Canadians looking for advice on moving to and working in Brazil

Hi Kim and Pierre,

I hope that I can be of some help to you in your decision making process. I am a Canadian who has been living in Brazil for 9 years now and I can assure you that it is not simple.

Firstly, you must get used to the fact that bureaucracy reigns supreme here, it's excessive, oppressive and completely unfathomable. Worse still the rules change in the middle of the game depending on who you are dealing with.

Second, poverty here is rampant and EVERYBODY has a sad story, begging money in the streets, on buses, trains and subways is the rule and not the exception. Keep you wallet in your pocket and leave your sense of empathy at home, it doesnŽt work here.

Buying property here presents a few special problems. You must have a CPF (Cadastro Nacional de Pessoas Fisicas), which is the Brazilian equivalent of a Social Insurance Number. In fact it is used for everything even your credit information here. It is NOT private information like it is in Canada. You will have to find a realtor and lawyer fluent in both English and Portuguese besides having experience in real estate transactions. With a valid Passport and visa you should have no problems with the actual purchase, but it is recommended that you have your RNE (Registro Nacional de Estrangeiro) your Brazilian I.D. Just remember that the general impression of "gringos" here is that money grows on trees in North America and weŽre all filthy rich. DonŽt let yourself get overcharged for anything and NEVER buy anything, especially property, in someone elseŽs name - not even a relative here.

Employment while readily available should be arranged before arriving in Brazil. Generally, most major employers will assist you in arranging a visa and work permit. Most of the major petroleum companies operate out of Rio de Janeiro and Macaé, RJ. São Paulo is the financial and industrial heart of the country. Also, you should make certain any employment offers here include a good medical and dental plan, if not you should arrange private insurance. The public health care system here is in total chaos. Event planners can be found on any street corner here, it might be extremely difficult to break into that field. However if you are just looking for a second income and donŽt need much you can always find work as an English teacher. The pay at the language schools here is not great, but it will get you through and it is reliable work.

Raising (Canadian) kids here will be your biggest problem for a whole host of reasons. The public education system here is one of the world's worst, so you will want to find a good private school for your children and they are extremely expensive. Keeping them safe is another major concern, if you don't drive them to and from school yourself then you will need to arrange a private school bus. Generally the school can help with this. Make sure that there is someone responsible to put them on the bus and waiting to take charge of them when they arrive home. Never allow your children to wander the streets alone and be extremely careful at screening their friends. If you don't already follow the practice in Canada, set up a password for them that lets them know it is genuine if someone shows up and says "there's a problem and your mom / dad sent me to pick you up".

If you have savings in Canada and will be working here you may want to think about leaving most of you funds in Canada. If you donŽt have an HSBC Canada bank account OPEN ONE, you will thank me later. It will make your life a whole lot easier. You will be able to make ATM withdrawls at any HSBC branch here and most ATM's that use Cirrus or Banco 24h networks. If not you will have nothing but headaches because you can only do international transactions for other banks at Banco do Brasil, main branches and only in certain ATM machines.

If you plan on driving here in Brazil you will need to have your valid Canadian driver's licence officially translated into Portuguese and authenticated (probably by the Brazilian Consulate in Vancouver or Toronto before coming here - check on this one) you can then have it endorsed by DETRAN here in order to drive.

I would strongly advise that the whole family take Portuguese language classes before coming here. English while used in commerce is rarely spoken here and you will need to speak enough Portuguese to get by in your day-to-day life.

If you plan on moving to São Paulo please feel free to look me up. I will help you in any way that I can. In any case, if you have any further questions or need further information I will give you the benefit of my years of experience here.

Cordially,
William James (JIM) Woodward
nativeenglishidiomas.yolasite.com
[email protected]