Your first year here, in the order it actually matters.

First: the health coverage gap

You are not necessarily covered by Alberta Health from the day you land. The rules differ for interprovincial movers and for arrivals from outside Canada, and published summaries disagree with one another often enough that I will not print a number here.

Do this in week one: apply for AHCIP, and get your own coverage start date confirmed in writing. Then buy interim medical coverage for whatever gap that reveals. A few weeks of interim cover costs very little. An uninsured emergency does not.

Second: the TFSA trap

This is the most common expensive mistake newcomers make, and it is entirely avoidable.

TFSA contribution room accumulates from the year you became a resident of Canada for tax purposes, if you were 18 or older — not from 2009. Someone who landed in 2024 has $21,000 of room, counting 2024 through 2026. A well-meaning bank employee who tells them they have “about $109,000 available” has read the wrong table — that is the figure for someone resident since 2009.

Over-contributing costs 1 per cent per month on the excess, accruing quietly until a CRA letter arrives — sometimes years later, with the penalty compounded across every month in between. Check the room estimator, then confirm against CRA My Account before you deposit anything.

Third: RRSP room, and why you probably have none yet

RRSP room is generated by earned income reported on a Canadian tax return in a previous year. In your first year in Canada you generally have none. File your first return, and room appears the following year.

Which makes the FHSA unusually valuable for newcomers: its room starts the year you open the account, with no prior-income requirement at all. If buying a first home is anywhere in your plans, open one now even if you cannot fund it yet.

Fourth: insurance from back home

Do not cancel it, and do not assume it works. Many policies issued abroad restrict or void coverage once the insured is permanently resident in another country. Ask the original insurer in writing whether the policy still responds now that you live in Canada. Get the answer before you make any decision in either direction.

Fifth: parents visiting

For a Super Visa, IRCC requires $100,000 of emergency medical coverage valid for one full year from entry. The full requirements, and the pre-existing condition stability clause that decides most claims, are on the Super Visa page.

Requirements verified on 2026-08-24.

A first-year checklist

1. Apply for AHCIP; get your coverage start date in writing; cover the gap.
2. Get a SIN, open a bank account, start building Canadian credit.
3. File a tax return even with little or no income — it starts RRSP room and unlocks benefits.
4. Open an FHSA if a first home is anywhere in your plans. Room starts on opening.
5. Check your real TFSA room before contributing a dollar.
6. Ask your employer for the full benefits booklet, not the summary page. Find out what life and disability coverage you actually have.
7. Sort out life or critical illness coverage while you are young and healthy, if anyone depends on your income.
8. Arrange Super Visa or visitor insurance before family flies.

I work in English, Gujarati and Hindi, and I am happy to go through this list with your whole family in the room. Most of it costs nothing to fix and everything to get wrong.