lauren275

Hello,

My boyfriend and I are planning the move from Scotland to Canada I next year. We’re both mid 20s, I work in dentistry and my partner has experience in sales. For my job, we’ve chosen Ontario.

We’re looking for advice on location, particularly either Ottawa or Toronto. We’re looking for somewhere we can have a social life. Not right in the middle of the city but not in the middle of nowhere either. Somewhere with good public transport links into the centre. We’re open to getting a car if we need it.

We would be looking for a 1 bed apartment. Ideally furnished. What is rough average price across Ottawa/Toronto?

Also looking for advice on the overseas rental process. I’ve read up a lot of suggestions to try air b&b first. I’ve also read it’s really difficult to find rental properties ATM as the housing market is not great? How much rent upfront generally do landlords require?

My last question about Ottawa: my partner speaks absolutely no French and my French is extremely limited, is it realistic to be considering Ottawa as a location?

Any info at all would be great, thank you!

rivingtonpike

Would you be coming over on the IEC working visa?

lauren275

yes, applying for IEC

Former Lancastrian

Are you both applying for the IEC or just one of you? You mention boyfriend/partner.

Your dependantscan’t come with you to Canada under the IEC program. However, they may apply to visit, study or work in Canada. We’ll look at your application separately from theirs.
Dependant A spouse, common-law partner or dependent child of a permanent resident or principal applicant.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration..._category_name

Paul_fromYork

Hi Lauren,

We moved to Ottawa in 2018 due to a job opportunity. One of the attractions was affordability of housing - its definitely a lot cheaper than in Toronto so you can get a lot better place for your money and green spaces,, although prices and rents have gone up massively in the last few years, but then they have everywhere.

The nightlife in Toronto will definitely be much better - more going on, but its a much bigger city. There are certain areas of Ottawa that have their own things going on too - the Glebe, Hintonburg, Byward Market but its not going to be up to a Glasgow or Edinburgh overall.

For accommodation we did 2 weeks in an Air B&B, landed on the 17th of the month then found a rental starting 1st of the following month. To check prices have a look on Realtor.ca and also Kiji for private renters.
Regarding French speaking - we both don't really speak it other than tourist level French and its not really an issue - but can be restrictive if you go for certain Govt jobs or certain industries where they do have bilingual requirements, so keep in mind you may have slightly restricted access to the job market.

Feel free to DM with any specific Ottawa questions, good luck!

Kingsboy48

Hi, the further east you are in Ottawa the more french you are likely to run into. Having said that we live in Rockland, don't do french and manage but tgere is certainly a lot if french where we are. We used to live in Montreal, QC, and had less french than we do now! Workwise west Ottawa, IMO, is more techy and east Ottawa is more industrial. Of course Ottawa also has a better hockey team than Toronto Good luck with your move.

Souvy

Er, Ottawa is in 27th place and TO is 3rd. Both suck, of course.

JamesM

One bed furnished in Toronto with out a car park you'd be looking at $2500 per month approximately for something that is a size that two people can inhabit. I'd think you'd want 700 square foot plus.

I think in Ottawa you can get something 10 to 20% cheaper. The good thing about Ottawa is that as you get further from downtown the prices fall away. Leaving Toronto and heading into the GTA doesn't save you much.

Toronto has a little more going on but is a busier, dirtier less pleasant space. If you are nightlife chaser it is a better bet.

There is plenty of places available to rent in both cities. Anything in Toronto that looks a deal moves fast though. There is a tendency in Canada for people to push fear of missing out into the property market particularly the real estate and developer industries. The general populace aren't educated and down the koolaid.

You typically pay first and last month rent. No deposits thank goodness.

The challenge you will have as new residences is lack of credit rating and bank history so you may get people asking you for multiple months up front. I'm not keen on private rentals these days because of the amount of personal information that one has to disclose. There are rental buildings that have more sensible processes but your laundry won't be in unit.

JamesM

One bed furnished in Toronto with out a car park you'd be looking at $2500 to $2700 per month approximately for something that is a size that two people can inhabit. I'd think you'd want 700 square foot plus.

I think in Ottawa you can get something 10 to 20% cheaper. The good thing about Ottawa is that as you get further from downtown the prices fall away. Leaving Toronto and heading into the GTA doesn't save you much.

Toronto has a little more going on but is a busier, dirtier less pleasant space. If you are nightlife chasers it is a better bet.

There is plenty of places available to rent in both cities. Anything in Toronto that looks a deal moves fast though. There is a tendency in Canada for people to push fear of missing out into the property market particularly the real estate and developer industries. The general populace aren't educated and down the koolaid. You'll here shortage, shortage, shortage all the time.

You typically pay first and last month rent upfront. No deposits thank goodness.

The challenge you will have as new residences is lack of credit rating and bank history so you may get people asking you for multiple months up front. I'm not keen on private rentals these days because of the amount of personal information that one has to disclose. There are rental buildings that have more sensible processes but your laundry won't be in unit. Also not furnished.

Speaking French in Ottawa isn't a requirement. It can be a leg up in a job search but everything in the City has been fine in English on the multiple times I've been there. I work for an Ottawa based company and there are lots of non-French speakers.