Canada Blog: From Work Permit To Permanent Residence

Hi, All! It’s been a long time without posts here, but next few months I’ll post really many information here. Why? Because:

1. I did CELPIP test (it is test like IELTS, but computerized and could be done only by Canada residents).
2. We’re going to apply for permanent residence really soon.
3. We’re going to prolong my work permit next month.
4. We think about moving to Toronto (from Brampton) and I’ll describe this process thoroughly.
5. We are going to visit Ukraine this spring, but there are lots of questions about obtaining new visa.
6. We did some research about apartments pricing in Toronto and about mortgage in Canadian banks.

So, stay tune and you’ll get lots of interesting information about live in Canada.

Have lots of fun during todays shopping. First of all, almost in every store you can find huge banners with text like “Pre-holiday sale - up to 50% off”, etc. But most interesting was shopping in The Bay store.

We’ve trying to find some sweater for Tanya and looked through lots of different stores in near shopping mall, bot no luck - everything sucks because of size,color, model, etc (you know women)… Eventually we decided to visit Bay store and go home…

But in Bay we’ve found lots of different cool wears for Tanya and she chose some to buy. When we were ready to checkout, some woman from Bay staff said: “Do you have your HBC Credit Card with you?”. Of course, I answered “No”, because I haven’t go it before (was not eligible). She said: “If you’ll get it today, you will be able to shop in Bay, Zellers and Canadian Tire with 10% off today!”… So, we’ve tried and now I have my own HBC Credit Card with $1500 credit limit! Without any deposited money like in BMO Bank!

So, we were really glad to buy sweater with 10% off… But just before checkout Some woman from Bay customers gave us some paper card with 15% additional discount! She gave it to us for free! Just because she was going to buy only one thing in Bay today and she has two cards… So, at last, checkout was complete and we’ve got really nice sweater with 25% off

If you need to find Family doctor for yourself or for some of your family members, you can use great service from CPSO (The College Of Physicians And Surgeons Of Ontario). Doctor Search provides information about individual physicians, including practice address, telephone number, qualifications, etc., and whether they are accepting new patients.

Before last week I thought, that temporary residents of Canada are not eligible to use Canadian health care system. But few days ago my boss said, that we are eligible. After not so long research I’ve figured out that we’re eligible for Ontario Health Insurance Plan. According to OHIP site, almost all Ontario residents are eligible for provincially funded health coverage (OHIP). To be eligible for Ontario health coverage you must :

• be a Canadian citizen or have immigration status as set out in Ontario’s Health Insurance Act, and
• make your permanent and principal home in Ontario, and
• be physically present in Ontario 153 days in any 12-month period.

OHIP coverage normally becomes effective three months after the date you establish residency in Ontario.

To get OHIP health card, you should should fill application in one of Ontario Ministry of Health Offices. When applying for a new health card, you must bring three original documents to prove citizenship/immigration status, residency in Ontario and identity.

• See health card Fact Sheet
• See Ontario Health Coverage Document List (PDF)

You may be asked for additional documents. For example, if your name has changed you may need to provide a marriage certificate or a change of name certificate.

After filling application and applying to one of Ministry of Health offices, we’ve got our health cards and now we can use Canadian health care system. I was wondering how different this system comparing to xUSSR countries systems. One of most interesting ideas of this system is idea of Family Doctors. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

A general practitioner (GP) or family physician (FP) is a physician/medical doctor who provides primary care. A GP/FP treats acute and chronic illnesses, provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. Some also care for hospitalized patients, do minor surgery and/or obstetrics. The term general practitioner is common in the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries, where the word “physician” is only used for certain specialists and not for GPs.

Yesterday we’ve got one family doctor for me and my wife in shopping mall near our home. IMHO, this idea of family doctors is much better, than our Ukrainian health care system based on set of polyclinics with huge line-ups. So, maybe, Ukraine will get such or some similar system one day and we’ll be able to have better health care system.

Minimum cigarettes pack price here is about $7-9!

Have no posting here for long time… But there are lots of interesting experiences in our life.

First of all, I have got my new Mastercard credit card from Bank of Montreal. To be more precisious, need to note, that it is not a real credit card as most canadians have. Because I have no any local credit history, I can’t get any credits in local banks. But I put some money to bank account ant they gave me my credit card with exactly the same credit limit as my deposited amount of money. But later, when I will get some credit history using this semi-credit card, I will be able to get real credit card with much bigger credit limit. So, this is their credit system - there is no life without credit history

Another thing I like here are mail-in rebates. Idea of mail-in rebates is following: sometimes in bug shops you can find some goods (hardware, office supplies, etc) with marks like “$20 mail-in rebate”. If you will buy these goods, then mail your receipt to main rebates processing center or fill form on their site, yo will receive 20 bucks cheque my mail in 3-6 weeks. I just rereived my $20 cheque from Zellers, where I bought great Wireless Broadband Linksys Router for $48 last month. So, its price for me is $28 only, which is really good price for this device!

And the last interesting thing are ATMs… If you have some Visa card and want to withdraw some money from your account, don’t try to find ATM with Visa logo - simply put your card to any ATM and you’ll get your money! I’ve spent lots of time trying to find Visa ATM and then asked about it in one of near banks

After some time of problems we’ve got our home phone number and connection to Bell! Our new number is +1-905-861-9378. To get this connection I have only filled connection request form on their site. Connection fee will be included in first month bill. It is really simple!

By the way, if you will need to Bell 611 Repair Service from outside of Bell, you can use following number: 1 800 668-6878 no charge from anywhere in North America.

One of the most important things Canada residents should do is to apply for Social Insurance Number. It is pretty simple process - you need to visit near Service Canada Centre and fill-in your application. With your application you need to have some additional documents. If you are skilled worker with work permit, you need only Work Permit/Employment Authorization (issued by Citizenship and Immigration Canada Government of Canada).

Brampton SDC office information (service is in English only):

• Location: 18 Corporation Drive, Brampton, Ontario, L6S 6B2
• Phone: (905) 790-2525
• FAX: (905) 789-3885
• E-Mail: ontario.inquiry@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca
• Hours of service: Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm
• Busiest Hours: 9:00 am to 12:00 Noon

When your application will be processed (it will take about 15-20 minutes), you will get paper, which will proof your Social Insurance Number and after 3-5 business days you will receive your plastic SIN card.

Useful link: SDC Official Pages about SIN Application

Вот и подключились в интернету. Опять же - к роджерсу, но теперь к услуге кабельного интернета. Процесс подключения прошел достаточно гладко: оставил заявку в магазине возле дома и сегодня был подключен. Единственная проблема - какие-то несостыковки в ширине канала, но тут сейчас разбираемся… Для интересующихся сразу назову цену: 40 баксов в месяц за 5М/384К.

Update: Все - порешали со скоростью. Теперь у нас есть нормальный инет

Сегодня наткнулись на магазин с интересным названием Dollarama и не менее интересной идеей - все товары в нем стоят доллар или меньше (есть варианты типа 2 товара за доллар или 10 за доллар). Очень-очень пожалели, что не зашли в этот магазин в день приезда - это просто рай для эмигрантов - есть все, что нам было нужно в первые дни: дешевая посуда, всякие товары для дома (кухни, ванной и т.п.) и некоторое количество дешевой еды (в основном - напитки и сладости), очень много всего.

Глядя на этот магазин, я начинаю менять свое мнение о ценах на товары в Канаде - не все так плохо и, если знать где покупать, то можно найти товары по ценам, не выше, чем те, к которым мы привыкли у себя на родине :-). Короче, сразу после приезда нужно искать такие магазины (их здесь, как оказалось позже, много) и покупать там все, что нужно - если позже захочется более красивых тарелок или более удобных ножей с вилками, то не жалко будет выбросить старые!