What should you bring with you? You can purchase a wide variety of items in Qatar, albeit sometimes a different brand than you can purchase in Canada in terms of clothing, toiletries, food, kitchen utensils, household goods, equipment, etc. The prices, including food prices, are about the same as in Canada overall, with some things being more expensive and some things being cheaper.
You cannot bring any alcohol or pork products with you to Qatar as they are not permitted into the country. However both alcohol and pork is available in Qatar to expats. A license is required to purchase both products. The license is granted to expats once their residence permit process is complete.
It is advised to check the availability of any regular prescription medication that you may be taking that could potentially be unavailable in Qatar. In the event that a medication in unavailable, it is advisable to bring a supply to last until returning to the home country. For more information, check the Health Information section on this page.
Bring enough cash to take care of your travel and get you through the first couple of days in Doha until you can visit an ATM (there is one at the campus, as well as at the local malls). It is important to note that Canadian debit cards may not work in some bank ATM machines. This is sometimes dependent on your specific bank, and also whether your debit card has a chip in it. HSBC is one bank ATM that seems to work with the majority of foreign debit cards.
Shops will also take most credit cards. You may want to notify your card provider that there will be overseas activity on your account. Often, when strange activity shows up on your account, providers will cut off access to your card. This can be more than inconvenient!