Driving lessons

So for those of you who are interested in driving full time here in Vancouver you will have to get a B.C drivers licence.
If you are from the U.K you just get it changed at an ICBC office, however if you are from Ireland you have to sit the knowledge test which is $15 and once you have that part passed, and you also get an eye examination included, its recommended you get a few lessons before attempting the driving test.
My boyfriend is the one who is driving here, so once passing the knowledge test he contacted a guy called Hamed.
His website is  http://www.letsdrivesmart.com/  and his phone number is 604-992-4863.

For $60 you get an hour and a half lesson and you may not need too many. Sean had three before doing the test.
$90 gets you the car rental and 1 hour warm up before doing the test. You can book your test on line and you don't have to wait too long to get a date.
Hamed was recommended to Sean and he would highly recommend him for lessons, Hamed collects you from your home which is great and on the morning of Sean's driving test which was at 8 in the morning, Hamed was outside our house at 6.30 in the morning to do the pre-test. I couldn't imagine you would get that back home.

Its $35 for your driving test and once you pass you get your photo taken and your drivers licence :)

If you move from the address that is on your driving licence you can change your address on the ICBC website  and they will send you out a new one.

Just note that you have to sit the exams and pass the test within the first 3 months of arriving in Vancouver otherwise you may have to go through the learners programme of driving.

You don't need to have a B.C licence if you just want to hire a car to drive over the border or explore B.C.

So happy driving and good luck to anyone who will be sitting the driving test :)

Travelling to Las Vegas for my birthday

So its my last week of my 20's. Don't know where they went, I really should have listened to those people 9 years ago when they said your 20's will fly by, because they did.
So what does this this girl plan for her 30th, Las Vegas baby.
Now its not for everyone but I have been there a few years ago and I liked it but it was much more expensive flying from Ireland.
I had looked at flying from Vancouver to Las Vegas but I was surprised at the price, luckily someone I had worked with was in Las Vegas just before Christmas and gave me the name of the website to book with.
Now the downside is that you have to get from Vancouver to Bellingham which is close to Seattle but the Quick Coach takes you there for $49 Return so that's step number one.
We booked our flights and hotel using Allegiant air. The prices are very reasonable. You can get to Vegas, flights and accommodation from as little as $200 per person.
Now Allegiant air is the equivalent of Ryanair, you pay for any food or drink on board the plane but as its only a 2 hour flight I think most people can wait.
The website also gives you the option of booking the transfer to your hotel which is around $14.99 return which is good.
So for anyone thinking of heading to Las Vegas for a few days I recommend checking the website out.

So for the bus from downtown Vancouver to Bellingham check out:

http://www.quickcoach.com/


For Flights and Accommodation check out:

http://www.allegiantair.com

When I get home I can update you on how Las Vegas went. Until then I am going to try enjoy the last days of my 20's.

Tracey

Hairdressers

I am a girl who likes to get my hair done every 6-8 weeks and made sure I paid a visit to the hairdresser before leaving Ireland. So my hair looked good for a while but once my highlights started to grow out I knew I would have to get them sorted. So back home I would pay anything from €120-€150 for a full head of highlights and a cut, over here it could range from $210+. As I have only been temping and trying to watch the $'s I knew I couldn't afford that. Luckily I found a girl from Ireland who is working in a salon here in Vancouver but also calls to your home to do hair for a lot less than the cost of the salon.
I know some people don't want to wash their hair over the bath/sink but I saved close to $100 and when you don't know when the next pay check is coming in that's a lot of money.
I am very happy with the results.
So who do you contact, the girls name is Marina McCabe.
Her contact details are 604-928-4260 and her email is marinahaircreations@gmail.com
She looked after myself and my friend and we were both very happy with the outcome. So for the ladies and the men who are looking to get something done with the hair but cant afford salon prices contact Marina.

Tracey

Household furniture and accessories

Finally finished unpacking and moved into a nice new home here in Vancouver. We arrived here at the end of October and as most rentals begin here on the 1st of the month it didn't leave us much time to find a place. We found a place in East Vancouver not where I had wanted to live originally but it was a place to live. Things were ok to start with but the longer we stayed the more I noticed that our landlady was just a bit crazy and it was also cold. So when we met a lovely couple from Ireland who mentioned that they would be leaving for London at the end of January I asked them about their apartment. It was a great location, no crazy people and warm. 

Before Christmas we got in contact with the necessary people and in early January we were accepted for the place :)

We were lucky that we didn't have to buy too much for our new home but there is a few places around the city that sell household accessories and furniture at reasonable prices. 

For kitchen and bathroom I would suggest Army and Navy on West Cordova Street, they have all your kitchen needs, bathroom and bedroom sheets, pillows, etc. 

I also found a place in the international village called Yoko Yaya, its a Japanese store and they have loads of stuff, for cleaning, cooking utensils, storage containers and its cheap. 

The dollar stores around the city are also great for kitchen needs. 

Walmart also has a great selection of bedding and they usually have a special offer selection. 

XS Cargo on Grandview Highway is also a good spot for buying plate sets, cutlery, electrical items for kitchen and bedding. 

Craigslist is always a good site for looking for people selling furniture but it usually requires you to have some mode of transport to take the furniture. So if you plan on buying a good few large items it may be worth looking at hiring a U haul truck.

Keep an eye on the Facebook pages for Swap Vancouver and Irish in Vancouver for people selling their stuff as they may be moving home and its usually going at a reasonable price. 

Also the Moving to Vancouver website is a great site to keep an eye on for people who may be selling stuff. 

www.moving2vancouver.ca

Hope everyone is enjoying their new home in Vancouver and for those who are planning the move I hope you are getting excited. 

Tracey

Health care

OK health care here is expensive. Like everyone I purchased my health insurance before I arrived and I declared my pre-existing illness before I arrived so everything was in order. 3 weeks into my stay in Vancouver, I got ill and needed to visit a doctor. $120 and then my prescription was about $30. A few days later I was no better this time the visit was free. But as my condition worsened over the weekend I panicked. I have been in this situation back home in Ireland and hospital is usually where I end up so I was hoping this would not be the case. There is a great nurse helpline and its open 24 hours a day and free to call, the phone number for BC Nurse is 604-215-4700 or 811. They will ask for some details and give you great advice. Unfortunately for me she suggested I go to the emergency clinic which cost me $150. On Sunday morning I had no choice but to go to A&E. I would only recommend this if you are in a really serious situation or have broken a bone because it cost me $760. So I could put up with the bad pain or pay and I chose to pay. Now what I didn't know was that I should have asked for a medical report once I was finished. This will help speed up your claim with your insurance company. So every time you visit a doctor or specialist or hospital ask for a medical report for your insurance, I was admitted in November and I am still waiting on my payback from the insurance company due to the fact the hospital have not sent the reports.
I will say I got great care, maybe because the nurse was from Ireland but everyone apart from the admissions receptionist was lovely. I went to Vancouver General Hospital as it was recommended and luckily my wait was not as long as if I had been in Ireland.
So you can apply for a BC Care Card, its like a medical card and if you have this it means no more paying ridiculous amounts of money for hospitals and doctors.

This is what is on the website in relation to those on a working holiday visa:

I’m on a working holiday program – what do I need to send to apply for coverage?

Persons on a working holiday program need to have:

• a working permit valid for at least six consecutive months or more,
• must be staying in British Columbia for at least six consecutive months, and
• be working a minimum of 18 hours per week.

To apply for coverage, those with a valid working permit on a working holiday program must submit the Application for Enrolment form with both of the following items to determine eligibility:

1. Confirmation of employment in British Columbia with:
• a copy of your employment contract indicating full-time status or the number of hours worked per week, OR
• a letter from your employer stating the date employment started and expected to end, and indicate full-time status or the number of hours worked per week.
2. Departure date from British Columbia.

You can apply for this before the 3 months, I only found this out last week (I am coming up to my 3 month anniversary this Saturday).

I cant comment on if this works for dental care. 

Now for those needing a doctor, I have paid everything from $120 to $150 but luckily before Christmas I found a clinic that charged $60 and they actually did more for me than the others. Where is it you ask. 

Its Broadway Station Medical Clinic and they are located on 2516 Commercial Drive Phone NO 604-872-5377. Make sure you have photo ID when registering. 

There is alot of walk in clinics and it can be hard to get the same doctor but hopefully you wont be sick too much to need to visit them all that often.

Hope this helps.

Travel, grocery shopping, phones

Ok so I see some of the same questions being asked and I know I have asked the same questions myself. So I will try give as much information as possible or what I know.

Transit: Well there is the skytrain and the bus, both great ways of getting around the city (much more reliable than Ireland). As most new people to Vancouver wont take up driving for a while, its best to buy a monthly pass which allows you to travel on the bus and skytrain. The cost depends on the zone (map is broken into 3 zones) so zone 1 is $81, zone 2 $110, zone 3 $151. The cost of the ticket may also help you decide where you want to live.
www.translink,ca is a great website for details on the zones, fares, routes, bus times etc, and the bus is usually on time.

Shopping: It seems basic groceries are more expensive than Ireland and UK, so it pays to shop around. There is a variety of supermarkets, safeway has a club card that allows you to get the special offer price in the store so apply for this you get the card at the till. No frills is another store that has no name groceries with  brand names and is also cheap enough. I also find Walmart and Real Canadian Superstore offer great deals and are large enough to have a great selection of goods. They really could do with a Lidl and Aldi. There is so many fruit and vegetable stores around the city and its cheaper than the big stores. I also recommend Donald's market for good quality organic vegetables and good quality meat. For the meat lovers, it can be expensive. Chicken is pricey, and as meat products here are not as regulated as back home you cant always be certain what you are getting. I saw in one store recently that there was a warning sign saying fresh meat may be mixed with frozen meat. YUK! The larger supermarkets have good selections of meat at good prices. For the pizza lovers, a regular frozen pizza could cost anything from $8-$10 so its cheaper to buy a pizza from the many pizza places. You cant buy alcohol in these stores, it can only be bought in Liquor stores and does not come cheap.

Phones: I had my phone unlocked before coming over, which meant I only had to buy a new sim card. DON'T use the free one that USIT give you (if you are coming from Ireland) it costs a fortune. Most people probably used ready to go and bought about €20 of credit and received free texts or calls and maybe free Internet well that wont be the case here. The best deal I found was with FIDO. The initial cost was around $70 which included $40 credit. For $40 a month I get unlimited calls, texts and unlimited international texts (which is a must).I think Chatr offer something similar. Check out what deals are on offer. What I like about FIDO is that there is no contract, so if I decide to go elsewhere I can. I can buy the credit in London Drugs(pharmacy/store). Oh forgot to mention, this gets me caller ID. YES you pay for caller ID. You also have to pay extra for voice-mail and if you want Internet. So if you want voice-mail and Internet it will cost more than $40.

Must also mention about the tax: So tax is added at the till so be prepared to pay a bit more than the price you see in the aisles. Its annoying. Also if you buy anything in a plastic bottle you have to pay a deposit and recycling fee, you can get this back if you bring back the cans or plastic bottles to a recycling centre. You will see many homeless people with sacks of cans or plastic bottles as it gets them a few dollars. You can save them or throw them in the recycling bin. Up to you.

the following website has great information on the above topics for added information. Hope some of the above is of some use to people. Thanks for reading.

http://www.moving2vancouver.ca/

Recruitment agencies

I wanted to do a blog on Recruitment agencies for anyone looking for work before they arrive or while they are here.
I have applied to a good few agencies, go onto their website and register. Make sure you have your resume up to date, if you are applying to agencies before arriving in Canada make sure you have your resume(they don't call it a CV here)is in the Canadian format or they wont look at it. There are plenty of websites that will show you how to do it, make sure it is no longer than 2 pages. Also make sure you have a list of your references, their names, contact details, always include an email address because most of the agencies will email your referees forms to fill out, so make sure its ok with them for you to use their names.
Also most of the agencies will make you do some form of testing in Microsoft word, excel, outlook and maybe even power point so make sure you brush up on them. They will also test your typing speed and accuracy. Most agencies will let you choose which version you are comfortable with, but they no longer use 2000 version.
Always dress professional, they mark you on your appearance also, so for the men make sure you have a good pair of slacks/trousers and an ironed shirt and tie and for ladies, a nice pair of trousers or a skirt (make sure its not too short) a nice shirt or blouse.
If you have been called for an interview and testing with an agency, remember to keep in contact with them via email or phone and let them know you are available for work. And I mean keep in contact. Canadians don't have a good reputation for calling back when they say they will. I know most people are not used to having to pick up the phone and continuously call a place about a job but it will show you are serious. It works, I have had to do it on many an occasion and finally I get the call about a job :)
Now when you get the job, don't be afraid to accept something else, I have had a few contracts cancelled at the last minute and then I have no work.
Now I will list a few agencies that are based here in Vancouver, I am sure there is more, they may specialize in certain areas of work so make sure to do a search online yourself.

Just wanted to update this blog, I actually got a job working for a recruitment agency and wanted to give you some info on testing. Most agencies will do it so go to Microsoft.com for tutorials on Word, Excel and Outlook, it will help you.

Staff Systems
Miles
Expert Recruiters

If I have any more I will add them. Please feel free to leave  names of any agencies which you feel are also worth contacting.

Best of luck to everyone in the job hunt
Tracey