Canadian Welcome

Every time you apply for credit, apply for a job that requires you to handle money, or even apply to rent a house or apartment, your credit score is checked. 

Your credit score is based on how well you have paid your past bills and gives potential lenders an idea of your current finances. Once you open a bank account or have bills to pay, information about you is stored on a credit report.  Any unpaid or overdue bills are noted on your credit report and affect your score.  Information on debts you have and how regularly you pay your bills on time, plus any credit cards you have are all used to calculate your credit score. It doesn’t matter how much money you make or how old you are.

If you have a good credit score, you will usually be approved for a loan and will often be given better interest rates.  Apartment managers can use your credit score to decide whether you can be trusted to pay your rent on time.  Employers might use your credit score to decide whether you can be trusted in a position that requires you to handle money.

Some people believe that owing no money, and having no credit cards or bank accounts will help improve their credit score.  But, the opposite is true – lenders want to see that you can handle credit, and the only way they can tell is if you have credit that you handle responsibly.  Having no credit at all can actually be worse for your credit score than having a few bills that you pay off regularly. 

As a new Canadian, you need to establish a credit rating. You can start by opening a low balance credit card. Then keep your account open rather than closing it off as you pay the card charge. This gives you a credit history to let lenders know you make a good credit risk. No matter how much you may like to pay for things in cash, the time will come when you need a mortgage to buy a house or have other high costs, such as a large medical bill, that force you to borrow money.

Opening a bank account, having bills that you pay promptly, as well as at least one credit card that you pay on time will help you to establish yourself as a Canadian with a good credit rating.

Technorati Tags: credit score, credit report, establishing credit

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Many people in Canada enjoy visiting the public library. Membership is usually free if you live in the area and most libraries have a varied collection of books, videos and compact disks for you to borrow.

Our library has a large downstairs section full of children’s novels and picture books. There are computers to play games or access child-safe sites on the Internet. Tables and chairs make it a cozy place for children to read.

At various times during the week, an activity room on the main floor is host to a number of children’s events, such as story and song time, and crafts or games.

Upstairs, on the adult level is a large collection of fiction and non-fiction books and magazines. Computers for Internet use and tables to use if you bring your own wireless laptop. Comfy couches and chairs around a fireplace make it the perfect place to enjoy a good book.

Is it any wonder that we visit our library on a regular basis? Almost all the comforts of home and enough books to keep us reading for a long time.

Technorati Tags: public library, books, computers, children

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Telehealth Ontario is a free service that offers health advice given by a nurse. For the times when you wonder whether a fever is high enough to be worried about, or whether your son’s bump on the head could be serious, it is a great timesaver.

But it can be a great source of worry too. I called one Sunday to ask if I needed to see my doctor about a lingering cough. I hate to sit for hours in a doctor’s office (even with an appointment) if I don’t have to. I happened to mention that I had chest pain and was over 50 years old.

Since the nurse can’t see you, she immediately thinks worst case scenario. She advised me to get to the hospital right away since it was a matter of life or death and wanted to call me an ambulance. As you can imagine, the call upset me quite a bit.

I promised to go right to the hospital, where I waited for five hours and had a number of tests, all of them coming back showing no health problems. The hospital receptionist told me that because a heart attack could be a possibility, Telehealth Ontario always sends people to the hospital.

A good precaution, but it makes me a little more careful about calling for health advice again.

Technorati Tags: Telehealth Ontario, health advice, doctor, hospital

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It may still look like winter here, but I am definitely seeing some signs of spring.

First, the usual signs: the snow is beginning to melt, creating little rivers all over the roads and sidewalks and flooding some basements. The Canada Geese are flying back, after a long vacation in the south.

Then there is also the sound of music. Loud music, blasting from the speakers of cars. Cars driving by on the road, with windows rolled down so everyone can listen, whether they want to or not. Cars parked in driveways, with their owners fixing them or washing them, also with windows rolled down.

As you can tell, this is the sign of spring I am less fond of. I prefer to listen to my own style of music.

Technorati Tags: spring, melting snow, Canada Geese, car radios

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The University of Toronto students have a slogan “Great minds with great debts”. In fact, students at most colleges and universities here will graduate with great debts and maybe not land that great job to pay for it.

Many students try to work part-time during the school year, but if the course load is heavy, working as well causes a lot of extra stress. So a lot of students work during the summer and save as much as they can to pay the next year’s tuition.

Most colleges and universities finish at the end of April and don’t start again until September, so four months of work adds up to a substantial amount for school. Keep that schedule in mind if you are unemployed, because once the students start looking, your job prospects will be smaller.

For those students who would rather continue with their studies, there are usually summer courses offered. Since they are more concentrated, working part-time as well is usually difficult.

Then again, there will always be students who decide to have fun and enjoy their summer and think about their debt load in the future. Either that, or hope their parents will pay for it.

Technorati Tags: education, cost, university, college

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