Your First Week in Canada, Step by Step
The week you land is a blur of forms, queues and jet lag. This is the one checklist that ties every money and admin task together — in the order you'll actually face them, with the honest catches nobody mentions.
First, breathe
If you're reading this on the plane or in your first jet-lagged night here — welcome. You are adjusting, not failing. Nobody arrives in a new country and gets everything right in week one, and you don't have to either. What you do need is an order to work through, so the important, time-sensitive things happen first and the rest can wait.
Here's the truth most guides bury: almost everything in Canada is a chain. A phone number unlocks a bank account. A bank account unlocks a job and an apartment. A SIN unlocks getting paid. Miss the order and you'll find yourself stuck in a loop — can't rent without a job, can't get paid without a SIN, can't verify anything without a phone. So we've laid this out as the chain, day by day.
The week, day by day
These aren't strict calendar days — some people knock out three in one afternoon. It's the order of priority. Do them roughly in this sequence.
Get a Canadian phone number
Before you leave the airport, get a working Canadian number — ideally an eSIM you activated before you flew, or a prepaid SIM from a kiosk. Almost every step after this (bank verification codes, job applications, apartment viewings) needs a local number, and you need it today, not next week.
You don't need a SIN, credit history or even a Canadian address to get a prepaid plan. Our best SIM for newcomers guide compares eSIM versus prepaid and shows which options work from day one.
Watch out: the phone-plan desk at the airport is convenient but rarely the cheapest. Get a cheap prepaid to tide you over, then compare real plans in week two — don't sign a two-year contract while jet-lagged.
Apply for your SIN (Social Insurance Number)
Your SIN is a free, 9-digit number you need to work in Canada and to file taxes. You can apply online or in person at a Service Canada office with your passport and your study or work permit. If your permit allows work, you're entitled to a SIN — international students included.
It's genuinely quick, and in person you often walk out with the number the same day. Keep it private: your SIN is sensitive, and you should only ever give it to your employer, your bank (for tax reporting) and the government.
Watch out: a SIN is always free. Anyone charging you a fee to "get your SIN faster" is a scam. Apply only through Service Canada / canada.ca.
Open a no-fee newcomer bank account
With a phone number sorted, open a Canadian chequing account. You can usually open one with just your passport and permit — you do not need your SIN for a basic chequing account (only for interest-bearing accounts). Most big banks offer newcomer packages with fees waived for the first year.
This account is the hub everything else plugs into: your pay lands here, your rent leaves from here, and it funds any money you send home. Compare the genuinely no-fee options first in our newcomer banking guide — and if you know your province, the step-by-step walkthroughs for opening an account in Ontario or in BC list the exact documents to bring.
Start building Canadian credit
Here's the quiet trap that catches almost every newcomer: your credit history from home does not follow you. In Canada you start at zero — and a thin credit file can block you from an apartment, a phone contract, or a car loan even if you have savings in the bank.
So while you're at the bank, ask about a secured or newcomer credit card and start using it for small, everyday purchases you pay off in full each month. Six months of that quietly builds the score you'll lean on later. Our build-credit-in-Canada guide explains exactly how to do it safely without paying interest.
Get your transit card
Each major city has its own reloadable transit card — Presto in Ontario, Compass in Metro Vancouver, OPUS in Montreal. Pick one up at a station machine or a corner store and load it; it's almost always cheaper per ride than paying cash, and some cities offer discounted student or monthly passes worth setting up early.
If you're a student, ask your school about a transit-pass program — several bundle a discounted pass into student fees, so you may already have one.
Apply for your provincial health card
Healthcare in Canada is public, but it's run province by province — and coverage doesn't always start the day you land. Apply for your provincial health card in week one, because the clock on any waiting period only starts once you're registered.
The catch that costs people the most: in several provinces there's a waiting period of up to three months before coverage begins, and in Ontario most international students aren't covered by OHIP at all. A single ER visit during that gap can run into the thousands. Read our health-insurance waiting-period guide to see whether your province has a gap, and how to bridge it cheaply before it bites.
Set up a cheap way to send money home
Once your bank account is live, you can send money to family — or receive it. Do this the smart way from the start, because the "free" transfer your bank offers usually hides a 3–5% markup inside the exchange rate. On larger sums that quietly costs hundreds.
Our send-money-home guide shows how the hidden markup works and how transparent specialists compare, so the most possible actually arrives. And if you came in on a study permit, the same lesson applies to your GIC funds — check what actually lands, not the advertised fee.
Later in the month — but not urgent
Once the essentials above are in place, a few things can wait for weeks two to four: comparing a proper phone plan, settling into an apartment lease, and — further out — your first Canadian tax return, which for many newcomers actually pays money back. None of these are week-one fires, so don't let them crowd out the chain above.
The one mindset that saves you money
In your first week, convenience is expensive. The airport phone desk, the bank's "free" international transfer, the first apartment you see — all are the easy option and rarely the cheap one. Get a temporary version of each fast (a prepaid SIM, a no-fee account), then compare the real options once the jet lag lifts. Speed where it's urgent, patience where it isn't.
Frequently Asked Questions
Honest answers about your first week in Canada.
What should I set up first?
Can I get a SIN as an international student?
Do I need a SIN to open a bank account?
When does my health card start?
When should I start building credit?
Keep going — the next steps
This checklist is part of our arrival trio. If you haven't landed yet, or you want the province-specific detail, start here.
Start with the two that unlock everything
A phone number and a no-fee bank account come first — the rest of the chain builds on them. Here's where to begin.