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- Written by Daniel Lucio
When you are new to Canada, after sorting out the housing subject, one of the next needs you will have is having a mobile with a Canadian number. Sometimes it is fancy to keep your number from abroad, but most mobile companies won't honour the service if you are roaming all the time; Canadian recruiters won't call an international number. So, let's find one. This is my experience.
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- Written by Daniel Lucio
Among many things, the CELPIP exam is required to migrate to Canada if you are going to try for The English language. So I am writing about the exercises you will have on it. One of the exercises CELPIP has is to write a complaint letter about a purchase you made. So here it is how I did.
The letter must have a clear structure. According to some little research on Google, the best structure is the following:
- Background
- Problem
- Solution
- Warning (optional)
- Closing
This letter must be polite and try to avoid questions such as "Why?", as this is not helpful to get your goal done.
Read more: How to Write a Complain Letter for the CELPIP Exam
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- Written by Daniel Lucio
Among many things, the CELPIP exam is required to migrate to Canada if you are going to try for The English language. So I am writing about the exercises you will have on it. One of the exercises CELPIP has is to describe a picture. So here it is how I did.
First, you must speak all in the simple present tense. Don't change your main tense, however, you can use expressions like: "I think he is coming from ...". So, my description would be like this:
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- Written by Daniel Lucio
Sometimes when you find a good job, your new employer does not know what to do. If this is a declared job (paying taxes), one of the first things you need to do is to sign a contract. Fortunately, Canadian contracts are not very complex (note that I am not a lawyer, but I have signed them up at least twice). As an employee, you can help him/her to speed things up by giving him/her this template. It covers almost everything you need. I have got this template after reviewing several, including the ones I have already signed up in hard copy.
In this specific case, I used this template for a 6661 NOC Occupation. If you are not familiar with this, NOC is the way all occupations are classified in Canada. Every work has an NOC code, regardless of the fancy title name. If you are looking forward to having a work permit, having a signed contract or a job offer letter is one of the many steps you need to take. I won't talk about the importance of knowing your code, but it really makes a difference if there is an agreement that speeds up your employment process.
Here is the template I am using.
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- Written by Daniel Lucio
To become a resident in Canada, you must show your English skills are enough. The Government of Canada documents it in a very clear way. It states what tests and the minimum grade you must have. For English, only two exams are valid: CELPIP and IELTS. I will tell you my experience and based on that you can get a better idea. I don't consider myself very good at English, but I felt more comfortable with CELPIP.
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- Written by Daniel Lucio
The purpose of this blog entry is to help all newcomers to Canada to understand some holidays/statuary days that are not well-known abroad. Embrace the Canadian ways and not forget one of many on-field stories of those who have served.
Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in the line of duty.
I had the honour and opportunity to meet and interview Mr. Edar Barlow Huges, a 97-years old veteran (as of November 2021) who served in the Navy. Before I start spreading his story, I must say it was a delightful experience. Mr. Hughes is a very strong man, you couldn't tell he is 97 at simple sight. When I arrived, I found him playing the piano. After he finished playing, we headed to his room. He walks very fast!
He started to tell me about his days in the navy and some funny stories. When he was enlisted and doing his health exam, medical examiners agreed with him of being all navy just by watching his toes! Mr. Hudges showed me an old photo when he was young (a very appealing man), that reminded him of another story when he was in his 40's and when visiting a bar, nobody could guess his age; everybody was thinking he was in his 20's.
At that time, joining the forces was not a voluntary thing, Mr. Huges told me about the day he found out he had to serve. He was 18 at that time and his first impression was watching his mother crying while reading a letter. "You have been called to serve.", she told him.
He currently resides in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada.
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- Written by Fernanda Lucio
In Canada, there exist various post-secondary possibilities for students. Two of them are college and university. With these two opportunities, many frequently question what the difference between the two is. For starters, universities concentrate on theoretical and professional programs. They offer undergraduate and graduate degrees which can advance to bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. Meanwhile, colleges are focused on occupational training and trades. This indicates they offer hands-on training to qualify students for employment in their chosen field. Colleges offer certificate programs, diplomas, apprenticeships, and many of them have an option for Bachelor's degrees. Therefore universities are focused on theoretical programs and are degree institutions while colleges are focused on professional preparation and are diploma institutions.
Read more: Selecting my Education after High School in Ontario
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- Written by Daniel Lucio
This happened to me like eight years or go, but it is still valid. After I successfully got my first work permit notification from my home country, the only thing I got from the Government of Canada was a notification letter with some directions.
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- Written by Daniel Lucio
Québec is a province that has been always different in many ways. The renting process is not an exception. In this case, I rented a house directly from the owner. I was very lucky, he was a very thoughtful person and he delivered the house in mint condition. When the house had an issue that it would be considered "under warranty", he was there to fix it. I know, not every landlord was like him; there are several horror stories out there where landlords only answer with the painful legal path.
One funny thing about finding a house in Québec is the way they count the rooms. You will see things like 2 1/2 condo (it means a condo with a living room/kitchen, a room and a bathroom), or 6 1/2 house (could be one living room, one dining room, three rooms and two bathrooms). They count the number of rooms, regardless of the function they have.
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- Written by Daniel Lucio
It is a blog, where people can post their experience in a particular subject while doing its migration to Canada. There are many other websites that explain what to do, but information from first-hand of things is something that is priceless.
Everybody is invited to post their story. Please read the open invitation.
Let the Canadian Dream happen.
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- Written by Daniel Lucio
As soon as I was under a roof, one of the most obvious things to do is getting a cellphone. A lot of people like to keep their home country number, but the truth is it is a new country. Local people, including the office, will need to call; friends and family can keep in contact thanks to social media.
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The migration process is really complex, it is clear it is not always the same for everybody. There is always a catch and things someone would love to know to make this smoother.
If you have dealt successfully with your migration at some point, and you would love to help others, then you are very welcome to contribute to the content of this blog.
Some outstanding points on the contribution are:
- You will get credit for your article.
- You will get links to your social (if you want).
- We will make some redaction fixes, but you will still get the credit.
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- Written by Daniel Lucio
As soon as I landed in Canada and my family settled down., one of the very important things I had to do was to get a bank account, to be more specific a chequing account. As an employee, I had to give a bank account to get my payments. My boss at that moment took me to TD bank, why? He claimed that that bank was the best (I had no arguments against that).
When I got the branch, it was pretty straight forward. I was asked for my work permit and in minutes I got my card and a bunch of papers including some directions on how to sign up to the web portal. I also got a chequebook under my boss's recommendation.
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- Written by Daniel Lucio
For me, my dog is a member of the family. I couldn't leave him back in Mexico when I moved to Canada. I will try to write here about what I did to bring him with me.
Miguel was six when he moved with us to Canada. He is a white Griffon Vendeen with a very charismatic personality.
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Funny story I want to share. I hope this will help others.
The truth is Canada wasn't in my plans. Yes, I was looking for a job outside of my home country, to be more specific, I was looking forward to finding a job in France. The opportunity came without notice. I will explain it.
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- Written by Daniel Lucio
I think more than one has this question, so I will write what I did. I hope this helps you.
Read more: How do I Switch from Sole Proprietorship to Incorporation in Canada?
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- Written by Daniel Lucio
Being in Canada with a work permit is hard for those who have an entrepreneur's mind like myself. The only way you can be in Canada with a work permit is as an employee. The obvious move is, that as soon as the permanent residence is granted, start looking at how to establish my own business. In short, a business can be established as a sole proprietorship, partnership or incorporation (there is also non-profit, but that is not really a business). I will write here how I did for my proprietorship.
In Ontario, I was able to register myself using this link: https://www.ontario.ca/page/register-business-name-limited-partnership It cost 60 CAD and it takes around 15 minutes to register. Although the system is very fast, they have a hard rule, if you register your business outside of business hours, you will need to wait for confirmation. So, do yourself a favour and do it during working hours.
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- Written by Daniel Lucio
I have more than ten years of driving, and if you like myself, didn't get the Canadian way at first, let me tell you it is normal. Canadians drive in a different way than in Latino-Americans, they don't push themselves into the traffic. It is perfectly normal to see a car waiting for people crossing the street.
If you are coming to Canada, as a tourist you can drive with your still valid foreign driving license. However, you must follow the Canadian way. I will write here some details.
If your interest is more on how to get a Canadian license, you can read my article where I describe how to shortcut the process using your foreign valid driving license.
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- Written by Daniel Lucio
One of the best things about this country is education. The public education, which is free, it holds, in my opinion, a high standard.
The first thing that as a parent I had to understand is how the system works and how it is organized. School starts with kindergarten 1, 2 and 3 (also known as senior kindergarten). After that, there is the elementary school that goes from grades 1 to 6. After that, it follows the middle school which includes grades 7 and 8. From grades 9 to 12, it is known as high school.
Read more: Registering my Kids in the School in Ontario for the First Time
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- Written by Daniel Lucio
Hopefully, this was my last visit for migration reasons. This was a very important and special trip to the border as I had already gotten my CoPR. I did this trip with all my family, as every family member is required to do the proper landing and sign the documents.
As always, I want to thank my friend Jessica who drove us again.
Read more: My Third Visit to the Border: Getting my Permanent Residence