Practical info
From ATLAS-TRIUMF
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[edit] Moving to Vancouver, Working at TRIUMF - practical details
Initially, at least, this will be from the perspective of Canadian citizens who have been living outside Canada for more than five years and are returning to Canada to work at TRIUMF.
[edit] Chasing MSP (BC health insurance).
In theory, residents of BC qualify for provincial health insurance at the start of the third month after arriving (e.g. arrive any time in July, covered from October 1). In practice, it may take a little longer to get your "Care Card" - you are still covered in theory, but you don't have a number so it's difficult to prove you are covered. TRIUMF Human Resources are very helpful.
[edit] Voter registration.
Once you have a healthcare card, you can use the official change of address web page to register for the voter's list.
[edit] Proving that you live here.
This is difficult. I am trying to obtain something from any level of government certifying that I reside at my current address, which my former employers in Europe will recognize as a "certificat de residence".
Buying a house helped - then I had a municipal tax bill, which I was able to use to prove to CERN that I was living in Canada.
[edit] Cell phones at TRIUMF and on the UBC campus.
Cell phone (GSM) reception at TRIUMF is notoriously bad. There is no detectable signal in the 1900 MHz band, which has several other holes on the UBC campus, in particular at much of the faculty housing. The 850 MHz band is much better, which limits your choice of handsets.
