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We buy cars were absolutely fantastic when I sold my car to them. Highly recommended.

Got PPR!!!!

OMG!!!! also got a ghost update guys!!!!!! @OHCANADAAA's prompted me to check our account!

If you put stuff aside then you can can get cash crusaders or cash converters to come to your house to look at it and take stuff - they won’t give you a huge amount but they’ll give you a lump sum and also take the stuff in their truck thus saving you the hassle of having to take a few trips to them with your stuff. We recently helped my in laws downscale and this is what we did - they took furniture, appliances, crockery, general household goods etc.

https://webuyfurniture.co.za/ might do for furniture

Not an expert but I can share my experience and maybe that is useful in some way. Was in Calgary for a week for activation of PR. Booked an apartment on booking.com that had a really good rating and was pretty cheap. They may also be on Airbnb. This was located in China town. This ended up being a pretty good call since it was right next to the Harry Hays building which is connected to the +15 (stretch of connected buildings in downtown ~19km I understand including some of the big office blocks and the core shopping center). Harry Hays is also where you need to get your SIN. I think anything close to a building on the +15 in downtown Calgary would be great. Something I only discovered later, there is a +15 app that helps out a lot! The CTrain would also be close, but you can travel by bus as well. Just use google maps, select the public transport tab and it will plan the best route for you be it train or bus and on foot. If you get stuck you can always just uber. My feeling was that everywhere is safe and clean, some areas just more desirable than others e.g. China town was great for us. But maybe wait on others as well as I have limited experience. Be patient upon landing, you will go through declaration, declare any food etc that they ask on the prompts (dont want to start on wrong foot). We took an uber to our apartment, this was worth the expense for that first trip. Watch youtube videos on the landing experience. Calgary is pretty relaxed compared to e.g. Toronto (almost no ques). Freedom mobile is a good choice for mobile operator, since they have wifi hotspots everywhere so you don't even use your data, plus if back in SA you can use WiFi calling to use your Canadian number, not all networks have this feature. We only did this later (@ core shopping center). Good luck.

I used webuycars to sell mine and the sale was seamless. I have however been struggling to sell my place. Good luck with everything.

🥳

What a great forum! I am so relieved to say that we finally have our PR 👏🏼but I realize the hardest part is yet to come. I am a qualified teacher and my husband is a Mech eng. I am in the process of applying for my teacher certificate in Alberta but just wanted to find out if there are any teachers that would be willing to give me some tips/guidelines re the process of job hunting? 🤷🏻‍♀️ Thank you!

we are paying approximately R55 000 for 10x1x1m..although, since our things have not arrived yet, I cannot vouch for hidden costs, or costs on arrival. (and this excludes insurance, which I believe they will calculate on top of)

Hi @JaQ, happy landing! Although it's been some time back, it seems nice to answer this question after a long while 😉 1.1 Yes, straightforward as most mentioned. I opened a bank account the day after I landed. I just went into the bank and asked if I could open an account. I had to have an appointment, which they arranged while we were there and then a consultant helped us. For the transfer, we used Exchange4free at the time to do all transactions. 1.2 There are normally newcomer packages available at the bank. The one we initially got was free bank charges if you had certain accounts with the bank (I believe I needed a cheque, savings/investment and a credit card). So I opened all three at the time. I've been here 7 years on and I have yet to pay bank charges. 😉 The only ones I do end up paying is when I send a TT transfer from SA to Canada and the bank charges $15 per transfer. 2 We didn't have coverage except for the one in SA, so I won't comment too much on this. The one company I know of is Blue Cross but I don't know much about service and such since I never used them. 3 I agree with some of the comments that there will be stores who can offer SIM cards at the airport. Uber was a thing from the future during our landing days. We stayed with a hotel who offered airport transfer so that was that. I don't think you'll have issues with getting an Uber so long as you get connection to WIFI. There is free WIFI at the airport. Have a safe trip!

@JaQ we were just over in Canada doing our softlanding and scout out and manged to tick most of the boxes that you are planning. One thing to note about opening a bank account is that you will probably need to make and appointment. We ended up booking the appointment on a Friday and then only opening the account on Monday. Reading about Western Union it seems quite expensive to send money through them. Our financial advisor here in SA has suggested that we use Incompass to assist with the transfers. You setup and account with them and use it to transfer from SA to Canada. Otherwise Toronto is a great place to land, we managed to activate, get our Social Security number and do the goods following declaration with minimal effort all while in the airport (took about 2 hours). Just hope they you don't arrive after a plane full of Indian students as we did, it caused the queue to be quite long for us. As @GuyRussy mentioned the Pearson express is a really convenient and easy way to get into the city. I would do as he suggests and only get a SIM card once you are a little settled.

Hi JaQ Can't you just purchase travel insurance here in SA and state the period so that it overlaps the date the you expect your Med coverage to kick in by one month? So let's say you expect to have your Med coverage kick in on 1 May, then ask for travel insurance up to 31 May. Not sure what it will cost though, or if travel insurer will cover you for the fact that you are immigrating. I was going to investigate this option closer to our landing time. Regards

Hi @JaQ I landed in Toronto permanently, yesterday. Having done a soft landing in October I was able to get a few things done (banking, sim card etc), which made coming back a little easier. Nonetheless, on your questions. 1.1) and 1.2) Its straightforward to make international transfers, of course you'll need a Canadian bank account first. My Gf and I decided to go with RBC's (mostly recommended by the forum and new immigrants) newcomer package. The package has no monthly fees for a year, and you get some other benefits too (I think two international currency transfers a year, for free, was something that stood out for me). RBC will also offer you a credit card with no credit check (good to get your credit history going). We transferred funds from Standard Bank, entering RBC's swift code and our cheque account numbers. All of which will be given to you on opening a new account. The funds took two days to reflect! I can't imagine it being much different with ABSA, be it on the NovoFX app or not. 2) Can't answer 2, we didn't take any coverage. We're almost at 3 months from landing, so we've decided to wait it out til we covered with healthcare. 3) We decided on Freedom mobile as our operator (they're quite cheap, and have more "freedom" to choose from across their pay as you go service). I'm not sure what operators have stores at Pearson (honestly never looked for one) but don't feel too rushed to get connected at the airport. I'm not sure where your Airbnb is, but if possible, look at taking the Toronto UP express train from the airport (signs will guide you from arrivals, cost is CAD$12.34 odd including GST). It has free WI-FI on board, and you can order an Uber from within - that's what I did) and then once at your Airbnb, you'll get access to WI-FI and will have time to make a better decision on a cell operator. Note that the UP express stops at Weston, Bloor and Union (downtown) stations. Obviously if your Airbnb isn't along this route, don't take the UP express. Alternatively, connect to Pearson's WI-FI and order an Uber, then connect again at your Airbnb. Reason I suggest the above is that there are several options for everything you need, and you want to take some time to make the best decision for yourself. Alternatively alternatively, buy a sim from a provider at Pearson (I'm sure there's a Telus or Rogers store) and get connected. Either way, welcome to Toronto, haha.

Congratulations @OHCANADAAA I can imagine your excitement!!!!!!!!!!!

@OHCANADAAA congratulations!!!! great news indeed! All the best for the journey ahead!

Awesome man, that is great news! Good luck with everything ahead.

Just received our golden email!

@Eric N Many thanks, yes I was told that I needed to get one from home, now the funny thing is that I applied for it after the SA PCC but I already have it while I am still waiting on the SA PCC

@GuyRussy and @KelvinK thank you so much!! This is a huge help. Don't know what I'd do without this forum!

Hello there, Glad to hear that you guys are ready to make the big move. This last month will fly past and before you know it you will walk through the airport doors and into a new adventure. We used agents for both the rental places we have had since we arrived here, one in Burlington and after that in Ottawa. Ours agents were professional and helped us get a much further reach than what we could get. Not a bad thing to have an agent(costs you nothing) but you can do it on your own. Most apartments are rented out through a management company that looks after the building. On the 6 month deposit, as you arrive here with absolutely no credit record, it is seen as a way to sweeten the deal for a landlord but is in no means a requirement. As rentals sometime go very quickly, especially downtown Toronto, you need to act fast if you like a property. You can also if need be get out of a year lease if your landlord will be willing to negotiate, but please remember that if you need a landlord reference it might impact you negatively down the line.

To add to Kelvin's letter, another template. Like Kelvin's letter states, remuneration and part/full time basis is important. Obviously, it needs to be full time employment. You can also include hours worked per week. For my letter from my ex employer, I had a colleague and senior colleague sign, and it was accepted without a problem. Proof of work experience - ECIC 2019.pdf

So quick update, we got the golden email last week. Passports are in pretoria. Hope you all get news soon!

Why answer in 1 line when you can write a thesis !!!! Cause I'm old now, and that's what happens to old farts. So there's a tad of confusion here.... you need to get a transformer to get 110V -> 220V. (increase or step-up.) .......................Skip to "Conclusion" if you're not in the mood for a science lesson. There are some Caveats - as Corwes says you'll need a big transformer (a genuinely rated one might weigh 10Kg.) I had a 300W (or VA) one wound in SA for me (properly) and it's about 7Kg. Beware the Chinese units as they say "1000W...." - but no..... Also, there is the matter of how much energy you need - whatever the SA appliance at : 220V is pulling from the transformer, it's doubled when it's pulled from Canuck 110V outlet. For example, a Canadian wall plug can supply say 15 Amps "energy", that means that the maximum a 220V appliance can have (after step-up) is 7.5Amps = or about 1600 Watts. (Science says you can't get something from nothing ! You can only fiddle the numbers around. ) There are other lighter methods to change 110v -> 220V (called switching supplies) same false claims abound. Beware ebay and Kijiji (Gumtree of Canada). Let there be light ! What most people don't realise is that 220V enters Canadian homes. So it's right there in the "fuse box" or breaker board. It's used to run the stove, hob, tumble drier and water heater (usually.) There is a difference in this power, it's 60 Hertz, SA is 50 Hertz. In almost all cases this is not an issue unless the item you intend to run, runs for long periods - like continuously. Certain types of motors will spin faster which creates issues. Or if it's an old-school power clock, then your going to gain time (about 17%faster time) each day ! Back to the 220V. If you own your place, or make pals with / seduce a tame electrician, you can have a 220 outlet installed. It uses a different plug so you don't blow stuff up. Most other gizmo's as Corwes pointed out are now universal 110 - 220V 50/60 Hz. Usually Play stations, Xbox's etc are. But do look at the label, as my PS3 (old) only works on 220V - which was annoying. Many of us hung on to dear possessions and lugged them here only to regret it. 1) Stuff here can be seriously cheap if you catch the right sale (real sales) and 2) Sometimes you don't want that thing anymore as EVERYTHING you thought you wanted an knew changes. Of course if an item is special (sentimental) then bring it over - even if it's 220V - it can be run in Canada one way or the other. Good luck and may the magic smoke remain in all your equipment, because if it comes out, the thing won't work anymore !!! (Nerd joke) And now that you are totally confused... I am king at doing that no matter how hard I try to construct a logical set of statements. New words today are Volts, Amps, Power and apparent power or VA. Oh, and Hertz (not car rental) - hertz (Hz) is how many times the power switched per second 50 or 60. Clear as mud. SA uses 220V AC, 50Hz and Canada 110V AC 60 HZ. and of course by sneaky electrician connections you can have ( 220V AC 60Hz too). Why the difference? USA and Canada opted for the lower voltage to lessen electrocutions among other reasons. I work a lot with Canadian power and I can tell you I definitely prefer being electrocuted by Canadian 110V to SA's 220. 110 is kinder, 220 just hurts like hell. In Conclusion: Almost anything will work in Canada / can be made to work. If it's special bring it, if it's not ditch it and get another better one here. (Not your spouse ! The gizmo !!!) Finally if you intend on doing in house home brew electrical work, when the electrician seduction failed, take note that North American wire colours make little sense. Hot is (Black) and Neutral is (White). Colonials tend to use red/brown as "Hot" which they call "live" and blue / black !!!! as "neutral". You can see the potential for a SA experienced person to fail badly in a Canadian breaker board. Luckily both groups agreed on Green / Yellow for earth. Purists, engineers, Sheldon Cooper : Chill, Power vs VA, Loses ,efficiency and heat not added into the monologue, it's already confusing enough.

Wouldn't class it as a hot topic but it remains one that never made sense to me though in practical terms. Keeping the SA passport while living in Canada has zero benefit with the exception of being able to vote in SA elections. I know some people are asking "but what if I want to return to SA to live there again one day?" That's the kicker: you never lose your right to residency in SA if you were born there. You can return to live in SA even if you lose citizenship - the SA bill of rights gives you SA permanent residency for life. No SA passport needed. And if you return, you can apply for a reinstatement of SA citizenship if you can show you've returned to live in SA. Obviously this isn't a solution if you were not born in SA and you obtained your SA citizenship through naturalization. But for the bulk of us on this board (SA born): there simply is no benefit in retaining SA citizenship and needing to travel on the SA passport into SA. And God forbid you ever get tangled with the cops while on vacation there while a dual citizen: you are treated as a Saffer only! But if you only have Canadian citizenship you will get consulate support from the Canadian embassy. Same would apply in medical emergencies, natural disasters etc. Like I say, I'm scratching my head why anyone would want the hassle of keeping a passport that's not welcomed outside of Africa.

I never got there, but after 3 years of looking, interviewing, submitting 100's of resume's, it is time to throw the towel in. I don't have the strength left to keep looking and submitting every day. To build up my familiy's hopes when I have an interview only to have them dashed when the company 'ghosts' you afterwards. Thank you to everybody that has answered my questions and provided guidance, it is appreciated. To those venturing into this, I wish you good fortune and more success than I had. This is Dragyn, over and out