What I should prepare before going to Canada for studying?

Hello Tuyen89.

Congratulation for your visa and admission at the University of Manitoba

I am sure that you'll meet some good friends here on the Forum.

Thanks and good luck in your studies

Karen

Thank you so much Karen, I hope so. ^^

Maybe study a little about your major.

Thank you Hailey. I will for sure. ^^

Hi Tuyen,

Winnipeg can get extremely cold in the winter. I remember standing on the corner of Portage and Main in a blizzard, snow and wind so strong that if felt like my skin was being ripped off. The temperature was -40º C. In fact in the city center the buildings are all connected by a virtual underground city, shops, hallways, etc., so people don't even need to venture outside.

You will need to have some extremely warm clothes, snow boots, gloves or mittens, scarves and a good warm hat that covers your ears. The best way to keep warm during a Canadian winter is to use several layers of clothing which will trap air between them. The air insulates you against the cold. It is much more effective than just a single layer of heavy clothing. One thing you might also want to think about is once there, go to a sporting goods store and buy a "pocket warmer" it's a small metal device that you fill with a fuel, it has a wick that you light and glows. You place a cap over the top and the whole thing heats up. Carry it around in your pocket and when it gets really cold you use it to warm your hands. All the sporting good store clerks will know exactly what you mean when you ask for one and they'll be glad to show you how it works.



  Cheers, 
  William James Woodward – Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

Hello Tuyen,

I am living and working in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I have been here for 9 months.
As everyone tells, here is really cold winter Winnipeg is small and people are friendly. That is why here you can feel yourself as in your home. I don't know what else I may add

^^

So much useful information. ^^

wjwoodward wrote:

Hi Tuyen,

Winnipeg can get extremely cold in the winter. I remember standing on the corner of Portage and Main in a blizzard, snow and wind so strong that if felt like my skin was being ripped off. The temperature was -40º C. In fact in the city center the buildings are all connected by a virtual underground city, shops, hallways, etc., so people don't even need to venture outside.

You will need to have some extremely warm clothes, snow boots, gloves or mittens, scarves and a good warm hat that covers your ears. The best way to keep warm during a Canadian winter is to use several layers of clothing which will trap air between them. The air insulates you against the cold. It is much more effective than just a single layer of heavy clothing. One thing you might also want to think about is once there, go to a sporting goods store and buy a "pocket warmer" it's a small metal device that you fill with a fuel, it has a wick that you light and glows. You place a cap over the top and the whole thing heats up. Carry it around in your pocket and when it gets really cold you use it to warm your hands. All the sporting good store clerks will know exactly what you mean when you ask for one and they'll be glad to show you how it works.

Hi William,

Thank you so much for your useful advice and information. I am still living in Vietnam, and honestly I don't know where to buy them because I live in the hottest city, Ho Chi Minh City. Maybe will buy in Canada then. And I will definitely buy that device for sure. Hihi. Wish you all the bests.

Tuyen

leventtatar wrote:

Hello Tuyen,

I am living and working in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I have been here for 9 months.
As everyone tells, here is really cold winter Winnipeg is small and people are friendly. That is why here you can feel yourself as in your home. I don't know what else I may add

Hello friend,

Very nice to meet you. Thank you so much for your advice. I would like to ask, is there easy to buy cosmetic to protect my skin or we should prepare at our hometown. And is it expensive?

Regards,
Tuyen

Hi Tuyen,

Yes, you'll definitely need to wait until you get to Canada to find a pocket warmer. They're available in almost every hardware / sporting goods store. If there is a Canadian Tire Corp. Store (CTC) nearby you'll certainly find one there.

  Cheers, 
  William James Woodward – Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

Hi Tuyen,

My name is Levent Nice to meet you too.
I dont know exactly what do you look for cosmetics but Canada is quite developed country and I think you can find whatever you search. Bad news to you, life is quite expensive here But still compare to the other provinces Winnipeg is cheap city in Canada.

Hi again Tuyen,

You will also want to use a sun blocker cream (highest SPF you can find) during the winter since the sun reflecting off of snow can cause sunburns even worse than you get in the summer. It will also help protect your skin from drying out because of the cold.

You will also want to use sunglasses on bright sunny winter days for the same reason, reflected sunlight can damage your eyes over prolonged periods.

There is also a lip balm called Chap-stick that you can get at any drugstore and most supermarkets that you should use too. It comes in a tube just like lipstick you apply it the same way and it keeps your lips from drying out and cracking because of the cold.

Use wool socks, not any other material like cotton. Wool socks will keep your feet warmer, they will also wick any moisture away from your feet. Damp feet can be very dangerous in cold weather.

  Cheers, 
  William James Woodward – Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

Hi William,

Thank you so much for those precious information, I am very grateful. Best wishes to you.

Hi Levent,

Nice to meet you too. Thank you for information. I look forward to meeting you soon if you wish. ^^

Tuyen

Hi Tuyen,

Sure we can meet

Hi Tuyen
I can see that you got many useful advices regarding your trip. But I can still give some more useful tips about surviving winter there. These tips are out of my own experience, as I lived for quite long time in Saskatoon, SK. I studied at U of S. The weather in Saskatoon is very similar weather to Winnipeg, MB.
Firstly, I want to tell you that you will have no problem during winter as long as you will follow the precautionary rules. Also please don’t buy any winter stuff until you get there, because all your winter stuff must be temperature proof (below -30ºC) and such stuff you will not get anywhere but there.

Here are my tips:

1- First I am going to give you a small brief about the weather:

a-Winter, theoretically, starts from October.  Temperatures during October go down to the range (0 to around 8ºC). This temperature range for the persons who reside in MB and SK is not cold at all and this is why I said theoretically.

b-Real winter starts form November where temperature go below zero (snow fall is expected). Even though, the temperatures go very low but still snow might get delayed till mid of December or sometimes just right before Christmas (not the often case).  Real winter ends in April and the temperature go up in the range (around -8ºC to few degrees above zero).

c-During real winter temperature goes down to -30ºC to -40ºC. Also put in mind that during windy days the situation might get worst and can reach -50s ºC with wind chill.

2-Brief about university campus and downtown buildings:

a-On-campus all the buildings are of course perfectly heated from inside. In addition, all the buildings are connected to each other either by tunnels or by skywalks. So once you arrive to your building (your lab/office) you will never need to go out in order to go to any other building on the entire campus (of course there are very few buildings which are not connected).

b- During winter (when temperature is -30s ºC or below outside), while you are inside the on-campus buildings you will be wearing your normal outfits. I mean that you will find everybody (students/profs/adms) wearing summer outfits inside.

c-Out of my own experience, you don’t need multilayer clothes, I mean that multi-layered clothes are not recommended. This is because every time you arrive to your lab/office you will need to take them off and put-on normal ones instead.
As I said before all buildings are perfectly heated, so if you will keep-on your multi-layered clothes you will feel very hot. Also imagine every time you need to go in/out of a building you will have to take-off/put-on all the layers (long time will be wasted).
Instead of that get yourself a very good winter jacket and underneath you will be wearing a T-shirt or something (summer out-fit). Also you have to use long-johns under your normal jeans or normal skirts this will work perfectly.

d-Of course you will be wearing a snow boots while you are outside. These snow boots will not be comfurtable inside, therefore, you can keep a sneaker or flip-flops in your office (in a cabinet) and these what you will be wearing inside all the time. No worries Every student (undergrad/postgrad) has his own cabinet located everywhere around your college hallways. Such Cabinet will be assigned to you upon your request after your registeration.

e- All the above points are applied to the buildings of downtown/malls/shopping areas they are all heated and connected. Once you are in you will be (taking off your jackets/head cover/ear cover/gloves) and hang-around normally.

3-Brief about the winter-gear you need:

a-Winter jacket (the very low temperature proof you can get is the better), also put in mind that when you buy a winter jacket that it is going to stay with you for more than one year so quality is important versus the price. You can get such jackets from “Sport-check” a very well know sports-gear store “the Brand name is Colombia” or from “addidas” outlet.

b-Snow boots, which has to be with long “neck” and non-flat outer-sole (bottom). The long neck will protect you from twisting your ankle when it is slippery and will prevent the snow from getting inside it when the snow is deep (heavy). The non-flat out-sole (bottom) will keep you steady stable the snow is heavy.

c-Gloves (with temperature proof), ear cover, scarf (for nose cover), head cover (toque, ice-cap) and long-johns. All these stuff can be found in “Sport-check” stores or “Walmart” stores.

4-Brief about the precautionary rules:

a-During any below-zero temperatures down to -10ºC you are free to wear your head cover, ear cover and nose (face cover) and gloves according to your ability to withstand the temperature.

b- During the below-zero temperatures (starting from -10ºC and below) your head cover, ear cover and nose (face cover) are always on. For any reason, please don’t take off your gloves, otherwise you will get a frostbite.

c-During below-zero temperatures down to (-15ºC) you can (walk for distances/wait for the bus)  up to around 15 mins. For lower than -15ºC (walking for long distances/waiting for the bus) is strongly not recommended/almost forbidden (2-5 mins max)and especially if there is a storm.

d-Please set the weather network on your laptop. You must check the weather network always before you go out. This will help you to get the weather warnings (heavy snow/blizzard..etc.)

e-Please check the bus routes (on Winnipeg transit web site) which you will be using on daily basis. Specifically, get the numbers of the bus stop in front of your home and the number of the one in front of your on-campus building. Before you go out check the bus schedule (on the Winnipeg transit site) and this will shorten your waiting period (no waiting period more than 5 mins starting from -15ºC).

f-Put in mind that your first winter will be the toughest and then when you will get used to the weather every next winter will be easier.

Finally, I hope for you a very safe and pleasant stay in Winnipeg.

Cheers,
MO.

Hello: My daughter got admission into university of Manitoba, Does she have to pay the full tuition fees before she can apply for study visa in the Canadian consulate?
Though it's some years apart fro yours but I will like to know how it's done.
Thank you.