Canada 2010-2011?

Zapp Brannigan

Limerick_Lass wrote: »

Is that from Dublin? Mines to Heathrow too and then onto Vancouver with BA, but check again about the changing dates, USIT dont really make it clear that its only free if you wish to change before your departure date. Most people will have to pay the fee if they are going for a year, so this should be considered when comparing flight prices.

My receipt says first change after departure is free, 2nd one costs 125.

MikeBob

Hi, im goin to Toronto and I was thinking a car may be useful to travel as there is a few of us going...
I am just wondering does anyone know the cost of insurance for 22 year olds who have been driving in Ireland since they were 17years old??

Any other advice you have would be great
Thanks

colin29

MikeBob wrote: »

Hi, im goin to Toronto and I was thinking a car may be useful to travel as there is a few of us going...
I am just wondering does anyone know the cost of insurance for 22 year olds who have been driving in Ireland since they were 17years old??

Any other advice you have would be great
Thanks

It depends on the car, no claims, car use(work or recreation), my wife and I pay about $1300 for the year, both in our early 30's, I don't think your no claims bonus can be claimed in Canada so that might make it cost abit more.

crushproof

Hurrah, booked my flights and I'm jetting off in 2 weeks! Got the flights for 440 to Calgary via Manchester, much cheaper then Usit!
Can't wait for it now, as long as I can find places showing the world cup over there I'll be happy!
So....Calgary anyone???

shipwreck

Leaving for Toronto in the morning!! :eek::eek:

Heading off on my own!
I booked my flights through www.airtransat.com and backpacker insurance through www.multi-trip.com!


Hoping its gonna be a great year! Good luck to the rest of ye!

JohnMearsheimer

crushproof wrote: »

Hurrah, booked my flights and I'm jetting off in 2 weeks! Got the flights for 440 to Calgary via Manchester, much cheaper then Usit!
Can't wait for it now, as long as I can find places showing the world cup over there I'll be happy!
So....Calgary anyone???

Best of luck mate. Let us know how you get on Calgary. I was due to go there in September but it looks like I'm not going to make it out there until January now.

somedeed

shipwreck wrote: »

Leaving for Toronto in the morning!! :eek::eek:

Heading off on my own!
I booked my flights through www.airtransat.com and backpacker insurance through www.multi-trip.com!


Hoping its gonna be a great year! Good luck to the rest of ye!

Best of luck! Heading over on my own the end of July to Toronto as well, can't wait. Going to count on getting a house share with Canadians to help get to know ppl there.

Do you need references for most places for people to take you in? There's lots of options on craigslist, hoping they'll respond.

candy chaos

jimmypitt wrote: »

Could you copy and paste the EXACT email you sent them in a post here please? Or possibly PM it to me.

I'd like to get my 50 back too!!!

Cheers.

Hey sorry about the delay!

If you go back a few pages on this thread there is a posting by a person who first mentioned the refund if you want to check that too. I sent my flight / insurance details at the bottom of the message and I gave them my reference number but this is the body of the email I sent:

"I have been told by some people that people on the Canadian work visa program are being refunded the fifty euro paid if they booked their own flights and insurance independently of USIT.

Two of us paid the fifty euro each on one card so if you could tell me how to go about getting a refund that would be great,

Thanks, please see below for details of our initial booking."

They didn't get back in touch but we got the refund less than two weeks later. Everything is so expensive here it was nice to get cash back!

If anyone wants any tips on living cheap in Toronto let me know, feel like a penny saving expert at this stage!

mememealways

Hi!!

Is it hard to get jobs in Cananda now? is it easier if you go to certain cities? I want to go away early next year but want to make sure there is work where ever I go!

Thanks!

Chet Zar

mememealways wrote: »

Hi!!

Is it hard to get jobs in Cananda now? is it easier if you go to certain cities? I want to go away early next year but want to make sure there is work where ever I go!

Thanks!

The general feeling is that Canada has not been hit nearly as hard as Ireland or many other countries by the global recession, but that doesn't mean it is boom-times there either. If you plan to move to Canada do your homework and research in advance - network and make contacts and put in the groundwork before you leave.

Of course it depends too on what line of work you want to get into and how long you plan to work. If you want to work on and off and travel in between you should be grand getting casual work. Toronto is generally viewed as having more jobs than Vancouver, for example, but it all really depends on what you are after.

shipwreck

candy chaos wrote: »

If anyone wants any tips on living cheap in Toronto let me know, feel like a penny saving expert at this stage!

Yes please!! Im fresh off the boat and worried about not finding a job!!

crushproof

Thought I'd get a quicker response here then emailing Usit....Just wondering how I do about giving them my flight and insurance info, just email it or do I have to hand it in to them?
And do they send out the Work Authorisation Document or email it?
Cheers!

alcon1984

crushproof wrote: »

Thought I'd get a quicker response here then emailing Usit....Just wondering how I do about giving them my flight and insurance info, just email it or do I have to hand it in to them?
And do they send out the Work Authorisation Document or email it?
Cheers!

Just email them the info and then they will email you your visa info, just done mine yesterday.

Moondust

Hi guys,
So I'm currently in Vancouver, I moved here in December, and I'm going on to Toronto July 1st, so if anyone is looking for accommodation in Vancouver PM me, and I'll send you on pics and more detail.

BillyBro

Hi Moondust - I'm looking for accomodation - can you send me the details??

Cheers

Moondust wrote: »

Hi guys,
So I'm currently in Vancouver, I moved here in December, and I'm going on to Toronto July 1st, so if anyone is looking for accommodation in Vancouver PM me, and I'll send you on pics and more detail.

greenteaicedtea

mdu wrote: »

Hi, Does anyone know of a boards style website in Canada - specifically Toronto?

Sorry if this is a late answer, and it's not that similar to boards.ie, but it's useful for finding answers to all kinds of Toronto questions:

http://community.livejournal.com/toronto

candy chaos

First piece of advice if you're hitting Toronto is go to the SWAP orientation thing (think it's Thursdays) It's a bit cheesy and happy clappy but you'll meet plenty of people there and might be able to sort out house sharing or something. They have a notice board with a couple of jobs and a list of recruitment agencies too. Also they help you get set up with a bank account with Canada Trust. Not sure if it's any better or worse than other banks but it's straightforward enough.

When you're checking out houses / flats make sure it's close to a subway that will make life so much easier. And google the address - I found a few places I thought looked great but on googlemaps it's about a million miles from anything! This is a nice neighbourhood guide as well (not an accurate map obviously!) http://www.eyeweekly.com/neighbourhoods

Craigslist for jobs is grand but it's full of scams too so be careful and it hardly needs to be said - don't give your SIN number /passport or visa details to anyone via email. If you're looking for work straight away it's best to print resumes and just go into a place and hassle them (nicely!) for work. Don't expect much more than minimum wage - and don't forget you'll be taxed on that. So rather than getting a job in a shop - try somewhere that you may get tips. Having said that - check out the malls - DUfferin / Eaton Centre / Yorkdale - sometimes they have jobs on their homepage (careers section) and there are loads of shops out there might be hiring. Places like No Frills supermarket are always hiring and it's easy enough work (again min. wage)

It will prob take time to get a job so be wise with your money til you get sorted with something.

Phones are pricey enough but you could try Wind Mobile - they don't require a contract or Fido seem to be good to. Steer clear of Rogers.

Good luck and enjoy!

Kimia

What's the timeframe from when you are told that Usit have your work documents?

I told USIT that i would be supplying my own flight details back 2 weeks ago. She said no problem, and that was that (we're not going until Jan).

Now they are telling my bf that we have 3 days to book flights and submit documentation or else we forfeit everything??????? Is this right?

mickoneill30

Kimia wrote: »

I told USIT that i would be supplying my own flight details back 2 weeks ago. She said no problem, and that was that (we're not going until Jan).

So did you supply those details to them?

Kimia wrote: »

Now they are telling my bf that we have 3 days to book flights and submit documentation or else we forfeit everything??????? Is this right?

Once the visa is approved you have 40 days to submit your docs to Usit. You can book your own flights but you still have to give Usit the info. I presume this is to stop people taking up visa places when they don't intend going. If the info isn't submitted within 40 days the next person on the list is offered the place.

With 3 days left I'd be heading in to Usit or contacting them pretty quickly to find exactly what it is that is missing from your documentation.

Captain Pillowcase

Hey all,

Landed in Vancouver last Wednesday and we have been busy trying to make our way around the city. It's vast! Lots of high rise apartment blocks and looks an awful like the states! Yes the bottles of Coke are huge like the states and the TV is just as full of utter poop!!!!!!

We have done the walk of Stanley Park around the sea wall route and the mountains are still snow capped.

If you have been to Australia or New Zealand and expect anything like MAF think again. Even the States checked to see if you have anything on you but not once during our stop in Immigration or beyond were we stopped to see if we had any food stuffs in our bags, well we did but only what any Irish person would take, tea bags =] (Immigration guys on the whole seem nice except for one sour aul fella, eyes to heaven and a bit of huffing hope you don't get him)

We are busy looking for jobs but be warned even though you attach a Resume/CV they still make you fill out a whole heap of online questions. I am not joking I spent an hour online this morning filling out just one. So rest up your typing fingers now coz they will get a work out when you get here! For real.

Not too sure how the market is at the moment with jobs etc. Am hoping that it goes ok. Going to swap tomorrow for their happy crappy meeting, cheerful people freak me out!

Any of you guys who are heading to Vancouver and have any questions or want to stay in touch so you can have someone to meet up with just PM me! I don't claim to know much about the place but if we see or hear anything we will let you know. One big tip is East Hastings St. is a place to avoid. Big time, really there are lots of homeless people, drunks and a few junkies there and while we have not had any trouble, we only walked it twice, you just never know as there are quite a few people drunk etc and there is a high police presence there. We saw one guy getting a shake down!There are also a couple of missions etc on the street so at times there can be lots of people at some of the street corners. But you go a street closer to the water front and you are in Gas town which is lovely although you can get a few people ask you for money, we had one aul dear come into the pub to ask us for money coz she has a baby dog to support!

But it is a nice city, stunning views and hopefully we get some jobs so we can see more of the surrounding countryside and some of the rest of the country!

InTheTrees

Captain Pillowcase wrote: »

Landed in Vancouver last Wednesday

Best of luck to you!

(We're down south in Seattle.)

crushproof

Captain Pillowcase wrote: »

Hey all,

We are busy looking for jobs but be warned even though you attach a Resume/CV they still make you fill out a whole heap of online questions. I am not joking I spent an hour online this morning filling out just one. So rest up your typing fingers now coz they will get a work out when you get here! For real.

Not too sure how the market is at the moment with jobs etc. Am hoping that it goes ok. Going to swap tomorrow for their happy crappy meeting, cheerful people freak me out!

Sounds good so far! What site are you using to look for jobs?

Danteryu

I'm flying out in the morning, Dublin to Toronto Pearson at 9:50!
I'm going to live in London though, probably the only one who is, but it's for personal reasons.

Captain Pillowcase

Basically any and every site going. Printed up a load of Resume's and cover letters and dropped them into lots of stores etc. Banks etc will only let you go thru their online sites and they are only short of asking you for your knicker size. Some of the questions are so random.
Have walked the feet of myself at this stage!
For phones guys, credit expires at the end of the month, regardless! Even if you have $15 left from your $20, puff gone! But if you buy $100 (I know seems a load) it is valid for 365 days. But you can get some add on's with Rogers for $6 pm you can send 40 texts home and another $6pm lets you send 250 local texts. You get scammed tho, if someone calls you from a landline or bill pay phone not only do they get charged but you do too. Sucks bum.
Malls are in random places, what looks like a tower block for offices etc can be a mall. T'N'T supermarkets are great, they are a chain of Chinese markets but you can get loads in them even KNORR!!!! Costco is good for bulk buying but it cost $55 to join.
The sky train is great very frequent and after 6.30pm and all weekends you only pay 1 zone fair even if you have to travel 3 zones.
I would say get yourself onto some of the jobwebsites before you get here and register for alerts so you have an idea before you get here. For bar work you need a Serve It Right cert which costs about $40.
Weather at the mo here is lovely! Sun is strong, bring suncream =]

shipwreck

Dont go with Rogers!!

Wind all the way...they have a great half price deal on at the moment with their packages...they are really the only ones that do good pre-paid deals...and you wont be charged for receiving calls!

No frills good for food deals...they are like Lidl!

Limerick_Lass

Im getting a sim card from USIT with ten dollars credit before departure, anyone know which network its for?!

Danteryu

Mine is Rogers, so I can only assume yours is the same.

Zapp Brannigan

Its a Rogers sim card on the Minutes Anytime deal. Says so in your invoice from USIT.

marymc

Danteryu wrote: »

I'm flying out in the morning, Dublin to Toronto Pearson at 9:50!
I'm going to live in London though, probably the only one who is, but it's for personal reasons.

My dad lived and worked in London for years. Beautiful place.

emmagail

heading over in September, to the Hamilton area with my Canadian wife and my 2 Irish born kids, whats the story about me?
We are getting 1 way tickets and entering saying we are visiting her family and touring.
All travelling on Irish passports
Will I be able to stay indefinately and how long before I can work over there?
Can I claim my stamps over there (is bi-lateral just for pensions)

thanks for any information

cormac