Newcomers to Canada often get three things wrong: they think their credit score starts at zero, they underestimate grocery costs, and they fall for calls from fake ‘government representatives.’ Here’s what’s important to know about these issues from the start. The material is based on the experience of people who moved to Canada.

Credit Score Doesn’t Start at Zero

When opening a first credit account, usually a credit card, a person doesn’t get a score of zero. In the case described, the score upon arrival was at the very bottom of the 700 range, which is considered fair rather than poor. So the task when building credit history in Canada is to move from a fair score to a good one, not to build up from zero to 800–900.

Groceries Are the Most Commonly Underestimated Expense

Large expenses, such as rent or a car, are easier to estimate. Grocery prices vary significantly from city to city and even from store to store, and what you need to buy isn’t exactly the same as back home. In one described case, the grocery budget for two people in 2020 was set at around 150 dollars a month, but actual spending turned out to be roughly three times higher. Accounting for inflation over the past six years, a family of two may spend between 600 and 800 dollars a month on groceries. Underestimating this expense can throw off the entire budget. For comparison, in the same described case, average monthly expenses before having a child were about 800–900 dollars.

Grocery Spending: Budget vs. Reality

Figures from the described case for a family of two.

  • Grocery budget in 2020about $150 a monthfor two people, estimated at the time of the move
  • Actual spending in 2020roughly three times morerelative to the budget
  • Current estimate$600 to $800 a monthfor a family of two, adjusted for inflation
  • Average expenses before having a childabout $800–900 a monthacross all categories, latest calculation

Calls Claiming to Be from the Government

One of the most dangerous schemes is a call from someone claiming to be a representative of a government agency: IRCC or CRA. The caller usually says something is wrong with your immigration documents or tax return and threatens arrest or deportation. The first rule is not to panic. The government doesn’t call to demand money. Demands to send money by wire transfer, bitcoin, or gift cards are a sign of fraud.

IRCC does sometimes call to clarify details of an application, but not to threaten immediate deportation or arrest.

If a call seems suspicious, you can hang up, find the agency’s number on the official government website, call it, and check whether they actually tried to reach you. Hotline numbers for government agencies are listed on their official websites.

A line at the checkout of a grocery supermarket in a Canadian city, shoppers with carts