Mimi_R

Hello Everyone,

I am looking to make the move to Ontario this summer and was hoping to get some advice on the following:

1. Housing- My husband and I were looking to purchase a home within 6 months of arrival in Canada. How possible is this and what are the challenges? Will our credit history in the UK be valid or considered in Canada?

2. Job Hunt from the UK- What are your experiences in securing jobs before arriving in Canada?

3. Cheapest start- Considering we are completely unaware of what it would cost to run a home in Ontario, which are the reasonably priced cities for one to rent a place in Ontario?

4. Securing Rentals while in the UK- Is it possible to secure a rental before we make the trip? What are your experiences?

Thank you all in advance.

dbd33

A big challenge is that the cost of sale for houses in Ontario is huge so, if you buy one that doesn't work out that's a major setback. For this reason I'd suggest renting for a year while getting settled in jobs and whatnot. A year is, in any case, the standard period for a house rental contract.

How much freedom do you have to choose the location? Locations with cheap housing likely don't have much work; not a concern, of course, if you don't need a local job.

bats

Yep, definitely rent for at least a year. You have to find jobs, hopefully getting ones that pay enough and that you like.

SchnookoLoly

+1 for renting until you are certain where you want to buy, as dbd said, selling is incredibly expensive, so you don't want to have to do that.

If you are both working full time then you should be ok. Some banks may consider your credit history but I wouldn't count on it. Most will probably ask for minimum 25% down payment. (Our bank asked for 30%. We both have professional jobs in stable industries with excellent credit.)

Job hunt - it's WAY different job hunting in Canada than in the UK. Read the wiki article on job hunting. Short version, you'll have minimal luck while in the UK.

#3 - honestly, it massively depends. Obviously the closer you are to Toronto the more expensive it's going to be. Where are you going to be working? What kind of commute are you willing to do? Ontario is really frigging big. If you're going ot be working in Toronto but living somewhere more cheap then you'll have to also factor in the commute time. We live in Oakville, my husband works in Toronto, his door-to-desk commute is about 55 minutes on average. Burlington and Hamilton are cheaper, but the commute gets way longer. Our max commute when considering where to live was 1 hour.

4 - Not sure about rentals. Paging HGerchikov...

Siouxie

CMHC have some useful info on obtaining "Newcomer" mortgages here: http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/hoficl...C-Newcomer.pdf Take a look because it tells you how to show credit worthiness when you have no credit history in Canada.

I had no credit history (even though I wasn't a newcomer) but my son was classed as a newcomer as he had been in Canada for less than 3 years.. we got a mortgage (through a broker) with less down payment than others are suggesting, using the criteria outlined for 'newcomer mortgages'.

You are better off with a broker, who can look to see who is offering the best deal and can guide you. (At no cost to you).

HGerchikov

Sorry - not paying attention! Agree with points 1 -3 although the post does say just Ontario (not necessarily Toronto) and it does vary. It is possible to get a rental from the UK but I am not sure I would recommend it unless you have already seen and approve of the area and have someone you trust on the ground here. Landlords are very picky about their tenants as the Residential Tenancy Act is quite biased in favour of the tenant its tough for a landlord to rid himself of a bad one so they tend to err on the side of caution and often like to meet face to face before finally agreeing. Obviously if you have great jobs here, good references, a truck load of money in the bank then they may well be prepared to let that go. If you don't have those things then I think the chances of a meeting being requested is fairly high.

Also you will most likely be asked to sign a lease for a year, do you really want to start your life in a new country spending a year in a place you didn't even see? There are also a number of scams with rentals on places like Craigslist, if you are not available to look at the property then you will be more vulnerable to those scams.

dbd33

Here's an unlikely source for rental property. Still, I thought this place looked cheap for somewhere commutable to Toronto with space for some animals:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/628912127141856/

Mimi_R

Dbd33,

The job determines the location. The jobs we want are in Toronto. I guess I hadn't thought of how far the different cities were from Toronto. I guess it will be Toronto then... till we get a better feel of the land. Thank you

Mimi_R

Thanks SchnookoLly,

I hadn't imagined that Oakville to Toronto would be that far or that these (Burlington, London.. etc) places would be far from Toronto. Hmmmm....

On the job hunt- thanks, I am learning most things in Canada require one's physical presence....

Mimi_R

Thanks Siouxie,

I think we will rent and give ourselves some time to breathe and get a sense of Ontario before buying.

Mimi_R

Thanks bats

dbd33

Then you're in for a dose of "by rote" advice posts!

What sort of thing do you want; family area, party area, up itself area, train commute, foot commute, apartment, house, access to sailing/bars/curling rinks/schools, what area of London would be equivalent to what you seek in Toronto?

HGerchikov

It can be hard to grasp exactly how huge this place is. I am in Ontario but 500 km from Toronto, not really commutable but property is really cheap.

Mimi_R

HGerchikov,

Thank you for the advice. I suppose we would have to put up in a hotel till we can sort out the rental as we don't have anyone in Canada.

HGerchikov

Yes or short term rental. If you find a vacant rental then you can get the paperwork sorted and move in within a couple of days though. Obviously if its already got a tenant then you will have to wait for their notice period to expire which could be up to 60 days.