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Moving to Canada? |
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Introduction - Moving to Canada
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Contributed by Dave Lympany
I won't pretend this article will answer all questions for everybody, but I'll be giving as much background as I can with more, detailed information backing it up from the website in the text or by links to the appropriate authority. I'll start with one of the biggest headaches – the house sale (if you own) and packing up for the move. Packing Up When it comes to moving house there are several theories as to when to put the house up for sale. Basically, we were told to wait until called for medicals as at least then you are over halfway through the process. We were lucky in that we had somewhere to go, so we put the house on the market as we just wanted to have it sold and out of our hair! Even then, as "Our Story" shows, we had trouble. If you own your house you need to assess the local housing market, and though its always a gamble, plan your house sale and know at what stage in the immigration process you will put it up for sale. Everyone's circumstances are different, but once the visa is issued, you only have 12 months from the date of your MEDICALS to physically land in Canada. One big worry I had was that we wouldn't be able to sell the house quickly which in turn would delay our landing. If you miss the 12 month deadline, you will probably have to redo the medicals at a fair cost and then resubmit form there. Or you could land in Canada with your house unsold back in your native country with all the problems that entails. With many people's houses being their main source of settling funds, you'll need to have that money in the bank as soon as you can after landing. If there is any way you can find temporary accommodation, then to have the house sold is one less headache you need when you are moving countries. You may pay rent for a while but at least you know what is in the bank when you arrive in Canada and this allows you to budget properly for your new life. If you have kids, make sure you keep them involved. One big mistake we made was thinking that our 3 year old didn't need to know at an early stage of the proceedings. We were amazed when a very sad and angry boy told us what the "For Sale" sign meant in the front garden as we had forgotten to tell him before it went up! All kids will be unsettled and I think the older the child, the harder the move may be for them – especially if they are in their teens. Only YOU know what you will take with you so it may be easy or it may be a serious project to plan what to take sell or throw out! Put kids into the equation and it starts to become complicated. We used the whole exercise to get rid of all our old or unwanted things and start again. It comes down to economics: if it costs more to insure, store and ship something than its worth. The decision on whether to insure or not is a personal choice and depends upon the value of the items you are shipping and don't forget to take into account any excess fees you have to pay in the event of damage or losses. You will need to build a list of all the items you are bringing into Canada and give their values in Canadian dollars. This is probably easiest to take it from the inventory drawn up by the packing company – give as accurate assessment of value as you can but don't spend weeks on it. If you have a box of kids toys for example, put your best guess at the value on the list as follows: 1. Box of assorted used kids toys C$100.00 2. Box of photographs No commercial value 3. Queen size bed C$850.00 And so on. You will be expected to have several copies of your packing list and a form B4 (Goods to follow) with it upon your arrival so make sure you have at least 3 copies in your hand luggage. Its okay to have too many but a pain if you don't have enough! You will also need a similar list for any items you bring with you on the day of arrival and also any other subsequent shipments (we had an extra large box of things couriered in a totally separate shipment just before we left). Don't forget that Canada, as with the rest of North America, has an electrical system that runs on 115v different from both Europe and the UK. There is a good chance non-North American electrical goods will require a transformer or simply won't work over here, so this may be a good time to dispose of your old goods and buy new once you arrive and are settled. The chances are you will be using a specialist international moving company to move your possessions to Canada. Depending upon where you are moving from, you may have a long wait for your things to arrive at their final destination. You may also decide to store the property in your home country while you find the home of your dreams, so make sure you allow for storage charges and extra insurance. These charges soon mount up and can give you a nasty surprise. One thing I'll say about the moving companies is that you are paying them for a service, if they are a good company they will be able to advise on the correct paperwork and formalities that will ensure a smooth arrival and customs clearance in Canada. You don't need your shipment to be turned away from the port of entry (very expensive when they order its return to the original port of departure) or you end up liable for extra taxes etc. because of incorrect paperwork. You may well be able to have it repaid once you prove it is legitimate but you will still be out of pocket in the short term. Most shipping agencies charge by the cubic foot and have several schemes offering different rates - "share a container" or "Full container". The Full container service will have the container packed and sealed at your residence. The shared container service will see your possessions packed at your residence and then transported to the companies' depot. Once there it is packed with other items to complete a container. It all depends on how much you intend to ship to decide which service is the best for you. All the companies we contacted offered to send an estimator to the house to size up the load, go through your options and give a rough estimate of cost. Whatever you decide, ensure you give yourselves plenty of time to contact the shippers, as we almost left it too late - 6 to 8 weeks would be reasonable. There will be plenty of advice on offer from qualified professionals - moving continents is a huge undertaking so any advice or extra information may help you out or save you money! Upon the arrival in Canada, the agent contacted us with all the information and forms required. Once Customs had released it, the shipment arrived at our house two days later and was unpacked for us. A true door to door service! We suffered one breakage - a glass - so we were happy. About the Author
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