Moving to a new city, let alone a new country, can be a bit overwhelming. Our first week in Vancouver was no exception, but it was also full of amazing experiences. If you’ve been fortunate enough to get a visa or permanent residence to live, study and work in Canada, congratulations! And if you chose to make Vancouver your new home, we have a list of things we recommend you do when you first arrive, plus some fun optional activities.
Get a SIN (Social Insurance Number)
You need a Social Insurance Number (SIN) to work in Canada so getting it should be a priority. You don’t need it to apply for jobs, or to be offered a job, but you can’t start working until you provide it to your employer.
To get a SIN, you need to go to one of the Service Canada offices in person (there are multiple offices in Vancouver). There’s usually a queue, so be prepared to spend at least 30-60 minutes there, maybe even longer. On the plus side, you will get your SIN immediately.
Open a bank account
There are many banks to choose from in Canada. The biggest five are:
- Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD)
- Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)
- Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank)
- Bank of Montreal (BMO)
- Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)
Now, the million-dollar question – which one should you choose? Well, you might just flip a coin for this one! All banks have offers tailored to newcomers, which usually means no account fees for the first year and a chance to pocket some cash if you meet certain requirements ($300-400). We went with Scotiabank because they made it super easy to get a bank account and a cash bonus. But you might prefer a different bank, so it’s worth doing a little research to find the best one for you.
Get a credit card if you can
It’s a wise move to get a credit card as soon as you can as it can help boost your credit score. This is important for things like securing an apartment as landlords often check it.
But there’s a catch! To get a credit card, you need to provide some documents to back up your income. Pay stubs are ideal, but if you’re still waiting for those, don’t worry! A letter from your employer will work just as well.
The good news is you can improve your credit score relatively quickly. We managed to go from Poor to Good in just one month by using our credit card for grocery purchases and paying it off every couple of days.
Get a Canadian phone number
You’ll need a Canadian phone number and there are a bunch of providers you can choose from. Rogers, Telus and Bell are the three biggest companies but there are many others you can choose from: Fido, Virgin Mobile, Koodo, Chatr, Public Mobile, Lucky Mobile and PhoneBox.
We chose PhoneBox as it offered the most affordable option – $45 plus tax for an unlimited plan with 25GB of data. However, it does come with some limitations, such as no international calls or the option to add roaming. But it was perfect to get us started.
Get your first PR card so you can exchange your driving licence, get a B.C. ID card and register for MSP (healthcare)
In British Columbia, you must have your PR card to exchange your driving licence, get your ID card and register for MSP. Unfortunately, your CoPR (Confirmation of Permanent Residence) won’t be enough.
Once you’re in Canada, make sure to link your PR card application in your Express Entry portal to see how long it will take for your card to arrive. If the time has passed and you still don’t have your PR card, call IRCC to make sure they have the correct address (our cards went to one of our neighbours!). If you will be moving a lot in the first few weeks, make sure to keep IRCC up to date.
Find your local grocery stores
Food shopping in Canada can be expensive. We found that restaurants and takeaways are similarly priced to the UK, but some groceries like cheese, sweets, spices or frozen pizzas are much more expensive.
Save on Foods, No Frills, and Costco are great budget-friendly options (although you need to pay a membership fee to shop at Costco).
Mid-tier options include Loblaws, IGA and Safeway.
At the higher end, you have Choices, Urban Fare and Whole Foods.
There are also other stores such as Real Canadian Superstore but they are located further away from downtown Vancouver
Find your local pet store
This doesn’t apply to everyone, but we have two cats so we thought it’s important to include pet stores on this list. There are several great stores in downtown Vancouver to chose from. Our favourite one is Bosleys as they have a great selection of cat food. Bones is pretty good too and you can also check out Vanpet Yaletown.
Don’t forget to enjoy the place
This isn’t compulsory, but it’s probably why you moved here, right? Whether it’s the ocean, mountains, food, or something else, there’s plenty to do, see, and eat in Vancouver.
Here are a few stand-out things we did during our first week in Vancouver and we can wholeheartedly recommend doing all of them (in fact, they’re still on the list of our favourite things to do here):
- Visit Stanley Park – walk through it, cycle around it, visit Beaver Lake, see turtles at the Lost Lagoon lake – these are just some of the options.
- Watch the sunset at English Bay beach with views of the ocean, cargo ships and mountains on the horizon. English Bay Beach is often busy at sunset, but it’s still one of our favourite spots in the city. It even has a few palm trees (yes, really!)
- Get your coffee fix at Nemesis – consistently voted as the best coffee in Vancouver. If you’re a coffee snob, you must go at least once!
- Get poutine at Mean Poutine – poutine is a Canadian national dish (cheesy chips with gravy) and in our humble opinion, Mean Poutine in Yaletown makes the best one in Vancouver. Don’t be fooled by the modest look of the place – their classic poutine with spring onion is amazing!
That’s the rundown on settling into Vancouver. If you’ve got any questions, let us know in the comments.
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