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Commissioner of Oaths in a Box Empire

The worst curse words in French Canada are all religious in nature but not particularly inventive, like just literally the word "tabernacle"

B R

B R

— 2 min read

Oh it’s been a minute! Like some substantial part of the population I was sick for a week, but before basically staying in bed and watching a million episodes of The Simpsons (Seasons 4-10) in French, some stuff happened.

First, 15cm of snow!

The relative novelty of this for northwesterners was admittedly brief:

There is a communal expectation to shovel your portion of the sidewalk. My partner is clearing the path above for the movers.

About those movers - here are some logistical things I wish I had known before moving here. I post these in the hope readers or those they know may find this information useful1

Work Permits

  1. Take a while to go through - ours took at least a month going through Montreal International

  2. You show up at the border and hand the officials a big stack of documents

    1. Proof we’ve been living together for at least a year (so I could get a permit)

    2. My birth certificate (needed to get a permit for a full 3 years)

    3. Letters from lawyers or organization you are working with, basically attesting they want (at least one of) you to work for them

  3. If all that is in order, they’ll print off some permits for you to use for like everything else

Cross Border Moving Companies

  1. Local movers hand off to long-haul movers who will end up at your doorstep.
  2. It’ll take a few weeks, they’ll give you a window
  3. It is not cheap, so see if your new job will help with relocation (what we did)
  4. The long haul driver will show up at a customs house near the border. Simultaneously, you have to go to a local government office and declare everything

The Feds

Go through their fairly okay website to get an Social Insurance Number (SIN).

The Healthcare

  1. Get a SIN, rent a place so you have an address, and register online
  2. You’ll need to make a written statement signed with the Canadian equivelent of a Notary Public, a substantially more badass office called a Commission of Oaths.
This isn’t even half of it.

We’ve already started to stock up on cold weather gear. My partner has a new coat and pair of boots, and of course Bunny has a new sweater and - yes indeed - little dog boots.

She really fills the new sweater out well.

  1. You can skip down to dog picture instead. In fact, by clicking on this footnote you probably have! ↩

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