My husband arrived in Canada on Sept 13th so I can let you know what we have done so far...
SIN #/card
Find the nearest Services Canada Centre (
Welcome to Service Canada | Bienvenue à Service Canada) and bring the landing paper and passport. They will issue the number (you can use it immediately) and the card will follow in the mail one to two weeks later.
Health Insurance
Check the information for your province...some have mandatory waiting periods before coverage begins. If this is the case you may want to look at buying private medical insurance to cover those first 3 months.
You will need to prove that you are residing in that particular province. A utility bill, bank statement, rent/mortgage papers showing the new resident's name and address.
Bank Account
just bring the landing paper, passport and sin # (you do not need the actual card - at least at TD Canadatrust).
Driver's License
You will need to have the D.L. translated into English. For Ontario it needs to be by an approved Ministry translator. For Ont it is ATIO. If you call them they will ask you what city you are in and then give you some names and phone numbers of translators. We scanned and emailed the D.L. and had a translation in 2 days.
Exchanging an Out-of-Country Licence
This will explain about the years of experience they will give you. Basically if you have more than 2 years experience to get credit in Ont you will need a letter as stated on their website.
You will have to write the G1 knowledge test - but if you have more than 1 year of experience you will not have a waiting period before writing the G2.
You can bring the letter back at a later date to get the additional credit.
LINC - Language Institute for Newcomers to Canada.
They provide free language assessment and free classes. My husband was tested and the rating was ridiculous. And the woman told him to go the next day to a class that was ending in two days. We then went to check out an ESL class - they agreed to put him in a higher level but it is still not accurate. My husband has studied English throughout highschool and some university and took private school as well. So he is quite bored with the class - but it does give him something to do every afternoon and he is meeting people from all over and it was $30.00 for 10 weeks.
Finding work - this is the big one. My husband has been quite anxious to start working and making his own money so that he can contribute.
We made up a resume and sent it off to some temp agencies for General Labour to start. One of the agencies did ask if he had any references and he has his letter of employment from his last employer and it is translated into English.
Finding some Dominican culture
- We are lucky as we live in Mississauga. We have found a Cafe Santo Domingo on Weston Rd and the food was delicious. The owners were very friendly and we will definitely be back.
There is also a Dominican food booth at the Downsview Flea Market.
My husband has enjoyed being able to find some good Dominican food as I learn how to prepare things the way he is used to (poor boy is eating a lot of huevos y pan con queso lol).
If you are in the same situation as we are...I was never able to spend any extended time with him in D.R. so it is also an adjustment for me. I'm not used to having to worry about someone else or what to make for dinner (Lean Cuisines were just fine for me lol) or having to try to balance work with family life.
So much time and energy was spent on the Visa process that once he was here it seemed like a dream - it's only been 3 weeks so I still catch myself looking at him like he can't really be here (he thinks I'm crazy lol).
As we journey along I will update