USEFUL INFORMATION
Requirements for Entering Canada (Passports and Visas)
Visitors must hold a valid passport; a visa may be required in some cases. For more information about visas, please consult the Citizenship and Immigration Canada Web site at www.cic.gc.ca. You may also consult the nearest Canadian embassy, the consulate, a customs broker or your travel agent.
Invitation Letter
To obtain an invitation letter from the Conference Chair, you must first register and pay for your conference registration in full. Following your registration, please make the request for an invitation letter. Provide name of company, complete contact information, your full name and title. Your date of birth and passport number are also required in your email request.
This procedure was developed to facilitate obtaining a visitor’s visa or permission to attend the Conference, not for covering registration fees and other expenses. The letter of invitation in no way commits the conference organizers to providing financial or other support.
Currency
The legal currency is the Canadian dollar, which is divided into 100 cents. Bills are available in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 dollars. Coins are available in denominations of 5, 10 and 25 cents, plus 1 and 2 dollars. Canadian and US currencies are not at parity. US currency is accepted at most places with varying exchange rates. Consult http://qc.finance.yahoo.com/currency for exchange rates. To avoid any inconvenience, we recommend that visitors obtain Canadian currency at the official exchange rate at a financial institution or travel agency when they arrive.
Units of Measure
Canada uses the metric system.
Taxes
The federal goods and services tax (GST) of 5% and the Quebec sales tax (QST) of 9.975% are added to all purchases. (Taxes are subject to change). For more information, visit the Web sites of the Canada Revenue Agency and the Ministère du Revenu du Québec.
Tipping
In Canada, tips are not included on restaurant bills, but are left to the customer’s discretion. A tip of 15% of the total cost before taxes is recommended. We suggest you do the same for taxis.
Porters expect $1 CDN per bag.
Safety
Quebec City is a small, welcoming and safe North American city. Quebeckers have built a stable, peaceful society through their open, tolerant culture, with 400 years of incorporating influences from France and England, and now Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa. As in all large cities, caution should still be used in order to avoid falling victims to petty crime.
Voltage
In Canada, electricity is 110 volts, as in the rest of North America. Appliances from other countries outside North America require a power adaptor.
Insurance
The fees for the Conference do not include any provisions for the insurance of participants against personal injury, sickness, theft, or property damage. This also applies to any event held during the Conference period. Participants and accompanying persons are advised to arrange for any insurance they consider necessary. Neither the Organizing Committee nor the agencies or partners involved in the organization of the Conference assume any responsibility for loss, injury or damage to persons or belongings, whatever the cause may be. Access to health care is costly for non-residents and we therefore recommend that participants arrange their own travel insurance (health and accident coverage). We also recommend that you arrange insurance for lost luggage and other incidents.
Climate
Québec’s climate is humid continental. August is at the end of the Quebec summer season. Temperature average is between 17° and 23° Celsius during the day.
Weather information: Environment Canada.
Language
The official language of the Conference is English