I moved here in November 1998, three months after I sent my wife and two kids to pave the way. Okay, maybe Sabrina and the kids should be writing this book, because the problems Sabrina had to face were markedly different from mine. I simply followed along. However, I intend to use our collective experience, and those of many other immigrants, in the production of this book.

We were raised in Bombay, which is now called Mumbai, on the West coast of India. Although we loved it, and still have many relatives and friends there, we wanted to explore the world. We moved to the Middle East in 1992 where we lived until we moved to Canada in 1998.

I have worked for 22 years in advertising and marketing, which is really nothing more than finding an ideal match between a product and a consumer.

There are many, many surprises you will face once you have landed in Canada. Take health care. We had heard vague references to the fact that Canada was very generous with its health care services. This is a good thing, when you're approaching middle age as I am, and it played a role in our decision to choose Canada as the country in which we wanted to live.

But to my surprise, in Canada, like everywhere else, you only get what you pay for. A scant one-month after we arrived, my rambunctious 14-year-old son Dan took a tumble while roller blading and ended up with a sprained wrist. Of course we hustled him off to the hospital . but judging from the reception we received, you would have thought we had just arrived from the planet Mars. As it turned out, we weren't "covered" by the medical services plan of B.C.

This is the all-encompassing health care plan that B.C. residents support with monthly payments. As the plan doesn't actually kick in until three months after the applicant applies, all medical expenses had to be met by us. Our bill for that small accident was $500, much less than it would have been in many other countries, but nonetheless substantial. It seems that in some provinces, although not all of them, you have to pay monthly premiums to receive health care services.

Ergo.or thus.our first word of advice for immigrants: Contact the provincial health care supplier immediately upon your arrival in Canada -- like the first day. And seriously consider obtaining private medical insurance for the period before your provincial health plan kicks in. Medical services in Canada, and they vary from province to province, will be covered at length in a subsequent chapter.

My lawyer in Dubai helped getting my family and me to the shores of this country. But when I arrived, I still didn't know how to rent an apartment, get a job, buy a car, get a credit card, obtain car insurance, or open a bank account.

While the answers to those questions are free for the asking in Canada, you have to know whom to ask. There is no one source that compiles answers in one easy-to-read, practical, indexed format. Until now.

This book will cover the immediate survival basics for new immigrants: How to select a place to live, to find work, get health care. A little bit on the history of Canada, and some of the strange customs Canadians have. Many Canadian cities celebrate the first day of the New Year with a loud and lively party next to a partially or totally frozen body of water into which hundreds of rum-soaked citizens plunge themselves in what is fondly referred to as a Polar Bear Swim.

The book will also cover a bit of the law, as most citizens will encounter it. Your rights, your responsibilities and the best course to follow in the event of, say, a minor traffic accident or a house break-in.

It will include information on settling into this country (9.9 million square kms of it, or 3.8 million square miles); on the various tax structures; on registering your child for school; on taking night school courses; on obtaining financial assistance from the government; on Canada pension plans, and so much more.

It is based on my own frantic experiences. If it helps you to eliminate the "frantic" from your experiences, then I'll be happy.

This book will not attempt to cover every angle of every possible question a newcomer might have. I mean, what book could? But we hope it will go a long way toward helping newcomers deal with some of those early dilemmas.

Naeem & Sabrina Noorani.