1. Can you pls. suggest Moving companies or tell me if you did it yourself!
Costs
Time
Issues

2. What State/City did you move to in Canada
Between Mississauga/Brampton/Markham/NewMarket - which one is better - Indian food/temples etc. - Don't have to be necessarily all Indian but I'll prefer all Indian aminities within 10-15 miles

3. Did you buy a house / Renting!
What are best cities to buy a 3-4 Bedroom house in terms of pricing. I don't mind being away from city center or a long drive away (50 minutes/ 1 hour) from Toronto if I can bigger house.

If bought a house
- which mortgage co. you recommend
- any issues I should be careful about

If rented
- for a 2-3 Bedroom - what should I expect to pay

Thank you very much for you help

Hi,
I moved from New Jersey to Montreal. It was a disaster from my side. I went to India from New Jersey on occasion of my marriage. It was supposed to be only 21 days program. Over there I went to USA consulate to get my H1 re-stamped. unfortunately due to employer issue my H1 was rejected (unfairly) and I had no way to get back to united states. Fortunately I had Canadian PR and I got job in Montreal.

Anyways so here I am, in Montreal but when I landed, I did not have anything. My whole house was in New Jersey. Fortunately one of my friends had key to my rented apartment so he helped moving.

We chose Atlas Van Lines. It is best in North America moving. They have lot of agencies and they will help you move. Mine was Kings Transfer Lines agents of Atlas Van lines.

Since I was in Montreal, I could not monitor the move. But my friend opened the door and within 5 hours, they packed everything and loaded in truck. They packed so nicely that even light bulb was working when it arrived here :-).

In my case, when I got things from New Jersey, I was still looking for house, so I asked them to keep everything in storage and they delivered to my house last week when I got one.

In your situation I would suggest following.
1) Make rough list of items you are going to carry your self and list of items you want your movers to move.
2) monitor the move your self and make sure your house is empty (you can rely on them if you absolutely need to , like in my case, they are professionals).
3) On the border, you declare everything that you are carrying and everything that follows with transporter.
4) If you bought things in past six months, you might need to pay taxes ( not duty, just tax which is roughly 12% in case of Montreal).
5)On arrival you need to get the list of items from your transporter and get it custom cleared by Canada Border agency. Transporter will not release until you do so.

Do not forget to declare at the border. In my case, when I came from India my things were coming from New Jersey. I did not declare at the port of entry. When I went to get all items custom cleared, i needed to pay 300$ for taxes. you can save that if you declare that over the broder and items you are getting is bought more than six months ago.

if you need to transport the Car it is much big deal but not sure if you want to do that.

You can search Atlas Van lines in your local yellow pages or Google.

HTH.

Thanks a lot.
Very helpful. Based on your experience, I'll go with Atlas Van Lines.
How much was your stuff (1 Bedroom type or full household stuff!)
How much you paid appx. to Atlas!

2 bed room, actually one bedroom, living room, kitchen, office (second bedroom and a bathroom)

everything was done in 3300$.

Thanks for posting your feedback.

What moving co. did you use and how satisfied were you with their work!