Relocation services for British Columbia, Canada

What to bring to B.C.

You are probably going to ship a lot of things with you to Canada. And you are likely to be paying a fair amount for the privilege. So make sure that you are bringing things that are needed.

This little guide is not exhaustive. Not sure? Please ask us.

Bring with you on the flight

Documents

While some of this may be obvious, there are a few items that you may overlook otherwise:

• passports
  ok, you knew that!
• travel documents
  and that!
• customs forms
  if you are shipping your effects, then you will need to have completed the goods to follow form.
• references from current and previous employers
  you may be able to use these when applying for jobs
• proof of no claims from current car insurance
  This is not the standard letter you get from your insurer stating “n” years’ no-claims. If you want ICBC to accept your no-claims history you must provide the following:
  • be on headed paper from the insurance company
  • include the Policy Number.
  • the start date for the insurance cover.
  • the end date for the insurance cover.
  • a sentence describing the type of insurance held – i.e. “fully comprehensive”.
  • a sentence explaining that there were no claims made during this time.
  • a sentence describing the total number of years’ No Claims Bonus gained by the time the policy ended Note that the number of years accrued must be stated, and not just a No Claims percentage bonus.
  • A sentence describing the number of years’ No Claims Bonus accrued with this organization during this period - i.e. not the total no claims, just the amount earned with this company.
  • if you have changed insurers, then you will want to get the same letter from each insurer as far back as you want to go.
• school records
  these are to help with your child’s assignment to a grade at school. See more in our article about transferring into the Canadian school system.
• copy of medical records
  when you sign up with a doctor, you can pass on your medical records. In particular this is important for your children as a record of their inoculations will be needed.

Note that you should keep your non-Canadian credit card for a while. If you are hiring a car then you must have a credit card. One client of ours would have been stuck at the airport if we’d not met them there - despite having enough cash and travellers cheques, the hire company would not let them have a car without a credit card to act as security against damage etc. When you return the car you need not pay with the credit card, so you don’t actually need to use the card.

First weeks

Because you might be in an unfurnished place while waiting for your stuff to be shipped, consider bringing or buying inflatable mattresses and sleeping bags too. These are available in lots of places in Canada - where camping and hiking are a very popular pastime.

Clothes for the weather are a must too. Do research the climate in the area you are heading for.

More on renting

Planning for your initial time is important. It will be many weeks before anything you have shipped via container to arrive in Canada, so do think about how you will cope.

For example, you can look for furnished short term accommodation. In most places this is very hard to find and may be more expensive than you think. This is particularly true if you want something other than an apartment or if you have a pet.

The alternative may be to rent unfurnished. This is easier to find but may not be immediately available. So bank on some time in a hotel or suite first. And consider bringing or buying inflatable mattresses to sleep on when you get into your unfurnished place.

For our clients, buying somewhere, we do our best to help them with these problems. We have a welcome package of essentials to get you through these early trials - ask us about this.

Goods to follow

When you get the contents of your home assessed by your removal company you will need a good idea of what you are going to bring because they will assess the size of the container that you will need. So you should think about this early on.

My advice - clear the clutter. What a great excuse to get rid of the junk we all gather. In Canada you are called a “pack rat” if you hoard junk! And you’d be called “stupid” if you were to pay to ship the junk from one country to another!

The Goods to Follow List

A frequent question is on the Goods to Follow list. This is required by customs on arrival in Canada. It is a simple list and need not be too detailed. Ours was things like “box of children’s toys”, “box of books”.

For items of value, you do need to include the serial number if applicable. For example a computer will have a serial number. You also need to come up with a Canadian dollar value for each item on the list. Don’t worry too much about the exact amount - they are not interested in most things, just looking for things that they can charge duty on.

Full details are on the Canada Border Services Agency web site.

Note that you can make the process easier by completing a B4 form in advance and presenting it to the officer when you arrive. You can Form B4 from the web

Furniture

You will probably want to bring your furniture with you. In general Canadian houses are large and you will need something to fill them! And to sit on too.

Electrical Goods

We suggest that you only bring electrical goods that are swithchable to 110 volts. Most modern computers will be. Laptops too. Beware that the monitor may not be switchable, but you can buy one here in Canada.

Otherwise there isn’t usually very much except travel items like hairdriers.

Gardening equipment

If you are keen to bring your garden tools, then you must get them steam cleaned beforehand. This is a measure to prevent the introduction of pests etc into Canada.

As far as we know, no one checked our garden fork and spade!

What you may not want to bring

It can be more important to know what not to take:

Electrical equipment

If your equipment cannot be switched to 110 volts, then you probably should leave it behind. Note that most computers have a switch at the back that allows you to choose between 110 and 240 volts. If there isn't such a switch you can get an new power supply fitted once you are in Canada (try Futureshop).

You can get a transformer to switch the voltage. This would allow you to bring a dvd/vhs player and UK (PAL) TV for use with your UK dvd’s and video tapes or games console. Note that your equipment may not be compatible with Canadian dvd’s.

Some Canadian house do have 240 volt circuits, usually for the laundry room. You could wire up your UK equipment to this if necessary.

Beds

These are something you may want to consider whether or not to bring. Some bedding sizes are different in Canada and you may find it hard to get bedding to fit. Here are the dimensions in inches:

Bed size comparison

UK	Canada
Single - 36 X 75	twin - 39 x 75
double - 54 x 75	double - 54 x 75
king - 60 x 78	queen - 60 x 80
double king - 72 x 78	king - 76 x 80