Your First 72 Hours in Canada — A Survival Guide

SETTLING IN  •  10 min read  •  LandedAndLiving.ca

You’ve landed. Your heart is pounding. The dream is real. Now what? Here is everything — hour by hour — from someone who lived it.

You’ve been dreaming about this moment for months — maybe years. The immigration paperwork. The interviews. The waiting. The sleepless nights wondering if it would actually happen.

And then the wheels of the plane touch Canadian soil, and it hits you all at once:

You’re here. You actually did it.

And then, about thirty seconds later, a quieter, more terrifying thought follows:

Now what?

I remember my own landing clearly. It was June. 1pm. Pearson International Airport. As the plane descended, I pressed my face against the window like a child on Christmas morning and saw something that confused me completely.

Sunlight. Glorious, golden sunlight.

“I thought they said Canada was super cold,” I thought, genuinely relieved.

Then I stepped off the plane.

I had lived in Scotland. I thought I understood cold. Canada looked at my Scottish experience, laughed quietly, and handed me a reality check. In June. That moment — stepping from the jetway into the terminal — was my first honest introduction to what living in Canada would actually mean. Not the brochure version. The real version.

Nobody really talks about the first 72 hours. They talk about the dream of Canada. They don’t talk about the fluorescent lights of the airport, your phone on a different time zone, one suitcase to your name, and a border officer staring at you waiting for answers.

This post is for those 72 hours. Read it before you land if you can. If you’re already here — welcome. Let’s get you sorted.

Hour 0 — The Border

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is professional, orderly, and calm. They are not hostile. They are doing a job.

When you reach the officer, answer every question honestly and simply. Where are you staying? At a hotel or with family. How long? As long as my permit allows. What is your purpose? Work, study, joining family.

Do not overthink it. Do not volunteer information they haven’t asked for. Honest, short, direct.

The officer will stamp your passport or issue you a record of landing. Read whatever document they give you — the dates on that paper are legally important.

One thing most people get wrong: if you have a work permit, study permit, or Confirmation of Permanent Residence, the officer activates it at this point. Before you walk away from that desk, check that the dates, conditions, and your name are all correct. That piece of paper is the legal foundation of your life in Canada. Treat it accordingly.

Hour 1 — The SIM Card (And Why I Skipped It — Wrongly)

Here’s what I actually did: because my partner and I were only planning a two-week exploratory trip before we fully relocated, we decided not to buy a SIM. We’d just use WiFi. Connect at the Airbnb. It’ll be fine.

It was fine — barely. And only because we had pre-arranged everything before we left home, including our taxi with the wonderful Mr. Bob, who was waiting for us at arrivals like a man who genuinely enjoyed his job.

But if you are arriving to stay — if this is your landing, your beginning — do not do what I did.

Before you find your luggage, before you find the exit, find a phone carrier kiosk in the arrivals hall. Yes, the airport prices are higher. Pay them anyway. The major carriers at most airports are Bell, Rogers, and Telus. A basic prepaid SIM will run you $30–50 for the first month. The moment it’s active, you have a Canadian number, you have maps, you can call your contact, you can order an Uber. You are no longer flying blind.

Hour 2 — Where Are You Sleeping?

Canada is a generous country. It will not, however, find you somewhere to sleep on your first night. That is your responsibility, and it needs to be sorted before you land — not after.

My partner and I had booked an Airbnb in Vaughan before we left home. Not just booked — we had confirmed it, saved the address offline, and arranged our taxi in advance. We knew exactly where we were sleeping before we boarded the plane. That single decision — made weeks earlier from the comfort of home — removed an enormous amount of anxiety from our first hours in a new country. That is the gift of preparation. It turns panic into calm before the panic ever has a chance to arrive.

Have your first night confirmed before your first flight. Have the address saved offline. Have a contact number for wherever you’re staying.

One more thing nobody says out loud: if you have family already in Canada, swallow your pride and stay with them for the first few weeks. Save every dollar. You will need it.

Hours 3–24 — The Essentials

In your first full day, three things matter above everything else.

1. REST.
You have just crossed time zones, survived immigration, and processed more emotion in 24 hours than most people experience in a month. Sleep. Everything else waits. You cannot make good decisions on an empty tank.

2. SAVE THESE NUMBERS — right now, before you need them:
Emergency: 911 (free from any phone, any time, no SIM required). Your nearest walk-in clinic. Your country’s High Commission or Consulate in Canada. One local community contact.

I want to stop on 911 for a moment and tell you something personal.

During our two-week exploratory trip, completely out of nowhere, I experienced severe heart palpitations one evening. I am not someone who gets sick. I had no history of heart issues. But there I was — my partner calling 911, in a country we barely knew yet, at an Airbnb in Vaughan, wondering what was happening to me.

The paramedics arrived fast. I mean fast. They were professional, calm, and thorough. They took me to emergency and I was eventually seen and assessed.

We did not pay a single dollar that night.

We did receive a bill weeks later, after we had returned home and then subsequently moved back to settle fully. And yes — we paid it. Because in Canada, it is essentially impossible to run away from a debt owed. The system is efficient in ways that will surprise you.

3. FIND A SERVICE CANADA CENTRE NEAR YOU.
You cannot work, open a bank account, or access most government services without a Social Insurance Number (SIN). Apply for your SIN at Service Canada. It is free. It takes about 20 minutes. Do this on Day 2 if at all possible. Everything waits on this one document.

Hours 24–72 — The Foundation

BANK ACCOUNT
Walk into TD, RBC, Scotiabank, BMO, or CIBC and ask specifically for their newcomer banking program. Every major Canadian bank has one. Monthly fees are typically waived for your first year. Bring your passport, your SIN letter, and any proof of address. We opened our TD newcomer account the same day we got our SINs. That account is where your Canadian financial life begins.

PROVINCIAL HEALTH CARD
Register as soon as possible. Don’t wait until you’re sick. Register now, while the memory of that 911 story above is still fresh in your mind.

YOUR JOB SEARCH — Earlier Than You Think
Here is something most newcomer guides don’t tell you: start before you arrive. My partner had job interviews already scheduled before we even boarded the plane. We contacted employment agencies from home. We did the research in advance. That is not unusual hustle — that is the standard you should set for yourself. Canada rewards preparation. Every time.

COMMUNITY
Find your people. There are newcomer groups, cultural associations, WhatsApp communities, and settlement agencies in every Canadian city. You do not have to navigate this alone. Others have walked this road before you — find them, ask your questions, share your experience.

The Most Important Thing

In those first 72 hours, Canada will feel enormous and a little indifferent. The city will keep moving regardless of how momentous this day is for you. The buses run on schedule. The Tim Hortons lineup doesn’t care that you just crossed an ocean.

That is okay. That is actually normal.

What you need to hold onto is this: you are not starting from zero. You are starting from experience, from courage, and from a decision that most people in the world never get to make.

I want to tell you something I wish someone had told me before I landed: Canada is not a country that loves you loudly. It loves you quietly — through small moments you almost miss. The neighbour who shovels your driveway without being asked. The stranger who holds the elevator door for an extra thirty seconds. The paramedics who show up in the middle of the night, calm and professional, and ask nothing from you except to let them help. Those moments add up. Slowly, without you fully noticing, they become home.

And I came back. And I stayed. And I built a life here.

You will too.

You chose Canada. Now give it time to choose you back.

— J. Alabi  |  LandedAndLiving.ca