Book review:
Live Work and Play in Canada

At first glance I was underwhelmed (there are no pictures, the text looks like it was written for a 10 year old who needs reading glasses and it looks like information you can get from any travel blog). But on closer inspection, this guidebook is actually quite helpful, and certainly something I wish I had earlier on in my Canada trip planning. Yes, we all need to know how to have an STD-free holiday , how to find work at the circus, and what a sasquatch is. hahaha, maybe not all of us.

The guide comes with packing lists, a guide to help you budget and a bit of an introduction to where to find popular jobs in ski resorts, fruit picking, admin.

My key learning points from the book were that I should probably make a will and power of attorney before I leave. Bear in mind that this guide is slightly dated now, so information needs to be cross referenced, but I still feel like this is a good framework to help you plan your working holiday. Definitely not something I would weigh my luggage down with though.

This book is available from Amazon for approximately $15.90.

I always have epic trips, according to Mr MK that is code for dangerous and risky. As such it makes sense to buy travel insurance every time I travel. The IEC WH visa requires travel insurance for the duration of my intended stay.

One year options for my age including extra cover for my iPhone and macbook, winter sports and no excess. NB. world nomads didn't have a no excess option.

Insurance provider	Standard excess	Price for 1 year	Extra for iphone	Extra for macbook	Extra for no excess	Extra for winter sports	Discounts available	Final price
World Nomads	$100	1160.5	80	80	No option	1160.50		$2481*
Covermore	$100	1367	40	40	426	165		$2038
Medibank private	$250	1328	37	37	299.2	166.5	200	$1763.75
1 Cover	$100	909.85	40	40	25	721.55		$1736.4
Travel insurance direct	$100	1049	40	40	100	681.85	191.08	$1719.69
Insure and go	$100	1183.47	20	20	295.87	69.91	309.85	$1277.95
Down Under	$100	871.87	60	60	30	185.96		$1209

Obviously each cover is slightly different, some cover more some cover less, but for the sake of just meeting visa requirements, Down under insurance and Insure and Go are quite close in price. Both have backpacker designed insurance, but I had to choose the comprehensive options to include winter sports and adequate cover for cancellations etc. For an extra $500, a more well known company can be chosen.

Given my previous experience, I was tossing up between Down Under Travel insurance ($1209) and Travel Insurance direct ($1719.69).

Down under travel insurance
+ Designed for backpackers
- pretty average reviews
- website design doesn't really give me confidence (I know, I know, it's not just all looks)

Travel insurance direct
+ unlimited medical, accidents, and repatriation
+ cover for stolen passports
+ no depreciation for name items (e.g. my 3 year old macbook and 1 year old iPhone)
+ 14 day refund
+ Australian owned
+ Can extend online for 12 months (however, IEC team won't be happy with this as your visa length will be the length of cover you enter the country with)
- Some pretty negative reviews

Summary
$500 can go a long way for a backpacker travelling, and it's very attractive that the company also has the option to do 2 year policies for Australians, I will blog about this after I give them a call later next week about inclusions.

Google temporary housing in Toronto and you will come up with the usual suspects, airbnb, Kijiji, Craigslist. There were a few other options that I considered too, so I thought I would point out some pros and cons of choosing each option for the first few weeks in Toronto. For this, I compared one week near the downtown hub for each of these resources.

It will be different for everyone, but I had a few set criteria: I don't want to share a room, preference of not sharing a bathroom, good reviews, safe,

#1 Airbnb
To share a condo/apartment with the owner for $429- $600/ week. Self contained basement walkouts approximately $755/ week. One bedroom condo with facilities for $900/ week. The pros of this approach is that there are reviews, the prices are relatively affordable, you can write a bad review if you don't like the experience, living in a real home can give you a great city experience. The cons is that it's a little unclear whether this is a legal approach, and you can't tell exactly what the spaces are like from the pictures.

#2 Budget hotels
Alexandra Hotel - $1000/ week for single/double. Chelsea hotel- $1042/ week for King/ Queen. Holiday Inn- $1480/ week for Queen room. Pros- own bathroom and room, often comes with flat screen tv, free wifi, cable, daily housekeeping, all linens, (vip points for relevant hotels). Cons- obviously the cost will be a little different to sharing options.

#3 Hostels
Planet traveller, $245/ week in 8 bed dorm. Canadiana Backpackers, $220/week for 4 bed dorm (free breakfast) $560/week (double private), The pros are obvious, meet like-minded travellers, free wifi, communal kitchen, great help with finding accommodation and work. Cons, having to say in a room with others- aka catch a cold easily or deal with snorers (unless you are the snorer) seems to attract younger hipper drinking travellers which might make sleeping or catching up with Jetlag difficult.

#4 Bed and Breakfasts
Annex Quest house approximately $500/week. Burwash Guest Rooms are approximately $522/ week. The pros of this approach is that they are legit accommodation houses that may house those who can afford more than a hostel, they have great reviews on Trip Advisor and on their own website, and they provide breakfast/internet/linen. Cons is that there is limited facilities on site for your own cooking.

#5 Homestays
Experience life in a family home for $294/ week. The pros is that it includes an authentic Toronto experience, has good reviews and is relatively safe. Cons is that these are usually out of the way, no food is included, internet/laundry is usually at an additional cost.

#6 Private rentals
Via Kijiji.ca, sublet.ca and Craiglist
Prices range from approximately $200/ week to $800/ week. Pros- There is a lot of variety and on the books, there are a lot of deals to be found. Cons- there is very little security as using this as temporary accommodation when you first arrive.

#7 Listed private rentals
Via tripadvisor, flipkey
$412- $2800/week. Pros- there is price protection, includes own kitchen, bathroom, most have reviews, may not be in the best locations. Cons - No guarantee that there won't be bedbugs.

#8 Serviced apartments
I excluded this from comparison because most options required a minimum of one month.

Summary
There are an overwhelming number of options for a single female traveller in Toronto to get settled. If money was no option, I'd obviously stay at a hotel. For real travellers, a hostel would be a  perfect platform. For the budget savy and if travelling in numbers, probably private rentals would be worth the risk. For me? The bed and breakfast appears to the safest option at the moment, but I might start looking on social media to hunt down long lost friends and family for accommodation options.

As much as the internet is a wealth of information, nothing beats having a paper copy of a travel guide. Any self-respecting traveller would have heard of the lonely planet guides. But luckily for me, my library was filled with other Canadian travel guides.

In the past, on shorter trips, I've been able to actually borrow the guides from the library, take them overseas and then bring them back before they were due. For a year long trip, it is seemingly impossible to renew the books so many times. Plus, luggage space is limited, so it's best to only buy/bring the best travel guides with me.

Let me review the first three Canadian Travel guides I got from the library.

#1. Fodor's Toronto: with Niagara Falls & the Niagara Wine Region (Full-color Travel Guide)

Available from all good bookstores, including Amazon (Link by clicking picture or link above) for approximately $13.

Out of the three guides I got from the library, this is probably the one I would actually buy and take with me. For starters, the book is in full colour, with many pictures and coloured text to highlight key topics of interest. Second, it really compact and light, with a strong focus on attractions and important travel information that would be handy to keep on hand. On discussion with Mr MK, the book contains very relevant and up to date information including information about tax, cost of transport, cost of food, etc. Above all of that, it's inviting, the moment I held the book in my hands, I started to say, "woo... I want to go here, and here and here and here..." which, is the whole point of a travel guide- to point you to places you didn't totally expect.

On my bucket list from this first guidebook, CN tower, Historic Distillery District, St Lawrence Market, Toronto Islands, Winterlicious, Cavalcade of lights (code for heaps of lights around the city near christmas time), Royal Ontario Museum, Ontario Legislative building, Nathan Phillips Square, Niagara Falls, Apple picking.

#2.DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Canada
Available from all good bookstores, including Amazon (Link by clicking picture or link above) for approximately $18.

This is a comprehensive but concise travel guide for the whole of Canada. For it's size though, it's relatively heavy, so it's more for a luxury traveller rather than one that will travel with a backpack or constantly move around from hostel to hostel. It is colourful and full of cultural insights (if you are into the whole history thing, I have often found that Eyewitness guides are a great way to pass time waiting for flights to board or in flight delays). Of the three guides, I think this was the most informative, i.e. boring. Like I really needed to know that the major contemporary Canadian artists on the international circuit were Janet Cardiff and Rodney Graham- who?

It is still worth a flick through before you pack your bags though, because this travel guide inspired me to include things on my to-do list that I had not previously considered including the Canadian Tulipfest (Ottawa), Ice magic (international ice sculpture competition), Prince Edward Island, Montreal, Flowerpot limestone monoliths at Mingan Archipelago National Park, Casa Loma, Ottawa, Point Pelee National Park, Banff, Yoho, Yellowknife.

#3.Lonely Planet Canada (Travel Guide)
Available from all good bookstores, including Amazon (Link by clicking picture or link above) for approximately $20.

For a big and comprehensive travel guide, this was surprisingly light. After reading the first two colourful travel guides, the lonely planet guide seemed more like a phonebook. And who in 2015 reads phone books- I lie, it's a recommendation I make to clients who have difficulty sleeping. Without pictures, it was really hard to get a feel of each attraction they described in detail. First impressions aside, I found the Lonely Planet guide great for pre-trip planning for the different locations in Canada and includes a lot of details on opening hours, prices, and how to put attractions together in an itinerary. It's also great to choose places to stay and eat on the fly.

Great ideas I got from the lonely planet travel guide include the Chocolate festival (May), Scarborough Bluffs, Legoland, White River (home of Winnie the Pooh), Ottawa museum passport.

Summary
In summary, I would buy and take Fodor's guide with me, have a great of eyewitness travel before I leave, and probably download electronic copies of the relevant Lonely Planet chapters when I arrive.

After 10 long weeks, I have finally got my hands on my POE. Celebrations all around. A lot of people get confused when the open it on their mobile device and see no personal details. You need to open it on a desktop or laptop to see the information.

The validity date on the document also means the last date you can enter Canada to get the visa not the validity of the visa itself, which you don't get until you enter the country.

I guess the next steps are to try to look for jobs, flights, insurance, accommodation...

For those under the age of 30, a working holiday visa is one of the easiest way for you to visit and work in Canada for up to 2 years. There are 2 other options if applying from Australia, the Young Professional, and International Co-op internship.

Luckily, there is an unlimited quota for Australians in 2015. Applications opened March 3, 2015.
From the website;

• be an Australian citizen,
• have a valid Australian passport for the duration of your stay in Canada – your work permit in Canada will not be longer than the validity of your passport,
• be between the ages of 18 and 30 (inclusive) at the time of application,
• have the equivalent of C$2,500 to help cover your expenses,
• be able to take out health insurance for the duration of your stay – you may have to present evidence of this insurance when you enter Canada,
• be admissible to Canada,
• have, prior to departure, a round-trip ticket or the financial resources to purchase a departure ticket for the end of your authorized stay in Canada,
• not be accompanied by dependents and
• pay the fees.

For me the process was relatively stressful considering I was applying whilst working full time.

Step 1: Apply online to participate in IEC and to receive a Conditional Acceptance Letter (CAL) - Applied 12 April 2015, C$150, Outcome 19 April 2015

I had to create a Kompass account, upload relevant documents (valid passport, resume) and pay the fee.
I then waited for the CAL notification in my email account (the website said it could take up to 14 days but it only took me 2 days to receive this).

Step 2: Apply online for a work permit through a MyCIC account- Applied 24 April 2015, C$100

From the day you receive your CAL, you only have 14 days to submit your actual IEP application through CIC. You have to create your MyCIC account (REMEMBER the password and secret answers!), submit relevant paperwork (police check, traffic history, family information, digital photo, travel plan, Application for Work Permit Made Outside of Canada (IMM1295)).

The police check was a bit of a drama because the Australia Federal Police takes MANY days to process and mail the copy to you (up to 7 days), so my personal tip is to arrange for this when you apply for your CAL AND this Police check is only valid for 3 months.

Because I didn't have all the materials submitted by the time my CAL would expire, I was asked for additional information on 26 June 2015.

Step 3: Wait for port of entry (POE) letter 

The website promised 42 days. Many people from this Facebook forum (https://www.facebook.com/groups/662866693822223/) were waiting approximately 11 weeks. It was a very useful resource for the application process and social support during the waiting period. It was one of the most stressful periods during the wait time.

Once you get the POE letter, this is not actually your visa, but a letter you bring to the border to get your visa.

To find out more information, follow this link.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/iec/