We voted in Ontario this week. Perhaps not a big deal but it is one more sign that we are now officially Ontario, and not BC, residents. To register at the polls, we had to pull out our new Ontario drivers’ licenses and were prepared to show our new OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Program) cards. Last month we finished the process of getting our vehicles registered in Ontario, received new licence plates and were required to mail back to ICBC our BC plates.
It all has taken a lot of time in line ups at government offices, filling out forms and collecting proof of residency. They want to see business mail sent to our address but, because we do most of our business online, it took quite a while to collect the types of mail that they accept as proof of residency.
It seemed a bit final to give up the signs of being BC residents; for example, to turn in our BC driver’s licenses and cancel our BCMSP coverage. But it particularly hit me in class when I was talking about the nearly 14,000,000 residents of Ontario. I had to stop myself when, referring to that population, I first said “they…..” and then said to the students “I suppose I need to say we……” We are officially Ontario residents – but I haven’t started cheering for the Toronto Maple Leafs yet!
Our new Ontario license plates. Not very exciting but they do show up better in a picture than do our new OHIP cards.
2 Responses
jenny goshulak
Congratulations!
So glad that you are still Canadians and so enjoying your new lives in Ontario!
Best wishes from us both
Jenny
BobandSheila
It is interesting that you brought up still being Canadians. At times, as we dealt with all the paperwork and “proof of residency,” it almost felt as if we were changing citizenship. I can’t imagine how much more people who have immigrated to Canada have to go through in terms of paperwork and line-ups etc.