The documents a newcomer needs in the first 90 days in Canada, in the order their clocks run: Social Insurance Number, provincial health coverage, first bank account, driver's licence exchange, credential recognition, and the tax documents to gather from arrival.
Applies in: CA
This checklist gathers the newcomer document guides on this site into one page, for the first 90 days after arrival, in the order the guides themselves prescribe. Each item names the live guide that carries the full steps and the official source that guide rests on. Follow the linked guide for the full steps in your province and your status. Nothing here adds a new rule. Where a province or a status changes the rule, the item says so and points to the guide that governs.
Work through the list from the top. The first two items belong in the first days after arrival. The bank account belongs in the first two weeks. The licence item has a clock that starts when you settle, and the length of that clock differs by province. Credential recognition runs for weeks or months, so start it early and use the meanwhile-work guide alongside it. The tax item is last because the return is filed in filing season, after the tax year ends, even though the documents for it should be gathered from arrival.
This checklist covers documents only. It does not cover renting, the job search, or settlement services, which the newcomer arrival checklist and the 30-day roadmap cover. At day 90, re-read each item and check that every document is either in hand or in process.
Done when: you have applied online, by mail, or in person, and you know which document set you used and when to expect the number.
The Social Insurance Number is a 9-digit number. You need it to work, get paid, and file taxes. Service Canada publishes three routes: online, by mail, and in person. The online route is the fastest Service Canada names, at about five business days. Mail takes about twenty business days, and original documents travel by post. There is no fee to apply.
Bring a primary document and one secondary document. A permanent resident uses the permanent resident card or a Confirmation of Permanent Residence within one year. A temporary resident uses the permit or record that authorizes work, and the permit wording is the whole test: a study permit must say you may work or may accept employment, and a visitor record must show you are authorized to work. The secondary document must show your full legal name and date of birth. A valid passport, a Canadian driver's licence, or a provincial or territorial identity card are examples Service Canada lists.
Official source: Government of Canada, Social Insurance Number pages (Apply; Required documents; SIN for temporary residents in Canada). Full steps: How to Start Getting a Social Insurance Number as a Newcomer to Canada
Done when: you have checked the card's expiry date and, if it is expired or will expire, applied for renewal or replacement under the residency-obligation rules in the linked guide.
The permanent resident card is a primary document for the Social Insurance Number application, and it is the document that proves permanent resident status for travel. Status itself does not expire when the card does, but a card that is expired or close to expiry should be renewed before travel. The linked guide carries the renewal and replacement steps, the residency-obligation mechanics, and the fee, as IRCC states them. Do not travel on an expired card on the assumption that status alone will carry you: check the guide and the IRCC pages first.
Official source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, permanent resident card pages (apply, renew, replace). Full steps: How to Start Renewing or Replacing Your Permanent Resident Card in Canada
Done when: you have applied to the plan in the province where you live, and you know the wait period that applies to you.
Canada has no national health card. Each province runs its own plan, with its own wait period and document list. Apply on arrival, even where coverage starts later. This item covers the process of registering and waiting. It does not give medical advice or advice about coverage for a condition.
In Ontario, apply in person at ServiceOntario with three separate documents, and check the 153-day presence rules on the Ontario page. Ontario removed the three-month waiting period from Regulation 552 in March 2020. In British Columbia, apply as soon as you arrive; the wait period is the balance of the arrival month plus two months. In Alberta, coverage can start on the residency date for a person arriving from outside Canada, subject to the Alberta pages. In Quebec, the wait can run up to three months, children are exempt, and you should keep the waiting-period letter. For every other province and territory, register and confirm the wait on that province's own page before you travel.
Official source: provincial health plan pages (Ontario Health Insurance Plan; British Columbia Medical Services Plan; Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan; Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec). Full steps: How to Start Getting Provincial Health Coverage as a Newcomer to Canada
Done when: the account is open, the low-cost or no-cost terms are confirmed in writing, and pay can reach it.
Ask for the low-cost or no-cost account by name. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada states that you have the right to open a personal bank account on meeting certain conditions, and that a bank that refuses must give a written refusal notice with the complaints procedure and the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments and Financial Consumer Agency of Canada contact details. Newcomers can qualify for a no-cost account for the first year, and a low-cost account costs $4 or less, as the Agency's low-cost and no-cost pages state them.
Go to a branch in person with the identification the bank accepts. The linked guide states the Bank Act document routes, including the two-document route and the one-document-plus-confirmer route, and what to do if the bank says no. Do not accept a verbal refusal as the end of the matter; ask for the written refusal notice the Agency requires.
Official source: Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, "Opening a personal bank account: your rights" and "Opening a low-cost or no-cost bank account." Full steps: How to Start Opening Your First Bank Account as a Newcomer to Canada
Done when: you know whether your country is on your province's reciprocal list, you know the grace period that applies to you, and the appointment or test booking is made.
The clock starts when you settle in the province, not when you get around to it. Ontario allows 60 days on a foreign licence, British Columbia allows 90 days, and Quebec allows six months. Each province publishes its own reciprocal list, and a country on one province's list may be absent from another's. Where the country is on the list, the exchange is direct, subject to the province's document and translation rules. Where it is not, the testing route applies, with experience credit where the province allows it.
Ontario's exchange rules changed on July 1, 2026, with an experience-credit rule and authentication-letter requirements for applicants from non-reciprocating jurisdictions. British Columbia requires surrender of the old licence on exchange. Quebec requires an appointment first, and a failed road test costs the foreign-licence privilege. The linked guide states each province's list, clock, and document rules, and the 90-day and surrender rules for the other provinces and territories.
Official source: provincial licensing authorities (Ontario DriveTest and ServiceOntario; Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec; Insurance Corporation of British Columbia; Alberta registries). Full steps: How to Start Exchanging Your Foreign Driver's Licence in Canada
Done when: you know whether your occupation is regulated where you will work, the assessment body and route are identified, and the document verification step is started.
Credential recognition is the longest-running item on this list, which is why it starts in the first weeks even though it finishes months later. First, find out whether the occupation is regulated in the province where you will work. A regulated occupation requires a licence or certificate of qualification from the provincial or territorial regulatory body before work can begin, and the body sets the entry requirements and standards of practice.
Separate the three processes before paying for anything: the educational credential assessment, the regulator's own assessment and examination, and provincial registration. The national map runs through six professions with national bodies — doctors, lawyers, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, and engineers — and the linked guide names the body for each, plus the provincial regulator step that follows. Do not shop for the easiest province: the linked guide states the rule against it, and the regulator in the province where you will work is the one whose requirements govern.
While the assessment runs, check the meanwhile-work routes: supervised or restricted licences and bridging programs that let a person work while recognition is completed. The meanwhile-work guide covers those routes, and the Ontario guide covers Ontario's deeper process for Ontario-bound applicants.
Official source: the national assessment bodies and provincial regulators named in the linked guide (including the National Nursing Assessment Service, the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada, Engineers Canada and the provincial regulators, and the Medical Council of Canada). Full steps: How to Start Getting Your Foreign Credentials Recognized in Canada and How to Start Working in Canada While Your Credentials Are Being Assessed
Done when: a folder holds the slips and records the return will need, the date of entry is noted, and the filing route for the first return is known.
The return itself is filed in filing season, after the tax year ends. The documents are gathered from arrival. The Canada Revenue Agency's newcomers page covers filing for the year a person becomes a resident for tax purposes, with the year split at the date of entry and world income counted for the resident part of the year. Most federal non-refundable credits are prorated to the resident part of the year.
Keep the tax slips as they arrive, the record of the date of entry, and the documents the linked guide lists, including any foreign income and foreign property records. The April 30 pattern applies, with June 15 as the filing date for self-employed filers and April 30 as the payment date, as the Agency's tax tip states it. Most first-time filers can file online with certified software. Keep the notice of assessment and keep records for six years. This item covers the filing process only. It does not give personalized tax advice, and it does not state whether tax is owed or a refund is due.
Official source: Canada Revenue Agency (Completing your return for newcomers; Tax tip: Taxes made simple for newcomers to Canada). Full steps: How to Start Filing Your First Canadian Tax Return as a Newcomer
At day 90, work the list again from the top and mark each item done, in process, or not started. The items to chase first are the ones whose clocks have run out: the licence grace period in Ontario and British Columbia, and any health wait period that should already have started. A credential assessment still running at day 90 is normal; a credential assessment not yet started at day 90 is the delay this checklist exists to prevent. Re-check the linked guide and its official source on the day you act, because the source page governs over this summary.
The arrival checklist covers the first days and includes renting and the tax return alongside the documents. This checklist covers the first 90 days and covers documents only, in the order their clocks run, with a done-when test for each item. The licence exchange, the health wait period, and credential recognition all run on clocks measured in weeks or months, so a 90-day horizon fits them better than a first-week list. Use both pages together: the arrival checklist for the first days, this one to make sure nothing with a longer clock is left behind.
Apply for a Social Insurance Number and apply for provincial health coverage. Several provinces start a health wait period on the date of arrival or application, so an early application matters even where coverage does not start at once, and the licence grace period runs from when you settle, not from when you feel ready. Open the bank account and check the licence clock in the same first days. Each item below names its linked guide and its official source, so the first day's work is two applications, one account, and one clock check.
Yes, for temporary residents. Service Canada states that you can start working as soon as you apply for a Social Insurance Number, and you do not need to wait for the number. Give your employer the number once you receive it. A temporary Social Insurance Number starts with 9 and expires on the same date as the permit that authorizes work, so keep the record current when a new permit arrives. The linked Social Insurance Number guide states the document list, the three application routes, and the processing times Service Canada publishes.
Apply on arrival anyway, and confirm the wait on your province's own page, because the wait starts from arrival or application in several provinces and an early application cannot be backdated later. British Columbia counts the rest of the month of arrival plus two more months. Quebec's wait can run up to three months, with children exempt, while Ontario removed its three-month waiting period in March 2020. The linked health coverage guide states the rule for each province it covers in detail, and names the check for the rest. While waiting, confirm whether interim coverage applies; do not assume a service is covered because an application is in.
You take the testing route, with experience credit where the province allows it, and no direct exchange. Each province publishes its own reciprocal list: Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta do not share one list, so a country absent from your province's list gets no shortcut there. Check the list on the licensing authority page before booking, and bring the documents and translations the province asks for, because a failed or incomplete appointment costs more time than any other delay in this checklist. The linked exchange guide states the grace period and the list position for each province.
Because no live guide on this site covers renewing or replacing a permanent resident card at the time this checklist was drafted, and this checklist carries no item without a live guide target verified on disk. The permanent resident card is still a document to watch: it is the primary document for a permanent resident's Social Insurance Number application within one year of becoming a permanent resident, alongside the Confirmation of Permanent Residence, and its renewal and replacement process sits on IRCC's pages. When a permanent resident card guide is live on this site, it belongs in this checklist as its own item. Until then, check the IRCC pages directly and do not treat this checklist as covering it.
No fee figure beyond the no-fee Social Insurance Number application and the $4-or-less low-cost account price is stated in this checklist, because no other fee could be verified on the official pages reused from the linked guides. No processing time beyond the Social Insurance Number online and mail figures is stated. No health wait period beyond Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec is stated; every other province must be checked on its own page. No permanent resident card process is described, because no live guide covers it and no IRCC permanent resident card process could be verified on an official page. Re-check the linked guide and its official source on the day you act, because the source page governs over this summary.