LeesaRouz

Hi everyone,

I've just signed up after reading quite a few discussions here. I'm hoping anyone can help and give me a bit of reassurance.

I'm from Manchester and have been wanting to move to Canada for ages. Now that I've finally gotten a job offer, I'm beginning to chicken out. Nevertheless, I've accepted it and will be working in downtown Toronto earning $45K CAD.

I want to live in an apartment (not keen on sharing/living in a basement) and I'm a bit horrified with the prices! I've looked around downtown Toronto (North York, Etibocoke etc.) and I can see that even if it's a "10 min drive" away from work, it's up to an hour using public transport. My first option is to live in downtown Toronto, if I can find something cheap. If not, I would rather live west of Toronto (towards Mississauga etc.) if it's going to take an hour by public transport - as I have family and friends in Mississauga, Hamilton and London (I'm expecting a lot of homesickness in the first few months, so I wouldn't mind being close to those areas).

Can you give me some tips on where I should live if I'm going to be working in downtown Toronto, please? Also, what's the cost of living like, for someone earning $45k before tax? I don't really want 3/4's of my earning going on rent and public transport :/ is that the norm if you work in Toronto?

Really looking forward to your replies - or any form of reassurance! Many thanks in advance!

DandNHill

Hi.

$45,000 is not a lot to live in downtown Toronto. Works out at around $1250 per pay cheque (biweekly).

If you want to live alone you'll easily spend most of that just on bills and travel.

neilgvirgo

Hi LeesaRouz, could I just ask you how long it took you to get a job please? I've just started and it looks pretty difficult at the moment.

LeesaRouz

I'll be honest, I've been working towards getting a job or gaining the attention of employers for about 2 years. I came to the conclusion that the only way around getting a job is to literally go out of your way to meet employers and leave an impression. I'll be working as a postdoc and prior to getting my PhD, I went to the university to meet with Professors just to show interest in the university and research topics there. After that, I went to a conference in Canada and emailed a lot until I finally managed to get an offer. It wasn't easy, but with persistence and a lot of patience, you can get to what you want.

LeesaRouz

Thanks for your reply - how much do you recon I should be paying per month for rent?

christmasoompa

Just in case you've not found it yet, the Job Hunting section of the Wiki has some fab articles to get you start.

Good luck.

Former Lancastrian

There are a number of sites for rentals try these but have a stiff drink on hand

https://www.padmapper.com/apartments/toronto-on
https://www.torontorentals.com
The top 10 apartment rental websites in Toronto

mahdawg

I live in Etobicoke/Toronto right at Islington subway station. A two bed apt in my building is $1400 which to me, made more sense than a one bed which was $1200 in the same building. However condo's in the area can be $1800/$2000. Time to downtown, 30/35mins.

If you choose to live away from the subway line, then yes you could be looking at an hour as you'd need to take a bus. And when winter comes you'll have to enjoy waiting in the snow. Public transport is relatively reliable in winter, unless it has recently started snowing.

As for the salary, it's OK. And if you're frugal, you can get by more than fine on that (I know as me,gf and many friends survived on less than that when we came here!)

DandNHill

Well I have two sons who live in Toronto.

One is on Danforth and Ossington. They pay $1550 for a nice 1 bedroom apt. Think they just have to pay internet on top of that.

The other lives off College and Dovercourt. They pay $1350 I believe. It's smaller though. They also pay internet on top.

LeesaRouz

Thanks, that's really helpful. Do you have any idea if there are any areas I should avoid, as I'll be living on my own?

Novocastrian

Which Uni in Toronto will you be at?

LeesaRouz

Thanks for your reply! I'm still trying to understand the difference between an apartment and condominium lol. So I guess I should just accept that 60% of my salary will be going on rental and public transport, right? Should I try and focus on finding a place closer to a train/subway line rather than rely on buses, given the weather conditions during winter time? I've never been there during the winter time, so that'll be a right slap in the face lol

LeesaRouz

The downtown one - college street

LeesaRouz

Sorry I misread your question - university of Toronto

dbd33

I had a mate who was postdoc'ing there. He lived in a shared house by the Madison; at the back of the shoe museum.