hotD:


Yea i agree with you about declaring as there is no harm in that but the fear i believe most ppl have is declaring it at naija customs,oh my God i had a terrible experience once just because of declaring $10,000 but once u cross over there is pretty no big deal in declaring,so d custome guy only asked us how much we had on us and we said $9865 and dat was it...so i kind of believe dat d 10,000 in the usd is d standard but i might be wrong...

hayor2014:
@hotD can you please tell the kind of phone Networks that are available( in Ontario ) , the internet rates/ call rates ....I remember you saying one network was too expensive

anaxagoras:
Good day people,

I Will be doing a short landing in Toronto for 12 days and i would like to rent a car for easy commute.

1. Can i use my Nigerian driver's license?
2. What organization provides best car hire rate?
3. Is the google map description okay?

As much as i would like to be very comfortable, i would like to know if this is a good choice.

Thank you.

Newmum0615:
If I ever wanted to change my mind about landing in Ontario, I'm sorry. I ain't doing any such thing.

Lalaska:
To be honest I don't know if they will accept an expired license. The letter shows your driving history and is mutually exclusive of your license. You can have a valid license without the letter but the letter will be useless without a license.

hotD:
Yes u do,although they have this prepaid that wld say they can give without u having an account but back then it hardly worked for most ppl when they travelled out but i dont know if they have worked on it or modified it now...

So the best bet is for u to open a dom account,shldnt take time and request for ure card,card is N1000 to produce and $20 maintenance charge yearly.

Hereforthistoo:
Hi, would a credit report from Nigeria be entertained for the purpose of getting teleco, housing, car, insurance etc services?

I know we have both local and international credit bureaus/companies in Nigeria that could verify one’s credit score such that they are globally recognized. Has anyone actively pursued this to that length?

Cc @hotD @Blackbuddy @Salford1 @thecongo2 @Ballerz @vcole @maternal @fusion23

Hereforthistoo:
Hi, would a credit report from Nigeria be entertained for the purpose of getting teleco, housing, car, insurance etc services?

I know we have both local and international credit bureaus/companies in Nigeria that could verify one’s credit score such that they are globally recognized. Has anyone actively pursued this to that length?

Cc @hotD @Blackbuddy @Salford1 @thecongo2 @Ballerz @vcole @maternal @fusion23

hotD:


They have several like rogers,bell,freedom,koodo,telaus or so but the major ones are the rogers and bell.We tried getting the rogers and they requested for credit card,credit history and a canadian photo ID which we did not have,same requirements for bell so we had to pass.

On getting to walmart we saw they sell phones with a network provider so we asked d lady and she said as new immigrants without any form of ID we cld sign up for koodo or freedom,i actually needed to get a small phone where i can put my naija line before mtn gives another person after six months den they start using d number to withdraw my money using those short codes.
So i picked a small phone and did a monthly plan of $55 which includes 2gig of data,unlimited calls within canada and was it $4 per minute in international call(not too sure).Trouble started when the 2 gig finished within 3days,to buy 1gig it cost $20,i changed plan to $65 per month for 6gig after 4days e finish very different from naija.
Hubby is starting work with a telecom so definitely we wld switch to their plan.but once u can get unlimited internet at home,ure phone usage reduces very well and d quote we got was for $85 by rogers.experiences might differ.

TheCongo2:


No. We don't even know or consider credit report from the US ...
You have bad credit in the US and move to Canada, you will start life afresh. No one will inquire about your credit in the US.
Same as if you move from Canada to the US
The funny part is that both US and Canada use Equifax for consumers credit record

So, to answer your question, your credit report in Nigeria won't help you in Canada

hotD:


We were not given that option at any point,most agent even specify the organization they want your credit report from,i see equifax,credit union and is it narboly report or so and the way this guys are they would not respect anything from Nigeria honestly,i feel more secured holding my naija passport in the US than this place,waiting patiently for PR cards so i can hide the naija passport for only when we are going home(dats d only thing it is very good for honestly).

I have registered with credit union thou so i am watching my credit report.

CPEThorpe:

Hello please does your hubby have Canadian experience and which province did he get the telecom work. I am asking coz I will also like to work with a telco when I land!

hotD:
So here is my story and how this journey all began.i would try to be detailed as much as possible..

I have always loved to relocate from naija but my hubby had always been a diehard naija fan,u keep hearing dis country wld get better bla bla but u wldnt blame him .thank you

hotD:
Sooooo...
We got out passport back exactly after 3 weeks by tcourse in project management as they are well paid here so we doing a week in toronto(canada oshodi)...
Feel free to ask anything,i would try to respond.
Thank you

Canada oshodi..

Nice experience.

I was just smiling all through. And opening my teeth

Hereforthistoo:
Hi, would a credit report from Nigeria be entertained for the purpose of getting teleco, housing, car, insurance etc services?

I know we have both local and international credit bureaus/companies in Nigeria that could verify one’s credit score such that they are globally recognized. Has anyone actively pursued this to that length?

Cc @hotD @Blackbuddy @Salford1 @thecongo2 @Ballerz @vcole @maternal @fusion23

hotD:


We were not given that option at any point,most agent even specify the organization they want your credit report from,i see equifax,credit union and is it narboly report or so and the way this guys are they would not respect anything from Nigeria honestly,i feel more secured holding my naija passport in the US than this place,waiting patiently for PR cards so i can hide the naija passport for only when we are going home(dats d only thing it is very good for honestly).

I have registered with credit union thou so i am watching my credit report.

salford1:

I know immigrants get lots of support from government when they decide to start a business, but I don't know about bakery business and tax involved. You would probably need some permits. Check the sites below for more information.

DatechMan:

I can feel your pain.
Well, your Naija passport is a generally accepted Photo ID anywhere in Canada. Until you have a driver's license or in some cases - health card, you can use it as an ID anywhere. Your PR card may not even serve that purpose. PR cards are not considered general purpose ID. You are not expected to carry it with you everywhere.

Equifax is more reputable than Credit Union imho. You really don't need to monitor your report. Follow best practices and your rating should be good. You don't want to have too many credit checks.

hotD:

Yea for the equifax i think it was asking me to pay and i wasn’t interested in that,i just needed something i could use to understand how the credit thing works and how to boost it.
Can u tell us some of the best practices,some of us feel somehow about credit(borrowing)its been conscious effort to use the credit cards and honestly for now the only thing i pay for is my phone bill,do i try to look for more ways to use the cards by force to build the credit history because anytime i pay my phone bill i wld go and check if it the score has increased.Please help me understand better

DatechMan:

I can feel your pain.
Well, your Naija passport is a generally accepted Photo ID anywhere in Canada. Until you have a driver's license or in some cases - health card, you can use it as an ID anywhere. Your PR card may not even serve that purpose. PR cards are not considered general purpose ID. You are not expected to carry it with you everywhere.

Equifax is more reputable than Credit Union imho. You really don't need to monitor your report. Follow best practices and your rating should be good. You don't want to have too many credit checks.

salford1:

in my opinion....Yes. it is easier to get professional jobs in the UK than in Canada.
Its easier to get menial jobs in canada than the UK.

Reason been that:
1. Alot of occupations are highly regulated in Canada. So regulated that some companies would even specify that they want grads of some specific institutions within their province.

2. Alot of highly educated immigrants are moving to Canada.

3. Alot of Canadians are educated too. Even their apprenticeship here in Canada is something else. They study hard. Many Canadians would have atleast a journeyman ticket or a diploma. Their journey man thing is not like the mufutau or kazeem apprentices in Nigeria. They are sound. Infact, one of our directors is a journeyman electrician....lol.

4. Canada's economy (GDP) is not that big...Bigger economy usually translate to plenty jobs. We dont have our own home grown huge companies like the GE's, Alstom, BP, Schlum, Rolls Royce, Pepsi, Shell, Barclays, Siemens, Caterpillars Volkswagen, BAT, PWC, Ford, Merril Lynch e.t.c. of this world. Luckily for us, being close to the US is rubbing off on us..the american economy is Mega huge .

Alot of Canadians move to the US for employment opprtunities. It's easier to get a job in the US if you are Canadian or have a PR.

In the Engineering field, we sometimes bring American experts to fix faulty equipments that some of our tech cant fix since most of our machineries were manufactured in the US anyway.

We do have a company well known outside Canada though e.g Bombardier, the popular dash-8 propeller plane used by low budget airlines all over Europe is proudly Canadian

5. Alot of companies are leaned. Even though the concepts not popular here. Part time and Casual jobs are very common.

6. The country is huge. You may be living in Alberta and later receive a job offer in ontario..it's not easy packing up especially if you are married.

7. If you are in a regulated profession..you would have to get a license to practice for the next province you want to apply to.. You would need to re-certify your car within 3 months. change other sorts of licenses e.t.c All these cost money

On a positive note...
Salaries are better for sure in Canada. You have lots of space, summers are awesome, plenty whitebchristmas for the kids, roads are huge..to solve transport problems, they just expand the roads or build more roads unlike Europe where they deploy congestion charging or use Intelligent transport systems..
Canadians are more accepting to immigrants. Canada is beautiful (landscape).

I can't tell you if to pack all and move to Canada. It's a life long decision left for you and your husband, also better to pray over it..give it a good thought since you are moving from one developed country to another.

salford1:

Your phone bill payment won't appear on a credit report; however, if you dont make a bill payment for 2 consecutive month, it could be less or more, then they may report your missed payment.

Your credit card balance or other credit facility balance (loans, car finance, line of credit e.t.c) and last date of payment would be reported or updated monthly or once in two months. The report would list all active and closed credit accounts. Your current address would also be reported by your credit card issuer or bank. Everytime you change address. It would be reported. The overall aim is to start building some sort of history on the report. Note that it may take up to two or three month for your new credit facility and address to appear on your report.

Just use your card and pay up. You won't have any problem has long as you keep to your financial obligations. I check my report once in 3 months just to ensure that no one is using my indentity to obtain credit facilities.

Lots of iced cold feet in the house. If you didn't have swirling emotions that would make you inhuman. It's a total life changing decision saying goodbye to loved ones you may see for the last time to a new culture totally different from what you know. Of course you must feel some type of way.

Take a deep breath and a take the plunge. Nigeria is still here with wide open ( no light/recession/unemployment /bad leadership and governance, [s]corruption EXTREME greed and lack of empathy.[/s] ) hands to embrace you if you want to come back.

Hold on to that green passport ��

hotD:
Safe landing then and please dont convert any of your dollar at the airport,those exchange guys are arm robbers without guns,exchange rate is horrible,u can use d cash machine at d airport incase u just want to hold small canadian money.always exchange ure money in d bank.

hotD:


They have several like rogers,bell,freedom,koodo,telaus or so but the major ones are the rogers and bell.We tried getting the rogers and they requested for credit card,credit history and a canadian photo ID which we did not have,same requirements for bell so we had to pass.

On getting to walmart we saw they sell phones with a network provider so we asked d lady and she said as new immigrants without any form of ID we cld sign up for koodo or freedom,i actually needed to get a small phone where i can put my naija line before mtn gives another person after six months den they start using d number to withdraw my money using those short codes.
So i picked a small phone and did a monthly plan of $55 which includes 2gig of data,unlimited calls within canada and was it $4 per minute in international call(not too sure).Trouble started when the 2 gig finished within 3days,to buy 1gig it cost $20,i changed plan to $65 per month for 6gig after 4days e finish very different from naija.
Hubby is starting work with a telecom so definitely we wld switch to their plan.but once u can get unlimited internet at home,ure phone usage reduces very well and d quote we got was for $85 by rogers.experiences might differ.

Trikings2000:


Thanks for the valuable information you have shared. Please permit some questions:

1. Please can you throw more light on the following "U can use the cash machine at the airport". I dont understand how that works.

2. Did u change your funds at the bank in Nigeria to canadian dollars or US dollars? How did you go about it? And in which currency type was ur act opened in canada?

3. I Seem to be drawn to TD bank based on the info presented. He does RBC compare to TD bank? What was the credit card limit provided for TD bank?

4. Is it required to declare funds at the airport in Nigeria? What was your experience like when you did at a certain time?