SS2612

Hi all,

We will be moving to Toronto, Canada in the next 6 months (from UK). We have school going children, grade 6 and grade 1. So we are researching the areas with best schools. We are thinking of RichmondHill Or Markham at the moment. We are of Asian background but looking for areas and schools with mixed background. Please advise us on the places to move.

Many thanks for reading my post.

Oakvillian

Where will your work be? That should be your first and overriding priority when choosing where to live. There are schools everywhere, but if you're spending a couple of hours each way getting to and from your place of employment, even the best school won't make up for the lack of engagement your kids will have with their parents.

If your work is in downtown Toronto, for example, bear in mind that Markham is not especially well served with public transit options; the Richmond Hill GO line currently only operates trains during rush hours and uses buses in off-peak times. If moving further in to Toronto itself is not an option, for the flexibility of a daily commute the generally given advice here is to look along the GO lakeshore corridors to the east or west. But shorter commutes typically mean more expensive housing: you pays your money and you makes your choice!

I may be guilty of stereotyping here, but the fact that RH and Markham are top of your list makes me think that you're using Asian in the North American context (i.e. south-east or east Asia) rather than the UK context (i.e. south Asia). Toronto and its surrounding municipalities are very cosmopolitan, but there are definitely ethno-cultural "magnet" areas within the GTA, Markham has an extensive and thriving Chinese community; Mississauga has a significant Sri Lankan and south Indian population; Brampton has a significant concentration of Punjabis. There are many others.

With a little more information I'm sure those more knowledgeable than I am will be along soon to give more helpful advice... good luck with the move!

dbd33

It does? Are they Mandarin speaking Punjabis or Cantonese speaking Punjabis?

JamesM

I believe they are mandonese!

Oakvillian

I'm sorry, that was supposed to say Brampton. Trying to do two things at once... now corrected.

dbd33

I thought as much but went for the cheap shot anyway.

I think the area matters in a positive way if there are people in your party or frequent visitors who are not going to learn English, elderly parents for example, they'll want to be somewhere that their language is commonly spoken. Otherwise the area matters in a negative way, you likely wouldn't choose Markham or Brampton if you didn't already know the language commonly spoken. If you chose a different suburb, Mississauga for example, you could be sure that your children would attend school with children from all over who, lacking a common language other than English, would tend to use English. The other consideration is food, people care a lot about being able to get proper food, there's a much better choice of Indian food in Brampton than in Markham.

But then, maybe the OP is looking at this the other way, expects Canada to have Canadians, and means "mixed background" to imply "immigrants welcome". "Immigrants Usual" might come as a surprise.

rawsalad

IMHO there are concentrations in areas, but the whole GTA area is highly cosmopolitan and I don't think I've seen anything like the single-ethnic areas in the UK in Canada yet. So I'd just find a job in a area where you can afford the housing - as from above. And if you must work in central TO then find housing along the GO line.
Note that where you live will determine which school your children go to and I think it's usually the single choice of school (ie: no choice)

dbd33

There's nowhere in the GTA as white as Shropshire so if it's a single-ethnic area of Caucasians you have in mind, I agree. Otherwise though, which UK location do you have in mind? I'd be very surprised to find that there's anywhere in the UK having the concentration of foreign born speakers of a single language that Markham or Brampton have.

rawsalad

Lancashire. pick a town any town. Blackburn, Burnley, Nelson.

Are you saying Markham is more than 33% foreign speaking?

Siouxie

Ok chaps, fascinating as that was, the question the OP has is about TORONTO area - i.e CANADA - so can we get back to that please, so they can get some answers!
I've moved your discussion on the ethnicity variations of the UK v Canada to the Maple Leaf forum - feel free to continue it there
Cheers.

SS2612

Thanks for all your replies. As you all appreciate, it is always stressful to move from a country to another. Hence my question!
Re... location choice: my work is mainly client site driven.In my professional experience of 20 years, i learnt that it is difficult to choose an area near to my work. most likely my client base would be GTA. Hence i prefer to choose an area which has good schools, community and well connected transportation links. At this point of time, i do nt know if such an area exists. hence my question in this forum so that i can take an informed decision.
fyi.. we are a south indian(telugu) speaking family. My kids learn Indian classical dance and music, so looking for a place where we are bit closer to continue these activities.
Our primary focus is school, then community activities.

I only said Richmond Hill and Markham based on the other posts. I am open to any suggestions about other areas too.

Oakvillian

Thanks for the additional details. That helps to narrow your search down a bit. From a cultural and language perspective, I'd respectfully suggest you start looking in more detail at the North Mississauga and Brampton areas, where you will likely find more community support for your Telugu background (and Indian classical arts).

You have probably already found the Telugu Association - Telugu Alliances of Canada - looking at the list of participating sponsors, most of the addresses appear to be in and around Mississauga (with more than one real estate broker and agent among them - I'm sure they'd be delighted to advise you on school districts and cultural centres...). Several of my former colleagues - once upon a time I worked for a Tata Group company so was reasonably well versed in the nuances of Indian culture - are from in and around Hyderabad/Telangana and assorted parts of AP, at least one of whom was certainly heavily involved in the local Indian classical music scene - I once arranged a "cultural exchange" workshop between his group and a (very Western-classical-music-focused) choir I sang with.

Aside from the cultural community, Mississauga also has the (dubious) distinction of being easy to get to other places from. The airport is right there; there are reasonable road links (although the 401 through the Mississauga stretch is more often a parking lot than a free-flowing highway), and a choice of GO services in the morning and evening rush.

The downside, of course, is that the outer reaches of Mississauga demonstrate some of the worst excesses of urban sprawl - large, largely characterless Identikit houses built right up to the lot-lines on endless subdivisions, few mature trees, not a lot of nature. But in amongst the tract housing are some nice areas... I don't know it well enough to recommend one area over another, but I would certainly start your search there.

SS2612

Thank you for your response. Haven't seen many good school ratings in Missisauga. I may be wrong, any input is welcome.
How about the neighbourhood and community in Oakville? Just noticed that the schools seem to have good ratings in Oakville.

rawsalad

Those Fraser ranking do affect the prices of houses around those schools so it will then come down to what you can afford to pay.

Find Your School (Mississauga)
https://www.hdsb.ca/schools/Pages/Fi...dary-Maps.aspx (Oakville)

are the boundary maps. Look up the school you desire and then it will show the catchment area. then look up house prices in that area.

Oakvillian

Be careful with Fraser Institute rankings, if that's what you're using. The Fraser Institute is a conservative-libertarian think tank that has a political axe to grind - generally speaking, one in favour of private schooling and against the public education system in the entirety of the concept. The rankings are a very blunt instrument and do not take into account the nature of the entry cohort into a school nor the "value add" component that is familiar to UK residents from the Ofsted school reporting system.

As a case in point, the high school that my eldest attends, and that his two younger siblings will attend in turn, has relatively poor Fraser rankings. But that is in large part because it offers non-graduating programs to youths (and adults) with cognitive and neurological disabilities. For "normal" kids, it is also one of few public schools in the area that offers multiple advanced-placement programs, including the International Baccalaureate, and has a high rate of successful higher-education entry (and assorted scholarship awards) for its graduates; but that doesn't count for much with the Fraser, who would rather people sent their children to the (selective entry) fee-paying schools that abound in the area.

I like living in Oakville, but I doubt I'd be able to afford to do so if I were moving to Canada now rather than a dozen years ago. Property prices have gone up and up and up, and the exchange rate is much less favourable now than it was in 2006. Despite huge amounts of new residential property development, the town is struggling to accommodate the number of people that want to live in it, and there are places where the infrastructure is creaking at the seams. If you can find an affordable house, though, the community is great, transit links are good, and the recreation and cultural services available for families are awesome.

Bear in mind, though, that within a town like Oakville there's quite a significant difference between the various communities and neighbourhoods. In no way is it even slightly reminiscent of that old John Cleese/Ronnie Barker/Ronnie Corbett sketch: the people in the multimillion dollar homes in the "old" bits of the South East looking down on everybody; residents in the communities further west along the lake or just north of the Queen Elizabeth Way sitting somewhere in the middle; inhabitants of subdivisions north of Dundas St or west of Sixteen Mile Creek doffing their caps and tugging their forelocks, because they know their place