WHAT DOCUMENTS YOU WILL NEED TO GATHER BEFORE MOVING TO CANADA

Are you moving to Canada?  This post will guide you avoid some potential headaches by providing a list of documents you should bring with you before your move to Canada.

Common documents include:

• Birth certificate
• Passport
• Marriage or divorce certificate; death certificate for a deceased spouse
• Adoption records for adopted children
• Educational diplomas and certificates; transcripts that list the courses you took to obtain a degree or certificate
• Official vaccination records
• Medical records (prescriptions, test results, x-rays, allergies, etc.,) and dental records
• Driver’s license and/or International Driving Permit (IDP)

It is often much more difficult to obtain these documents after you have left your country of origin. If the original documents are not in English or French (Canada’s official languages), you will need to obtain certified translations. If you are immigrating to Quebec, it is best to translate the documents into French. Otherwise, it is generally most useful to translate the documents into English. When presenting your documents to Canadian officials always provide the original, the certified translation, and the name and contact information of the translation agency. If you need to translate documents from English to French or from French to English, this can be done in Canada. Tip: If you have family members that will be immigrating at a later date, you should bring copies of their documents with you as well.