My experience getting a work permit at Montreal airport (YUL) - plus a question about bank accounts
Hello everyone, I wanted to share my experience getting my work permit at Montreal airport (YUL) May 20th.
At the kiosk, I asked an officer where I should go to activate my work permit. He directed me to the "Immigration 2" area after checking my POE letter.
At immigration 2 , I took a number and waited. There were only two people ahead of me, so it went by really quickly, about 5 minutes.
At the window, the officer checked my POE letter and asked what type of work permit and which IEC program I was applying for. Then he asked for my insurance information. My insurance was not for a full year, it was short by 3 days due to a canceled flight. He told me that unfortunately, he couldn't issue the work permit for a period longer than my health insurance coverage, which was understandable.
He typed on his computer for a bit, then printed the permit. I took it and checked the info like it was advice on the IRCC website and everything matched what's mentioned on the IRCC website for an open work permit. And that was it! The whole process took about 20 minutes from entering the immigration office.
The officers were really nice and straightforward about everything.
Now I just need to figure out my SIN, open a bank account, and get a SIM card.
My question:
If anyone has tips on opening a bank account in Quebec province, I'm living with a friend in their house, so I'm not sure how to handle the proof of address requirement. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
p.s. The immigration and seeing the officers for activating the work permit was before collecting my baggage.