Anyone moved to Canada (Greater Toronto Area)

[babbi]

Hi

We have submitted an application to emigrate to Canada, we have an eye on the (Greater Toronto Area).
We just wondered if anyone has any info/advice that they can share.

Tia

[girlsallaround]

i grew up there.
That would be the best/most appropriate place to live.
Gets extremely cold in winter.
You can live well as long as you work.
What do you want to know?

[brimfull]

I grew up there,well in a town called Dundas about an hr form TO
MY parents are flying over tonight for a2 week visit...eeek !!

I have been in uk now for 25 yrs so probably not much help I'm afraid.

[babbi]

Thanks very much Girlsallaround.

Main things we think about are how are the schools ? and how does OHIP work ?

Also I am a French and Spanish teacher , DH is an ex policemand , would like to do some driving work or similar.
We wondered how easy it is to find jobs there ?

I have visited many times over the years , Milton , Georgetown , Caledon and then in April this year we stayed for 4 weeks in Etobicoke.
My friend went to school in Oakville (Loyola )

Can you recommend where to stay - our families recommend Glen Williams and Burlington but thats because they would like us close by - not necessarily best for us in terms of jobs etc !!

[dooneygirl]

Maybe you should try to find Mrs. Sprat on the All those in the US thread. It is mostly for US people, but she is living in Toronto right now.

[babbi]

ggirl , you will be of great help I am sure !!
What do you like here better than TO ??
Maybe you see good things that you like that we now take for granted and don`t appreciate IYSWIM.

Enjoy your visit with your folks and thanks very much for taking the time to reply !!

[brimfull]

well babbi,I would recommend dundas

I'm not up on the job front but the reason I live here is becasue of dh mainly.

I love both UK and canada.

I think I would miss the british sense of humour and the beautiful countryside that is so close by.

Canada is also beautiful but in a bigger slightly more removed from daily life way.

[babbi]

Thanks ggirl , we will make a point of visiting there next time we take a trip over.
We went to Hamilton to the childrens museum in April so almost passed Dundas by !!

Also I note that it is not far from John C Munro airport - that would be very convenient for the low cost flights back to Glasgow !

Thanks again

[brimfull]

my parents are flying from hamilton as we speak.
actually we emigrated from glasgow when I was 7

[MrsSprat]

Hello - just seen this. I'm living in MidTown Toronto at the moment. I'm a bit of a City Girl at heart, so I've not spent much time out in the GTA. Although it's very easy to get around the GTA providing you have a car. My experience so far of Toronto is it seems like a brilliant place to bring up children, tons of stuff going on once they hit pre-school age. My DD is not yet the age where we need to look at schooling, so I'm afraid I can't help there.

DH is on a temp working permit at the moment, and I automatically get a spousal one for the duration of his stay. This seemed pretty straightforward but was sponsored by his employer in the UK. Sounds like it may be easier for you to get a TWP with the teaching side and your DH can get a spousal one if he's not looking for professional work immediately IYKWIM.

Let me know if I can be of any help on anything else.

[nooka]

Babbi, take a look at the British Expat's forum for advice on how to get out to Canada britishexpats.com/ If you want to do it any time soon you will need to do it on a temporary work permit (known as a TWP), as trying the skilled workers route will take you five years plus (and if your skills are not in demand maybe never). You need to start by checking the list of occupations in demand, and bear in mind that Ontario may not have any shortages in your area. In which case you will have to look at one of the other provinces.

[murphyslaw]

we spent 2 years in downtown Toronto - Yonge St/harbourfront - its an amazing place to bring up kids. There is just so much to do.

Envious

[babbi]

Sorry , very late coming back to this as I didnt realise there were other replies.<br /> Thanks Mrs Sprat, Nook and Murphys Law .
Nooka I am nervous when you say 5 years plus or maybe never. Canadian Immigration told us 3 years ???

Think I will get in touch with them to find out whats happening ( Not that they will tell me much !)

[hellish]

Hi, I've been in Ottawa for 2 years, we love it. Are you a school teacher? here in Ontario there is a massive surplus of teachers and it's hard to find work. BUT if you speak French you shouldn't have a problem as there is a shortage of teachers for French Immersion programs. More than half the kids are in French Immersion in Ottawa, French is a big asset.

[Callisto]

Hi Babbi, DP and I are planning a move to Canada within the next 12-18 months. It is true that it will take at least 5 years if you go down the skilled worker route. Allegedly, there is a backlog of around 900,000 people at the moment. TWP is much quicker but you must be prepared to work very hard at it and if you and your partner don't have professions that are listed in the NOC as occupations under pressure it will be even harder. There is a ton of information about how to get a job in the wiki section of British Expats that I can't recommend highly enough.

You may have to be flexible about where you want to go - Ontario is currently experiencing a manufacturing downturn which will have a knock on effect on the GTA as a whole; Alberta's oil boom will only last if oil stays above the $60-$70 per barrel mark. Canada is quite dependant on the US for an export market overall but better placed than most western countries to ride the storm.

Again, check out BE - there is loads of info on there already and the members are more than happy to help also. Good luck with it all.

[Callisto]

Also if you need immigration advice, BE is more accurate than CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) plus BE has a highly respected immigration lawyer who will answer any questions you may have - just go to the immigration forum within the Canada forum. (CIC are reknowned for their general crapness at giving out any worthwhile information as regards immigration).

[babbi]

Thanks very much for this update !
Will get to the BE site immediately Callisto!
Would agree CIC tell you nothing !
Also Hellish , hope you are having a great time out there !
Thanks for the tip re French ! Yes I am a French teacher and am working like a demon right now updating all my qualifications.
Hope to get over again after the new year !

[Callisto]

Babbi, Quebec has its own immigration policy and times and welcomes people with fluent French. It might be worthwhile checking out provincial info as you might find Quebec is your easiest route to Canada.

[rodgershawk]

Hey, we have had our skilled worker app in since May 2006 and were told not to expect to hear from them for 42 months (November 2009) however in September we received a letter saying that there were ready to start processing our application and they wanted some updates for our forms (police check, and details of our new baby) So basically it is still a long time but they are processing them alot quicker than they were. The only way to get in quicker is to have a job offer.. this is not that easy (in our line of work we cannot get a job offer until we are landed residents) We have just booked tickets for EXPO CANADA which is in London at Olympia at the end of November. Apparently there will be loads of potential employers there. Worth £15 ticket me thinks..

[Callisto]

Rogershawk, according to plenty of BE regulars the last London and Leeds expo's were a waste of time: britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=545936&highlight=expo+leeds+london. The organisers have promised to make more of an effort to get more employers to the next one (the one you're going too) so hopefully it will be worth attending.

[SqueakyPop]

babbi, we have a cottage in Caledon!

As for the general area, you have to decide whethr you want urban or rural. I don't thin suburban Toronto is much to aspire to.

Downtown in great, and so is rural (cottage country or lakeside).

[rodgershawk]

Thanks Callisto. Fingers crossed the EXPO is better. In any case now our skilled worker application is being processed we will be there by this time next year.. (with hope and prayer!)

As for places to go we are looking at Burlington as its where our family are. Over the years they have lived in Caledon, Oakville and Burlington and they are all fab places to live and bring up a family. This time last week we were in the childrens playground overlooking the lake in Burlington, it was beautiful. This morning I was in the playground in Barnet, beautiful - not so much

[Callisto]

I was so impressed by the child-friendliness of Canada. We were in Alberta/BC for two weeks recently to size things up and see if we really wanted to move there. The cincher was definitely how much better off DD would be there - the playgrounds were all excellent and clean and everyone was so welcoming. Not like the playground here with rubbish, broken glass and sometimes needles left lying around after the weekend and horrible, sweary teenagers vandalising the toddlers playground equipment - and this is in a village in the Cotswolds fgs. Of course the mountains, pine-scented air, laid back attitude, great food and wine (that was a pleasant suprise) and general cleaness all helped too!!

[rodgershawk]

Totally agree with you on what England is like and what Canada is like.
Also have to say thought the Cotswolds would be nice?
Have been to Alberta and BC too (absolutely LOVE Banff)and they are great places. This time was the first time with a baby and everyone was so helpful and friendly. Even got the GO train into downtown Toronto and it was such an easy task. I have lived in London all of my life and use the tube regularly but have not even attempted to take a stroller on with me! Food is fresh and cheap and yes the wine is good!

[Callisto]

We used the Skytrain in Vancouver and just happened to be staying one stop up from a big student area. We were in throngs of students on the way in to Vancouver and the way back out and they couldn't have been nicer: polite, relatively quiet etc. One even asked us if we needed help to find the stop we were going to completely out of the blue. Compare that to out trip by train from Gatwick to Swindon when we got back: early morning with students again who were loud, sweary and treated the train carraige we were in like their personal youth club.

The Cotswolds are pretty, but since driving through the Rockies and down through the Okanagan it just doesn't compare. Give me mountains and lakes any day!!

[babbi]

Thanks for the info re EXPO - might be worth looking at.
Callisto - playgrounds is one of the major indicators to us that Canada would be a better place for our daughter. DH is an ex policeman and he is so fed up with mindless destruction of our facilities in this country !! It just highlights the lack of respect here in comparison to what you describe re the helpful students.
Rodgershawk , lets hope that they are indeed speeding up processing times .