So, finally you have been granted your permanent residence in Canada and you are going to land soon or you have recently landed. Fantastic! Most people in Canada are welcoming to newcomers and things goes smoothly with initial tasks like getting your SIN number, bank account creation, health card creation etc. It is quite possible that you will be staying in a temporary accommodation initially and you start looking for permanent accommodation for your family. There are quite a few occasions where you need to be extra prudent about your steps and that might end up bringing daunting experience for you.

Here are a few things to remember once you land in Canada

1. Job search and finding a legitimate job

What’s wrong in searching for a job? Any newcomer to Canada would obviously start looking for a job in his/her skill set and apply for the vacancies they come across? Well, that’s true but you have to be careful in this. If you are applying for many jobs at the same time, you might go through multiple interviews in parallel. Since you are unsure about where you are going to get offered, you will of course go through as much as possible and try to secure a job for you. Here’s the problem. Since you will be contacted by potential employers and consulting firms as well, be careful before giving any commitments to them. Consulting firms typically act as a middle man between an organisation and you to provide the job offer. Until you are too sure, do not provide any confirmation (Emails/signature/verbal confirmation) to them or else you might end up in trouble. People have a tendency to file lawsuit in small claims court for smallest claims here and why would you like to go through the legal procedure. That is a simple way to get money from you since you did not join them and chose to join some other employer.

In a nutshell– Until you are sure about the employer, salary and your desired role, do not provide any confirmation to the employer( be it direct employer or any consulting firm).

2. Budget planning

Before coming to Canada, you have estimated a budget and brought some money to manage the expenses until you start earning. It is suggested to revise your budget with latest trend of expenses in Canadian cities, especially house rent. It is better to have a backup plan in case something goes wrong or expenses goes beyond what you had expected.

Example- Paying security deposit for apartment rental, buying new clothes as per Canadian weather etc.

In a nutshell– Prepare your budget plan with revised expense rate as per the Canadian city you are moving in.

3. Fraud Phone call pretending to call from Canadian Immigration department

This happens with many Canadian newcomers where you get a phone call from an unknown number threatening you to meet and pay money as you have been caught for drugs smuggling when you actually don’t even know about the types of drugs that actually exist in the world. When it is legitimate, you will get an email from IRCC directly on your email about your application rather than calling you. They will have most of your information like, your name and possibly address too and the frauds will straight away ask you to pay money to get out of this mess for money laundering/drugs smuggling etc. Well, when you know that reality is nowhere close to this, why should you be worried? If possible, report that phone number to your nearby police station and inform them about this. But, do not ignore any important communications sent to you by IRCC on your email.

Refer IRCC official website.

In a nutshell– If you get any fake calls threatening you for illegal things you have done, and you haven’t been part of it, ignore those calls. Don’t pay a single penny even if they say that they are going to send police right away to your residence. Instead, you should report it to the police.

4. Frequently changing weather

You need to get habituated to frequently changing weather in Canada, especially during winters you end up spending days sitting/working from home due to bad weather. There might be possibility of issues in transit due to severe weather conditions as well. Additionally, you might get under the weather and this happens almost with every new comer in Canada.

In a nutshell– Be prepared for weather conditions and keep yourself motivated during bad weather. Have good food and keep basic medicines with you always.

5. Do not get involved in any illegal activities

It is strongly advised that you do not get involved in any illegal activities or otherwise you will be caught sooner or later. Keep your life simple! People do work hard in Canada to make their end meet but keep themselves away from any short tricks to earn money. Well, there is literally no shortcut to this.

Having said that, the above mentioned things are among a few you need to be careful about apart from some other basic things which you are well aware of. Canada has got enough job opportunities, welcoming people and most importantly support from the Government of Canada for basic living, like free health card for PR holders/citizens, tax benefits, free language classes and many more. During leisure time, you might take advantage of learning something new or explore the places to visit in Canada.