The Five best apps for a "fresh off the boat" Canadian Immigrant

I think apps are quite useful in our day to day lives so putting together a list of what I think will be useful from an Immigrants perspective will be valuable to any newcomer. These are things that are often only passed on by word of mouth after you arrive, knowledge that would have been so valuable from day one.  I hope you find my list useful, it is in no particular order.

Transit

1. The first priority is getting around, so the first recommendation I'm making is the Transit app.

This is a great app for understanding how to get from a to b and, the best part is, it even works offline. As a new arrival it is expensive to have data plans and free wifi is useless just when you need it the most!
Together with this app I recommend you download an area on Google maps so that it is available offline. Again, if you don't have data there is nothing more frustrating than walking out of the subway and trying to work out which way you need to go, never mind which way is North and which is South!
Once you have a route you take every day you can make use of other Public Transport apps such as Rocket Man or the actual TTC app, but for ease of use when figuring out how to use the TTC I found Transit easiest to use in the beginning.  It even has a Go function which will use your phone's GPS and tell you when to get off the bus and subway.

2. Flipp is a shopping app that benefits from the trend here in Canada of Price Matching.  Price Matching means you can go to one shop in Canada and show them the cheaper price of the product you want to buy at another shop and they will match it.  It makes it so much easier while shopping, you don't have to go to so many different stores to buy things at the lower price.  You can just get everything in one place and make use of Price Match.
Of course, you need to make sure that they participate in the Price Matching agreement, if you're shopping at a major retailer then they will be participating. 
When Flipp first came out retailers didn't accept Flipp as evidence of another retailers price, it was a major problem, but now that Flipp is more popular this is rarely the case.

3. If you want to buy second-hand stuff in Canada Kijiji is the app you will use every day.  You can get anything on it, from furniture to tech items to cars.
It seems far more "well used" than any of the usual
second-hand sites.  For example, eBay, I have not had reason to use it here in Canada yet.  There seems to be less choice on eBay, it's mainly resellers selling their wares, not people selling their unused goods.  Of course Amazon is also huge here, but I will leave that up to you to research.

4. I'm including Linked In on this list because is essential for finding a job in Canada.  There are so many recruiters here that just use Linked In to find candidates, so having a network in Canada with an updated profile is essential.  Of course, there is the usual problem of Canadian Experience, but if you have specific skills this will not be a problem.
It is also something you can start while you are still overseas, start fine tuning your profile so that you appear in more search results.
Here are 13 tips to improve your Linked In profile so that you appear in more search results.  Try to find other ways to make your profile interesting while keeping it professional.

5. Yelp is used quite widely here in Canada.  You have to take every review with a grain of salt, but it certainly helps you find those essential services that you have no idea is around the corner.  I found that Hairdressers were listed, Laundromats were listed and even parks are listed.  I love the emails I get from Yelp suggesting new and interesting things to try.  You'll soon be acting like a Toronto local, checking out all the hip locations in town and visiting all the interesting festivals.  It's a great way to start exploring.  You'll be able to test out all the shops, restaurants and other amenities in your immediate vicinity and figure out what are the best ones that are worth traveling some distance for!

A Movie Moment

These things only happen in movies, right? Again, I've been surprised by North American people, sometimes these things happen in real life.

When you have kids, things get lost. My daughter's school is teaching the kids to read through a plush toy called Rocket which got lost while it was in our care.  So, we did what we could to replace it.  First, there was shopping online, Rocket is popular, but everyone is out of stock. Then there was trying to look on eBay and other second-hand options.  There are very very few plush toy Rockets available.  Those that are available seem to know its a rare item and want to charge up to $80 for a well looked after Rocket.

My wife decided to try the publisher, what better way to find out who might have then to ask the source.  it turned out she was actually emailing the Author, Tad Hills.  His response surprised us, we actually got an email back, directly from him.  He was immediately helpful and suggested that the manufacturer had a single Rocket left for us and that they would give it to us as a gift! Then they shipped it to us at their cost all the way from California, that is 3500kms away from us.  (The thing that made me chuckle was that it took almost two weeks to get here, the joys of the classic postal system.  If you buy something online from a US retailer the courier will get it to you within a week.  It was great because we appreciated the sense of how far it had to travel.)

No-one could believe how generous the writer, Tad Hills, was, I've never known a writer to actually respond let alone help with one of the plush toys.  If for some reason Tad Hills reads this, thank you. It was unexpected, that is always the nicest. You don't expect to be given something by a total stranger, I can't remember it happening before.

We're All Electric Now

We took the plunge and went all electric, I almost can't believe that we have purchased a fully electric vehicle. To be more specific, we got a Nissan Leaf. Ask the journalists and even the car manufacturers about electric vehicles in Canada and they all say the demand isn't there because of the low temperatures in winter, it decreases your range, and because of the large distances needed to travel here. However, when I started the electric car search I couldn't find much stock! The e-Golf was about to be launched (deliveries still need to start) and they have already fulfilled the whole of their 2018 allocation in pre-orders. With the 2018 Nissan Leaf coming out I thought everyone would be holding off on buying the last of the 2017 stock, but I could only find 3 Nissan Leaf's available in whole of the GTA (one of those was in Oakville). I bought the car new, but with the dealer incentives and the $14,000 Ontario rebate on electric cars, it made the price quite attractive, around $25,000.

So why did we ignore the journalists and the car manufacturers and jump right in? Well, I was planning on buying a plug-in hybrid, you get the electric drive, but you have the normal engine to take you all the way to wherever you want. However, when looking at those options two things jumped out at me. Firstly the electric range is ridiculously low, maybe 30 km's, secondly the battery is shoved into the boot of the normal petrol version. So you end up with a petrol car with no boot space. With two kids that was not an option.

Truth be told, my wife was the braver one. She pointed out that we have not yet taken a long trip in Canada after living here for a year and a bit. She pointed out if we really needed to take a long trip that really required a petrol car we could rent one. If we do that once a year we would still be saving money. (At the moment I'm using some of the free charging points wherever I can, so nice to get "gas" for free!)

My main motivation is the low cost to power the vehicle. The low night time electricity rates here in Toronto are 6.5 cents per kWh which means to fully charge the car (it's an SL with a 30kWh battery) will cost $1.95 (this is according to my own logic, please point out in the comments if I've made a mistake in the calculation of multiplying the cost of a kWh with the size of the battery). On a full charge I can go at least 150 km's (more like 190km's), that means driving 600 kms will cost me less than $8. Compare that to a full tank of gas which always cost me at least $40 and I went maximum 400 km's with, then that is a massive saving each time I need to use the car.

What are my thoughts now that we are fully electric? I'm thoroughly enjoying it. There is no range anxiety, I don't charge every day because there is no need. I take advantage of the free charging provided in various locations (there is even one at my office if I can remember to put the cable back in the car). I haven't taken a long trip yet, but I figure I can at least go to a level 3 charger and have lunch and my car will be fully charged in under an hour. I can get to Niagara without charging and I can get to lake Simcoe by charging once. That's quite a few places I can explore in the meantime. Happy travels!

Now if you want to get your own Electric Car here are some websites to help you.

Firstly this is a list of the electric cars available in Canada, I was quite surprised to learn the Europe just has so much more of a selection of electric cars.  As you can see the selection in North America is quite small, at the time of writing this the Renault cars are not available here and VW was starting to launch the e-Golf for the first time as their first EV in Canada.  The VW e-Up is not available.

Secondly, you want to know how much of a rebate your electric vehicle is eligible for?  Well, have a look at this website giving the exact details of what car is eligible for what amount in the Ontario Electric Vehicle Incentive Program.  You don't need to worry about applying for the deduction yourself, the dealer deducts it in the quote and you don't have to pay it first.  Those problems all belong to the dealer, so the only money you need to find is the final amount minus rebate and dealer discounts.

PS: If you want to test drive a few different brand electric cars in one place check out Plug n Drive's Electric Vehicle Discovery Centre at 1126 Finch Ave West in Toronto.  You can see more about what vehicles are available on their website.

Learning about myself

I have a lifetime of learning about myself. Growing up in the church it was always about self analysis and figuring out where you were tricking yourself into thinking you were right with God. There was always some way you could improve.

Having moved to Canada I find there is a lot of motivational stuff to get caught up in here. Seeing it from a distance I used to find it very annoying because it felt like cheese (nonsense people tell themselves to make themselves feel better), but I find now I'm getting caught up in it. I can't figure out if it's because of the life stage I'm in that cheese gets my emotions going. Anything to do with my little daughter tugs at my tear ducts, an opportunity to earn money makes me want to jump right in and do a little cheese makes me feel so much better. Perhaps it's not my luge stage, but the fact I'm now surrounded by motivational adverts, people, podcasts, the the Americas really are the nations of "I can" and that culture of self motivation is all encompassing. I'm investing in the stock exchange believing I can make millions, cycling to work believing I'm an athlete.

I'm trying very hard to prevent myself from making bad decisions as a result of these delusions.  It is fun to push yourself and discover you can achieve more, I'm finding its equally important to pace yourself and change slowly so you don't scare your family that you've gone crazy.

Hopefully I've managed to do that and I'm not going off the rails yet.

Journal of a Canadian Immigrant

It's not my material and I don't know who wrote it, but I thought I would share it with you anyway.  It's just classic.  If it's yours let me know and I'll let everyone know.

12. Sept.

-We bought a new home in Canada. I am very excited. It's so beautiful here. Mountains are of indescribable splendour. I can not wait to see them covered with snow.

14. Oct.

-Canada. It's the most beautiful country on Earth. The leaves have received all those beautiful shades of yellow and orange. I drove through nature and saw some deer. They are so graceful. Deer are the most beautiful animals. I think we have arrived in paradise. I love Canada.

Nov. 11

Today is a public holiday, deer hunting season starts soon. I can not believe that someone can kill an animal so beautiful. I hope it will snow soon. It's so beautiful here.

2. Dec.

-Last night it snowed for the first time. I got up and saw that everywhere it was just white, just like in the most beautiful scenes. I went outside, I cleaned the front of the house and then we had a snowball fight (I won). The snowplough came past to clear the snow in the road out front and so I had to clear up the snow again. Great country. I love Canada.

12. Dec.

- Last night it snowed again. The snowplough came past again and cleaned up the snow it left in my yard again. It blocked the entrance to the driveway. It is splendid here.

19. Dec.

- Last night it snowed again. I could not go to work because I couldn't get the car out. It is very nice here, I am just tired of shoveling snow. Again the damn snowplough.

22.Dec.

This white snow has not stopped all night. I have corns on my hands from shovelling and my back hurts. This snowplough monkey lies just around the corner and waits for me to finish clearing my driveway only to bring back more snow. Damn.

25. Dec.

Merry Christmas. It snowed again.. this stupid snow. If I catch that snowplow driver I will kill him. Why don’t they throw more salt on the road.

27. Dec.

- Last night it snowed again. I did not go out of the house for three days just kept shoveling every time the snowplow passed by. I can not go anywhere, the car is stuck under a hill of snow and it is very cold. They said tonight will fall another 30 cm of snow… this stupid snow.

28. Dec.

-The weather report was wrong. We got 50 cm of snow, not 30 cm. If it continues like this it will not melt until summer. The snowplough driver got stuck and he came to ask me for a shovel. I told him I already broke six cleaning up that sh… that he threw in my front yard. I was about to hit him with the shovel.

4. January.

-I finally left the house. I went to buy food and on my way back I hit a deer. The car was damaged to the amount of $3,000. Those beasts should be killed. They are everywhere. Why didn’t the hunters kill them all last fall?

3. May

-I took the car to a mechanic. Its unbelievable how much rust the car has from the damn salt... lots of salt all winter long and still for nothing.

10. May

-I am moving to Florida. I can not imagine how any normal human being can live in Canada!

The silly things I did

It's quite funny moving to a new country. There are things you thought you knew, but they just work a bit differently here.

For example I've been hearing a lot about Tim Hortons so I decided I was going to try them out. I think I can buy a cup of coffee and drink it! Nothing complicated about that. So I pop into the shop and order a cappuccino. Swipe my card and I get my coffee and walk out. Thank you very much. Now I want to drink it, but I can't open the lid! I can see it's meant to be opened, it had the whole clip and everything, but I tug at it and it feels like the whole cup it's just going to spill coffee over everything if I pull any harder. So I slide back into the shop (thankfully it wasn't busy) and ask the attendant how do I open the lid. She unhelpfully replied that you just pull it. I felt like a bit of an idiot while she went to fetch another lid to demonstrate for me.

Here's the trick, you need to TEAR the lid. Never had I had a take away cuppa that you had to tear. Well, it was a good laugh and something I chuckle about when I retell.   Here is a Canadian comparison of Tim Hortons coffee cup lids with other take away lids, which is where this lid comparison chart comes from.

Actually that's why I'm combining these stories, I was chatting to some Canadians and pointed out to them no matter how prepared you are to live in a new country there are always going to be done things that flummox you. I pointed out thom to them even seemingly simple things are difficult to those who are not used to it. They enjoyed both these stories as I recounted them.

I've taken a bus before, you've taken a bus before. You prepare for your journey, but your ticket, get on at the right place and get off at the right place. So I did my research and bought 10 TTC tokens from the nearest subway station (it's a bit cheaper if you buy in bulk). I got on at the right place and saw my stop coming up and pressed the Request Stop button, paranoia took over that the bus was not going to stop there anyway). So I'm standing by the back door as the bus draws up to the stop. It stops and I wait in anticipation of the doors opening and nothing happens, I see the front doors open so I look at the driver and back at the back doors. Nothing happens. That's it, there must be some reason I'm not allowed to exit out the back. So I stroll up to the top of the bus and exit out the front doors. I have a look around, there is no reason why I couldn't have exited the bus from the back. The pavement is clear, no different from where the front doors were. Oh well, I thought, I'll try on my way back again.

I do my thing and on my way back again the same thing happens. This time though I'm much faster to exit embarrassedly out the front doors. Finally, the third time I took the bus things were a little busier. I wisely let someone else exit first and saw that you have to push the back doors open, the green light above the door turns on and then you are able to push them open for yourself.

So, yes, when you move here you are going to embarrass yourself, you're going to learn what assumptions you make without thinking. To me that is one of the joys of moving to another county. You learn things about yourself you never realized, like the fact that I think a bus driver will open the door for me like a chaffuer. I felt guilty about that and the feeling grew into a great appreciation for bus drivers, they treat us with such courtesy and patience, yet we don't often acknowledge them for their daily service.

So thank you bus drivers for being there for us every single day!

Buying a car too early

There really is such a thing as buying your car too early in Canada.  You can't get off the plane and climb into a brand new car and drive away (well, you can, but you'll be driving illegally). As usual, the dealer selling you the car won't bother to give you all the details.  They just want to do the sale.

So, what makes it too early and illegal?  The fact that you can't legally drive without car insurance and you can't get car insurance here without a Canadian Drivers license!

Probably the best source of information on getting ready to drive in Canada is on the CIC website here. The article is called Driving in Canada.

The Financial Services Commission states it a little more explicitly.

My story goes like this for those who are interested:
I moved into an area where the distances between shops and home was just a little bit too far to carry a two-year-old daughter and some groceries.  The bus links were also somewhat far away.  So we decided that we should get a car.  As a tip for those wanting to rent initially, use Enterprise, I found them to be much more reasonable than all the other car rental places here.  Renting a car for an extended period of time though is really expensive.  So we bought the day before I went to get my G1 license.  Then I heard that it was illegal to drive without insurance (You can still drive any other car on your international license, just not your own un-insured one).
There I was calling every insurer I could find, even dealing with a few unscrupulous ones that wanted me to sign, but couldn't insure me until I had my G2.  So I booked my G2 test ASAP, travelled a bit to get to a place that had a test open the next week and got my G2.  Now I could be insured, but since I only had a G2 license, not a Full G license, you can imagine the insurance was a bit hefty.  Getting my full G was the next top priority*.  Unfortunately it was not possible to find any testing center that had an opening within any kind of driving distance, so I got an insurance that was not a contract and waited about another 3 weeks.  Getting the full G still did not bring down the insurance that much.  Thank goodness I had a great insurance agent and with some major help and many documents I managed to get my insurance down to about $1500 a year, and I could legally drive!  In all my time driving on the roads in Canada I have yet to be stopped by the cops, but it is much more comforting driving legally.

So, I hear you asking, what are the work arounds?
There are only two I can think of.  The first is hardly worth mentioning because I don't know of an insurer back home that would insure a car bought in another country, but you could try.  So this owrk around only works if you ship your car over to Canada.  Then you can carry on under your old insurer while you get your Canadian Licence.
Then of course you can also get someone who has a Canadian Licence to buy your car for you and then they can insure the car in their name.  I imagine you may want someone you really trust.

If neither of those options work for you.  Well then, don't lose hope!  Just get your Canadian License really quickly!  I managed to get my full G in just one month.

*To be able to do the Full G Driving Test you need to provide the Drive Test center with a letter from your Road Authority showing you have two or more years experience.

Move to Canada

Phew, immigration is tough when you have a family.  Back in the day I left all my junk at my parents house and hopped off to another country, it was easy!  Now I have too much junk to store at my parents place and besides, they don't want it any more.

The amount you need to spend to ship your things overseas is ridiculously expensive!

Anyway, so, I'm no longer in SA.  I have to change the Title, but I'm still on the go.  Now I'm a new immigrant in Canada and I'll be sharing my lessons learnt the hard way with you so that you don't have to do the same thing.

The journey to applying for immigration I haven't documented because it was time consuming enough just to get all the paperwork together, but please feel free to ask me on the contact link above or the comments below.  I breathed a sigh of relief when it was over.

If you go to CIC website here you will be able to see that there have been approximately one thousand South Africans that immigrate to Canada each year.  I have even found a few of them already.  Of course it doesn't come anywhere near the numbers you get from other countries, about forty thousand each from the Philippines and India in 2014.

Phew, immigratio
n is tough when you have a family.  Back in the day I left all my junk at my parents house and hopped off to another country, it was easy!  Now I have too much junk to store at my parents place and besides, they don't want it any more.

The amount you need to spend to ship your things overseas is ridiculously expensive!

Anyway, so, I'm no longer in SA.  I have to change the Title, but I'm still on the go.  Now I'm a new immigrant in Canada and I'll be sharing my lessons learnt the hard way with you so that you don't have to do the same thing.

The journey to applying for immigration I haven't documented because it was time consuming enough just to get all the paperwork together, but please feel free to ask me on the contact link above or the comments below.  I breathed a sigh of relief when it was over.

If you go to CIC website here you will be able to see that there have been approximately one thousand South Africans that immigrate to Canada each year.  I have even found a few of them already.  Of course it doesn't come anywhere near the numbers you get from other countries, about forty thousand each from the Philippines and India in 2014.