The guide I wish someone handed me at the airport.
I moved from Nigeria to Edmonton four years ago. I figured it out the slow, painful way — banks, paperwork, the cold, the loneliness. This is the 30-day map I wish I'd had.
Day 1: Your first 72 hours in Canada
What to do, what to expect, and what nobody told me when I landed. From the immigration line to your first night's sleep. ~2,300 words.
Read Day 1 now →Your first 72 hours in Canada
“The first thing you'll notice when the doors open is the smell of the air. I'm not making this up. Canadian air smells different from Nigerian air…”
Hi, I'm Ayomide.
I grew up in Ado Ekiti, Nigeria. Went to Hope of Glory Primary School. Moved to Edmonton at seventeen, in the middle of a Canadian fall. Got hit by the cold, got hit by the silence, and slowly figured out how to live here.
Four years in, I've made every newcomer mistake worth making. The SIN took me three months because I didn't bring the right papers. I waited too long on a SIM card.
I wrote Hope so the next Nigerian landing in Canada doesn't have to figure it out alone. Thirty days. Honest, specific, and based on what actually happened to me.
Read the full story →Thirty days. From the airport to feeling at home.
- 01Your first 72 hours in CanadaLive
- 02Getting your SIN number — the right waySoon
- 03Opening a Canadian bank accountSoon
- 04Phone plans that won't rob youSoon
- 05Health coverage: AHCIP, OHIP, MSPSoon
- 06Re-writing your Nigerian CV for Canadian eyesSoon
- 07Where to live: Edmonton vs Toronto vs CalgarySoon
- 08Finding work without "Canadian experience"Soon
- 09Networking the introvert waySoon
- 10TFSA, RRSP, credit — what they actually meanSoon
- 11Surviving your first winterSoon
- 12The loneliness of month threeSoon
- 13Finding Nigerian food and communitySoon
- 14Cultural traps and small misunderstandingsSoon
- 15Building Canadian credit historySoon
- …Days 16 through 30Soon
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