Before I'm gonna list down the basics that you should know once you land to Canada, few pre-requisites I want to point out that is important as of 19th July, 2022.
1. Download ArriveCan. You must have the ArriveCan receipt with you. It will be needed everywhere right from the source airport you board, till the time you come out of the airport.
2. Immigration is gonna take lot of time. If you think you can talk to people and get advanced, you just cannot. They are not responsible for your next flight. So you would get the token at the first point of entry, you need to just wait for your turn. In case you miss your connecting flight, and they dont have the next flight, you might need to spend the night at the place nearest to airport. If you are lucky they have next flight, they would simply put you on next flight, free of charge!.
3. Please please carry a credit card/ forex card that you are ready to use it for at least 10 days here. Without a credit card, life is impossible here. Debit card is also fine. But just with cash it wont work as Uber/ online food delivery( Uber eats/Doordash) / online groceries( instacart - Get $5 and free delivery from Instacart. Use my code I16A24 or link: https://inst.cr/t/ac786647f) they don't accept cash and you will be heavily dependent on it once you come here in first week.
4. Be prepared to spend extra 1000$ etc for anything miscellaneous be it food/stay/Uber. It's fine.
5. Change the country in google play store/app store (you need credit card details to change in app store)
6. First week is gonna be super super hard.
Now here is the list of basics after you land in Vancouver, Canada.
1. It is filled with Indians (Punjabi's) everywhere, they are super helpful, amazing people. Most of them you meet has been staying for 10/15/20 years etc. One guy we meet has been here for 48 years. He was driving uber as he was close to his retirement and dint feel like sitting at home.
2. There are 100s and 100s of ways to earn here. You can find job in first week itself both technical/non technical. Now i understand why everyone moves to Canada, it does give you opportunity to earn which in India it might not be this easy. For example, we are staying in an Airbnb. This girl is hardly 28 years old, came when she was 18 years old, staying since 10 years and earning crazy. She has rented 2 places and renting it out as Airbnb, bought her own house and rented it as Airbnb. While our stay she was bust setting up another Airbnb. She also does some shooting and is working in some company as well. Now don't be surprised when I say she came here after her school to do nursing studies and no where continuing to what she learnt in college. My point is, here, no one works in their tech field. They are earning good, living good life just by doing Uber/salesperson and another fulltime job as security/company/restaurant/rental business etc.
3. For food - order groceries either online in Instacart or step out walk for 10-30 mins and get groceries from nearby stores. You will literally get anything in this world, you want. It is that diverse. You can also visit gurudwara's. You get free food to have anytime between 7am to 9pm on all the days. They offer you free bed/ groceries as well. Everyone will be ready to help you there. Some gurudwara also offers place to stay, however I'm not sure about that. Some said like "Gurudwara Dukh Nivaran" has provision to stay as well. You can get tiffin services. Search in fb marketplace or Yogi kitchen is very famous here.
4. We bought food from Punjabi restaurant - Ustaadji- 2 gravies dal and mix veg, it lasted us for 2 days/ 4 meals. Good quantity.
5. FB marketplace is your go to place for everything. You can literally furnish your home with free stuff, you need to research and take out time to go out and take it and transportation.
6. Go for SIN number - search for Service Canada center near your place. Start at 7 am in queue and you should get sin with in that day else it is never ending wait.
For SIM You can use my referral to get FIDO sim and you will get $50 credited to your account which will be adjusted in your bill.
https://referme.to/nikitaa-60
7. Take your SIN number ( although its not mandatory to have a SIN number to open a bank) , id (i.e passport) , work permit to bank (td & scotia are most preferred, I got mine from CIBC, lot of people have moved to CIBC as it helps in mortgaging) and get a new account open. Usually you should get 300-400 cashback on new account at all banks. Ask for credit card as well. Download the app. You can transfer anyone via e-transfer with their email id.
8. Bank will issue you a direct deposit print, also called void cheque. Keep it handy, you will need this frequently for any recurring deposit/credit you want to do. Give this print & sin to your company HR via email. Now, you are ready to receive salary.
9. As you settle down, you can get BC ID/driving licence as a local ID here which will help you to get some discounts/offers here. For example: if you have a local ID, when you go for a SIM, they get offers in phone if you buy with the pack.
10. You can rent a car from Avis/Hertz. Most credit cards covers the rental insurance, so check that if you have one else you need to buy insurance separately.
11. Office chair you can get it from Walmart, office desk from IKEA. Bed/Mattress take from IKEA (Malm and Hague - bed, Morgedal - mattress) if you want India type hard/firm mattress else everywhere you get the soft ones like in hotels! Pillows from walmart. You will need a fan too for summers if your place doesnt have an AC already. You can get it from walmart or Costco.
Where to shop from:
1. Walmart - Go to for everything you need. Any grocery, any utility you will find there. You will find organizers for your wardrobe too for good and cheap price.
2. Dollarama - Here everything is priced from $1 - $4. You get all the utilities like dishwashing stuff, soap, shampoo, boxes containers, chips, chocolate etc.
3. Mainly Walmart and Dollarama will help you set up home with basics of food and home cleaning. You will get utensils as well. To get more utensils you can check - Canada Tire ( expensive as compared to Walmart or Ikea too!) / Costco ( you will need membership to shop there. It is usually $60-$120) / Ikea ( you will get few things at very reasonable rate.
4. Indian stores like - Fruiticana, No frills, day to day are very popular. My recommendation would be find a indian local punjabi store. We could get everything from there. It was next to gurudwara. SunPharm/Sabzi Mandi on 152 street Surrey.
5. Look for thrift stores in your nearby location, sometimes you can get very good deals. Value village is again very popular here.
6. Last but not the least if you can drive a Uhaul or any mini truck, you can find free/cheap stuff on facebook marketplace which u can transport yourself.
Please note the above info is all based on my experience and learning in two weeks after landing here in Vancouver. I noted it down so that it can help a newbie. Leave a comment if you feel I should add/update any point or if it was useful to you! :)
