Moved From Midlands to Toronto Area - My Experience
Jul 29th 2011, 4:33 pm
#1
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 3
Moved From Midlands to Toronto Area - My Experience
Ok,
Hope anyone thinking of making the big move from the UK to Canada find this helpful:
Last year (2010) my wife and I with our two young children moved to a town in the greater Toronto area called Vaughan (about 30 mins from downtown Toronto). Let me put your minds at ease, if you want a significant increase of quality living, more opportunities and a vastly superior world for your children to grow up in, Canada (or at least Southern Ontario) is your place. Heres the pros and cons:
Pros:
1) Pretty much guarantied 3 months of great hot summer weather every year. Unlike the one good Summer Day you may get in the UK if you're lucky. We were all in our outdoor pool from June through early September. One week we were out in the pool till 8pm. Fantastic. When can you do that in the UK?
2) Shopping is fantastic, the malls are great. Check out the Eaton Centre, York Dale or Square One.
3) Completely different culture than Britain. No pissheads walking the streets or stuck in the pub every night. Not a yob culture at all. No football violence either. Its more like the American culture where most people eat out as a family rather than piss off down the pub.
4) Very business friendly climate. Government are on the ball.
5) Close proximity to all the places you want to vacation ie..Bahamas, USA, Mexico etc....
6) Tons of brand new homes. Definitely not cheaper than UK but nicer.
7) More parks and attractions for your kids to do. Including having one of earths natural wonders on your doorstep.
8) Food is the best ive ever had. Restaurants are great. Some of the best are Alice Fazoolis, Monterey Jacks and my favorite The Keg.
Cons:
1) First and foremost GTA is massively overpopulated or at least it seems that way. Concrete jungle to say the least. Don't expect the pictures of Canada you see on TV with the mountains and stunning vistas. You have to do serious car time to get to these places. Hours and hours. The GTA is completely saturated with some of the worst traffic ive ever seen and endless rows of homes. One night I decided to pop out for a quick KFC which is 10 minutes around the corner. I was out for two hours stuck in traffic.
2) Drivers are terrible, and I mean terrible. In my opinion UK drivers are the best in the world. Canadian drivers are mean,...sorry!
3) Everything is so damn expensive except for petrol (which is a lot cheaper than the UK however everywhere is 30 minutes away so you burn through the same amount of petrol money every week anyway).
4) Winter weather is horrible. It was snowing in the first week of May last year. Then overnight it can literally go to 85 degrees.
5) Day Care is horrible for anyone thinking of moving with small children. Believe me, my wife was bought to tears on numorous occasions by the disgusting quality of day cares. You wouldn't put your dog in these places. Its almost like parents don't make day care a priority and will just settle. Having said that there is one day care company which strangely enough is absolutely fantastic..problem is they only have four centers. Check out "ChildVentures".
6) Cell phone contracts are very expensive.
Im sure everyone has different experiences but these are the things we found. Canada is a funny mix of American and UK. I would say slightly more American than UK which is definitely a good thing.
PS. you still get your BBC and Coronation street channels though.
Hope this helps.
Good luck.
Hope anyone thinking of making the big move from the UK to Canada find this helpful:
Last year (2010) my wife and I with our two young children moved to a town in the greater Toronto area called Vaughan (about 30 mins from downtown Toronto). Let me put your minds at ease, if you want a significant increase of quality living, more opportunities and a vastly superior world for your children to grow up in, Canada (or at least Southern Ontario) is your place. Heres the pros and cons:
Pros:
1) Pretty much guarantied 3 months of great hot summer weather every year. Unlike the one good Summer Day you may get in the UK if you're lucky. We were all in our outdoor pool from June through early September. One week we were out in the pool till 8pm. Fantastic. When can you do that in the UK?
2) Shopping is fantastic, the malls are great. Check out the Eaton Centre, York Dale or Square One.
3) Completely different culture than Britain. No pissheads walking the streets or stuck in the pub every night. Not a yob culture at all. No football violence either. Its more like the American culture where most people eat out as a family rather than piss off down the pub.
4) Very business friendly climate. Government are on the ball.
5) Close proximity to all the places you want to vacation ie..Bahamas, USA, Mexico etc....
6) Tons of brand new homes. Definitely not cheaper than UK but nicer.
7) More parks and attractions for your kids to do. Including having one of earths natural wonders on your doorstep.
8) Food is the best ive ever had. Restaurants are great. Some of the best are Alice Fazoolis, Monterey Jacks and my favorite The Keg.
Cons:
1) First and foremost GTA is massively overpopulated or at least it seems that way. Concrete jungle to say the least. Don't expect the pictures of Canada you see on TV with the mountains and stunning vistas. You have to do serious car time to get to these places. Hours and hours. The GTA is completely saturated with some of the worst traffic ive ever seen and endless rows of homes. One night I decided to pop out for a quick KFC which is 10 minutes around the corner. I was out for two hours stuck in traffic.
2) Drivers are terrible, and I mean terrible. In my opinion UK drivers are the best in the world. Canadian drivers are mean,...sorry!
3) Everything is so damn expensive except for petrol (which is a lot cheaper than the UK however everywhere is 30 minutes away so you burn through the same amount of petrol money every week anyway).
4) Winter weather is horrible. It was snowing in the first week of May last year. Then overnight it can literally go to 85 degrees.
5) Day Care is horrible for anyone thinking of moving with small children. Believe me, my wife was bought to tears on numorous occasions by the disgusting quality of day cares. You wouldn't put your dog in these places. Its almost like parents don't make day care a priority and will just settle. Having said that there is one day care company which strangely enough is absolutely fantastic..problem is they only have four centers. Check out "ChildVentures".
6) Cell phone contracts are very expensive.
Im sure everyone has different experiences but these are the things we found. Canada is a funny mix of American and UK. I would say slightly more American than UK which is definitely a good thing.
PS. you still get your BBC and Coronation street channels though.
Hope this helps.
Good luck.
Jul 29th 2011, 5:07 pm
#2
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2006
Location: Heritage Valley in Edmonton
Posts: 894
Re: Moved From Midlands to Toronto Area - My Experience
Ok,
Hope anyone thinking of making the big move from the UK to Canada find this helpful:
Last year (2010) my wife and I with our two young children moved to a town in the greater Toronto area called Vaughan (about 30 mins from downtown Toronto). Let me put your minds at ease, if you want a significant increase of quality living, more opportunities and a vastly superior world for your children to grow up in, Canada (or at least Southern Ontario) is your place. Heres the pros and cons:
Pros:
1) Pretty much guarantied 3 months of great hot summer weather every year. Unlike the one good Summer Day you may get in the UK if you're lucky. We were all in our outdoor pool from June through early September. One week we were out in the pool till 8pm. Fantastic. When can you do that in the UK? In Edmonton its rained most days since summer started and when its not raining your being eaten alive by vicious mossies.
2) Shopping is fantastic, the malls are great. Check out the Eaton Centre, York Dale or Square One. Actually I found those Malls crap when I lived in Ontario, same shops everywhere (actually York dale was the only decent one)
3) Completely different culture than Britain. No pissheads walking the streets depends what street your on, drugs rather than drunk or stuck in the pub every night hardly any pubs . Not a yob culture at all. No football violence either just hockey voilence, ask anyone in vancouver . Its more like the American culture where most people eat out as a family rather than piss off down the pub whats wrong with a night out with your mates? here of course there are not mates.
4) Very business friendly climate. Government are on the ball
.
5) Close proximity to all the places you want to vacation ie..Bahamas, USA, Mexico etc.... Rome, Madrid, oh er...
6) Tons of brand new homes. Definitely not cheaper than UK but nicer and almost touching each other with gardens you can't swing a cat in.
7) More parks and attractions for your kids to do. Including having one of earths natural wonders on your doorstep.
8) Food is the best ive ever had. Restaurants are great. Some of the best are Alice Fazoolis, Monterey Jacks and my favorite The Keg. jeepers some are easily pleased
Cons:
1) First and foremost GTA is massively overpopulated or at least it seems that way. Concrete jungle to say the least. Don't expect the pictures of Canada you see on TV with the mountains and stunning vistas. You have to do serious car time to get to these places. Hours and hours. The GTA is completely saturated with some of the worst traffic ive ever seen and endless rows of homes. One night I decided to pop out for a quick KFC which is 10 minutes around the corner. I was out for two hours stuck in traffic.
2) Drivers are terrible, and I mean terrible. In my opinion UK drivers are the best in the world. Canadian drivers are mean,...sorry!
3) Everything is so damn expensive except for petrol (which is a lot cheaper than the UK however everywhere is 30 minutes away so you burn through the same amount of petrol money every week anyway).
4) Winter weather is horrible. It was snowing in the first week of May last year. Then overnight it can literally go to 85 degrees.
5) Day Care is horrible for anyone thinking of moving with small children. Believe me, my wife was bought to tears on numorous occasions by the disgusting quality of day cares. You wouldn't put your dog in these places. Its almost like parents don't make day care a priority and will just settle. Having said that there is one day care company which strangely enough is absolutely fantastic..problem is they only have four centers. Check out "ChildVentures".
6) Cell phone contracts are very expensive.
Im sure everyone has different experiences but these are the things we found. Canada is a funny mix of American and UK. I would say slightly more American than UK which is definitely a good thing.
PS. you still get your BBC and Coronation street channels though.
Hope this helps.
Good luck.
Hope anyone thinking of making the big move from the UK to Canada find this helpful:
Last year (2010) my wife and I with our two young children moved to a town in the greater Toronto area called Vaughan (about 30 mins from downtown Toronto). Let me put your minds at ease, if you want a significant increase of quality living, more opportunities and a vastly superior world for your children to grow up in, Canada (or at least Southern Ontario) is your place. Heres the pros and cons:
Pros:
1) Pretty much guarantied 3 months of great hot summer weather every year. Unlike the one good Summer Day you may get in the UK if you're lucky. We were all in our outdoor pool from June through early September. One week we were out in the pool till 8pm. Fantastic. When can you do that in the UK? In Edmonton its rained most days since summer started and when its not raining your being eaten alive by vicious mossies.
2) Shopping is fantastic, the malls are great. Check out the Eaton Centre, York Dale or Square One. Actually I found those Malls crap when I lived in Ontario, same shops everywhere (actually York dale was the only decent one)
3) Completely different culture than Britain. No pissheads walking the streets depends what street your on, drugs rather than drunk or stuck in the pub every night hardly any pubs . Not a yob culture at all. No football violence either just hockey voilence, ask anyone in vancouver . Its more like the American culture where most people eat out as a family rather than piss off down the pub whats wrong with a night out with your mates? here of course there are not mates.
4) Very business friendly climate. Government are on the ball
.5) Close proximity to all the places you want to vacation ie..Bahamas, USA, Mexico etc.... Rome, Madrid, oh er...
6) Tons of brand new homes. Definitely not cheaper than UK but nicer and almost touching each other with gardens you can't swing a cat in.
7) More parks and attractions for your kids to do. Including having one of earths natural wonders on your doorstep.
8) Food is the best ive ever had. Restaurants are great. Some of the best are Alice Fazoolis, Monterey Jacks and my favorite The Keg. jeepers some are easily pleased
Cons:
1) First and foremost GTA is massively overpopulated or at least it seems that way. Concrete jungle to say the least. Don't expect the pictures of Canada you see on TV with the mountains and stunning vistas. You have to do serious car time to get to these places. Hours and hours. The GTA is completely saturated with some of the worst traffic ive ever seen and endless rows of homes. One night I decided to pop out for a quick KFC which is 10 minutes around the corner. I was out for two hours stuck in traffic.
2) Drivers are terrible, and I mean terrible. In my opinion UK drivers are the best in the world. Canadian drivers are mean,...sorry!
3) Everything is so damn expensive except for petrol (which is a lot cheaper than the UK however everywhere is 30 minutes away so you burn through the same amount of petrol money every week anyway).
4) Winter weather is horrible. It was snowing in the first week of May last year. Then overnight it can literally go to 85 degrees.
5) Day Care is horrible for anyone thinking of moving with small children. Believe me, my wife was bought to tears on numorous occasions by the disgusting quality of day cares. You wouldn't put your dog in these places. Its almost like parents don't make day care a priority and will just settle. Having said that there is one day care company which strangely enough is absolutely fantastic..problem is they only have four centers. Check out "ChildVentures".
6) Cell phone contracts are very expensive.
Im sure everyone has different experiences but these are the things we found. Canada is a funny mix of American and UK. I would say slightly more American than UK which is definitely a good thing.
PS. you still get your BBC and Coronation street channels though.
Hope this helps.
Good luck.
The restaurant bit is the one that my wife hates the most, everywhere are chains of mediocricy
Jul 29th 2011, 5:09 pm
#3
Happy
Joined: Feb 2009
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 2,942
Re: Moved From Midlands to Toronto Area - My Experience
We have been in NS for four months now and can honestly say that I think the daycare here is not as good as we had in England. My 4 year old is in her second place now (I removed her from the first) which is 100% better than the first but still nowhere near as good as our one in England was. There seems to be a general lack of affection towards the children in my view.
The school though, that my 7 year old in is wonderful. She is coming on in leaps and bounds there, wonderful premises and teachers. I love the culture there.
The roads are pretty clear here, I was in one traffic jam (which came as a shock) and that lasted all of 5 minutes.
Drivers here are in my mind a bit lazy. There are running lights on cars, which means the front lights are always on. If it happens to be raining heavily or foggy they dont put their lights on so you cant see them unless they are driving towards you. I have come up against the rear of so many invisible cars on the highway. The local radio station is giving people reflective stickers for their bumpers and I cant help but think - "Put your lights on people"!!
I love it here though, love it! We just need to get through the daycare year and I will be happier
The school though, that my 7 year old in is wonderful. She is coming on in leaps and bounds there, wonderful premises and teachers. I love the culture there.
The roads are pretty clear here, I was in one traffic jam (which came as a shock) and that lasted all of 5 minutes.
Drivers here are in my mind a bit lazy. There are running lights on cars, which means the front lights are always on. If it happens to be raining heavily or foggy they dont put their lights on so you cant see them unless they are driving towards you. I have come up against the rear of so many invisible cars on the highway. The local radio station is giving people reflective stickers for their bumpers and I cant help but think - "Put your lights on people"!!
I love it here though, love it! We just need to get through the daycare year and I will be happier
Jul 29th 2011, 5:25 pm
#4
Forum Regular
Joined: Jul 2011
Location: different province every month!
Posts: 133
Re: Moved From Midlands to Toronto Area - My Experience
Ok,
Hope anyone thinking of making the big move from the UK to Canada find this helpful:
Last year (2010) my wife and I with our two young children moved to a town in the greater Toronto area called Vaughan (about 30 mins from downtown Toronto). Let me put your minds at ease, if you want a significant increase of quality living, more opportunities and a vastly superior world for your children to grow up in, Canada (or at least Southern Ontario) is your place. Heres the pros and cons:
Pros:
1) Pretty much guarantied 3 months of great hot summer weather every year. Unlike the one good Summer Day you may get in the UK if you're lucky. We were all in our outdoor pool from June through early September. One week we were out in the pool till 8pm. Fantastic. When can you do that in the UK?
2) Shopping is fantastic, the malls are great. Check out the Eaton Centre, York Dale or Square One.
3) Completely different culture than Britain. No pissheads walking the streets or stuck in the pub every night. Not a yob culture at all. No football violence either. Its more like the American culture where most people eat out as a family rather than piss off down the pub.
4) Very business friendly climate. Government are on the ball.
5) Close proximity to all the places you want to vacation ie..Bahamas, USA, Mexico etc....
6) Tons of brand new homes. Definitely not cheaper than UK but nicer.
7) More parks and attractions for your kids to do. Including having one of earths natural wonders on your doorstep.
8) Food is the best ive ever had. Restaurants are great. Some of the best are Alice Fazoolis, Monterey Jacks and my favorite The Keg.
Cons:
1) First and foremost GTA is massively overpopulated or at least it seems that way. Concrete jungle to say the least. Don't expect the pictures of Canada you see on TV with the mountains and stunning vistas. You have to do serious car time to get to these places. Hours and hours. The GTA is completely saturated with some of the worst traffic ive ever seen and endless rows of homes. One night I decided to pop out for a quick KFC which is 10 minutes around the corner. I was out for two hours stuck in traffic.
2) Drivers are terrible, and I mean terrible. In my opinion UK drivers are the best in the world. Canadian drivers are mean,...sorry!
3) Everything is so damn expensive except for petrol (which is a lot cheaper than the UK however everywhere is 30 minutes away so you burn through the same amount of petrol money every week anyway).
4) Winter weather is horrible. It was snowing in the first week of May last year. Then overnight it can literally go to 85 degrees.
5) Day Care is horrible for anyone thinking of moving with small children. Believe me, my wife was bought to tears on numorous occasions by the disgusting quality of day cares. You wouldn't put your dog in these places. Its almost like parents don't make day care a priority and will just settle. Having said that there is one day care company which strangely enough is absolutely fantastic..problem is they only have four centers. Check out "ChildVentures".
6) Cell phone contracts are very expensive.
Im sure everyone has different experiences but these are the things we found. Canada is a funny mix of American and UK. I would say slightly more American than UK which is definitely a good thing.
PS. you still get your BBC and Coronation street channels though.
Hope this helps.
Good luck.
Hope anyone thinking of making the big move from the UK to Canada find this helpful:
Last year (2010) my wife and I with our two young children moved to a town in the greater Toronto area called Vaughan (about 30 mins from downtown Toronto). Let me put your minds at ease, if you want a significant increase of quality living, more opportunities and a vastly superior world for your children to grow up in, Canada (or at least Southern Ontario) is your place. Heres the pros and cons:
Pros:
1) Pretty much guarantied 3 months of great hot summer weather every year. Unlike the one good Summer Day you may get in the UK if you're lucky. We were all in our outdoor pool from June through early September. One week we were out in the pool till 8pm. Fantastic. When can you do that in the UK?
2) Shopping is fantastic, the malls are great. Check out the Eaton Centre, York Dale or Square One.
3) Completely different culture than Britain. No pissheads walking the streets or stuck in the pub every night. Not a yob culture at all. No football violence either. Its more like the American culture where most people eat out as a family rather than piss off down the pub.
4) Very business friendly climate. Government are on the ball.
5) Close proximity to all the places you want to vacation ie..Bahamas, USA, Mexico etc....
6) Tons of brand new homes. Definitely not cheaper than UK but nicer.
7) More parks and attractions for your kids to do. Including having one of earths natural wonders on your doorstep.
8) Food is the best ive ever had. Restaurants are great. Some of the best are Alice Fazoolis, Monterey Jacks and my favorite The Keg.
Cons:
1) First and foremost GTA is massively overpopulated or at least it seems that way. Concrete jungle to say the least. Don't expect the pictures of Canada you see on TV with the mountains and stunning vistas. You have to do serious car time to get to these places. Hours and hours. The GTA is completely saturated with some of the worst traffic ive ever seen and endless rows of homes. One night I decided to pop out for a quick KFC which is 10 minutes around the corner. I was out for two hours stuck in traffic.
2) Drivers are terrible, and I mean terrible. In my opinion UK drivers are the best in the world. Canadian drivers are mean,...sorry!
3) Everything is so damn expensive except for petrol (which is a lot cheaper than the UK however everywhere is 30 minutes away so you burn through the same amount of petrol money every week anyway).
4) Winter weather is horrible. It was snowing in the first week of May last year. Then overnight it can literally go to 85 degrees.
5) Day Care is horrible for anyone thinking of moving with small children. Believe me, my wife was bought to tears on numorous occasions by the disgusting quality of day cares. You wouldn't put your dog in these places. Its almost like parents don't make day care a priority and will just settle. Having said that there is one day care company which strangely enough is absolutely fantastic..problem is they only have four centers. Check out "ChildVentures".
6) Cell phone contracts are very expensive.
Im sure everyone has different experiences but these are the things we found. Canada is a funny mix of American and UK. I would say slightly more American than UK which is definitely a good thing.
PS. you still get your BBC and Coronation street channels though.
Hope this helps.
Good luck.
good list there! for me, the cons outweigh the pros. i'm really not a fan of the suburbs of the Toronto area, far too soul-less for me. i really miss the UK pub culture actually. pubs would always bring local communities together in the UK - here i find that no one knows any of their neighbours (might just be the area i live in though). i also really miss the ability to walk to places. you need a car to do anything here.
i also find the telly here almost unwatchable - soooo many damn adverts. they literally put an advert break between the end of the programme and the credits.
and yeah, Toronto is a long way from all the beautiful Canadian wilderness areas. (luckily, those wilderness areas are where i work!)
sorry if that's all a bit pessimistic haha
Jul 29th 2011, 6:06 pm
#5
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 3
Re: Moved From Midlands to Toronto Area - My Experience
Sounds like you're better off in the UK. Credit to you for trying though. You keep your pubs, all year rain and gloom, $9 per gallon of gas and yob culture.
What restaurants do you have over there again? oh thats it..."Frankie and Bennies",. Lovely.
Jul 29th 2011, 6:15 pm
#6
Slightly Canadian
Joined: Jul 2005
Location: St. John's, Newfoundland
Posts: 10,129
Re: Moved From Midlands to Toronto Area - My Experience
As I stated, my experiences were relating to Toronto NOT Edmonton. Canada is a pretty big place you know. Out of all of the major cities in Canada I think Edmonton weather is the worst. Southern Ontario weather however is pretty damn good (except for a few Winter Months).
Sounds like you're better off in the UK. Credit to you for trying though. You keep your pubs, all year rain and gloom, $9 per gallon of gas and yob culture.
What restaurants do you have over there again? oh thats it..."Frankie and Bennies",. Lovely.
Sounds like you're better off in the UK. Credit to you for trying though. You keep your pubs, all year rain and gloom, $9 per gallon of gas and yob culture.
What restaurants do you have over there again? oh thats it..."Frankie and Bennies",. Lovely.
Jul 29th 2011, 6:19 pm
#7
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,986
Re: Moved From Midlands to Toronto Area - My Experience
The Keg. I know Oink is a big fan. I see it as bland, manufactured and seriously overpriced.
Malls are malls wherever, I find both the Eaton Centre and Yorkdale terminally depressing (though no worse than the Trafford Centre or Metro Centre).
As for holidays I would much prefer to have Europe nearby, though do like Mexico. Its also far more expensive to go anywhere from Toronto than it is from the UK.
Malls are malls wherever, I find both the Eaton Centre and Yorkdale terminally depressing (though no worse than the Trafford Centre or Metro Centre).
As for holidays I would much prefer to have Europe nearby, though do like Mexico. Its also far more expensive to go anywhere from Toronto than it is from the UK.
Jul 29th 2011, 6:26 pm
#8
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2006
Location: Heritage Valley in Edmonton
Posts: 894
Re: Moved From Midlands to Toronto Area - My Experience
As I stated, my experiences were relating to Toronto NOT Edmonton. Canada is a pretty big place you know. Out of all of the major cities in Canada I think Edmonton weather is the worst. Southern Ontario weather however is pretty damn good (except for a few Winter Months).
Sounds like you're better off in the UK. Credit to you for trying though. You keep your pubs, all year rain and gloom, $9 per gallon of gas and yob culture.
What restaurants do you have over there again? oh thats it..."Frankie and Bennies",. Lovely.
Sounds like you're better off in the UK. Credit to you for trying though. You keep your pubs, all year rain and gloom, $9 per gallon of gas and yob culture.
What restaurants do you have over there again? oh thats it..."Frankie and Bennies",. Lovely.
You'll find if you looked hard enough, some very good restaurants in Toronto (not the ones you mentioned though).
The Keg's etc, they all share the same menu and it's fries and burger country, don't really rate those as what i would recommend a 'good' restaurant. The food there is very mediocre.
(Yes I did take offence in your reference that anyone who enjoys a few beers in the company of mates is a pisshead).
Jul 29th 2011, 6:31 pm
#9
Moderαtor Emeritus
Joined: Sep 2003
Location: Upstate South Carolina
Posts: 30,768
Re: Moved From Midlands to Toronto Area - My Experience
Take it easy on the enthusiastic newcommer please. Its easy to forget that we all were (well, nearly all) enthusiastic once. Some of us even still are!
Simon, welcome to BE, please stick around, we arent as bad as we seem, honest!
Simon, welcome to BE, please stick around, we arent as bad as we seem, honest!
Jul 29th 2011, 6:50 pm
#10
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2008
Location: Toronto
Posts: 534
Re: Moved From Midlands to Toronto Area - My Experience
Jul 29th 2011, 7:05 pm
#12
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2006
Location: Heritage Valley in Edmonton
Posts: 894
Jul 29th 2011, 7:14 pm
#13
.
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 20,185
Re: Moved From Midlands to Toronto Area - My Experience
Good call Simon. The Keg have arguably the best restaurants in Canada. Their escargots and mushrooms in a garlic type sauce is great. Its so much better than the crap you get in the UK. My only complaint is that they don't do peas.
Jul 29th 2011, 7:19 pm
#14
Every day's a school day
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: Was Calgary back in Edmonton again !!
Posts: 2,667
Re: Moved From Midlands to Toronto Area - My Experience
Ok,
Hope anyone thinking of making the big move from the UK to Canada find this helpful:
Last year (2010) my wife and I with our two young children moved to a town in the greater Toronto area called Vaughan (about 30 mins from downtown Toronto). Let me put your minds at ease, if you want a significant increase of quality living, more opportunities and a vastly superior world for your children to grow up in, Canada (or at least Southern Ontario) is your place. Heres the pros and cons:
Pros:
1) Pretty much guarantied 3 months of great hot summer weather every year. Unlike the one good Summer Day you may get in the UK if you're lucky. We were all in our outdoor pool from June through early September. One week we were out in the pool till 8pm. Fantastic. When can you do that in the UK?
2) Shopping is fantastic, the malls are great. Check out the Eaton Centre, York Dale or Square One.
3) Completely different culture than Britain. No pissheads walking the streets or stuck in the pub every night. Not a yob culture at all. No football violence either. Its more like the American culture where most people eat out as a family rather than piss off down the pub.
4) Very business friendly climate. Government are on the ball.
5) Close proximity to all the places you want to vacation ie..Bahamas, USA, Mexico etc....
6) Tons of brand new homes. Definitely not cheaper than UK but nicer.
7) More parks and attractions for your kids to do. Including having one of earths natural wonders on your doorstep.
8) Food is the best ive ever had. Restaurants are great. Some of the best are Alice Fazoolis, Monterey Jacks and my favorite The Keg.
Cons:
1) First and foremost GTA is massively overpopulated or at least it seems that way. Concrete jungle to say the least. Don't expect the pictures of Canada you see on TV with the mountains and stunning vistas. You have to do serious car time to get to these places. Hours and hours. The GTA is completely saturated with some of the worst traffic ive ever seen and endless rows of homes. One night I decided to pop out for a quick KFC which is 10 minutes around the corner. I was out for two hours stuck in traffic.
2) Drivers are terrible, and I mean terrible. In my opinion UK drivers are the best in the world. Canadian drivers are mean,...sorry!
3) Everything is so damn expensive except for petrol (which is a lot cheaper than the UK however everywhere is 30 minutes away so you burn through the same amount of petrol money every week anyway).
4) Winter weather is horrible. It was snowing in the first week of May last year. Then overnight it can literally go to 85 degrees.
5) Day Care is horrible for anyone thinking of moving with small children. Believe me, my wife was bought to tears on numorous occasions by the disgusting quality of day cares. You wouldn't put your dog in these places. Its almost like parents don't make day care a priority and will just settle. Having said that there is one day care company which strangely enough is absolutely fantastic..problem is they only have four centers. Check out "ChildVentures".
6) Cell phone contracts are very expensive.
Im sure everyone has different experiences but these are the things we found. Canada is a funny mix of American and UK. I would say slightly more American than UK which is definitely a good thing.
PS. you still get your BBC and Coronation street channels though.
Hope this helps.
Good luck.
Hope anyone thinking of making the big move from the UK to Canada find this helpful:
Last year (2010) my wife and I with our two young children moved to a town in the greater Toronto area called Vaughan (about 30 mins from downtown Toronto). Let me put your minds at ease, if you want a significant increase of quality living, more opportunities and a vastly superior world for your children to grow up in, Canada (or at least Southern Ontario) is your place. Heres the pros and cons:
Pros:
1) Pretty much guarantied 3 months of great hot summer weather every year. Unlike the one good Summer Day you may get in the UK if you're lucky. We were all in our outdoor pool from June through early September. One week we were out in the pool till 8pm. Fantastic. When can you do that in the UK?
2) Shopping is fantastic, the malls are great. Check out the Eaton Centre, York Dale or Square One.
3) Completely different culture than Britain. No pissheads walking the streets or stuck in the pub every night. Not a yob culture at all. No football violence either. Its more like the American culture where most people eat out as a family rather than piss off down the pub.
4) Very business friendly climate. Government are on the ball.
5) Close proximity to all the places you want to vacation ie..Bahamas, USA, Mexico etc....
6) Tons of brand new homes. Definitely not cheaper than UK but nicer.
7) More parks and attractions for your kids to do. Including having one of earths natural wonders on your doorstep.
8) Food is the best ive ever had. Restaurants are great. Some of the best are Alice Fazoolis, Monterey Jacks and my favorite The Keg.
Cons:
1) First and foremost GTA is massively overpopulated or at least it seems that way. Concrete jungle to say the least. Don't expect the pictures of Canada you see on TV with the mountains and stunning vistas. You have to do serious car time to get to these places. Hours and hours. The GTA is completely saturated with some of the worst traffic ive ever seen and endless rows of homes. One night I decided to pop out for a quick KFC which is 10 minutes around the corner. I was out for two hours stuck in traffic.
2) Drivers are terrible, and I mean terrible. In my opinion UK drivers are the best in the world. Canadian drivers are mean,...sorry!
3) Everything is so damn expensive except for petrol (which is a lot cheaper than the UK however everywhere is 30 minutes away so you burn through the same amount of petrol money every week anyway).
4) Winter weather is horrible. It was snowing in the first week of May last year. Then overnight it can literally go to 85 degrees.
5) Day Care is horrible for anyone thinking of moving with small children. Believe me, my wife was bought to tears on numorous occasions by the disgusting quality of day cares. You wouldn't put your dog in these places. Its almost like parents don't make day care a priority and will just settle. Having said that there is one day care company which strangely enough is absolutely fantastic..problem is they only have four centers. Check out "ChildVentures".
6) Cell phone contracts are very expensive.
Im sure everyone has different experiences but these are the things we found. Canada is a funny mix of American and UK. I would say slightly more American than UK which is definitely a good thing.
PS. you still get your BBC and Coronation street channels though.
Hope this helps.
Good luck.
..i dont find anything remotely like the UK in Canada let alone a funny mix..for me a its more an extension of the US in terms of culture and citites.
Jul 29th 2011, 7:28 pm
#15
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Joined: Jul 2011
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Re: Moved From Midlands to Toronto Area - My Experience
(Yes I did take offence in your reference that anyone who enjoys a few beers in the company of mates is a pisshead).[/QUOTE]
its funny seeing you get wound up. You seem pretty miserable. If its so bad why are you still here.
You misunderstand me, i don't think just because someone goes to the pub they're a pisshead, but anyone will tell you Britain is a drinking culture and a lot of youngsters surround the cities on the weekend binge drinking, getting wasted and fighting. Maybe you came from one of the few English towns this didn't happen. I myself go out for drinks on a Saturday night. im talking about two different things and you know it. I want more for my kids.
its funny seeing you get wound up. You seem pretty miserable. If its so bad why are you still here.
You misunderstand me, i don't think just because someone goes to the pub they're a pisshead, but anyone will tell you Britain is a drinking culture and a lot of youngsters surround the cities on the weekend binge drinking, getting wasted and fighting. Maybe you came from one of the few English towns this didn't happen. I myself go out for drinks on a Saturday night. im talking about two different things and you know it. I want more for my kids.