Say you've got the visa or work permit (no small feat), and you're ready to embark on a move from the US to Canada. The rest should be easy, right? HA HA HA no, you fool. Pretty much every step of the process of moving, not just the immigration-related ones, has been so much harder than it seems like it should have been. I am a person who I'd say is pretty good at navigating bureaucracy and parsing complex requirements and following sets of steps to accomplish some esoteric administrative goal. And yet!! There is so much to learn and so many ways for it to go slightly wrong, and so much of the info you need is scattered across a million different sources with extremely varying levels of reliability in the info.

Here are a few things I learned that may help you, too. Use this as a reference on things you might be available, but as with anything on the internet, and especially anything immigration- or finance-related, don't just take my word for it— verify any of this info you're planning to rely on yourself, from as official sources as you can find.

# Cell Phones

If you're planning to keep your US cell number active while primarily using a Canadian cell number, be sure to port the US number to a carrier with reasonable long-term costs for use abroad before you leave the US physically. I haven't tried with any VOIP providers, but you generally will not be able to activate a transferred US number on a US carrier from outside the US. You might get away with crossing the border briefly to do it, but you also may find that you didn't spend long enough in the US after activation or go far enough in and your account will get flagged anyways and shut down. (US carrier plans in Canada have agreements to use Canadian cell towers to serve diplomats and tourists, but aren't supposed to compete directly with Canadian cell companies. So, if they think you're a US person living in Canada using a US phone plan regularly, which, you might be, the carrier can and possibly will shut off your access.)

To get a Canadian cell plan with a Canadian number, you will likely need a Canadian credit card first. You may be able to get a prepaid cell line on a new number by walking into a store and paying with a US credit card; I did not try that because it seemed like most of the options for that would give me a physical SIM card. Did you know recent model iPhones sold in the US no longer have physical SIM slots, only eSIM? I know that now!

If you want an actual monthly cell plan attached to an eSIM you can use on your existing phone (including as a dual-SIM set-up with your US number still working on the same phone), I could not find a way around waiting to have a Canadian credit card before I could sign up.

We had issues actually activating the new numbers on our phones for some unclear reasons, and ended up spending an hour or two in-person at a store after we failed out of an hour or so of over-the-phone tech support, after finally receiving a credit card and signing up for a plan. I hope this won't happen to you!

# Finances

# Credit Cards & Banking

There are significantly fewer banking options in Canada vs the US. There are the big five, and a handful of newer, online-only banks that generally offer much better rates, but don't have local branches where you can access your account or get help. Interest rates at the big five are generally abysmal for both consumer checking & savings.

Most Canadian credit cards will have foreign transaction fees, and less enticing rewards compared to popular US credit cards. It's useful to keep a US credit card active for your US-sourced spending, whether that's on trips back to the States, recurring online subscriptions that get paid in USD, or online purchases made in USD and shipped to you.

Many people use the online transfer service Wise to transfer money between currencies/banks in different countries. Rates there are generally better than the rates of having your bank make the transfer directly. I've been using it and it's been working well; feel free to try my Wise referral link if you have some money you want to move between currencies. You'll get a free transfer up to $600; I'll get $115 if 3 of you use it.

TD Bank offers free-ish transfers between US TD Bank accounts and USD-denominated accounts at TD Canada Trust. To set up a US TD Bank account though, you need a US address in a state that TD Bank has branches in- I don't live in one of those states so TD Cross-Border Banking isn't something I've tried.

Many of the big banks have some kind of newcomer offer to entice you to begin your financial life in Canada with them instead of one of the other big banks. Since fee-free consumer banking isn't as common in Canada as in the US, this is something you should definitely look into if you're eligible. You will probably have to go to a physical bank to complete the paperwork and get the accounts set up; it seemed to me that you mostly could not do this ahead of arriving physically in Canada.

Your US credit history isn't used to assess your credit for stuff in Canada, with some rare exceptions. We were able to find a property management company for our rental housing that was able to pull our US credit history instead of relying on our nonexistent Canadian credit history in order to approve our rental application. But the credit card limits we qualified for off the bat were pretty small compared to what we were able to get back home.

One way around this, and a way to build up your Canadian credit card history more quickly, is to get apply for a US-based American Express card while still in the US. (Or if you have one already, great, except who has an American Express card already?) The US card will of course use your US credit history to determine whether you are approved and for what limit. After three months of having that card open and in good standing, you'll be eligible for the Global Card Relationship program that lets you apply for a card in your new country using your US history to determine your eligibility. There are a few other countries you can do this for besides Canada, as well. We did this and I'm happy to report it really worked!

Something else to watch out for with banking is that many, maybe most, US financial institutions rely exclusively on SMS two-factor authentication, and some will try to detect if you are using a VOIP number to receive two-factor authentication codes and won't send them. You will likely also need to maintain a US address if you want to keep your US financial institution accounts open. Some folks online have reported that at some point while living abroad, their US bank figures out they are not primarily living in the US and demands they move their money elsewhere, immediately, in order to comply with US banking regulations. So, watch out for that, and make sure you're actually paying attention to the notices & mail you may be getting from them!

One option for US banking while abroad that I've considered but haven't at this point tried, is the State Department Federal Credit Union. Despite the name, this is not officially affiliated with the US State Department, but rather is a credit union whose target audience is largely US diplomats & expats. You can become eligible for an account there by paying a $70 yearly membership fee to the American Citizens Abroad lobbying organization. I've also heard people recommend using Schwab International for non-US banking and investing as well. If you have an existing Schwab account you've been using, you can't just change your address to a foreign address though - you will need to call them and specifically ask for your account to be converted to Schwab International.

# Investments

You can leave your tax-advantaged retirement accounts at Vanguard after moving abroad, but you may not be able to make further trades within them. Depending on your goals, you may find it best to just pick an appropriate target date fund and move all your investments in those accounts to that, and then plan to leave them alone essentially til retirement time.

If you have any Roth IRA accounts, you will need to file a form along with your Canadian taxes before the first tax filing deadline the year following your move to declare the Roth IRA balances. This form makes it so Canada recognizes your Roth IRA as a non-taxable account; if you don't file it, Canada will want you to pay taxes on the earnings in your Roth IRA every year for forever. Once you have become a Canadian tax resident, anything you continue to contribute to your US Roth IRA will not be given this special tax treatment, and you will have to pay taxes on the gains from that money as long as you remain a Canadian tax resident. As far as I can tell there's no fixing this, really, as long as the additional contribution stays in the account.

If you want to invest in a brokerage account in your new country, especially in types of accounts that aren't recognized by the tax treaty between those countries as tax-advantaged, watch out for the rules around PFICs. Be sure to do a bunch of research on this and/or consult a cross-border tax expert, which I am not, if you are considering this.

# Taxes

Remember that you'll be required to file US taxes as a US citizen regardless of where you live, as long as you remain a US citizen. There are two main ways to avoid double taxation by the US, the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) and the Foreign Tax Credit (FTC). The FEIE reduces your US taxable income by the amount of income that you earned in a foreign country while a resident of that country, up to a certain annual limit. The FTC can be taken as a tax credit or an itemized tax deduction on your US taxes, in the amount of taxes paid to a foreign country for income that's also subject to US taxation. You can use the FEIE or the FTC, but not both. In countries with generally higher taxes than the US, like Canada, the FTC as a credit is generally the route most people take.

You'll want to study the various tax agreements (or lack thereof) between your new country and the US very carefully to avoid tax headaches and possibly big penalties or bills you weren't expecting.

Canadians can invest for retirement using a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP). RRSP contributions reduce your Canadian taxable income for the year, but not your US-taxable income (which may be income you earned in Canada, remember, because the US taxes its citizens worldwide income).

The US government also wants to know how much money you are holding outside the US if you're over certain monetary thresholds. The two terms to know here are FATCA and FBAR. You'll need to file an FBAR each year if the combined value of your non-US financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any point in the year. FATCA filing requirements start at much higher thresholds for US taxpayers living abroad - $200,000 at a minimum and going up if you're married filing jointly.

I've seen people online recently talking about moving money to foreign financial institutions while continuing to live in the US. Keep in mind here that the untraceable Swiss bank account you heard about in crime dramas of the past isn't really a thing at this point, at least not at the level of wealth that anyone reading this blog post is dealing with. (If you're Bezos or Musk and reading this, 1) you have better places to get advice, and 2) get off my site.) You'll need to file FBAR with the US if your combined foreign account balances are greater than $10k, and if you're living in the US, your FATCA filing requirement threshold is lower than for US citizens living abroad: $50k.

# HSAs

US HSAs get very special tax treatment in the US. Unfortunately, they do not get any special tax treatment in Canada. Canada will expect you to pay tax on any income (like from interest or investing) within your US HSA account while you're a Canadian tax resident. This is particularly annoying because since the US does not tax that growth, your HSA provider probably won't give you a nicely formatted print-out detailing the income in a way that would make filing your Canadian taxes easier. YMMV if you have a high account balance you were intending to hang onto as a retirement fund, like some people do with their HSAs. We've been using our HSA for regular medical spending though, and it had a relatively low balance, so we decided to spend it down to zero and close the account in order to not deal with this particular future tax headache.

# Vehicles

The exact steps for importing a vehicle to Canada from the US are pretty complex; definitely do lots of research here on how it works exactly. Your vehicle will need to have a clean title, meaning no outstanding liens from a car loan, and not be subject to any recall notices that haven't been addressed already.

There is a lot of paperwork involved, some of which is time-limited. For example, you will need to send an ITN number you've purchased from some random vendor, representing the import of your specific vehicle, to the port of entry where you'll be crossing, a minimum of 72 hours ahead of your arrival. Your ITN will cost about $50 and will list the day you're planning to cross with the vehicle, so you need to be relatively sure of your travel plans before you apply for one. You can get an ITN pretty quickly though, especially if you're willing to pay the rush fee to whatever vendor you pick.

When you actually are ready to cross the border, you need to first export it on the US side. You can reasonably expect that there will be no signage indicating where you should go to do this at the point of exit. It's not at the place your car is funneled to while driving to do a simple border crossing, though. At Port Huron where we crossed (first without exporting because we were told "all that stuff happens on the other side" by the normal passport-checking person, then had to go back to the US because that was incorrect), we were instructed to park essentially on the side of the on-ramp to the bridge/customs area, and walk to a nondescript unlabeled building to slip in a side door to a hallway where truckers who'd arrived & parked in a different location were waiting in line to do whatever paperwork they have to do there.

After you've exported your vehicle on the US side, you can cross the border and will need to stop at the customs building to do the import paperwork. (Canadian officials don't actually care if you've exported from the US in order to import to Canada, and may tell you it's not really necessary, but if there's any chance you'll want to ever take the vehicle back to the US or sell it there, do your future self a favor and do it properly.)

Depending on your status in Canada, you may be exempt from paying import taxes on the vehicle if you're coming over with a vehicle you previously owned. I knew that as a new permanent resident, with our vehicle listed by VIN on our Goods to Follow that had been signed by a border agent when we first landed as PRs, we should not be charged tax on the full value of the vehicle when we imported. I did have to argue about it with the customs agent though, until a nearby agent muttered under his breath that I was right, and a few minutes later I was quietly handed a receipt showing there would in fact be no tax to pay for our import, like I'd been saying the whole time.

Once you've completed the paperwork at the border, you're still not done. You'll need to finish the export process in the province where you plan to register the vehicle. For that you'll need Canadian auto insurance. To get auto insurance you'll need a valid Canadian drivers' license.

To get a Canadian drivers' license you will probably want to bring a copy of your driving record from the state you were licensed in the US showing several years' driving experience. If you don't have this, you'll be given a provisional drivers' license instead that's intended for people learning to drive, and your insurance rate will be higher accordingly. You may also need to take the drive test, too. Even with a full-privileges drivers' license, expect that as a new immigrant, you will be paying a very high rate, even by Canadian rate standards. You can & should get a Letter of Experience from the US auto insurers you've had for the last several years before your move, and this will help your rate. We had huge headaches getting such a letter from our insurer, though we did eventually get one that met our new insurance's requirements.

You'll also need to pass a safety inspection on your vehicle; Canadian Tire seems to be the vendor of choice for getting it done. Watch out, the inspection certificate does expire, and if you have delays at the above step of getting a drivers' license (like we did, long story), you may end up needing to redo the safety inspection in order to register the vehicle. So, maybe get your licenses squared away before going in for the safety inspection.

Once you've done these steps and a few more not listed here, you can head to your provincial service center (Service Ontario, for us), and complete the paperwork to register your vehicle, which completes the import process. (Just this step required three separate trips to Service Ontario for us, which isn't usually how it's supposed to go. We were very thankful for the return tickets we were given that let us skip to the front of the wait on visits two & three, otherwise it's a take-a-number situation.)

In case you're curious, document headaches with the drivers' licensing process resulted in two separate visits to the licensing office that lasted a combined 3 or 4 hours, and also required multiple calls & emails to our Member of Provincial Parliament's office staff in order for them to intervene on our behalf, which is ultimately how we were able to get unstuck. Note that when you exchange your US license (which remember, you'll want to do instead of applying anew in order to have your US history counted & not have to start with a provisional drivers' license) for a Canadian one, at least here in Ontario, you will truly be exchanging and they will take your US drivers' license and not give it back.

# Mailing Stuff

You may find it useful to have a US-based virtual mailbox where you can have mail sent that requires a US address. The USPS won't forward mail to a foreign address, so it's useful at least in the first year or so to have a place to forward things from your previous address. These services will receive your mail and show you the envelope front, and then as requested, either scan the envelope contents or mail it on to you at your actual new mailing address.

If your new Canadian home is near the border, you may find it useful to have a place to receive packages that's in the US and you can go pick it up. Some US businesses won't ship internationally at all; others will but the shipping fees will be very high. Here in Ottawa we are using My US Address to receive packages in Ogdensburg, New York, where they will hold packages for us in the warehouse for up to a year until we pick them up for a ~$5 per-package fee.

# Miscellaneous Other Hurdles We Encountered

These are things you may or may not run into, but since this post also became a bit of "ways various things were unexpectedly way harder than they seemingly should have been", here's a few other headaches we encountered. Hop on over to my healthcare for newcomers post as well for more healthcare-specific stuff.

# US medical records not making it to Canada

The doctor I'd seen for early pregnancy care somehow could not get their faxes to go through with my medical records to my new doctor's practice here in Canada. Both sides claimed their fax machines were working just fine, but the US office consistently got a "busy" signal from the CA office's fax machine. The US office refused to email my records (fine, I get it), and eventually resorted to physically mailing them to my new doctor.

# Community mailbox address headaches

In Canada most people receive their mail via community mailboxes located somewhere near them, rather than at their door or a box on their property, even for single-family homes. The house we are renting used to be divided into two units, but we have the whole house to ourselves. This led to some initial confusion about which community mailbox slot we should be using, and many systems that validate addresses expect our mail to contain a unit number, but our lease doesn't have one and we did initial setup of some stuff that started sending us important mail right away without a unit number because we didn't realize we were expected to have one. We got this resolved in a couple calls to Canada Post, though we do continue to get extra questions at various places like Service Ontario about whether we are sure that we don't have a unit number for our address. The lack of unit number stopped me at first from signing up for the "do you have mail coming/delivered" service in the Canada Post app, which is extra useful if it's a couple minute walk to your mail instead of just being at the end of the driveway or on the porch.

# Rental woes

I really hope you don't have these kind of issues but here are some of the ones we encountered after moving into our rental...

• entire house was filthy and needed essentially top to bottom cleaning, including wiping down grimy walls and door frames through the entire house, and sweeping/mopping a lot, everywhere. We had scheduled our U-Haul to be unloaded right away after we arrived; I wish I had known we'd be better off taking a day to clean first and waited to bring in the boxes & furniture!
• the house initially had two washer/dryer sets, one of which was tiny. Both of them quickly turned out to not actually work. The big one got repaired; when proeprty management balked at fixing the smaller one since we had a (now) working one downstairs, we had them just take it away to get the space back at least.
• The first time we ran the dishwasher, the kitchen sink filled to the very top and wouldn't drain.
• The hot water heater pilot light was off and took an hour's effort to re-light.
• We spent literally hours looking for the coax port to plug in our new wifi router before finally locating it.
• The dining area was missing a light fixture and we had to request maintenance to install one.
• We measured pretty high radon levels in the basement (where there are two bedrooms) using a short-term tester; property management wanted to do a long-term radon test before they will fix it, and we're still waiting on the results of that.