Journey to Quebec
Moving to a different country is a very important decision and a big change for a family because, on the one hand, it concerns their aspirations for the future, while on the other it engenders feelings of anxiousness. Nevertheless, the process itself is a beautiful memory.
Over the past few years, Canada has been gradually tightening immigration by raising the bar. Back then, we decided to apply for immigration to Quebec and the federal immigration program simultaneously. At the time, the federal program had not been canceled yet. However, during the application process, there were changes in federal immigration policies, and all pending immigration applications were canceled. Despite the misfortune, our application for Quebec had not been affected.
I still remember that during the application process, we had to keep supplying paperwork to the authorities: Police Criminal Record Certificates, entry and exit information, proof of funds, etc. It wasn’t until July 2016, when we received documents from the Canadian government approving our application, that we were able to stop worrying and feel some sense of relief. It was then that we began to actually collect information on how to make our landing and what we need to know, details of the process, renting a place to live, filing tax returns, etc. We really appreciated how S.U.C.C.E.S.S. provided us with lots of information during that time.
In July, we left sultry Taipei and stepped into the airplane cabin with the blessings of our loved ones; it was not until then that I realized what had taken years of planning was about to become a reality. We arrived in Vancouver, where we went to the immigration office to make our landing, fill in forms, and be interviewed by immigration officials. All procedures were completed quickly and smoothly, then we rushed to transfer to a domestic flight to Montreal. In Montreal, it was a bit chilly in the mornings and nights on rainy days in July, which was something one couldn’t have imagined during the summer while living in Taiwan. There were two reasons why we arranged a flight to Montreal. One was that when we made our landing, our boarding passes for Montreal could prove that we were indeed heading to Quebec should immigration official ask for our landing destination. The second was to have the family experience the beauty and culture of Francophone Canada. With my child’s education and work opportunities in mind, we arranged for our landing in July 2017 to be a short-term one, so we mostly traveled for pleasure during that time. We made our way south from Montreal to Ottawa, Toronto, and Niagara Falls, and we also visited many universities such as McGill, University of Montreal, University of Ottawa, University of Toronto, and McMaster. We stopped at different campuses to prepare for my child’s school applications the following year.
Acquiring a preliminary understanding of the universities as well as their geographical locations helped my child make the right decision when applying to schools the next year, which was one of the biggest gains of our first short-term landing. In 2018, my child was accepted by UBC, following which the whole family moved to Canada. We completed a number of tasks one by one, such as applying for our SINs at Service Canada and MSP online, and also changing our driver’s license at ICBC. The time for new immigrants to make their short-term and long-term landings varies according to the needs of each person or family, but thorough planning beforehand will make the immigration process proceed more smoothly.
Everyone's reason for emigration is different, but there are some necessary procedures which are common to all after arriving in Canada. Be aware of the details in the procedures and prepare all necessary documents before your departure so that everything will go smoothly after landing. S.U.C.C.E.S.S. has many resources you can take advantage of, and their office in Taipei holds seminars on various topics that you can attend. That’s also where you can pose questions to Cindy Liu, their friendly consultant, face-to-face. You can also use the Internet to participate in seminars held by S.U.C.C.E.S.S. branches in different countries. I myself, for instance, have not only taken part in their events in Taipei, but also their seminars on different topics in Beijing through the Internet, all of which were very rewarding.
These are my personal experiences from before and after landing. I hope that every new immigrant and their family can begin a new chapter in their life with success.
Chang Hsien-Chueh
2018/9/22
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