Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Canada

Google Pixel in Canada?

dobbs — Sat, 18 May 2013 18:24:08 -0800

What's involved in running a Google Pixel or other 3G Chromebook in Toronto, Canada? Do they just take a normal carrier's sim card and run as if they're phones without phone numbers? Will they run on Wind/Mobilicity/Public or only one Bell/Rogers/Telus, etc? Over all, what issues does one need to be aware of? Thanks.

Is this an accent or am I hearing things?

toftflin — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:48:56 -0800

These two YouTube videos, Video 1 and Video 2, contain men speaking English with a similar accent. Is this an accent? Can anyone identify it? Both the speakers appear to be from Canada, possibly Vancouver, British Columbia specifically. Assuming they aren't related, is this an accent or just a case of similar sounding voices?

What to do and eat in Quebec City and Maritimes

beccaj — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:12:26 -0800

Despite my feelings about cruises, I am taking my mom on a cruise for her 80th birthday (Quebec City, Nova Scotia, PEI). I am looking for help - with what to eat and what to see. Because I am expecting to not be thrilled about the food on the cruise I want to make up for it with terrific meals when we are ashore.

We will be in Quebec city for a few days and have stops in Charlottetown, Sydney and Halifax. We will have a car and I am looking for the best restaurant experiences. What we love is GOOD FOOD (does not have to be cutting edge/fancy/served in petri dishes) paired with a great location - historic buildings, beautiful views, rolling farms, or really unique.
We will be in Quebec City for all 3 meals but the other locations only for lunch.

The only real plans we have for what we are doing (other than eating) is going to Louisbourgh in Nova Scotia. I am very interested in hearing about "must-sees" in any of the locations. I would say we like history and natural beauty and anything unique to that area.

What to do in Montreal?

GlassHeart — Sun, 12 May 2013 23:36:32 -0800

I'll be in Montreal and Longueuil, Quebec, Canada for two weeks. What budget-friendly things should I do there? In a few days I'll be heading off, by train, to Montreal and Longueuil, Quebec, Canada and am not sure what, other than chill with my family, to do there.

I want to avoid doing costly activities and don't plan on spending more than $1000 CAD (I'll likely be spending much less than that).

I'll be spending most of my time in Longueuil, but should also be spending much time in Montreal.

Though I can speak French, I'm not fluent in it. But that shouldn't be much of a problem since I'll be with bilingual family members of mine who can act as translators for me when in very French places (supposedly most of Longueuil is very French) which means I can go pretty much anywhere without worrying much about language barriers. So please don't limit yourself to recommending very English places.

Questions regarding Montreal and Longueuil:

What are some good liquor stores there that sell beers such as Hoegaarden, Duvel and Holsten Festbock? Is Holsten Festbock, a great, cheap German beer (IMO; many beer connoisseurs would scoff at me for saying so), easily found in Montreal?

What are some good vegan restaurants there (I'm not vegan, but my partner, who'll be there with me, is)?

What are some interesting Quebec-exclusive products I should buy there?

What are some must-eat-at, budget-friendly, non-vegan restaurants there (anyone here been to Restaurant Lou Nissart? It's one restaurant I'm considering dining at)?

What are some must-see things there (I hope to snap lots of interesting photos there)?

What are some places that sell high-end colognes like Zino Davidoff or Rochas Man (I want to smell good while there)?

Questions regarding trains:

Do you handle your checked baggage yourself, or does someone else do it for you?

I'll be transferring trains on the way to and on the way back from Montreal . . . do you have to do much walking when transferring trains?

What's it like taking a train across Canada (the train ride will be extremely long and I don't really know what to expect on it. This is the first time I'll be traveling alone and am scared I'll lose my baggage—something which would be a huge bummer)?

Where exactly on the train does your checked baggage go?

Would it be stupid of me to bring expensive (closed) semi-portable headphones with me on the train (I've cheap, high-quality "beater" headphones that I could bring with me. But they're open, leak a ton of sound and I'm quite certain they'd annoy people on the train which would prevent me from getting use out of them)? Would there be much risk of them breaking on the train ride? I fear I'll be bored out of my mind if I don't bring headphones with me . . .

Seeking long lines...

Anonymous — Sun, 12 May 2013 19:44:10 -0800

Do you know some long-wait presents? I am planning an anniversary gift, and I would like to show that I want to be with this person for a long time. I am interested in signing up for some long wait tours, experiences or gifts. I am thinking of things like the Canadian flag at parliament hill - a 25 year wait list, but anything >1 year is good. Bonus points for NZ and Canadian things due to nationalities.

Please help me decide if we should switch financial planners

beepbeepboopboop — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:59:11 -0800

Canadian financial question: My wife accidentally overcontributed to her RRSP by quite a bit. Is this something our financial advisor who set up the transaction should have caught? If so, is it worth the hassle of switching? Before we were married, both my wife and I independently set up RRSP and TFSA accounts with separate financial advisors (neither operate on commission; we were able to meet with them through family connections). Since getting married, we've maintained the separate accounts just because of the hassle of migrating everything over to one provider, and both seemed to be pretty helpful and competent. Both advisors have suggested similar investment strategies and our returns have been okay.

Last fall, we had some extra money and decided to put it in her RRSP without realizing it was well over her contribution limit. It's over the $2k excess allowed by the CRA, so we'll have to pay a penalty to fix this problem. We've already taken the necessary steps to fix it, and we definitely won't be making this mistake again.

I'm kind of annoyed with her financial advisor, though. In retrospect it seems obvious to me that we should have put the money in her TFSA instead, but the advisor didn't ask us any questions about our contribution limits. She was prompt in helping us figure out how to fix the problem, but did not apologize at all.

Is this something she should have caught? Is it a red flag for dealing with her going forward? Is it worth the hassle of switching? Moreover, are there good or bad reasons for consolidating our accounts with a single advisor? Thanks in advance!

University Sexual abuse policies

Glambie — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:51:30 -0800

I'm working on researching undergraduate University policies on sexual abuse and hitting a wall. Ideally I'm looking for the highlights and lowlights of Canadian university policies and how they respond to sexual abuse committed by students and/or to students. Is there a school out there that is really getting this right? Does anyone know where things are desperately wrong? I need some reliable sources to draw from, because what I've been finding has mostly been hearsay or dodgy.

Best Trader Joe's items to bring back across Canadian border?

sillymama — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 10:44:45 -0800

The title says it all! Last-minute day trip across the border and back, and we're finally hitting this magical place called Trader Joe's. What are your recommendations for border-crossing-approved items from TJ's?

One name change. Two countries. Double the paperwork?

Miss T.Horn — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 14:50:48 -0800

Dual U.S./Canadian citizen here. I want to change my name. This is not a marriage-related thing. But. I want my name change to be valid in both countries. If I go to the U.S. embassy with a Canadian name change certificate, will that be sufficient for a U.S. name change, or do I have to go through the paperwork on the U.S. side, too? Also, does this mean I'd have to pay full price for a new Canadian and American passport? Or do such charges apply in the case of name changes on perfectly good/unexpired documents?

Cell phone options for a short trip to Canada

RedOrGreen — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:48:29 -0800

We're driving from NY to Montreal for a short 5-day trip, and we'll need to be able to make a few calls and/or send and receive texts while on the road. I've found a bunch of older answers to very similar questions (for example) but surely things are better by now? What are my cheap prepaid (I assume) options for a short trip to Canada? Is there a simple way to pick up a prepaid SIM card over the border and use it for the trip? We will have:
* Two unlocked GSM phones (Sony candy bars, originally from Australia), currently with T-Mobile pre-paid SIMs. It looks like they want 59 cents/min for international roaming, which may not be the worst option. But T-Mobile's website gets very confused when I try to sign up for International Roaming.
* An unlocked iPhone 4, currently on an AT&T GoPhone plan. Looks like they charge 39 cents/min to roam, but the whole plan/service situation is fragile and keeps breaking on me and I'd rather not mess with it if possible.
* A Google Voice number that I could redirect, if that's useful in Canada.
* A stand-alone GPS unit as well as a GPS app on an iPad, so I'm not too worried about maps. Data service might be nice if it worked with my iPhone but really not that important, since I expect to have wifi most of the time.

I'm not interested in signing up for a contract plan or changing our current service in the US. So it would probably be simplest if I could pick up a prepaid (e.g. Virgin Mobile or Vodafone) SIM, put some twenty bucks on it for basic calling and messaging, and put it in one of the candy bars. What say you, Canadian (or Canada-visiting) Mefites, eh?

Winnipeg....here I come! Or may be not!

xm — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 18:45:20 -0800

Tell me about living in Winnipeg, Canada. All the good, the bad and the ugly. Low salary and in scientific research and a foreign worker....what did you like and hate about it? For someone who loves being out in the sun, walking/hiking outside a couple of times a week, is this going to be hard to navigate, if its an option at all that is? Or am I going to freeze inside with boredom in my apartment for most of the year and get seasonal depression and what not? I have never lived anywhere where it snows but I love winter. However, I am not sure if I am considering the Tundra here... It is especially important for me right now, at the point where I am in life, to be able to go out and about and walk, as silly as that may sound. Thanks in advance!

Where to stay for a week in Montreal?

overleaf — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:55:18 -0800

I'm planning a 10-day vacation with my girlfriend in Montreal in July, with a couple of days at the end in Quebec City. I bought all the guidebooks, but maybe the hive mind has a better idea which neighborhoods are good as a home base in Montreal for exploring. We like eating delicious food, drinking delicious beer, seeing interesting art, walking in beautiful places, and just generally exploring and getting to know a place. We aren't planning on renting a car, so it's nice to be somewhere that has plenty of things within walking distance.

Ideally I would like to find an weekly rental; we have done that in other places and it has worked out well. Mostly I am looking for a recommendation for an area to narrow down my search for a place to stay, but any advice is appreciated. Pointers to local craft beer are especially welcome. (We were very disappointed that Unibroue doesn't offer tours.)

How can my British self and Thai wife move to Canada?

asharchist — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 02:05:57 -0800

I'm a British 25 year old Computer Science graduate working as a Software Developer in the South East, UK. I will soon be married to my 24 year old Thai girlfriend, who'll graduate soon with a Masters degree from a British university. We'd like to eventually move to Canada, but since there are several options of how to go about this I'd like to know the best way without us spending much time apart. Any suggestions of which city/province to relocate to and any preparations we can make now, if we want to move within the next 2 years, are welcomed.

Tracking down a YA book series from the late 80s / early 90s

ordinary_magnet — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 19:17:32 -0800

In my elementary school (circa 1989-1996, Ontario/Canada), there was a series of young adult novels that our library had. I've been trying to track them down, and Google hasn't helped with the scattershot info I remember about them. Here is what I have to go on... Things I remember FOR SURE:
- Each book in the series had the same kind of cover: a studio photograph of a bunch of inanimate objects in a pile, set against a black background. The objects related to the plot of the book, so lightbulbs, brass knuckles, spark plugs, etc.. The title of the book was above the pile, in big bold solid coloured letters (bright blue, red, yellow, etc.) and in a font like Impact or something
- The subject matter was generally teens getting into trouble kind of deals. Skipping school, joining gangs, that kind of stuff. Very afternoon-special kinda stuff, nothing magical or supernatural
- The titles of the books were generally short and punchy
- The books themselves were pretty thin

Things I THINK I remember:
- I think two of the titles of books from the series were "GET REAL" and "NO WAY". Again, not positive about that. Google and Amazon turn up nothing
- I'm also pretty sure there were no recurring characters. Each book started from scratch - so it wasn't the adventures of a particular individual
- I think the books might have had illustrations in black and white pen sketches
- I don't remember if they were specifically Canadian, but they might have been

Hopefully that's enough to jog someone's memory. I was obsessed with these books as a kid, and would love to find them again to see how they compare today. Any help or hints would be greatly appreciated.

Fun pit-stops (US/CAN) between Rochester, NY & Grand Rapids, MI?

chr1sb0y — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 06:23:31 -0800

Are there any fun, weird, or tasty roadside attractions on the drive from Rochester, NY to Grand Rapids, MI? We're going through Canada (Hamilton, London, etc.) then crossing back into the US at Sarnia (?) and going through Flint and Lansing. Relevant info:

we've got 12 and 9 year old boys
we're mainly trying to just get to our destination in one day, but would love some fun stops
traveling in early April, so warm weather is not expected

Where to watch the Six Nations in Vancouver?

TheTelf — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 12:30:23 -0800

Flying out to Vancouver this weekend for work, and it'd be great to find somewhere to watch the final Six Nations rugby matches. Can anyone reccommend a good, friendly place that might be showing them? Staying in Downtown, so somewhere nearish there would be good!

Help me calm anxiety about travel to China.

sarae — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:18:28 -0800

I am travelling to China from Canada in the near future. I have hundreds of questions and concerns but mostly just need reassurance that I'm not forgetting anything. Bonus, what should I do for carry-on? I'm travelling domestically in Canada, then from Toronto to Shanghai (Air Canada), then Shanghai to Guangzhou (Southern China Airlines). I have my visa, tickets are booked, I've got some RMB, and I'm not worried about actually being in China other than the travel aspect of it. I've travelled within Canada by air before but only internationally once, as a child. I am not an experienced traveller.

1. I know the luggage restrictions for both airlines as far as size, weight, and quantity go. If I understand it correctly, I can put pretty much anything that I need to in my checked luggage (other than my laptop, things with lithium batteries, and things I need). Correct? I'm not talking about prohibited items, although if there is something that would shock me, please let me know.

2. My luggage is going to be transferred from Canadian domestic flight to the international flight without any issues (same airline, same ticket) but I will have to pick it up in Shanghai and check it for the Chinese domestic flight (different airline, different ticket). Right? Will this mean anything as far as customs/security goes in Shanghai, will I be going out of the secure area and back in?

3. What are your experiences with dealing with airport staff (airline or airport, I guess) in China? I expect that someone will speak sufficient English to deal with any problems if my major fear is realized and I've missed my domestic Chinese flight or my luggage is lost or something. So long as the language barrier doesn't present an additional challenge I'll be happy.

4. My carry-on issue: I don't want to put my laptop in the overhead storage. I want to take a small purse with all my money, camera, ipod, and documents in it. I will also have things like food, carry-on appropriate toiletries, with me, and I don't want to be annoyingly going back and forth to the overhead compartment every time I want something. What carry-on container should I use? Here are my over-analyzed options as I see them:
- backpack. good size, but accessible to pick pockets. could I use a rain cover or something? is leaving it at my feet an awful idea? that way, I could sleep with my laptop tucked away and would be woken if someone tried to get into my bag
- small suitcase. don't want to keep it at my feet. will not leave it in overhead compartment if it has the laptop in it. if I keep the laptop on my person and put the suitcase up, what do I do with the laptop while I sleep?
*I know I am being paranoid about my laptop being stolen, most people are just travelling like me and have no interest. The more I plan, the less anxious I will be (hopefully)

5. Are there payphones in the Shanghai airport? If I needed to call the person meeting us at Guangzhou, how could I do it (without a Canadian or Chinese cell phone)?

6. In Shanghai, will I have to change terminals going from international to domestic? I don't have that info since I only have an e-ticket number. Do you have a good map of the Shanghai airport?

Am I missing anything? Do you have any experiences you could share? Am I flat out wrong about something? Anything else I should know?

Thanks in advance! I know I am over thinking and probably irrationally anxious.

Help me live in my own country (USA) with my Canadian wife! AAAH!

Jim On Light — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 10:02:19 -0800

I came to Canada on a visa (NAFTA treaty visa, technical writer) and I met the love of my life and married her. I'm the breadwinner in Canada, and I have been since shortly after we moved in together. How on EARTH do I move her home with me??? I'm a US Citizen, on a visa in Canada, and I met the love of my life. We've lived together for now almost a year. I quit the visa gig and I'm coming back home to the US. It is really, really unclear as to the process, and it seems like the right route is to get a lawyer. WTF - does anyone who has to deal with the government anymore have to go to a lawyer?

I'm going to be the one working (I do just fine for us), and I am the one who will be providing for both of us. I will be the one paying rent and taking care of both of us. My wife has been living with me now for 8 months, we've been seeing each other for a month before that, and I have always been the breadwinner here in Canada for us.

What's the right answer here? Since I'm doing the money making, it doesn't seem like I need to file for Form I-130, and it doesn't really seem that I need to file for a green card for her, I'm the one who's working.

What have any of you awesome MeFi'ers done successfully? Who do I call? What do I do?

I really appreciate the help. If I've overlooked something, please let me know.

Internet accessible Canadian phone number for SMS only?

jpziller — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:04:47 -0800

What services are available to get a static internet-accessible phone number for SMS only in Canada? I lived in the USA for a bit and picked up a Google Voice number there. I enjoy being able to use SMS with a US phone number from my browser or tablet. I've since moved back to Canada and I'm finding that people don't like to text my US number as it costs them money.

I'm looking for a service that will sell me a Canadian phone number (long code) that is SMS-aware and ideally accessible via HTTP GET requests (other methods of access are fine as long as I can code to them).

What I've found so far seems to be geared towards businesses doing either one-time (long code) or repeated (short code) marketing promotions. I don't mind paying a little bit per message, but it's important that it have a real Canadian phone number associated with it.

Any ideas?

Suggestions for outdoorsy destinations in north-east of North America?

mary8nne — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 07:54:07 -0800

Partner and I are planning to visit family in Michigan (Lake Huron) & Philadelphia in August. Since we are going all that way (from London), we thought perhaps we should also try and do something just ourselves for say 4-7 days but have no ideas. Is there anything like "Grand Canyon" level must-see in that area? Looking for Non-City suggestions as we are a bit over seeing just another western city. They are all kinda the same. So Hiking, or outdoorsy activities. - although we are a bit new to this. Hike / Cabin trekking perhaps. We don't have any gear for hiking-camping at the moment.

Looking at the map, is there anything interesting up in Newfoundland or the Northwest Passage? Is it easy to get there?

We are both in 30s, looking for low-budget / middle-budget options.

Driving from Seattle to Whistler. Anything I need to know?

schmod — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 06:23:32 -0800

Tomorrow night, I'll be driving from Seattle to Whistler, BC. What's the drive going to be like, and is there anything that I should know? Any advice would be helpful on the border crossing (one of us has Global Entry, which I think lets us jump the line?), or the part of the drive that will take us up into the mountains. Keep in mind that we'll be doing all this very late at night. If there's a dearth of 24-hour bathrooms/coffee along the way, that would be nice to know about too.

Backstory: Two years ago, I took a bus from Reno to Tahoe through a snowstorm, and was really glad that I didn't drive, as the roads were just ridiculously bad. Pretty much the worse I've seen, and the locals didn't seem to think that it was anything out of the ordinary.

Am I in for a similar experience here? Do I need to ask for snow chains with the rental car? I've driven through plenty of New England winters, but never experienced anything quite bad enough to require chains.

I know it's a short trip, but I really don't want to be caught off-guard in the icy north.

Side question: Is there any (last-minute) way to get my Verizon Galaxy SIII to work up in BC, preferably with a bit of data, without paying an arm and a leg?

There must be some kind of way out of here, said the joker to the thief

swimmingly — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 10:52:46 -0800

I want to migrate in five years' time. What skills/qualifications can I pick up now that would allow me to get a fairly OK job offer? My dream is to eventually move to the US, Canada, or western Europe. I know that most countries won't let you in unless you have a skill-set they want. Please help me figure out how I might achieve it. Let's exclude marriage.

I'm a citizen of a country in Asia, and don't have relatives in my target countries. Can't use ancestry either. I have an MSc in computer science from a reputable US university, but it wasn't very rigorous. I'm currently working as a financial journalist in my home country and don't remember much from school anymore.

From what I gather, I'll need a firm to sponsor me before I can begin any citizenship application process. I'm not sure how transferable my skills are internationally, especially since print media isn't doing so well and at any rate I'd like to move out of the media industry. Now seems like a good time to start thinking about what I can do in preparation for the uprooting, especially since I can feel myself getting dumber the longer I spend in the workforce.

I don't earn a truckload and have no entrepreneurial track record thus far. Would my best bet be to save up for (yet another) postgrad program and try to use that as a springboard? Even so, not sure if I might be at a disadvantage if I don't go for an expensive top-notch one. Also, I don't yet know which areas of study will really be in demand when it comes to getting hired in those countries. I would've guessed something tech-related, but it seems like the world is flooded with Chinese and Indian IT workers. Or something like accounting perhaps, but why would they be short of accountants?

Also, has anyone here successfully made the move from Asia to those places, and what did you do to pull it off? Particularly if your background is closer to mine.

Thanks!

Help me buy my first house!

everydayanewday — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 12:08:11 -0800

My partner and I have saved a deposit of $50,000 to put down on a house. We're looking for a one bed flat around the Gastown area of Vancouver BC, which we may end up renting out while we move to the US for a couple of years for work, but I have no idea how to go about this. We've been to the bank where they quoted us a loan for $600,000 which is at least $200,000 more than we think we could comfortably repay. So with that in mind, my next step is finding a place. What is the best way to go about this? I hate estate agents with a fiery passion but can't see how we could do this without one. I'd like some advice about what to look for, how much to pay for what, and periphery costs that don't come from a dodgy sales agent. Where could I find the kind of info I'd need to be an informed buyer?

Also, on the issue of renting the place out, we'd be looking for someone to manage that while we're away. But costs for management lead me to think we wouldn't even break even on the mortgage repayments were we to do this. Does anyone have any experience in this area - how did it go for you? Could you cover the cost of the mortgage with the rent? Were your managers trustworthy, or did you come home to major damage and squatters?

If I were in my home country, I'd know much more about this, but I have no idea about property law, duties and processes in Canada. If anyone could help me make these waters a little less murky I'd be very, very grateful!

Clothing recommendations for -16C Toronto

acalthla — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 11:43:42 -0800

I live in London. I am going to Toronto on Sunday where, according to the weather forecast, there will be lows of -16C. I have literally never *been* in weather like that before, and do not own, or know where I should purchase, clothing which will deal with it. Special circumstance to note: I am a large person. I'm a woman, but men's XXXL does well by me . (I don't specially care about the sleeves being too long. I care about my limbs not freezing and falling off.) Men's XXL is likely to be too small to fasten in front. Let's not even bother getting into clothing-intended-for-women unless you have some special knowledge that this exists.

So. Long johns? Thermal vests, gloves, socks? What boots/shoes? And, even more importantly, where can I get them in *appropriate sizes*?

San Francisco -----> Halifax: Parcel Edition

otherwordlyglow — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 11:47:19 -0800

What's the cheapest way to get a large box from San Francisco to Halifax, NS? I need to ship a large box (approx 22"x 24" x 26") from San Francisco to Halifax. There is no urgency and it doesn't matter to me if it takes months for it to arrive. It's currently packaged in a cardboard box and could possibly be packed slightly smaller but not by much. It weighs about 30 lbs. It's not particularly fragile or valuable.

UPS and FedEx Ground both come out to about $180 estimated. Is there anything cheaper?