Getting Ready for Canada
Leaving for Canada as an immigrant was a life changing decision for me. There’s a lot of preparations to be done beforehand. I was going to my new home where almost everything is new to me and at the same time, I was leaving my hometown where I knew I would always come back every now and then. This means I was going to leave some personal things behind that I may need when I get back in the future. I have also some personal gifts and memorabilia I kept as treasures which I intend to bring with me in the future when hopefully we will have our own house. I also had to pack personal things I was going to need in the place where I was going since I was going to Canada for good. I found that making a checklist on what to bring with you is very important and to do it the earliest possible time is even more important. I had to start doing my checklist even before my visa arrived. I had to add some things every now and then as soon as they came up.
My checklist on what to bring includes:
I. Essential documents
1. Airline tickets and boarding passes
2. Philippine passport with the Canadian visa and CFO seal stamped on it
3. Confirmation of Permanent Residence
4. List of what I was bringing with me in Canada
The new Philippine passport>
II. Important documents
1. Birth Certificate Marriage Certificate
2. Baptismal Certificate
3. College Transcript of Records
4. Resume
5. Employment Certificates from past employers
6. Certificates from Trainings and Seminars attended
III. Others
1. Money in pesos for airport fees and meals
2. Money in dollars for airport spending outside the Philippines
3. Notebook or organizer containing addresses and phone numbers in case of emergency
4. Ipod or Mp3 player with a good quality headset
5. A pocketbook
6. Maintenance and emergency medicines
7. Toothbrush, hair brush, facial cleanser and moisturizer
I put the items I placed in the Essential documents and Others in a convenient place in my carry-on bag for easy access. They got me through the long trips and boring airport stops. Checking flight status every now and then was also helpful. Having my phone book on hand is very important so I could inform my husband, who picked me up at the airport, in case of any flight status change.
You can never know when a trip will go wrong but planning ahead always makes me thankful that I did. I made sure I had something to keep me busy during like reading a novel or listening to my ipod, but not too busy to check my flight status and keep an eye on my belongings at the same time.