If you have your Cr Card in credit it's the best way to initially get funds out when abroad. You will still have a cross border handling fee of approx 1.75% but you won't have a cash advance fee which is more costly. I wouldn't advise putting a large amount into your CC but if you have online you can drip feed as required. Your Laser card should be used as backup only as any cash withdrawals on it will probably incur charges as you'll be out of the Eurozone.
I'm not sure about the Fee structure of Canadian banks but I can tell you BoI have a margin of 1.75% on currencies and I know that some UK banks have a margin of over 4% so changing to Stg is generally better done in Ireland. It's also generally better value to transfer a larger sum instead of small amounts at a time as there is generally a minumum transfer fee. Charges for online transfers can be cheaper than doing so manually. You may be able to look up some of the Canadian banks online or see if there are Expat forums giving advice on such matters - as mentioned by Sue Ellen above.
If you have Savings that you can't access online it may be worthwhile to sign a form giving your mother for eg authority over your a/c's to access your funds if needs be and transfer to accessible a/c's.
Have a chat with your bank. It's a good idea to inform them in any case, especially your Cr Card company that you will be out of the country otherwise you may find your cards blocked for security reasons.
Good luck with your move. As a banker I see so many people going abroad without thinking of these things. Planning ahead is the best way to avoid problems.