Me and my family are emigrating to Toronto in 2008 any general advice appreciated.

The Royal Winter Fair is far more fun than you'd expect it to be.

Gypsy cabs are only a good deal if you know the proper fare.

Don't try 50.

The Café Brussel has a fabulous interior and isn't ruinously expense.

Leave Allen's before the band starts.

No one has heard of a two shot penalty, find out the house rules before you put up any money.

Scarborough isn't all as rough as all that. Parkdale isn't ever going to be gentrified.

There is no "rush hour". The traffic is always that bad.

Hi
No ideas on Toronto, but just sending you luck
Terese

If you'd like more specific advice, I can likely help. I know parts of Toronto very well but I'm not sure what you want to know.

Are you talking pool?

Yes. Remember also that in the Adirondacks money breaks. It's almost worth the trip to see this backwoods cultural phenomenon.

Ah yes. The league rule/bar rules argument. I haven't picked up a cue for several years but I do remember the argument. It usually involved Germans.

dont it always start and end with the germans anyway GOOD LUCK with the move

Our biggest concern is schools we are likely to move to Brampton and cannot make much of a judgement as this will effect where we buy a house. Any way of knowing the good schools from the bad. My kids are going to be 14 and 16 respectively.

Good schools are listed here : www.ibo.org. There are, of course, other good schools but that's a starting point.

Any particular reason for moving to Brampton, are you of punjabi heritage?

Quick tips:

Always have a dollar for a cart at Toronto Airport.

Shop doors pull out rather than push in due to fire regulations.

Do not buy cheap plastic flip flops in the UK and take them with you. They melt in the North American heat. Mine melted whilst walking along a packed mall.

Prepare yourself for getting into a car on the right hand side. The number of times I get in and sit on the left, with the driver giving you strange looks.

Leclerc Cookies are more superior than Peak Freans.

A sub is not an advance on wages from your employer. It is a subway sandwich.

Never try to convert CAD into UK pounds, it will drive you bonkers. Just see the price you acually see.

Traffic lights hang in the air as opposed to on the ground near corners of major junctions.

Before you remove yoour shoes upon entering a house, make sure you have not stepped into anything untoward.

A band aid is a plaster and not the charity group who had a N01 hit.

Distinguish colour of banknotes if giving tips to delievery drivers etc. I recently gave a pizza pizza guy a $20 for a $5. I guess that wille nsure next I phone, they will all speeding to my house asap.

Cheers.

This wasn't the case 62 years ago

Hi miss08bram,
Just wondered why you chose Brampton?
It has been my home for over 30 years and I love it.
Not sure if I can help with the question on school's tho', Brampton has so many and is expanding rapidly with new ones popping up here and there. I had a step son in the school system some years back so not up to date on what's happening now. Some have had a bad wrap years ago but have not been in the news lately.They seem to have straightened things out.
My advice would be to rent a house/apartment first,(get a month to month rental)then sort out the school's, see for yourself. It would also depend on whether your RC or other. Public or Private. Special ed. or regular classes.
Hope this helps a little.
If you have any way of getting the Brampton Guardian (may have web site?) it will get you up to date on local issues, classifieds etc.
Anything else I can help you with, just post it.
Good luck.

Hi

Brampton is in the Peel District School Board.

http://www.peel.edu.on.ca/

I teach at a school in the north of Brampton called Mayfield Secondary School.

It's a school of the arts and has a very good reputation but has a large list of applicants.

Other schools with good reps are, Turner Fenton Secondary School - Steeles and Kennedy and Heart Lake Secondary School in Heart Lake.

There are a few newer schools that have just opened or are opening next year. These tend to be in new sub divisions and can have issues as there are so many new families moving into the area.

Hope this helps

Andy
Thanks for replying , I have had a look at a report on the web page below
http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/reportcards/

It aggregates all the results for all of Toronto for OSSLT and Grade 9 tests. Purely from a statiscal view Brampton schools are not doing as well as Mississauga. I also noticed that Mayfield was the best school near the Brampton area and that seems to be confirmed by the report card.

How do you assess a school other than OSSLT and Grade 9 testing as I take it is important what happens in the latter years. Both my kids would like to go to University ?

My kids are going to be 14 and 16 when we arrive and my biggest concern is that the school is academically strong, so would you say those schools you mentioned would be in that category ?

By the way are you from the UK orginally and how do you compare the UK education system with the canadian ?