Canada 2010-2011?

I'm just after receiving an e-mail from SWAP thanking me for registering with them, does this mean I got the visa since I don't remember doing that.. Also the odd thing is they send me 2 e-mails one minute apart saying the same things but giving me different log in information eg

myname1234
password

and

myname4321
password

Did this happen to anyone else?

Sergeant

Chet Zar wrote: »

Not everything is amazing here in Van, I'm pretty underwhelmed myself so far!

Seconded - it's a nice place, but just quite tedious - the night life is for the most part boring, supermarket shopping can be depressing in that (fruit and veg excluded - they are good) most of the stuff is just corn syrup laden shíte, have yet to get a loaf of bread that wasn't appallingly sweet, and the begging culture is beginning to grate on me, Dublin has nothing on it with regards this.

Chet Zar

Sergeant wrote: »

Seconded - it's a nice place, but just quite tedious - the night life is for the most part boring, supermarket shopping can be depressing in that (fruit and veg excluded - they are good) most of the stuff is just corn syrup laden shíte, have yet to get a loaf of bread that wasn't appallingly sweet, and the begging culture is beginning to grate on me, Dublin has nothing on it with regards this.

Yep to all of the above! I reckon it's all about who ya meet really - if you met some cool folks and were away on trips etc every weekend it'd prob be a cool place - my argument would be though that you could do that mostly anywhere (e.g. in Ireland!).

mirtos

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm just after receiving an e-mail from SWAP thanking me for registering with them, does this mean I got the visa since I don't remember doing that.. Also the odd thing is they send me 2 e-mails one minute apart saying the same things but giving me different log in information
Did this happen to anyone else?

We too received an e-mail from SWAP but when I tried to log in, all the orientation information was from 2009 and I couldn't go any further on the website than the homepage; further web pages told me that that particular page did not exist.

SWAP is supposed to provide us with information on getting our Canadian PPS number, setting up a bank account, finding employment etc, but the website and inability to let 2010/2011 USIT visa applications log onto the website, makes me think something dodgy is going on.......

I can get all the info on the website, what links in particular can't you see? Same story with the orientation dates though, all 2009. Nothing from USIT either saying I got the visa. Did you get the e-mail out of the blue too?

Black Swan

Canada posters! Make sure to read the newly stickied thread at the top of our forum "ATTENTION Canada and USA posters."

red menace

Arrived in Edmonton 2 weeks ago with my wife.
Amazed and pleasantly surprised with how easy everything has been so far
Lovely girl in immigration apologising for the rain.
Through that in less than half an hour.

Next day took an hour from getting into the office to walking out with our Socian Insurance Numbers.
Walked up to a bank and walked out 45 minutes later with joint a/cset up and debit cards in hand
Another day we registered for health care, downloaded the form from the internet and was all registered with 10 minutes of getting to the office.

Has been nice and warm since we got here with only one day's rain.

My wife started work yesterday and I should hopefully have some interviews coming up next week.

So far so good

lilmissbadass

hey guys. me and the boyfriend are heading off to Toronto on Tuesday. so just wondering if you guys have any tips for when we get there. were booked into the canadiana backpackers hostel for a week but were looking to find somewhere more permanent as soon as we can. iv been looking on some of the apartment websites and noticed that alot of them aren't available until the 1st of every month. is this a standard thing through out the city or is it possible to move in somewhere mid month? i really don't want to book a second week in a hostel coz it will cost too much. and moving into a basement apartment isn't an option. any other tips on Toronto would be very much appreciated also. thanks

the whole year inn

lilmissbadass wrote: »

hey guys. me and the boyfriend are heading off to Toronto on Tuesday. so just wondering if you guys have any tips for when we get there. were booked into the canadiana backpackers hostel for a week but were looking to find somewhere more permanent as soon as we can. iv been looking on some of the apartment websites and noticed that alot of them aren't available until the 1st of every month. is this a standard thing through out the city or is it possible to move in somewhere mid month? i really don't want to book a second week in a hostel coz it will cost too much. and moving into a basement apartment isn't an option. any other tips on Toronto would be very much appreciated also. thanks

may I be the first to say welcome to Toronto!Its all up to when the tenants move out or the landlord is cleaning the apartment.The apartment I am in now I said can we move in eariler and he said that he was cleaning the aprtment and painting,we needed to move in so said that we dont mind (the place looked very clean anywway)

Any tips well if your looking for beer in a supermarket you wont find it.Theres only two places that sell beer here LCBO and the beer store.The prices you see wont have any tax on it,they add the tax on at the till so be wary.Get the month pass for the subway line cost sometihgn like 120 but other wise it will be 3$ a ride.Theres probs loads more and ill update later after I have a think.

lilmissbadass

gob_smacked wrote: »

may I be the first to say welcome to Toronto!Its all up to when the tenants move out or the landlord is cleaning the apartment.The apartment I am in now I said can we move in eariler and he said that he was cleaning the aprtment and painting,we needed to move in so said that we dont mind (the place looked very clean anywway)

Any tips well if your looking for beer in a supermarket you wont find it.Theres only two places that sell beer here LCBO and the beer store.The prices you see wont have any tax on it,they add the tax on at the till so be wary.Get the month pass for the subway line cost sometihgn like 120 but other wise it will be 3$ a ride.Theres probs loads more and ill update later after I have a think.

thank you gob smaked that is huge help and advice, i will deffinety ask if its possible to move in sooner and see what they say. do many places accept you if you havnt got a job yet?

since we'll be in a hostel for the first week or so, we'll be eating out alot and hope to get out to a few pubs and clubs. is there anywhere you can think of that shoud be avoided or anywhere you would recommend going? thanks

ibh

ratedR wrote: »

For example, I bought 550kg of chicken fillets the other day (enough for 4 stirfry dinners, maybe more) for €6.66. I wouldn't consider that expensive for what I'm getting out of it.

That is a serious amount of chicken. That's just over half a tonne!! That's way more than you need for 4 dinners.
Average live chickens weigh about 3kg's so that's about 180 chickens! You must have a big apartment. If I were you I would split them up and sell them individually. You'll make a fortune.

tenchi-fan

ibh wrote: »

That is a serious amount of chicken. That's just over half a tonne!! That's way more than you need for 4 dinners.
Average live chickens weigh about 3kg's so that's about 180 chickens! You must have a big apartment. If I were you I would split them up and sell them individually. You'll make a fortune.

i hope they're in the freezer. Poultry doesn't keep well.

colin29

Regarding chicken, buy frozen and it won't cost you as much, get a safeway card and every now and then they have a 4 kilo box on sale for $26-27, normally $10 more, you'll get quite a few dinners out of that.
But saying that it's still alot more expensive then home, in the English market in Cork I can get a fine sized fresh breast for 1 euro, you just got to learn to live with it.

Sungodbr

I dont like chickens

Sheebs

Sergeant wrote: »

Seconded - it's a nice place, but just quite tedious - the night life is for the most part boring, supermarket shopping can be depressing in that (fruit and veg excluded - they are good) most of the stuff is just corn syrup laden shíte, have yet to get a loaf of bread that wasn't appallingly sweet, and the begging culture is beginning to grate on me, Dublin has nothing on it with regards this.

I'm heading to Vancouver in January, you're really making me think twice about my whole trip tbh

Ye are all such negative nancys here!

ugabuga

Sheebs wrote: »

I'm heading to Vancouver in January, you're really making me think twice about my whole trip tbh

Ye are all such negative nancys here!

There are lots of positives too! The transport system is great, the weather has been fab so far, people are friendly etc. I've made some Canadian friends since being here and have been to some great house parties - much better than spending a bomb in the pub! There's always something to do as well, I've joined sports and clubs that I never would have gotten into at home. Yeah some things are expensive but on the whole I don't see it as any worse than Dublin. Plus it's a cool city, people are so fit and into the outdoors, it's something different at least! People seem to be complaining about the small things (chicken is really getting a bashing) but when you look at the big picture, there's not so much to moan about imo.

TechnoPool

quick q with regards to usit, do you have to book ur insurance and flights through them?

JohnMearsheimer

TechnoPool wrote: »

quick q with regards to usit, do you have to book ur insurance and flights through them?

Nope, you can book with whoever you want but you will have to pass your flight and insurance datails on to USIT.

TechnoPool

JohnMearsheimer wrote: »

Nope, you can book with whoever you want but you will have to pass your flight and insurance datails on to USIT.

cheers horse

swabby

Sungodbr wrote: »

I dont like chickens

When wil ChickenGate end? Chicken is expensive, big deal!

Chet Zar

Sheebs wrote: »

I'm heading to Vancouver in January, you're really making me think twice about my whole trip tbh

Ye are all such negative nancys here!

Ah no! Trust me, you've no need to be put off I know my comments on the expense were made when I was still trying to get settled in (and I've lived in Dublin for a long time - it's not any more expensive really).. I've had a bit of a revelation since yesterday actually Beautiful day yesterday (and today, and same again during next week by looks of it) and I took a stroll down to Coal Harbour, it was the first time since I got here that I've really started to appreciate this city. It was the first time I saw the mountains and the real cityscape - before this I'd really just been wandering around the downtown streets and not really seeing the city as I should, or wanted to.

It's so chilled here, people are amazing, friendly, such an easy place to live, stunning especially when the sun is shining, loadsa coffee places everywhere - great if you love coffee like myself! - just a very relaxed place, everyone is cool - even late at night you don't get the dodgy dangerous vibe that you get everywhere at home. Downtown Van is ridiculously easy to get around as well - you can walk everywhere if you live downtown or close to downtown. All and all it's a great place to be and am absolutely delighted I came, a great adventure - and I haven't even seen the real BC - the lakes, mountains, skiing, await!

They don't have 'Beautiful British Columbia' on the car license plates for nothing!

ratedR

Sheebs wrote: »

I'm heading to Vancouver in January, you're really making me think twice about my whole trip tbh

Ye are all such negative nancys here!

Exactly. A trip away is what you make it yourself, obviously the lads complaining about everything are doing something wrong over here. I felt the very same reading this thread just before I left. Have a read of some of my previous posts though and you'll see it's not all that bad.

lilmissbadass

ahhhhhh. heading off 2moro morning. and totally freaking out about check in. someone please help. how did you lot go about checking in. did yous check in online or at the desk? were going from dublin to heatrow with bmi and from there onto toronto with british airways. do i just need to check in once or to i have to check in at both airports? do are bags get put straight through to our toronto flight or do we need to collect them in london? booked our flights with usit if that makes any difference.

please help!!!

i_love_toast

paid for flights there today!!flights to calgary where 720e but when went to pay he said 760e. apparently its an extra 40e for the sim card they give you??is everyone being charged for this??

also they told my friend who is getting insurance with them that its 199e so he went with that cos they also told him that other companies charge around 500e (which is bollox) . After paying them he got a call saying that they messed up and it is actually 299e. he had to go back and pay the extra hundred! Id say this is their new way of getting people to get insurance with them.

All and all however apart from the mad costs and tricks they pull the staff are very very pleasant.

By the way does anyone know what insurance companies get approved by usit and who to book the travel insurance with??

bertaluchi

lilmissbadass wrote: »

ahhhhhh. heading off 2moro morning. and totally freaking out about check in. someone please help. how did you lot go about checking in. did yous check in online or at the desk? were going from dublin to heatrow with bmi and from there onto toronto with british airways. do i just need to check in once or to i have to check in at both airports? do are bags get put straight through to our toronto flight or do we need to collect them in london? booked our flights with usit if that makes any difference.

please help!!!

You'll be grand.
Maybe the only benefit of rediculously tight airport security is that you cant get anywhere by accident.

You go to the BMI counter.
Hand over your tickets & passport.
The person will go through his/her computer.
Will probably ask where your final destination is.
Will probably ask if you want your bags sent all the way. If not, ask.
Will probably give you the boarding pass for both dublin & London.
Take you bags.
Thats it.

These people do this 1000s of times a day. You'll surprise yourself. Just dont do anything silly like hit the bar.

mirtos

i_love_toast wrote: »

By the way does anyone know what insurance companies get approved by usit and who to book the travel insurance with??

Check the small print with USIT; their insurance does not always provide cover for skiing/snowboarding without paying an additional premium before you go.

Regarding insurance companies, USIT only require proof that you have insurance for yourself; you can get it for as cheap or as expensive depending on your requirements, for example, do you require cover for loosing money/passport etc. Bear in mind that some insurance companies may have an excess of €500 and will only cover you for a maximum of €1000 loss, so is it always worth it?

The main thing is to check what happens if you have an accident and need repatriation to Ireland; will they pay for it, and your companion to come home. Also stick with a reputable insurance company, as their small print is much easier to understand (I spent a week tearing my hair out over the small policy details!!)

All the best!

mirtos

Deleted User wrote: »

I can get all the info on the website, what links in particular can't you see? Same story with the orientation dates though, all 2009. Nothing from USIT either saying I got the visa. Did you get the e-mail out of the blue too?

I got the email out of the blue too. I can't remember exactly, but the links I couldn't access, related to orientation dates in Canada and getting my social security number so that I may work.

Ah, I reckon I'll be fine without SWAP; at least Canada speaks the same language as us!

tenchi-fan

mirtos wrote: »

Check the small print with USIT; their insurance does not always provide cover for skiing/snowboarding without paying an additional premium before you go.

Regarding insurance companies, USIT only require proof that you have insurance for yourself; you can get it for as cheap or as expensive depending on your requirements,

nope, your policy must cover Medical Expenses €2.5 million and Personal Accident: €38,000 and also repatriation. Check with usit first. Although http://www.backpackertravelinsurance.ie/ worldwide premier covers it.

i_love_toast

mirtos wrote: »

Check the small print with USIT; their insurance does not always provide cover for skiing/snowboarding without paying an additional premium before you go.

Regarding insurance companies, USIT only require proof that you have insurance for yourself; you can get it for as cheap or as expensive depending on your requirements, for example, do you require cover for loosing money/passport etc. Bear in mind that some insurance companies may have an excess of €500 and will only cover you for a maximum of €1000 loss, so is it always worth it?

The main thing is to check what happens if you have an accident and need repatriation to Ireland; will they pay for it, and your companion to come home. Also stick with a reputable insurance company, as their small print is much easier to understand (I spent a week tearing my hair out over the small policy details!!)

All the best!

Thats great cheers. Yeah i will be going with backpackers travel insurance.

but was anyone else charged that 40e for their sim card or was that a fast one by usit?

fanzhiyidan

hi all.

looking for a bit of advice on the big move.

my girlfriend and myself are moving to toronto in january and have started looking through craigslist and a few other sites just to get a feel for accommodation and jobs.
whats the story with furnished apartments? seems to be very few.
what have ye done for furniture?

also, is it possible to arrange for any kind of work before you head to canada.
even just a couple of weeks temp work would do nicely.
we've both got the 1 year u35 working visa and aren't picky on what we do for work but seeing as we're both in our very early 30's we'd like to try to find something more permanent after a while.