September 19, 2026
Plan the Canadian arrangements you are leaving alongside the London home, routine and documents you will need.
Familiar language does not make the administration identical. A useful Canada-to-London plan accounts for the arrangements you have in your province, the evidence a London letting agent may need and the daily life you want after arrival.
This is practical relocation guidance for people leaving Canada, not an assessment of UK immigration eligibility. Being resident in Canada and being a Canadian citizen are different facts. Check each household member’s position through the UK visa checker.
Write down what is ending in Canada and what must begin in London. Include work, housing, school or childcare, health arrangements, insurance and any possessions you plan to move.
For Canadian services, identify the actual provider or provincial authority you need to contact. Ask what a move overseas means for your current cover, licence, registrations or benefits; do not assume another province’s rules apply to you. Record the answer, effective date and any action you need to take.
If an employer is supporting the move, confirm which arrangements it owns. A relocation allowance does not necessarily mean someone is organising housing or departure administration for you.
Convert the household plan into pounds and separate monthly costs from moving costs. Your target rent is one line, alongside council tax, bills, travel and any childcare needs.
Decide which features are essential rather than transferring your current home specification unchanged. Measure the furniture you would like to bring and compare it with real floor plans, access and storage. Shipping decisions are easier once you know whether your likely accommodation is furnished and how much space you need.
Use how to choose where to live in London to compare areas around actual journeys, not broad similarities to a Canadian city.
Before leaving, ask your employer and previous landlord how they can provide references and respond to UK requests. Keep copies of relevant income evidence and your address history securely accessible.
Ask each London agent what it accepts from applicants coming from Canada. Do not assume an overseas credit report will be assessed in the same way as a UK file, or that every agency has the same requirements.
Our guides to rental documents and renting without UK credit history explain how to prepare a coherent application rather than send every record you have.
The Canada Revenue Agency considers residential ties and other circumstances when assessing residence. Departure does not create a one-size-fits-all tax outcome. If you retain a home, income or other significant ties, obtain advice appropriate to your situation.
Use the CRA guidance on leaving Canada to prepare questions for an adviser. Relocation Ready does not determine tax residence or advise on investments, registered accounts or departure tax.
Keep a separate record of relevant departure dates, account correspondence and adviser instructions. It is easier to organise them before you need a missing document from another time zone.
Ask the relevant London admissions team about the year group for your child’s date of birth and planned arrival. Provide an accurate account of their current schooling and any support needs; do not assume a Canadian grade name translates directly into the same English year number.
Request records from the current school while staff are available. Consider the transition in practical terms: the school-day schedule, journey, meals, uniform questions, friendships and continuity of support.
Read moving to London with children before making a home choice depend on an unconfirmed school place.
Hypothetical: a household leaving Vancouver wants to bring most of its furniture but has not chosen between furnished and unfurnished housing.
Rather than book shipping around an assumed flat, it lists essential possessions, checks the total moving cost and compares accommodation options. It can then decide what to ship, store or replace. This avoids letting a logistics decision dictate the housing search by accident.
Mathew has lived in the UK and Canada and relocated regularly. That experience informs Relocation Ready’s practical approach; it does not replace individual tax, immigration or other specialist advice.
Talk to Us about a free one-hour consultation. Your free personalised pack follows the conversation, and paid support is optional.
Not automatically. Work through each account, contract and obligation with the relevant provider or adviser. Your circumstances may require continued access or ongoing arrangements.
Sources checked: 22 September 2026.
A free one-hour consultation, followed by a free personalised relocation pack. Further paid support is optional.
