Myself with my wife arrived in Toronto a month back and now we are slowly getting used to Canadian weather. Eventhough I had an experience of living 5 years in England, for me the Canadian system is totally strange and new. So whatever your field may be, you need to do the following things after your few days of arrival in Canada.

After we landed in Toronto airport, we just called a taxi to take to our accommodation. Thank god that we had an accomodation booked for us already through internet from India. After one day of complete sleep or you can say rest (still with jet lag)..we went to HRDC to apply for our SIN card..then after that the next day we opened a bank account. After 4 days I took the driving G1 theory test and straight away went to apply for health card. They allowed only me to apply as I have some address proof to say that I live in Ontario (my temporary G1 licence). I was trying to explain that health officer that my wife is living with me...they wouldnt believe me (yes my friends..Indian family system of living is not accepted in Canada..and hence your wife too need her own documents with her name and address on it)..so better be prepared for that.

After few days we went to buy a mobile phone as you need one here badly to apply for some job and pass on your contact information. We were refused at first instance as we dont have any documents except the passport and landing documents (they need Canadian credit card number and SIN number)..fortunately one of our friend helped us and we got a cell phone...now what??next step is mobility...please dont rely on public transport here in Canada (first bad thing about that is the weather..u cn wait in harsh weather in bus stop..it is horrible)..now I am taking driving lessons...now what??I also bought a cheap laptop computer (for job search thro' internet and stuff)...but initally we were using COSTI and other immigrant services organisations where they will help u find jobs (free internet access, free photocopier, free fax and you can get loads of crap advices for free as well)..finally..friends I wish to say one thing those who intend to come as immigrant to Canada....make your self strong enough mentally and keep struggling...u will win finally..thats for sure...

Gokul

Hang in there Buddy! You'll do just fine!

DT

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Microsoft - Which end of the stick do you want today?

Hi gokul would like to know updates from you.

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Sucess is not an accident it is a result of hardwork with intelligence.

Please Dont unnecessarily critisize the transit system because of the bad weather.

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hello!

I am myself getting Temporary accomodation booked over internet after hearing from your experience my worries have reduced to some extent.

I have a question for you.

How do you manage food ? I checked out many restaurant they seem to be very expensive ?

How much roughly you are shelling out daily for routine stuff ?

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Manjeet Singh

Could someone please advise how one can book temporary accommodation from Mumbai on the internet? Please suggest some useful websites. Do they provide utilities as well? Is it economical? Are the facilities good, viz. heating, etc? Looking forward to your feedback.

Thanks and regards
MBJ

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The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up - - Paul Valery

Manjeet: You could probably eat at restaurants for the first 2-3 days; after that locate a supermarket near your home to buy groceries and cook at home....

Margo: Check through google.com for "furnished apartments for rent in Toronto", you will get a lot of websites. If you are looking to stay in downtown Toronto a furnished place will cost (monthly) anywhere from CDN $1250-CDN $2500. It depends if you want a studio or 1bdr or 2bdr. The utilities are included in the price, so is cable TV. The facilities are quite good, but ofcouse this depends on where you would like to stay....the feedback I am giving is from my personal experince. Hope it helps.

Good luck & regards,

DB