration date) a preferred test location a second and third choice of location a preferred date and time If you need to cancel the test, you must do so at least 48 hours prior to the appointment to avoid cancellation fees. 7. Day of the test for G full On the day of the road test, you must be present at least 30 minutes before to register. You must bring your G1 license (on paper if you don't have the definitive one yet) and park your car in one of the parking lots enabled for the test, they are usually numbered and signposted. The general steps are: Arrive 30 minutes before the scheduled time. Park the car in a special place for the test (remember the parking number). Take a front photograph of the car. You will be asked for the license plate, make, model, color and parking number. Stop by customer service and announce your name and schedule time. You will be asked for your G1 license, confirmation of your personal data, the vehicle data mentioned above, if you have experience driving on highways and how many times you have driven on them. Once the schedule has been confirmed, you can wait in your car for an Inspector to approach it. The Inspector will identify the vehicle and ask for your G1 to confirm your identity. He/she will also ask you to check the turn signals, brake light and horn sound. He/she will proceed to enter the car and will give you all the instructions to follow for the test, listen very carefully because you will have to give your consent by a signature. At the end of the ride, he/she will give you feedback or important observations, if you have passed or not. If you pass... You will have to go back to the office to pick up your new full G license. You will be issued a provisional G license, on paper and with an expiration date. Your final license on plastic card, as well as the G1, will be sent to your mailing address in about 15 days. I hope this post will help you organize and plan your process to get your full G driver's license in Ontario. If you are ready to take your test and are just reviewing the latest information to make sure you are not forgetting anything, I wish you a successful outcome on your tests. If you have any questions that I can help you with feel free to contact me. And tell me, did you know about this abbreviated process to obtain the G full license?

In Canada, when we talk about the health system, each province operates as a different country. I mean that each province has different rules and different health plans. Since I live in the province of Ontario, I will explain how the process works when you have a working holiday visa or a work permit in this province. In this post, I will go over the process of applying for the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) and obtaining a health card as a work permit holder under the working holiday program. As always, here is a little story of what happened to me when I first applied for the health card. Table of content Requirements Application Renewal Use Out of Coverage I usually study everything ahead of time so I am always prepared for paperwork. The day I went to apply for the health card, I was denied because I had the job offer plus another document to prove I was working full time, but when I got there, they told me it was not valid. I read it all on Ontario.ca, but when I got there, they gave me a piece of paper that told me the specific contents of the letter from the employer. It did not matter that the same information was contained in the documents I was carrying. The good part was that I didn't have to schedule a new appointment (which was otherwise difficult to schedule through COVID). They gave me a piece of paper that said I had one week to come back, and I did not have to wait in line or schedule an appointment again. I just had to show that paper to the guard at the door. When I got home, I contacted HR at my company, and they prepared the letter following all the points on the sheet they gave me. The second time I arrived at Service Ontario with the letter, and this time I left the office with a smile and my health card. 1. REQUIREMENTS First of all, one of the requirements of the Working Holiday program is that when you arrive in Canada, you must have medical insurance for the entire time you are going to be in Canada. This must be taken out before you leave your country since you must present proof of coverage at the border when applying for your work permit. You have to be covered for the entire time you are going to be here and be careful because at the border the officer will check the expiration date of your insurance. If you have less than the time you are supposed to be here, you can receive your work permit with a limited expiration date. As I mentioned before, all the information I will share in this post is about the province of Ontario and how I applied to the Ontario health insurance plan by having a working holiday. To apply for OHIP you have to meet several requirements; these are the three minimum you have to meet: You must physically be in Ontario for 153 days in a 12-month period. You have to physically be in Ontario for at least 153 days out of the first 183 days immediately after you start living in the province You must make Ontario your principal residence To make my existence easier at this step, I used an online calculator that I will leave here for you to add up the day you arrived in Ontario and the day you are reading this, so you can easily calculate. I waited until day 183 and went to Service Ontario. In this case, because it is a working holiday, you are eligible for this category: You are in Ontario on a valid work permit and are working full-time in Ontario, for an Ontario employer, for at least six months The first conclusion is that you must be in Ontario for at least 183 days and work full-time for at least six months. 2. APPLICATION Once you meet all the requirements, you must go to Service Ontario in person; this is where these applications are processed. It depends on the location, but there are some Service Ontario where you can schedule an appointment in advance through the ontario.ca website. I recommend you do this, so you do not have to wait in line to be seen. Just show up and mention that you have made an appointment in advance, and you'll get priority. Things to keep in mind: If you have a common-law partner, spouse or dependents, you can go with him/her /them and extend your OHIP immediately to him/her/them. Aldo was an English student at the time, and we did not know he could do it until after a couple of months. When we found out, he went with my documents (work permit and letter) plus the documents below. He was able to apply for his own health card, and it was linked to my health card. You must bring at least 5 documents: 1) A completed Registration for Ontario Health Insurance Coverage form. Actually, at Service Ontario itself, they can give you this form, but if you want to go prepared, you can download it from here, fill it out at home and arrive there with it fully completed. 2) One original document proving your OHIP-eligible immigration status, in this case, is your open work permit, but in addition to the work permit, you will need... 3) A letter from your employer with the following characteristics: The letter must be on the employer's company letterhead The letter or contract must state that the employee is working full-time Must state the title/occupation of the position Must state that the employee will be working for an employer that is located in Ontario The start date of full-time employment Must state that the employer intends to employ the employee for a minimum of six (6) months and/or can state that the employee is permanent be signed and dated by employer It is important to note that the letter or contract cannot be a letter of acceptance or job offer, nor can it be a photocopy, scan, email or fax. It does not matter if the job offer contains the same information; you need a separate letter. 4) One document (original, printed or digital/electronic, as noted on the list) proves your residency in Ontario. In this case, you can use your tenant agreement, driver's license, Ontario photo card, utility bill, bank statement, etc. You can see more examples of documents you can use on this official website. 5) One original document that proves your identity. These documents must include your name and signature and must be different from point 4. In this case, you can use your passport, Ontario photo card, driver's license, etc. If all documents are in order, the Service Ontario employee will take a photo of you that day. They will then mail the document to your home in about 4-6 weeks, but you are covered by the health care system from the day you apply, and if you need it, you can take care of it with the document they give you that day. The OHIP will have the same expiration date as your work permit. This application is free of charge. 3. RENEWAL As the Working Holiday is valid for a limited time, if you have a new work permit and continue with the same employer, you will have to go with the new work permit and the same initial letter from your employer. You will have to go with the new work permit and the same initial letter from your employer to Service Ontario. You will have your photo taken again and have to wait for the new card, which will arrive at your home in 4-6 weeks. Your partner's health card can also be extended, but only until his or her study or work permit is valid. Renewal is also free of charge. Renewal due to expiration is done online. 4. USE Once you have the health card, you can go to a hospital, a walk-in clinic, and I imagine any health center. You will have to present it and you will not have to pay. I have used it twice, and I felt very empowered :) 5. OUT OF COVERAGE There are things that are not covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP), for example, ophthalmologists, dentists and pharmacies. Based on our experience, we know that some tests are not covered, such as vitamin D and ear washing. You can go to a walk-in clinic and visit a doctor, but the other things are not covered. I have seen here that usually, in your job, there is insurance (depending on the company), and with that, you can cover a part of that attention. I hope this post can help you quickly gather the documentation to apply for your health card. I wish you success in completing this process. Let me know if you have any questions regarding this topic.