Originally Posted by ScotinCanada (Post 12680075)

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.

Originally Posted by scilly (Post 12680108)

It sounds funny to see an immigrant complaining that their children are in classes full of other immigrants :nod:

It's called diversity, and encouragement of immigration :nod:

But that is something that happens .......... we used to really note when there was more than one Canadian-born person at the table when we went out to dinner. :nod:

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.

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.

Originally Posted by Siouxie (Post 12680215)

Don't overthink this and stress yourself out! Schools are different here - there isn't really a 'good school / bad school' thing - more that they are all much of a muchness! You can do a lot of online research about the school - see photos of it, see what their curriculum comprises of, what after school activities are available... just by looking at their website (all schools have websites) :) There's also https://ratemyteachers.com/ca/ontario/aurora though I suspect the reviews may be a little subjective, lol! You could also look at the local paper to see any stories about the school :) https://www.yorkregion.com/aurora-on/

Find an area that offers most of what you are looking for - space / transit / close to things that you like... and the school will follow from that. google maps can give you an idea of distances to local transit, restaurants, shops, hospitals etc., too. :)

Do have a read about education in Canada in our wiki: https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Categ...ucation-Canada

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.