Settling in Canada

• POSTED BY admin
• January 5, 2016

Important Documents For Newcomers

When moving abroad, there’s a range of important documents you will need to bring with you. It’s important to keep these with you while on your travels.

Pre-Arrival Checklist

Below is a list of documents you will need to bring with you to Canada, depending on how long you plan on staying and what you plan to do. Naturally, documents such as your visa and passport are essential, whereas other documents will depend on the person, their planned activities and their visa type.

• Visa
• Valid passport for the duration of your visa
• Passport photos
• Birth Certificate
• Marriage Certificate
• Bank details and bank statements from your home account
• Debit & Credit Cards
• Health & Travel Insurance Policies
• Driver’s License
• Copies of your CV/resume
• Copies of skills qualifications/certificates
• English or French Language test results (if necessary)
• Letters of reference for employers, landlords etc.
• Medical Records
• Shipping company paperwork/delivery times (if using a shipping company)
• Pet information/Vaccination Certs from your vet (if importing pets)
• In Case of Emergency Contact List
• Home Country Consulate/Embassy address and contact details

Tips

• Make hard copies of all your important documents, particularly your passport and visa. Keep one set in your home country if possible, perhaps leaving them with a friend or family member. Bring copies with you to Canada as well, but keep them separate from the original documents. Copies are very useful should any of the original documents get lost or stolen. 
• Make digital copies of your documents. Scan your important documents onto your computer and save them either onto your computer or a USB/external hard drive. Again this can be very useful if you lose the originals or hard copies of your documents. 
• Store all documents and copies (both hard and digital) in a safe place at all times.   

Post-Arrival Checklist

Social Insurance Number (SIN)

For more information to obtain a Social Insurance Number, please click HERE.

Health Card

For more information to obtain a Health Card, please click HERE.

Driving Licences

For more information to obtain Driving Licenses, please click HERE.

For more information, please click HERE.