Moving to Canada eh?

[tsk]

Hello Canadians!

In the future me and my girlfriend might move to the glorious land of Canadia.
As this is a Canadian forum I thought it might be a good place to get some general info like taxes, accommodations, transportation, locations, work and such.

The most realistic locations is Toronto or Montreal, as I would need to fly to Europe every other month, but I'm open to suggestions.

While I think Calgary and Vancouver both look like beautiful cities, I'm unsure of the employment market in Calgary after the oil price crashed, and Vancouver seems to have a climate that I hate(mild winters, semi-warm summers, rain) but please correct me if I'm wrong.

Now I've only been to Montreal and while I like the city, the main issue I have is the French Language as it's almost a must to know(from my point of view).
The Toronto city centre looks nice in pictures, but I'm unsure about the suburbs. Also I've heard a lot of bad things about the metros and other means of transportation there, but the reason I'm looking towards this city is the English language and the ease of traveling to Europe.

Things that are important to me is convenience(groceries, activities, restaurants), having a decent size city park, acceptable air quality(Asthmatic), an international airport(max 2hrs away) and climate.
I'll elaborate a bit on the climate as it's quite important to me; I like cold winters(below 0C) and a Warm summer(20C+) and i hate cold+rain.
My preferred real estate would be a condominium.(Budget 1M$ CAD)

I'd love any tips or general information about moving to Canada or any Canadians two cents on their own country.

Thanks!





 

[tsk]

10 minutes ago, JayKay3000 said:

I'm from UK, and had a plan to move there, but I dunno what work you do. If you are skilled in something then that will really help. They like you to be able to go into a job or have one waiting. There is a whole load of links in the internet and you have to pass a sort of entrance criteria / exam to get in.

 

I had a friend who tried it and it took about six months

 

If moving from the U.S

http://www.canadavisa.com/moving-to-canada-from-the-u-s.html#Express Entry

 

I remember Linus talking about this and telling everyone not to move to Canada. I had a friend live there for a year and work as a programmer. Enjoyed it, but preferred some things about the UK.

 

Depends why you want to move and the flying back to europe bit sounds expensive.

I'll still be be going to Europe to do some work there, at least initially. My girlfriend is a Canadian citizen so I hope there won't be any entrance issues for me.
Now before you ask why my girlfriend can't give me all this info it's because she lived most of her life in Europe and didn't go much outside Montreal while she lived in Canada.

Why did you decide not to move there?

[tsk]

Thanks for the reply

Where all them Canadians on this forum at tho?
I swear I won't conquer Canada. 

[dalekphalm]

On 09/04/2017 at 10:38 AM, tsk said:

Hello Canadians!

In the future me and my girlfriend might move to the glorious land of Canadia.
As this is a Canadian forum I thought it might be a good place to get some general info like taxes, accommodations, transportation, locations, work and such.

The most realistic locations is Toronto or Montreal, as I would need to fly to Europe every other month, but I'm open to suggestions.

While I think Calgary and Vancouver both look like beautiful cities, I'm unsure of the employment market in Calgary after the oil price crashed, and Vancouver seems to have a climate that I hate(mild winters, semi-warm summers, rain) but please correct me if I'm wrong.

Now I've only been to Montreal and while I like the city, the main issue I have is the French Language as it's almost a must to know(from my point of view).
The Toronto city centre looks nice in pictures, but I'm unsure about the suburbs. Also I've heard a lot of bad things about the metros and other means of transportation there, but the reason I'm looking towards this city is the English language and the ease of traveling to Europe.

Things that are important to me is convenience(groceries, activities, restaurants), having a decent size city park, acceptable air quality(Asthmatic), an international airport(max 2hrs away) and climate.
I'll elaborate a bit on the climate as it's quite important to me; I like cold winters(below 0C) and a Warm summer(20C+) and i hate cold+rain.
My preferred real estate would be a condominium.(Budget 1M$ CAD)

I'd love any tips or general information about moving to Canada or any Canadians two cents on their own country.

Thanks!





 

Just so you know, there are dozens of big cities within 2 hours of Pearson International Airport in Toronto. There's the rest of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area), like Mississauga, Brampton, Scarborough, etc. Then, going out a bit farther there are places like Brampton, Hamilton, Milton, Barrie, Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph, etc.

 

All would have direct bus lines to Toronto.

 

Basically, the farther out you go, the cheaper Cost of Living and rental/housing prices will be.

[yathis]

On 4/9/2017 at 8:38 AM, tsk said:

The most realistic locations is Toronto or Montreal. Toronto would suck, not sure about Montreal.

--------Good for a visit, if you dont speak french then it would suck outside the metro area.

While I think Calgary and Vancouver both look like beautiful cities, I'm unsure of the employment market in Calgary after the oil price crashed, and Vancouver seems to have a climate that I hate(mild winters, semi-warm summers, rain) but please correct me if I'm wrong.

-----------------Calgary is cold, Vancouver is warm. Depends on what kind of employment you want. If you want a shit ton of cash fast and work hard, Calgary and the oil patch. Vancouver I have no idea, I hate that whole area. Love Van Isle tho

Vancouver has huge rent, Calgary is a little lower

Now I've only been to Montreal and while I like the city, the main issue I have is the French Language as it's almost a must to know(from my point of view).

----------------yes they look down on you

 

The Toronto city centre looks nice in pictures, but I'm unsure about the suburbs. Also I've heard a lot of bad things about the metros and other means of transportation there, but the reason I'm looking towards this city is the English language and the ease of traveling to Europe.

-----------Toronto sucks, good for a vacation. Havent been in 40 years. All the immigrants

 

Things that are important to me is convenience(groceries, activities, restaurants), having a decent size city park, acceptable air quality(Asthmatic), an international airport(max 2hrs away) and climate.

--------------Calgary is good, Vancouver/Toronto no

 

I'll elaborate a bit on the climate as it's quite important to me; I like cold winters(below 0C) and a Warm summer(20C+) and i hate cold+rain.

-----------That doesnt help much

 

My preferred real estate would be a condominium.(Budget 1M$ CAD)

$1M in Calgary can buy you a lot, in Van not so much, either Toronto. Montreal perhaps.

I'd love any tips or general information about moving to Canada or any Canadians two cents on their own country.

-----------Please learn english and conform. Assimulate to the Canadian way.





 

 

[Andreas Lilja]

Montréal is waaaaaaay more affordable than Toronto. 

 

You easily get by with only English. Jobs will however require only an intermediate proficiency in conversational French. At least those focused on English. 

 

Note that it's tough to immigrate unless you're a skilled worker. 

[yathis]

9 minutes ago, Raskolnikov said:

Note that it's tough to immigrate unless you're a skilled worker. 

That is wrong!

I wished it was that way but it sadly is not.

They will let anyone in, and them anyones drive taxi, flip burgers, subway, fast food joints.

I think we should let only skilled workers in, and in area's where we need them like rural doctors, and they should do a 10 year term.

[Andreas Lilja]

Just now, yathis said:

That is wrong!

I wished it was that way but it sadly is not.

They will let anyone in, and them anyones drive taxi, flip burgers, subway, fast food joints.

I think we should let only skilled workers in, and in area's where we need them like rural doctors, and they should do a 10 year term.

Recent rules are VERY strict. 

 

Don't compare with refugees. Those we pretty much accept anyone. For example, a lot of Syrian refugees have issues with learning our languages since they don't even know to read their own langage in the first place. 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

Unless you have a lot of money in the bank, I wouldn't recommend coming to Vancouver unless you have solid employment lined up. Finding a place to buy or even rent is really difficult here, despite the fact that Vancouver and neighbouring cities Burnaby, and Richmond are overflowing with new developments every year. The situation hasn't really gotten any better in the last several years and is well documented internationally. We're ranked 3rd in unaffordable housing internationally. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/demographia-international-housing-study-vancouver-ranks-3rd-1.3947668

 

Transportation wise in Vancouver, everything is run by Translink, the transit authority for the entire Metro Vancouver Region. The main services you'll be using are SkyTrain (metro), SeaBus (Vancouver Harbour ferry), and bus service (regular and B-Line routes). Fares might be a bit getting used to because we use a 3 Zone system rather than charging by distance travelled like many other cities. So if you travel within a zone or take the bus, you only pay a 1 Zone fare. If you travel between zones via the SkyTrain network or Seabus, you'll pay the number of zones that you cross. It's slightly complicated so I recommend going on the website linked above to read about the fare system. You can always tweet @Translink and their customer service team can help you out.

 

Edit:

Here's the complete system map: http://infomaps.translink.ca/System_Maps/129/MVTM-Dec 2016.pdf

Key Routes map: http://infomaps.translink.ca/System_Maps/KRTC.pdf

[gizyodamo]

18 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

Hello Canadians!

In the future me and my girlfriend might move to the glorious land of Canadia.
As this is a Canadian forum I thought it might be a good place to get some general info like taxes, accommodations, transportation, locations, work and such.

The most realistic locations is Toronto or Montreal, as I would need to fly to Europe every other month, but I'm open to suggestions.

While I think Calgary and Vancouver both look like beautiful cities, I'm unsure of the employment market in Calgary after the oil price crashed, and Vancouver seems to have a climate that I hate(mild winters, semi-warm summers, rain) but please correct me if I'm wrong.

Now I've only been to Montreal and while I like the city, the main issue I have is the French Language as it's almost a must to know(from my point of view).
The Toronto city centre looks nice in pictures, but I'm unsure about the suburbs. Also I've heard a lot of bad things about the metros and other means of transportation there, but the reason I'm looking towards this city is the English language and the ease of traveling to Europe.

Things that are important to me is convenience(groceries, activities, restaurants), having a decent size city park, acceptable air quality(Asthmatic), an international airport(max 2hrs away) and climate.
I'll elaborate a bit on the climate as it's quite important to me; I like cold winters(below 0C) and a Warm summer(20C+) and i hate cold+rain.
My preferred real estate would be a condominium.(Budget 1M$ CAD)

I'd love any tips or general information about moving to Canada or any Canadians two cents on their own country.

Thanks!

I would strongly suggest the Barrie and surrounding area, I believe it is within 90 minutes of toronto and is a very nice area with all your freferences, there are many smaller cities and towns around this area that a very nice, It is a great area

[dalekphalm]

5 minutes ago, gizyodamo said:

I would strongly suggest the Barrie and surrounding area, I believe it is within 90 minutes of toronto and is a very nice area with all your freferences, there are many smaller cities and towns around this area that a very nice, It is a great area

Barrie is 90 minutes from the Core (assuming decent traffic). If you're already at the northern edge of Toronto, Barrie is closer to 60 minutes away. It's a decent area, with lots of smaller towns nearby.

[This_guy1998]

just move to the US. We have easy rules.

[yathis]

15 hours ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

fentanyl overdose

Its cheaper on society for them to die. I dont lose any sleep over it, just flick the channel.

 

15 hours ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Vancouver

To be mild, I highly dislike Vancouver and all its sorrounding cities all the way to Chilli-wacked. I have not pinpointed why, I mean I am a big city man, I love the hu$$le and bu$$le, but I hate crowds & I hate stupid people & I hate traffic and a few others things I hate that I will not mention

[mikat]

4 hours ago, This_guy1998 said:

just move to the US. We have easy rules.

His girlfriend is canadian so he can get in without too much trouble, and the US is not that easy to get into as a permanent resident

[Teddy07]

I thought it is very hard to get into Canada and even work there. So if some of you have insight then please educate me because I might want to move too. I live in Germany.

[WkdPaul]

oops ... posted too fast ... editing it right now!

 

As said above, Montreal is much cheaper BUT if you want to find a job, you do have to speak some French. So if you really don't speak any French I would advise against.

 

I think you'd be better in Ontario than Quebec simply because of the language. As far as those informations, I can't really help since I only visited and only lived in Quebec.

 

Things to keep in mind are sales taxes, the prices you see don't include taxes (I know it's confusing for a lot of people outside of North America), you gotta tip in restaurants (15-20%).

 

Unless you get a Permanent Resident visa, you won't get health care coverage and you'll need insurance.

 

I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff ! lol

[DoctorWho1975]

I was actually thinking about moving to Canada due to a woman I was dating.. luckily she showed herself to be cray cray before plans were set in motion. It was actually going to be a stretch for me to be able to get in... having the cash in hand would have been difficult and I'm a dipshit. Had I had a piece of paper that said I wasn't a dipshit, would have been a significant amount more points.

[mikat]

24 minutes ago, Teddy07 said:

I thought it is very hard to get into Canada and even work there. So if some of you have insight then please educate me because I might want to move too. I live in Germany.

The two main ways of getting into a country is either having relatives there or an employer who is willing to go through lots of paperwork (Linus had to do this for Dennis as he explained in a WAN show, basically Linus had to prove that Dennis was not taking away a job from a Canadian)

 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

30 minutes ago, mikat said:

His girlfriend is canadian so he can get in without too much trouble, and the US is not that easy to get into as a permanent resident

Still needs the proper documentation if he plans to find a job there etc. Watch Border Security, you'll learn about a few things we've turned people away for.

[mikat]

3 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Still needs the proper documentation if he plans to find a job there etc. Watch Border Security, you'll learn about a few things we've turned people away for.

Yeah but it's still a lot easier to get into canada for him than to get into the US

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

Just now, mikat said:

Yeah but it's still a lot easier to get into canada for him than to get into the US

Maybe. If he just shows up, they're just going to give him a visitor visa at beast. And if he overstays that, a warrant would be issued.

[mikat]

4 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Maybe. If he just shows up, they're just going to give him a visitor visa at beast. And if he overstays that, a warrant would be issued.

Still not easier to get into the US than Canada tho?

[Guest]

1 minute ago, mikat said:

Still not easier to get into the US than Canada tho?

Yeah since there is a wall being built there. 

[Teddy07]

12 minutes ago, mikat said:

The two main ways of getting into a country is either having relatives there or an employer who is willing to go through lots of paperwork (Linus had to do this for Dennis as he explained in a WAN show, basically Linus had to prove that Dennis was not taking away a job from a Canadian)

 

 

 

Relatives ist going to work in my case but I hope Canada needs a Bachelor / master in computer science but I want to leave Germany as soon as possible. Maybe not directly to Canada but that would be best case.

I just start with my degree so lets hope i finish it first

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

5 minutes ago, mikat said:

Still not easier to get into the US than Canada tho?

Well the thing is, it's easier to get into Canada as a visitor probably. I don't know the exact policies but my relatives in Hong Kong would need to apply for a visa months in advance just to gain entry as a visitor.

 

In terms of moving here, I think both are just as anal with all the documentation required. (No one dare play the 'but refugees get in easily" card) Especially if your port of entry is Vancouver or Toronto, even as a visitor, you have to prove you have the finances to be able to survive. These two are pretty much the most expensive cities to live in. If you get injured or anything during your stay, costs are going to trickle down to the local taxpayers and the CBSA is not having any of that.