We’re very close to our move now - myself husband and 2 children. We visited last week and settled on looking at aurora Ontario to live, will have work visa for 2 years work with employer in Markham.
1. My daughter age 15 (16 in November) will start in grade 11 ? To graduate high school it’s mentions obstaining credits in grade 9/10 which she will obviously have missed - can any uk work be applied towards or will she have to complete 4 years work in 2 years ?
2 I’m on regular medication for asthma, how much are prescriptions in Ontario or how do i find price ? We’ll have heathcare coverage through work but don’t have specifics what this covers.
3 what sort of price can we buy a reasonable car for ? Nothing fancy or new - just reliable runaround.
4. We arrive June and first 4 weeks in temp accommodation, is it fairly easy to get children school place ready for September or do a lot get full up ? Are the breakfast and afterschool clubs and summer camps readily available ?

Thanks in advance !

we don’t actually have a house yet , apparently can’t actually choose one until have work permit , which we won’t have until arrive in June and it’s granted st the airport - and you can’t choose school place until have a permanent address ? As we’re going as a family aurora felt like a nicer area for the kids, Markham Wasn’t recommended as a place for us to actually live in.

As partially Discharged mentioned, the thing to do is to contact the local school. We were in a similar position with our daughter but she was doing GCSEs in the UK just before we arrived. We contacted the relevant school before the summer and they reserved a place for her but put us in touch with an assessment centre - when we arrived in September, she had an interview with a counsellor who ‘translated’ her GCSEs into high school credits, and then she started school.

ok thanks , my daughter is not due GCSEs till next year so won’t have these. I’ll try emailing a few schools but as we don’t have an address yet it’s difficult to know which one will be our catchment school ?! On a side note , how did your child get to school , I’m worried if it’s further out she’ll be walking miles in cold temps in winter - or do they provide buses ? I can drive but not sure how confident I’ll be over there ! Thanks

The school board website should give you details on catchment areas for the relevant schools - Aurora isn’t that big a place. In your situation, I think I would contact the likely candidates now asking for advice, then visit them when you arrive in June. The schools will in all likelihood be closed for July and most of August so that should be high on your list of priorities. Visiting the schools may guide you towards where you prefer to live longer term.
The website should also give you an idea of bussing arrangements - we live some miles from the high school so mine used school bus but I don’t know what the rules are regarding distance for eligibility.

brilliant thank you , was checking the catchment areas last night ! We have a realtor provided through work so have emailed her asking to look for houses aurora highlands area and can now see the schools in that catchment area thanks

Good luck with the move! A friend of mine lives in Aurora and really loves it there.

We signed a lease on a visit over before we got our visas - had to pay 2 months rent up front to secure it but it wasn’t a problem.

Our area is super strict about catchment areas and no schools would even talk to us until we had an address. Wouldn’t even let us come look around or anything!

thats good to hear they like Aurora I’m so nervous and really wanted to get a good area ! It’s really catch 22 with the schools isn’t it, our destination person said the same they won’t speak to you at all until you live here in the catchment. How do you pick an area until you’ve seen the schools and get a feel for them etc , and then what if I choose a house in the catchment and then visit the school and we don’t like it, or they don’t have space ? Not sure if that ever an an issue. We’ve heard aurora high is good so will try get house in catchment for that. Really need an elementary which provides before and after school care aswell.

From what I understand, the school system here is very different to the UK.

The school is is obligated to give your child a space if you’re in their catchment area so you will get a space.

Schools are schools and there isn’t the disparity in quality from school to school like you get in the UK. They are roughly the same standard.

What’s more important is to live in the community you want to, then the school will service that community. It’s very different to the UK so don’t worry about it.

Anyway it’s almost impossible to choose the ideal area from afar. We moved to Mississauga and it’s fine, but we’ve been here 6 months now and realize this is not what we want so once we get PR we’ll be moving to a completely different town. It means settling will take us longer and the kids will be uprooted again but I think that’s part of the immigration process. We’re hoping by this time next year we will be settled and in the area we want to be in.

oh that good we’ll definitely a place. What is it you don’t like about about Mississauga ? We visited a few places and aurora seemed nice but I suppose you don’t get a real feel until you live there.

As I say, it’s fine but there’s a few things we don’t like:

- it’s super expensive to buy a house here, you definitely get more for your money East of Toronto

- there is a huge immigrant population here dominated by one or two cultures. We’d like to live somewhere that’s a bit more of a mixture of people from all over and more multi-generational Canadians (though that’s an area thing rather than a town/city thing). To give you an idea, no kids in either of my kids classes in elementary school were born in Canada. I’d just like to be somewhere where there’s a bit more variety of cultures.

- it’s really busy here and very densely populated, we’re next to the airport so it’s noisy too

- we’re too far from the GO train line we want to be on and it’s unlikely we could afford to be close enough for us in this city

- same with proximity to the lake front - we’d rather be closer but can’t afford to here.

- it’s a big city in it’s own right (700,000 people approx) and we would rather have a smaller town feel if we can. Again, might not be a Mississauga thing, more about just finding the right area for us.

We’re looking for a house across a fairly large area so just honing in on specific areas we like and keeping an eye out for anything coming on the market.

thats useful to know thank you ! On a side not can I ask one more question if not too nosy ! How much roughly are you spending on groceries per month and how many people for, I can’t seem to get over how much extra this is going to cost us , some saying 1500 per month for 4?

That was probably me in the other thread! Yep I spend $1,500 a month on just food (doesn’t include household stuff like cleaning materials, alcohol). I find it’s a huge amount more than in the UK, but then we never really ate at home during the week as we’d all eat at work/school/childminders whereas now I make packed lunches for everyone and I now feed my kids during the week which I didn’t before. But still, it feels like a lot.

Don’t know if it’s just me clueless shopping but I shop at a very basic supermarket (No Frills) and Costco for bulk items and meat. I am getting more savvy about what/how to buy and reducing it a bit everything month though.