Your first weeks in Canada: SIN, health card and a driving licence that works out differently per province

Canada arranges your residence status federally, but almost everything you need after that is provincial. Your health insurance, your driving licence, the deposit on your rented home: it differs per province, and sometimes considerably. That makes the question "where am I going to live" an administrative question, not just a question about climate and work.

The Social Insurance Number

The SIN is your Canadian BSN (citizen service number): without that nine-digit number you can't work legally, file a tax return or apply for government services. Applying is free, and it can be done online — then it takes about five working days, against some twenty working days by post. You no longer get a plastic card; for some years now it has been a confirmation letter.

You need two documents: one that proves your status in Canada and one that proves your identity. Your Dutch passport suffices for the second. A pleasant detail for whoever wants to start quickly: you may start work as soon as you have submitted the application — you don't have to wait for the number.

If you enter as a permanent resident, your COPR document (the confirmation you have signed off on arrival) is your proof of status until your PR card arrives. Keep that document carefully; it's also what you apply for your health insurance and your SIN with. And pass on your Canadian address within 180 days, because then your PR card comes automatically — if you apply for it too late, you have to make a separate application.

Health insurance: three provinces, three regimes

This is where the provincial differences hit hardest, and where outdated information costs the most.

Ontario (OHIP): no more waiting period. This is new enough that virtually every Dutch emigration guide still has it wrong. The province now writes literally that the waiting period has been abolished and that you can register immediately after arrival, with coverage from that moment. You register in person at a ServiceOntario office, with three separate original documents: status, address and identity. There is a presence requirement afterwards, though — 153 days within your first 183 days.

British Columbia (MSP): waiting after all, and BC itself says what you should do. Here the rest of the month of arrival plus two full months applies. If you arrive on 12 July, your coverage starts on 1 October. The province itself bluntly advises: take out private insurance for that period. So count those costs in your moving budget. Enrolling, remarkably enough, goes through an ICBC driver licensing office, where your photo for the BC Services Card is also taken. The monthly premiums were abolished in 2020, so MSP itself costs nothing.

Alberta (AHCIP): no waiting period, but a deadline. If you come from outside Canada, your coverage can start on the day you settle in Alberta. But: you have to apply within three months. If you're later, you lose that retroactive effect and your coverage only starts at the moment of processing.

What all three have in common: GP and hospital are covered, but dentist, glasses and medicines outside the hospital are not. For medicines each province has its own scheme, usually income-dependent or linked to age. So count on supplementary insurance through your employer or yourself — in Canada that's the norm, not a luxury.

The driving licence: and here's the surprise

Driving licences are provincial, and whether you may exchange without a test depends on whether your country is on that province's list. For the Netherlands that works out strikingly differently.

British Columbia and Alberta: the Netherlands is on the list. You exchange without a theory or practical test. In Alberta that applies to the ordinary passenger car class (not the motorcycle licence). BC makes one exception you need to know: licences from Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten fall outside the agreement. Both provinces give you ninety days after settling, and both ask for proof of at least two years' driving experience — otherwise you end up in the graduated licensing system for beginners.

Ontario: the Netherlands is not on it. That's counter-intuitive, because Belgium, Germany, France, Denmark and Switzerland are. For a Dutch citizen it means: theory test, practical test, and the full graduated programme. Since 1 July 2026 you can, however, get up to a year of driving experience credited by showing your Dutch licence together with an official authenticity statement from the authority that issued it, in English or French. Here you have sixty days after moving.

If the choice between provinces is still open and your family drives two cars, this is a real difference in time and money.

Bank account and credit from zero

In Canada you have a legal right to a bank account — even without a job, without money to deposit right away, and without Canadian citizenship. A foreign passport is explicitly on the list of valid identification. If a bank refuses anyway, it has to give its reasons in writing and point you to the complaints route.

What you don't bring along is your credit history: the Canadian credit bureaus only collect what you do in Canada. So you start at zero, and you notice that not only with loans — landlords and sometimes employers look at your credit report. The official route to build it up is a secured credit card, where you deposit a security yourself that determines your credit limit; the Canadian consumer authority names newcomers as the first target group for it. Always pay on time and use less than thirty per cent of your limit — those are the two factors that weigh heaviest.

Renting: where your deposit goes differs

In Ontario there is no damage deposit — it's prohibited by law. What is allowed is a prepayment of the last month's rent, at most one month, and the landlord has to pay you interest on it annually. In British Columbia a damage deposit is allowed, but at most half a month's rent, with on top of that possibly half a month's rent as a pet deposit. Application fees are completely prohibited in BC.

Something else useful for Ontario: a landlord there may only ask about your income if they also ask for credit information or rental history — and may not refuse you on the grounds of your origin or nationality.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Canada.