Chalo Chalo Canada Chalo!!! (Let’s Go To Canada)

What do you need to bring to living in Canada?

For all those who got their Canadian immigration visas and have to make a landing before the expiry of their medical date because its time “Chalo Chalo Canada Chalo”(Let’s Go To Canada). For living in Canada everyone has their own timeline to wrap up from home country and come here, but one thing is common among all, they are all bursting with those gazillion questions in their mind.

So were we when we had to come for our landing. Trying to get hold of all those contacts living here to know what are the do’s and don’ts so that we do it right. What to bring what to leave. I remember writing down the questions that I got from hear and say and then eating my husband’s brain to go hold of contacts over the call considering the time difference, they were really helpful but since everyone had landed like a decade back so had their own perspectives and experiences. Some of those were really helpful.

As we landed here we understood that we could have easily done a few things differently. And in these 2 years, a lot of people have approached when they are in this phase to know what to do or not. So I have decided to write in detail as I have to play my part here based on our experience

P.S: All the information provided below is based on our experience and can vary from case to case. This blog is just to help however I don’t take any responsibility for any accuracy of information. However, I encourage people to refer to CIC official website.

Timeline to make a landing:

Your first visa is generally having an expiry date which is related to your Medical that you did before. However, this may vary for different cases. Some people decide to wind up all from home countries and make a landing. However, others make a landing, do the PR documentations take the PR and go back to wind up. This is purely a decision based on the circumstances and both of them are ok.

What to Bring From Pakistan?

Packing your homes in boxes is not an easy task I know. A lot of people ask me what should they bring all the desi cooking utensils? Food supplies? Clothes? Curtains? Jackets?. If yes then how? Because there is a limitation on the weight of the baggage you can carry. Well here is a list of things that I think is practical to carry but you can make changes as per the number of kids or family members you have. We were a family of 2.5, a couple and a 9-year-old boy.

Bring the Following:

Home Stuff:

• Your Bed Sheets and Bed Spreads.
• Your cushion covers.
• Your basic and formal desi clothes for few events(depending on how your social life would be)
• Your good collection of embroidered shawls and scarves if you have any.
• Few (3 to 4)desi shoes to go with your outfits.
• Kids basic thermals(2 pairs max). In case you are landing in winter to survive the initial days.
• In case you have any collection of home decor (I had my fridge magnet collection that I couldn’t give up on)
• Basic medicines to last 3 months as you won’t have health facilities.
• Few selected printed pictures if you are a person who likes displaying pictures.
• Few extra pair Eyesight glasses in case anyone in your family member wears it.
• All your jewelry as it is your asset.
• One small box of basic sewing accessories. (Sui, dhaga, tich button, and safety Pins)

Documents:

• All the educational documents, degrees, etc for you and the spouse.
• Medical /vaccination record for your kids.
• Valid International driver’s license. (As you need it to get a letter from the embassy here so that you can omit the waiting period between G1 and G2 and can directly give G if you have 5 year’s experience of driving in Pakistan).
• Jewelry Worth Certificate made by your jeweller that you can show when you land and show what you are carrying.
• Your Demand draft in USD in case you want to carry more than the allowed amount of cash allowed to carry.
• All your medical history records in the soft or hard form in case you have gone through some surgery in the past.
• Your marriage certificate in English.
• A set of documents that you used for express entry.

DO NOT BRING:

• Any Degcha, Cooker, Pateela(Cooking Utensils)or Cutlery, you can get it all from here. Getting it from there and then paying shipment would be double the expense and hassle.
• Heavy jackets or coats(they won’t help you survive the cold here)
• Any shoes or boots because in snow you would need special snow boots with soles designed to avoid falling here.
• Any food supplies as most of the food items are not allowed and are taken out at the immigration.
• Any Electronics as the voltage is different here and the things from Pakistan won’t work here, so don’t waste your energy and space bringing that.

In case you have any more questions feel free to write in comments about living in Canada.