Opening a TFSA Account

Last February, I opened my first step to retirement.  Since I'm not yet eligible to use any RRSP contribution for tax credit purposes, I opened a TFSA account for the meantime.  For those not familiar with the TFSA (Tax Free Savings Account), it is a type of an account that will not be taxed on it interest earning.  The contribution limit today is $5,500 plus last years unused limit of $5,000.  I'm planning to maximize my contribution limit and try to diversify my investments.  So far, I only have a savings account. =(.  Oh well, one step at a time.

Income Tax Filing

One of the main difference of Canada vs the Philippines is the Income Tax Filing.  I'm now preparing our first income tax filing and it's very complicated.

In the Philippines, if you are employed, your company will compute for your form 2316.  You will just have to sign it and they will take care of the filing.  Your tax refund or payable will be computed in you December salary and will be added or subtracted depending on the tax withheld.

Here, they employ the "honesty" system and every individual has to file their returns.  Employees would received their T4 from their employees and need to transfer the amounts in the correct line in the tax forms.  This is were it gets tricky.  You may not be able to subtract anything from your income, but there are a lot of tax credits like donations, public transit, tuition fee, books and trades tools available at your disposal.  Just be aware of it because every year Canada Revenue Agency will implement new laws and amounts.

If you belong to the low income families, you may also be eligible for some benefits like Working Income Tax Benefit, HST/GST credit or in our case, Ontario Trillium benefit.

Anyway, just a last minute advise, file early so that your refund will arrive early. =)

Long Haitus

I can't believe my last post was in January.  Wow, I must really be busy.  Anyway, I'll try to post some topics that will be helpful. =)

Things I Will Miss 4

Yellow Cab Pizza!!!

There are a lot of pizza stores here in Toronto and somehow, they are not up to my taste.  I would say, Yellow Cab Pizza is still the best.  When I come back, I will order one 18 inch NYF and hot wings!

Images of Downtown Toronto

Snapshots of downtown Toronto. =)

Be Thankful and Have Faith

It's more than four months now since we arrived and things have been quite a mix of highs and lows.  Being prepared financially is not the only thing one should be worrying prior to landing.  One must have a lot of guts , plenty of faith and your ego should be left at NAIA.  As of the moment, I'm still jobless.  That's right folks, I'm still living on my savings (how little it may be).  However, in this trying times, I learned to lean on one constant thing.  My faith with God.  He really knows everything and His timing is always perfect.  I'm still waiting for my first job but I know God already knows what it is.  Just do everything you can like online applications, employment agencies, newcomer and employment services, networking and job fairs.  You name it I've done it.  But I never loose hope because I know He will provide.  Be thankful for the opportunit and just have faith in Him. =)

CGA DO MORE CONTEST

For those planning to enroll in the CGA program in Ontario, they have an ongoing contest right now. It is called "The Win More Contest".  Basically, you just have to register your email address and you already have a ticket.  And if you can refer others, you will get another ticket once they join.  This contest is drawn monthly and has one $2,500 and one $750 scholarship prizes.  If you can help me out, just send me your email address so that I can refer you! =)

CGA Assessment Part 1

After landing last July 30, we never really intended to pursue any accounting designation.  We figured that we don't have the funds and it is very time consuming.  However, things changed after a few weeks.  The more we meet people, the more interested we were in getting an accounting designation.  Now the question is, what designation should we pursue?  We looked over the internet on the post and cons on each designation and ultimately, we chose the CGA (Certified General Accountant).  Why CGA you ask?  Listed below are the reasons:

1.  We were able to get a free CGA Assessment from an organization.  (More on that organization in future post).

2.  The same organization that offered the free assessment will also subsidize part of our first enrollment fee.

3.  I really liked the balance of their program.

4.  They have an ongoing raffle for a 2,500 scholarship.

5.  I got a lot of exceptions.

Okay, the last two items really sealed the deal.  =)

Things I Will Miss 3

It's been four months now since I landed and I somehow remembered an old photo taken from my mobile phone before we left.  This is one of my last KFC meals in Manila.  Up to now, I wish Canadian KFC branches will do the same. 

Unlimited Gravy... Only in the Philippines

PR Card Delayed

It's already 3 months and up to now, our PR Cards have not yet arrived.  We encountered problems regarding our files and I hope to share some of them to you.

1. Make sure that your address is updated.  Upon landing in Vancouver, the immigration officer did not get our address in Toronto.  She told us to provide it via fax, phone or online.  Upon arriving, I immediately updated our file online hoping that our file will be updated faster.  And boy I was wrong.  After 6 weeks, our files were still not updated.  What we did was fax the form and in a couple of day, our address was updated.   Lesson:  Make sure to update your file via fax, online and mail.

2.  We received a mail today informing us that our height was incorrect.  We did not think that this would be a problem because I thought that it was an irrelevant information.  We provided them our height in inches while what they need was our height in centimeters.  We called CIC about the information that they need and they have updated our file already.  The latest our PR Cards will be delivered is on the last week of December.  Lesson:  Use centimeters as the unit of measurement for your height.

Hope you can learn a lesson from my experience.  =)

The Four Canadian Accounting Designation

Getting an accounting designation in Canada is not a simple process.  It's very different from the Philippine setup.  In the Philippines, we have the Certified Public Accountant, in Canada, there are four.  The four designations are the CA, CMA, CGA and the RPA.  There is even an ongoing discussion about merging the accounting designation in one and calling it CPA (Chartered Public Accountants).  The CA, CMA and CGA are the popular designations and a lot has been written about the pros and cons of each designation.

I recently attended an info session for the RPA designation.  I never really knew about RPA until the info session and I was surprised that getting the designation and maintaining it is easier and cost effective as the other 3.  In fact you may already have qualified for the RPA designation by having the other 3.  

I have already decided to pursue my CGA designation, but I am still thinking about pursuing the RPA because of the added cost of maintaining both designations and weighing the cost versus the benefits of the designation offer.

Niagara Falls

Visiting the Niagara Falls made me realized that I am indeed in North America.  It was a very long trip (about 2.5 hours), but it was worth it.  I must say that the pictures on the internet do not do justice to the falls' beauty.  In a couple of years, I hope to visit the Niagara Falls on the US side of the border.  On a side note, I am very sure that I went over to US territory during our Maid of the Mist ride. =)

Pictures are after the jump

Things I Will Miss 2

Chippy and V-Cut.

"Party Size" anyone?

Good thing you get one at your nearest grocery store.

Philippine Airlines - Business Class

As mentioned on my previous post, we were upgraded to business class for our Manila-Vancouver flight.  It was a welcome blessing and a very nice experience since i would never in my life pay for a business class flight.  Anyway, below are some of our photos taken inside the aircraft.

Pictures are after the jump.  Enjoy.

Welcome to Canada!

This post is a bit late since we completed our landing process last July 30, 2012.  That's almost 3 months ago.  A lot has happened since then but I will try to post everything I can remember. 

As mentioned in my previous post, we landed at Vancouver instead of Toronto because of a storm that hit Hong Kong that left a lot of passengers stranded at the Hong Kong International Airport.  We were rerouted from our original flight of Manila-Hong Kong-Toronto to Manila-Vancouver-Toronto.  Good thing is that we are now settled in Toronto and we were also able to visit Vancouver (eventhough its just the airport and the park near the premises).

First taste of  Canadian Air

First Canadian Meal

Sunset..... at 10 PM

Want an Ipad?

Blog Update

I can't believe its almost 3 months already.  Sorry for being outdated and not updating my blog during that time.  I promise to post more entries. =)

Typhoon Vicente (aka Typhoon Ferdie)

Typhoon Vicente hammered Hong Kong last July leaving several flights delayed and hundreds of flights cancelled.  Unfortunately, I was one of the passengers of those cancelled flights.

We were supposed to depart Manila last July 24 and arrive Toronto at July 25 via Cathay Pacific with a 12 hour layoff in Hong Kong.  However, it was during this time that Typhoon Vicente doing its damage in Hong Kong.  We rebooked our tickets for a July 26 departure arriving on the 27.  Great work by Cathay Pacific.  However, on the day of our flight, Hong Kong International Airport was not yet ready to accept new passengers since some passengers departing Hong Kong were still at the airport.  We were again cancelled. Good thing that this time, Cathay Pacific rerouted us to Philippine Airlines (Manila-Vancouver) and Westjet (Vancouver-Toronto).  We thank God that finally, on the third try, we were able to confirm our flight.

Our departure and landing experience will be included in my next post.

Top 25 Immigrants for 2012

 I was doing my daily online research when I stumble upon this  page.  Apparently, there is an award given to the "Top 25 Immigrants" every year.  I got curious and browse the profile of all the 25 winners and found out that 2 of the winners are Filipinos.  Congratulations to Ms. Narima Dela Cruz and to Dr. Rey Pagtakhan!  Now I have another goal to achieve in my Canadian journey.

For the complete list of winner, click on the link below.

http://canadianimmigrant.ca/canadas-top-25-immigrants/canadas-top-25-immigrants-2012

nTrust

I recently got an email regarding nTrust.com.  It's a site that combines social networking and remittance services.  I just signed up and will try to perform transactions.  I will try to provide a feedback once I make a successful remittance.

Also, they have a referral program where you will be paid per new user you refer.  If interested, kindly click the link below.

https://secure.ntrust.com/signup.html?ref=R7A4859A75317

Time Flies

Time flies so fast.

2008 - We first heard of the FSW fast track program for Canadian Immigration.

2009 - Went back and forth on whether to apply or not. December was the month that we finally decided to apply.

2010 - We submitted our application, we received our 1st and 2nd AOR from the embassy.

2011 - Received our medical request after a year of waiting.

2012 - Got our Visa.

In a months time, I will be on a plane to formally land as an immigrant.  A culmination of almost 5 years of contemplating, second guessing, patient testing process.  In the end, I know we made the right decision.

Excited? definitely.  Nervous? Yup. But with prayers and our faith in God, we know nothing is impossible.