FIRST DAYS IN CANADA  

 YOUR FIRST DAYS IN ONTARIO

During the first days after your arrival in Ontario, the major concern will be finding suitable housing for you and your family. Once achieved this goal, start exploring the environment, to know the surroundings and, as much as you can, to enjoy your arrival as if it was a deserved vacation. You will have time to worry about other things. Bare in mind that achieving your goal, which includes getting a job, will be a matter of organisation, good advice, preparation and, above all, time.

The following are some activities you should perform on your first days in Canada:

·         Getting a Health and Social Security (SIN) Card

·         Inscription in the provincial health system

·         Inscription of children in the Child Benefit Program

·         Opening a bank account

·         Enrolling your children on school

·         Inscription in the public library

·         Exam and enrolment on a school of English

·         Taking the necessary exam and getting a driving license

·         Finding low-cost means of transportation

- TRANSPORTATION IN ONTARIO

RECOMMENDATION: To start your life in any city, the first thing to do is to get familiar with a map of the city and the area where you live. Different city and province maps can be purchased in gas stations and some stores and supermarkets (Walmart, Canadian Tire, etc). They are indispensable to find addresses in this country. In Canadian cities, every street has a specific name, like Yonge Street. But there may be several streets with the same name (Yonge) but of a different denomination, such as Avenue, Creascent, Road, Boulevard, Circle, etc. Thus, Yonge Street (St) is a different place from Yonge Avenue (Av), o Yonge Road (Rd).

Once you are in your new home, you must get a map of the public transportation service in the city. They are free of charge and can be obtained in transportation stations.

All the cities in Ontario have public transportation services by bus, train, or streetcars. There are also some trains connecting cities, or different points within the same city.

There is a modern and efficient service of SUBWAY, known as TTC (Toronto Transportation Commision) which covers efficiently most part of the city.

- USE OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

To use the public transportation service, you can pay cash for every ticket. In this case you should have the exact amount of money to pay, and deposit it in a transparent box before the driver if you get on the bus in a station, or before the attendant in the station, if you are to pay in a cash register machine, to enter the TTC in Toronto.

NOTE: You should have the exact amount to pay. Bus drivers will never give you change, or return your money, as they don't handle with money. Their job is driving the bus and checking that you deposit the corresponding money for the ticket.

If you are to use the public transportation often, it would be a good idea to buy several tickets (pre-printed cardboard), tokens (special coins to register at the entrance) or daily / monthly passes. Passes are cards which allow the passenger to use the transportation system an unlimited number of times for some days or a whole month.

Tickets, tokens and monthly passes are purchased in any TTC station or in some specific shops.

To get information about the TTC use the following link:

http://www.toronto.ca/ttc/index.htm

NOTE: The most economical way of using the public transportation system often is purchasing a monthly pass (metro pass), which allows for using the service as many time as you need, for a fixed weekly or monthly price.

If you need to take the bus, streetcar, or train more than once to go to a certain place, you don't need to pay every time. In this case you must get a small piece of paper called TRANSFER, which will indicate the following driver that you have already paid and you won't have to pay again. This transfer must be asked from the driver in the first bus or streetcar. In some stations you can find a transfer dispenser machines. Transfers are valid just for a limited time (30 or 60 minutes).

– TAXI SERVICE.

You may need to take a taxi or cab. In this case, people usually phone the taxi agency, and give their address and time when they will need the taxi. You will find the telephone numbers of these companies in the yellow pages of the telephone book.

You may also take a taxi on the street. However, they are not as abundant as in other countries. In consequence, you may have to wait for a long time until you get a taxi. The customary procedure is to phone a taxi agency.

The cost of the services will depend on the distance and it is set by a taximeter, by the driver. The taximeter will show an initial cost (minimum fare) when you start the itinerary.

Travelling to certain specific places - such as to the airport - will always have a fixed cost. The taximeter is not used in those cases.

- RENTING A CAR

The living license from your country will allow you to drive in Canada for 60 days from your arrival.

It may be a good alternative to rent a car from a rent-a-car company to get to know the place or moving around the city. You can rent a car per day, or per week. However, it is always advisable to read the information on driving regulations and traffic, before you drive a car.

The cost will depend on the type of car, the rental period and, in some cases, on the amount of kilometres. At the moment of renting a car you will have to pay, apart from the cost of the rent and the gas, an accident insurance car. As a guarantee, you will be asked a credit card number (Visa, MasterCard, etc.) or you may have to leave a certain amount of money as a deposit for some time (in case some fines, accidents, etc. may be reported). 

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