New to UBC?

Before coming to Canada

Keep a photocopy of all important documents at home.
An Indian Driver's License is acceptable in Canada for driving purposes. Also, having an Indian Driving License will help you in availing most (though not all) of the places and offers where birth date proof is required and hence save you from carrying your passport every time.
Do not forget to bring all the important medical, academic and professional documents in Canada as they might be required for any of the health or academic formalities.
Purchase a calling card. In order to call to your country, the cheapest option is to buy a calling card. You can buy a calling card from PhoneIndia (https://www.phoneindia.com/). After you buy it, you will get an account number which you will need to use any time you call India. Once you get here, you can use Google Voice or Google Hangouts from your Gmail account to call the local number provided for the calling card. For more information about the procedure, see https://www.phoneindia.com/. Other options are buying Skype credit, international calling plans from telecom companies in Canada (like Telus, Rogers, Fido, etc.) (relatively expensive) or calling cards from telecom companies in India (like Reliance, Airtel, etc.).

A key issue during travel will be to communicate your travel status to your parents/pick up person. You can use coin-operated phones (usually requires 25¢ or quarter dollar coins) at the airport, but you will need coins of the local currency to make a call. Alternatively, you can use free WiFi available in some airports to send an email. Remember that YVR airport has free WiFi and you should be able to use Google Voice/Google Hangouts/Viber/WhatsApp to contact once you reach here!
You can either take a taxi to your destination from YVR or take the public transit. We recommend a taxi as you will be carrying heavy luggage 1st time while coming to Vancouver.

Weather in Vancouver is cool most of the year with regular rains. The temperature typically ranges from -10 degree C in extreme winter to 25 degrees C in summers.
There are numerous Indian restaurants in Vancouver. For groceries, you can go to Save on foods (near campus), no frills and Persia store. For Indian groceries, you can go to "Fruiticana".

Apply for SIN (Social Insurance Number). This is possible only if you have a job here which includes TA/RA. The procedure for applying is detailed here. Don't worry about the documents, you will have them all once you are here! The nearest social security office to campus is
Apply for BC ID card by visiting a licensing office. This is not mandatory but it is useful to have a BC ID/Driver's License so that you don't have to carry your passport with you all the time when asked for proof of identification or proof of birth date as some places might not accept your native country ID like DL for birthdate proof. The University ID card does not suffice for this purpose as it does not have your birthdate on it.
Attend various events organized by organizations IGSA, AMS and GSS. Such events are a good way to interact with more and more people and getting accustomed to the place.

Finding housing is a bit hectic process in Vancouver. On campus housing is limited and you can find the details here.
For off-campus option, you can look for https://vancouver.craigslist.ca/ and join FB groups like https://www.facebook.com/groups/UBC.roommates/ , https://www.facebook.com/groups/840963902639059/ etc.

For short term options, you can easily find sublets in Vancouver.
Public transport is very convenient in Vancouver. For UBC students the U-Pass is already included in the fess( CAD 41) and thus traveling is free. For other people, the details of transit charges are available on this link. You can use Google Maps to check the route or the buses that you want to take to reach your destination.
Zipcar and Car2go are some short term rental options available in UBC. They have cars available at lots on campus.

The area around campus and Vancouver in general is pretty safe. If you want or need an escort at any time, UBC Security will provide it.

Cellphone with a plan (kind of postpaid connections) requires you to have a SIN number with credit history. Since most of you would not have a SIN when you come to Canada, you will get the number for 1st time. All these providers( Fido, Rogers, Telus, Chattr) have their stores close to campus. It would be advisable to go for a family plan as they are a bit cheaper.
Most of the Indian cell phones work in Canada but if you are planning to buy one before coming to UBC, we would recommend not to. The deals for the phone with new connection are quite good here and it will be very cheap.
Also, make sure that you check all the deals online before buying a cellphone or any cellphone plan. There are numerous student discounts available online and in shops which you don’t want to miss.

Opening a bank account here should not be a big problem. There are several banks used by the UBC community with branches on campus. Scotiabank and RBC both have on-campus facilities. Carry your SIN number and passport with you.