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HANDBOOK FOR LANGARA´S INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS BY INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

Javier Meza Rebeca Robles David Valencia Langara College Langara School of Management BUSM 4805-000 – Professional Business Practice Instructed by Marie-Claire Seebohm 2020

Group 6 BUSM-4805- W01 November 29, 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page 1. Description of the handbook

3

2. Government and migration process inside Canada

3

2.1 Social Insurance Number (SIN)

4

2.2 Bank Account

6

2.3. Medical Service Plan (MSP)

6

2.4. BC ID, Driver’s License

8

2.5. Langara ID

8

2.6. Compass Card

10

3. Work Environment & Housing (Rentals)

11

3.1 Housing

11

3.2 Options to move to Vancouver

14

3.3 Work Opportunities

14

4. Tourism & Recreation in Vancouver

15

4.1 Groceries

17

5. Bibliography

20

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Group 6 BUSM-4805- W01 November 29, 2020

1. Description of the handbook. When we arrived at Vancouver, we faced different problems that makes difficult our adaptation process, like where to shop groceries, transportation, medical insurance, dental plans and the most important where to live, among others. Because of that, we detect the necessities to inform and help students thar are coming to this wonderful country, for that reason like students and temporary residents we have the experience to guide them and show how works, and how adapt to Vancouver B.C, and as a consequence we detect the necessity to create a handbook for international students by international students.

2. Government and process inside Canada At the moment to arrive to Canada, at the airport you should go first for the immigration process, in this part you are going to receive: Study permit.

Page 3 of 22

Group 6 BUSM-4805- W01 November 29, 2020

Work permit

Those documents are mandatory to reside in Canada, if you don’t have any of them you can’t process any application or a benefit that the government of Canada offers. Otherwise, if you have those documents you can process the next applications: 2.1 Social Insurance Number (SIN) The social Insurance Number it’s the first application that you need to do, with this document You will be allowed to work legally in Canada and additionally access the benefits that the Canadian government bring to its temporary residents. First you need to login to Government of Canada website:

Source: Government of Canada1

1 Canada, E. (2020, November 09). Government of Canada. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-socialdevelopment/services/sin.html?utm_campaign=not-applicable

Page 4 of 22

Group 6 BUSM-4805- W01 November 29, 2020 After to click Apply online you need to submit the proof of documents, in this case: 1. A valid primary document, in this case could be your passport 2. A valid secondary document, in this instance you need to submit your work permit and study permit 3. A proof of address, you need to share the place that you are living currently. You need to attach all those documents with the next information:

Source: Government of Canada2 After to fill all the requirements, the next step is sending your primary, secondary and the proof of residence. If the process is successful, you are going to receive an email with the confirmation of this process, then you need to wait for 2 months or less that the document arrives to your door. Due to Covid, all the applications need to be submitted online, for that reason the process could be take more than 2 months. If we were in normal situations, you need to go to Any Canada service with the next documents: 

Study permit

2 Canada, E. (2020, November 09). Government of Canada Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://sinnas.canada.ca/en/Sin/ Page 5 of 22

Group 6 BUSM-4805- W01 November 29, 2020 

Work permit



Proof of address.

In normal situations this process could take 1 hour or 2 hours. If you receive your Social Insurance Number, you can start to apply to different jobs that Canada offers. Also, you can open your bank account and apply for a credit card. 2.2 Bank account The process to open a bank account is not complicated, you can choose any bank that are available in Vancouver, generally as a student’s it’s important to pick a bank who offer the best benefits. You only need to present your study permit and passport for open a bank account. If you decide to apply for a credit card, is mandatory to present your Social Insurance Number. For booking an appointment in any bank you only need to go to the website and click in the next part:

Source: RBC Bank3 2.3 Medical Services Plan (MSP) The medical service plan it’s crucial to process it, this plan can help you at any moment if you have a medical problem, to obtain this benefit that the government of Canada bring to us is easy and you only require:  

Study permit Work Permit



Proof of address

The process to apply to this service you need to follow the next steps: 3 Bank, R. (2020). Book an appointment. Retrieved November 30,2020, From https:// www.rbcroyalbank.com/book-an-appointment/book-an-appointment.html Page 6 of 22

Group 6 BUSM-4805- W01 November 29, 2020

Go to this link: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/health-drug-coverage/msp/bcresidents/eligibility-and-enrolment/how-to-enrol.

Source: Medical service plan4 Then you need to click “Apply for MSP”

You need to follow all the steps and provide your personal information. At the end of the process, you need to attach your documents “work permit and study permit”, If the process is successful, you are going to receive an email with the confirmation of this procedure, then you need to wait for 2 months or less that the document arrives to your door.

4 Health, M. (2020, June 12). How to Apply. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/healthdrug-coverage/msp/bc-residents/eligibility-and-enrolment/how-to-enrol Page 7 of 22

Group 6 BUSM-4805- W01 November 29, 2020

The MSP need to be pay once per month, and the price is of 75 CAD. Exist different methods of payment, the most usual way to pay this service is though e-transfer or credit card, and all these transactions need to be done though the portal. 2.4 BC ID, Driver’s License, For applying to a new driver license or a BC ID, it’s mandatory provide your passport and the driver license of your origin country, then you need to book an appointment on ICBC website.

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Group 6 BUSM-4805- W01 November 29, 2020

Source: ICBC5 After to book an appointment you will receive an email with the details of your confirmation. For this appointment is crucial to go prepared, because ICBC is going to test you. You are going to receive 2 exams:  

Test drive Theorical exam

For the test drive you need to have a car and the availability of time to present the test with a designated instructor. For the exam, you need to have minimum 1 hour for complete the test. After to complete successfully the test, you will receive your Driver license that it’s the same ID. If you only want the ID, you should go with your passport and pay 40 CAD for this process, you will receive your ID card 1 or 2 months later. 2.5 Langara ID For obtain the Langara ID, you should upload a recent picture of you, with your student number you need to fill the spaces that the college is asking, this process only takes 5 minutes, and it’s free, the process takes 3 or 4 weeks, you will receive an email with the details to collect the document.

5 ICBC. Apply for ID card or BCID. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://www.icbc.com/driver-licensing/getting-licensed/Pages/Applyfor-an-enhanced-licence-ID-or-BCID.aspx Page 9 of 22

Group 6 BUSM-4805- W01 November 29, 2020

Source: Langara.ca6 2.6 Compass Card To get a compass card is easy, you only need to buy a card in any station for the price of 10 CAD, or you can buy the compass card in any Shoppers store or London drugs, in those stores the price is for 6 CAD, and you need to reload a minimum of 10 CAD7. One advantage of this card is that you can pay for monthly pass, that depends on the zone that you are going to live the price could change. Vancouver have 3 zones, Vancouver, surrey and Richmond, all of these zones have an especial nomenclature:

6 Langara. (2020). Langara ID. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://langara.ca/information-technology/accountspasswords/photo-id.html 7 Compass. Compass card Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://www.compasscard.ca/

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Group 6 BUSM-4805- W01 November 29, 2020

Source: Translink 8 Depend on your location the fare is different. Due to Covid, this year Langara doesn’t provide the monthly pass, but generally this service is including in our tuition and we can use the transport system with a special benefit during our semester.

3. Work Environment & Housing (Rentals) 3.1 Housing Leaving your home country is never easy, with this come a lot of new adapting process trough cultural acceptance, new norms, and friends. Living in Vancouver is great but no cheap. Vancouver has one of the most expensive rents around Canada. This is because a lot of Canadian want to move to Vancouver due to their mild weather and beauty nature. As I told you before, Vancouver is the second expensive place in Canada to live, according to Daily Hive: “Vancouver, BC, had the second most expensive rent in Canada. One-bedroom prices increased 1.4% to $2,130 and two bedrooms were up 2.5% to $3,230.”9

8 Fare zones. Translink. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://www.translink.ca/transit-fares/pricing-and-fare-zones 9 “The Average Cost of rent in Canadian cities for January 2019” Daily Hive, Accessed December 03, 2020. https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/average-cost-rent-canada-january-2019 Page 11 of 22

Group 6 BUSM-4805- W01 November 29, 2020

Cost of Rent by city in Canada:

Source: https://dailyhive.com So, as knowing this we can assume that for a student it could be possible difficult to maintain their cost of living by just working up to 20 hours weekly. Do not worry, that is why we have created this Handbook in order to guide you trough the best alternatives. Your wallet will be happy. First, as we can see in the Vancouver map, we have all the locations of Vancouver. Most of the students want to live in Downtown just for the location and view. Let me tell you that living in Downtown is the expensive place to live in whole Vancouver.

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Group 6 BUSM-4805- W01 November 29, 2020

Source: https://www.google.com/maps We have great locations for you! 

East Vancouver .- Living near Downtown , living cost $ 1200 CAD* per apartment.



West Vancouver .- Living near a Mall and having a nice view of the port of Vancouver, living near “Light House Park”, $1500 CAD* per apartment.



North Vancouver.- If you want amazing views like Grouse Mountain and living quiet and apart the city this is perfect for you, $1400 CAD* per apartment.



Richmond.- Being apart and far of DT, where you can easily live in quiet and be near the border, $ 1000 CAD* per apartment.



Kerrisdale.- A little but beautiful town which the rents are no more than $1200 CAD* per apartment.

 

10

Burnaby.- Place where Michael Bublé was born. Downtown.- Stores, Bars, and lots of things near you. $2700 CAD* per apartment.10 *Prices of 1-2 rooms

“Rentals Canada”, Rentals CA, Accessed December 02, 2020. https://rentals.ca/vancouver Page 13 of 22

Group 6 BUSM-4805- W01 November 29, 2020 3.2 Options to move to Vancouver. 1. Roommates (Same house) You can easily consider moving with a person or friend you met in College/Work. Normally this is how students live in Vancouver, as rents are remarkably high, they usually move in the same house and share rent. Let’s suppose that we are paying a rent of $ 1400 CAD per month. Usually the guy which has the master bedroom pays more than the other one, so master bedroom ($800 CAD) and second bedroom ( $600 CAD) 2. Roommates (Same Room) The second usually thing in Vancouver is to move with a roomie in the same room. Yes, you will be living in a room with two individual beds sharing the closet and all the amenities with someone else. Let’s suppose that you are living in the master bedroom, same price as the point number 1. ($400 CAD) per person. 3. By yourself The third one is to live by your own in an apartment of one room which is aprox. 1200 CAD. 3.3 Work Opportunities As we mentioned before, you can only work up to 20 hours a week if you want to maintain and follow the Canadian Rules, which you should do. There are a lot of websites that you could fin part times jobs in the web, newspapers or going directly to the sites. LinkedIn. Platform where you need to put all your professional experience (background). Then you can start applying to jobs finding them trough key words. (Full time- Part time)11 Indeed. In this page you can do lots of things to be sure what job do you want. First you can find jobs, secondly you can see the company reviews and the third one an very important is that you can find the range of salaries you deserve by looking in positions or background experience.12 JobList.Joblist is a platform which help you filter the work for distance, shifts, full or part time. You can apply online easily just by creating an account and password.13 Facebook Jobs. In your mobile app or browser you can easily open Facebook, go to the part of Jobs, you can fin there formal and informal jobs an applying with your resume and cover letter.

11 LinkedIn, Accessed December 02, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/ 12 Indeed, Accessed December 02, 2020. https://www.ca. indeed.com 13 JobList. Accessed December 02, 2020. https://www.joblist.com/ca Page 14 of 22

Group 6 BUSM-4805- W01 November 29, 2020 Site. You can go to a Mall or any place where you would like to work. Ask nicely first if they are hiring. If the answer is “Yes” be sure to have your resume digital or in a physical copy to give it to them. The difference between lots of Countries vs Canada is that some companies requires to have a Cover Letter. Cover Letter : “The point of your cover letter is to expand upon the achievements in your resume, showcase your personality, and explain why you’d be a good fit for the company. Overall, your cover letter (paired with your resume) helps managers and recruiters screen your job application.”14 Resume: “A resume (sometimes spelled résumé) is a record of work experience, professional achievements, education, skills, certifications, and other details that make the case for the job. It is usually the first contact between a company and candidate.”15

4. Tourism & Recreation in Vancouver Do you know that Vancouver is known for having the best weather within Canada?. Here is a chart showing what to expect all year round, so you can be prepared to enjoy what this beautiful city has to offer:

Source: Vancouver Canada weather16

Without question, Vancouver is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, with a high-life quality. Some of the most important places to that definitively you should visit while living in Vancouver are:

14 “How to write a Cover letter for a job application”, Resume Genious, Accessed December 02, 2020. https://resumegenius.com/blog/cover-letter-help/how-to-write-a-cover-letter 15 Christian Eilers, “How to write a resume for Job” , Zety, Accessed December 02, 2020. https://zety.com/blog/how-to-make-aresume 16 Hikersbay,n.d., http://hikersbay.com/climate/canada/vancouver?lang=en Page 15 of 22

Group 6 BUSM-4805- W01 November 29, 2020 Canada Place It is an iconic Vancouver’s landmark, located at the waterfront. Here you are able to find the Pan Pacific Hotel, Vancouver Convention Centre East, Port Metro Vancouver cruise ship, Fly Over Canada, etc.

Source: Canada place17 Gastown Steamclock Located in downtown, it become a provincial historic site in 1971.

Source: Gastown Steamclock18 Capilano Suspension Bridge

Source: Capilano Suspension bridge 19

17“Canada-Place-Vancouver-Bc-Canada,” YBO Cnada, 2015, https://ybocanada.com/estudia-trabaja-y-vive-en-canada/canadaplace-vancouver-bc-canada/. 18Kaushik, Patowary, “The Gastown Steam Clock,” Amusing Planet (Blogger, August 29, 2017), https://www.amusingplanet.com/2017/07/the-gastown-steam-clock.html 19 DH Vancouver Staff, “Venture,” The Capilano Suspension Bridge is officially reopening this month (Daily Hive, June 12, 2020), https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/capilano-suspension-bridge-reopening.

Page 16 of 22

Group 6 BUSM-4805- W01 November 29, 2020 This amazing bridge was built in 1889, it is 137m. long and hangs 70m above Capilano River. It is one of Vancouver’s main touristic places. The access rate as a student is $41.95 cad, and it is open daily from 10am-5pm Grouse Mountain

Source: Grouse Mountain20 Here, you can have summer or winter activities just a few steps from downtown, so you can get there by public transit. The winter ticket ($59 cad) includes a round trip access using the “gondola” or Skyride where you can get to snowshoe trails, the sliding Zone, the Light Walk, skiing or snowboarding, etc. You can also have a hot cup of chocolate at the Café. 4.1 Groceries Vancouver is a mosaic of cultures, and this is the reason of being able to find a variety of different types of international cuisine products. The main grocery stores are as follows:



Real Canadian Superstore



Safeway



No Frills



Walmart



T & T Supermarket

Product

Real Canadian Superstore

Safeway

No Frills

Walmart

T&T Supermarket

20 By, “Hit the Peak of Christmas in Vancouver,” Vacay.ca, 2019, https://vacay.ca/2019/12/hit-the-peak-of-christmas-in-vancouver/ Page 17 of 22

Group 6 BUSM-4805- W01 November 29, 2020 White Rice $4.98 $4.99 $4.97 $3.97 Yellow Onion $1.97 $3.99 $1.77 $2.47 Egg $3.08 $4.99 $3.08 $2.84 Milk 2% $4.46 $4.74 $4.47 $4.77 Chicken $6.05 $6.73 $7.73 $8.85 Drumsticks Source: Real Canadian super store21, Safeway22, No Frills23, Walmart24 T&T Supermarket25

$5.49 $1.50 $3.29 $4.29 $6.32

In this chart you can compare prices from different food items according to each store. One suggestion in order to keep your economy in good health as you, is to consume local and seasonal products. Below there is chart that can help you to buy wisely:

21 “Real Canadian Superstore Supermarket: Grocery Shop Online or Instore,” Real Canadian Supersotre Supermarket/ Grocery shop online or instore, accessed December 3,2020, https://www.realcanadiansuperstore.ca/online-grocery-shopping

22 “Store Locator – Find a Safeway Near You,” Safeway, accessed December 3, 2020, https://www.safeway.ca/find-a-store/? gclid=Cj0KCQiAk53-BRD0ARIsAJuNhpvulDcdrON0yQG9FDdx3F_st2CdYJiC3xshkjO5g_Zr6rxNu1a41ioaAmjJEALw_wcB 23 “No Frills Supermarket: Grocery Shop Online or Instore,” No Frills Supermarket/Grocery shop online or instore, accessed December 3, 2020, https://www.nofrills.ca/ 24 “Online Shopping Canada:...