Moving to Quebec: how to prepare your departure?
Have you managed to obtain your work permit (or are you in the process of obtaining one) and are planning to move to Quebec soon?
The idea of going abroad and leaving everything behind for a year or two may seem exciting, but it can also be dizzying. When you plan your trip properly, everything becomes easier.
To help you in this process, here is a non-exhaustive list of useful steps to take before leaving.
A few tips to prepare before leaving for Quebec
In order to leave with peace of mind, here is a list of the different administrative steps to take before your trip.
Inform your public finance center and social insurance of your change of address
It is a good idea to inform the different important services of your change of address, especially concerning the French taxes and the social insurance.
Find out the different steps to take concerning your change of address for French taxes on the impots.gouv.fr website and concerning your social insurance on the website of your fund.
To give proxy
One aspect that we do not necessarily think about when emigrating is the administrative part. We advise you to give your power of attorney to a trusted person for the various administrative procedures in France (voting, signing official documents, creating vehicle registration cards, etc.) This will allow you to vote from abroad, manage the estate of a relative or sign official documents from abroad.
- Voting by proxy
From France, you can make your proxy online via the website Maprocuration.fr before going to a gendarmerie. Alternatively, you can submit your application by post or go to a gendarmerie. For more information on the proxy for a vote, the site service-public.fr will inform you.
- The private power of attorney and the authentic power of attorney
To give power of attorney for other documents, you can make a private power of attorney or an authentic power of attorney.
The former is drawn up in a handwritten and typed form between the two parties with a description of the purpose and duration, while the latter is drawn up by an official sworn by the State.
The purpose of the authentic power of attorney is to give power of attorney for documents that are themselves authentic, that is, a document or act drawn up by a public officer authorized by law (bailiff, notary, registrar).
In short, if you know that you will have to sign an authentic act during your trip, it will be necessary to use an authentic power of attorney. Otherwise, a private power of attorney will probably be sufficient.
Freeze your unemployment rights
If you are going to work abroad for more than a year or if you are thinking of extending your Working Holiday Permit (WHP) after your first year, you must register with Pôle Emploi (if you have not already done so) at 3949 in order to freeze your unemployment rights. Freezing your rights simply means removing yourself from the list of job seekers. In fact, continuing to receive benefits while traveling is illegal.
In fact, the Pôle Emploi service will allow you to send a registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt to your Pôle Emploi agency with an email to your advisor, in order to inform them.
If you return from Canada before 3 years, you will be able to recover your unemployment rights by re-registering with Pôle Emploi.
Thinking about the international driving permit
We advise you to think about applying for an international driver's license before your departure.
In Quebec, you can drive with your foreign driver's license for 6 consecutive months (as long as it is valid, of course). After these 6 months, it is necessary to have an international license. In the other Canadian provinces, the foreign permit is only valid for 3 months.
The international permit, which is a translation of the French permit, is free and easy to obtain at the prefecture. It is valid for 1 year in all Canadian provinces.
In order to apply for this license, you must make a pre-application online and attach proof of identity, proof of residence and your driver's license. At the end of the procedure, you must send by mail the online application certificate, a passport photo, a stamped A5 envelope with 2 stamps and a registered letter sticker. The whole procedure can be found on the Service-public.fr website.
Please note that even with an international license, you must also be able to present your French license. It is therefore essential that you keep them together.
More information on the Canadian side is available on the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec website.
Driver's license exchange
If you plan to live in Quebec for more than 6 months, we advise you to exchange your driver's license with a Quebec license. The exchange of licenses will allow you to obtain the driver's license of your place of residence, thanks to a simple administrative procedure. Indeed, to exchange your French license for a Quebec driver's license, you will have to provide only a few information, including your restricted information record (RIR).
Exchanging your license with France is also possible in the following provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
All the information on the official procedure is on the SAAQ website.
Suspend your various subscriptions
Going abroad also means leaving your habits and getting rid of the different subscriptions you may have subscribed to in France. Whether it's for sports, movies, cell phones, transportation or even cars, you may not need all these services once abroad.
At this stage, you can also take the opportunity to look at these same types of subscriptions in Canada.
Prepare all your documents for the big departure
When you arrive at the airport and in order not to forget anything, it is essential to have all your documents in advance. We therefore advise you to print out the different documents that we mention in our article on the checklist of documents to have when leaving for Canada and to group them together in easy-to-access places. Among these documents, your passport, your letter of introduction and your ArriveCan application are very important to travel.
Shopping online
A few days before your departure, we recommend that you place a grocery order with a Canadian store to fill your fridge upon arrival.
Whether or not you have to quarantine yourself because of Covid-19, (on this subject, you can read our article onthe new measures for vaccinated travelers), it is smart to have food and basic necessities delivered to you a few hours after your arrival in your accommodation. This way, you won't have to wait very long to access food items upon arrival.
A practical tip when you know that there is a 6-hour time difference between Montreal and Paris!
Make sure you have a working bank card
A few weeks before your departure, we advise you to think about having a functional bank card in Canada. You can either keep the one you have in France, or get a new one in Canada.
- With a French bank
To do this, you can contact your French bank to make sure that your bank card can be used in Canada. At that time, you can take advantage of the opportunity to apply for a certificate of funds, which will allow you to prove sufficient income to the immigration officials.
- With a bank in Canada
Another option is to open a bank account in a Quebec bank before your departure directly from France. This way, you will be sure to have a functional card in Quebec as soon as you arrive.
To learn more, you can consult our article: How to open a bank account in Canada?
The Talentech team wishes you a good trip preparation!
If you would like more information on our travel preparation tips, you can read our article on what documents you need to have at the airport to travel to Canada.
