Hi all, I've been looking at a potential move to Canada for sometime now, after visiting West Canada 7 years ago & loving it! However OH wasn't too keen, (I was gutted) he wanted to give living in France more time, which is fair enough. He is now willing to consider other areas of Canada as we think Canada could offer our children more opportunities than here.
I've researched the East coast but after reading posts on here think maybe Ontario would suit us better, inparticular Southern Ontario. Also after looking at photos on the net think the landscape won't feel soo alien, more farmland, rolling hills etc but also have the expanse of the great lakes (a sea substitute lol!) also seems to be a bit more going on, year round.
My hubbies job is still on the list, which is good too!
I wanted to ask what the general climate is of Southern Ontario, I've read that it can get quite humid in the summer? Also being country outdoors folk, what are the insects are like, are there lots of mozzies, black fly etc?
Any replies would be appreciated, I haven't got rose tinted glasses on, having already emigrated once before & know that we will have make some compromises.

We're at the time of year now when it's still ok to walk the dogs near ponds in the evening without spraying ourselves. Not for much longer though, the mosquitoes, deer and horse flies are out there, in another couple of weeks they'll be unbearable around still water until late August. Of course, a prudent person just avoids buggy places in the summer, there are plenty of windy places to walk dogs.

I far prefer winter to be honest. Summer is quite humid and sticky unless you have an air conditioner strapped to your back. That said May was fairly tolerable and June hasn't got off to a brilliant start. Sticking around 15C and not blazing...which suits me down to the ground.

Last year the highest I saw was mid 30's and it's not pretty. You basically can't go outside for any length of time unless you enjoy being a sweaty mess. I much prefer -20 in January no joke.

Won't be long until the flies and mosquitoes are out in force. My wife's Gran has a trailer down near Lake Erie and it's atrocious. I don't know how anyone enjoys it. You wake up the next day and it looks like you had a minor bout of smallpox with the amount of bites you get lol

As for Southern Ontario itself - hard to beat. Plenty of cities so by extensions lots to see and do. Niagara Peninsula is great. If you like something a bit rural you're never far away from empty space. It is Canada after all. I live in Wellington County and I recommend it.

Apparently I enjoy being a sweaty mess. I find there's no end of things to do in the summer, bounded only by the availability of time and money. In the winter the best way to pass the time is to go to Europe.

What is wrong with being a sweaty mess? You do stuff outside in summer, you sweat. Simples. All one needs to do is rehydrate (beer, obviously) and smoke heavily. Both have the added advantage of keeping the bugs away.

Talking of beer, can you access La Vache Folle ESB in your neck of the woods? I went to my local specialty beer retailer last weekend in search of Pride. The guy shook his head in sadness (mainly does QC micros) and gave me that stuff instead.

A little hefty at 6% but it's seriously nice.

Never seen it and it's not listed on the LCBO site so unless they have distribution in NYS I'm not likely to try it. Arkell from the Wellington Brewery is my back up when there's no Pride.

On topic, and on consideration, I'd say that Southern Ontario, outside the GTA, is a reasonable choice of place to live if you're interested in outdoor stuff, especially if you have reason to want to live on a few acres, and need an office job to finance the outdoor things. It's not so much of a place for the young, the socially active, the career driven or the cultured.

Pity. There are many fine micros in QC but the product doesn't seem to travel.

The "artinsanal beer of the month club" here in NL brought in some La Vache Folle back in the winter. I recall some milk stout which was very good and some other monstrously strong beer that was good but one couldn't drink a lot of it. There seems to be an obsession in craft/micro brewing circles with alcohol strength rather than taste IMHO. Examples are the numerous American style IPA's with ABV of 8%+ compared to the traditional British IPA of around 4%. Don't get me wrong, I like a good IPA, but at 8%+ one can only have so much before it gets silly.

Muskoka Mad Tom is worth trying if you can find it. I'd assume that wouldn't be a problem for dbd33 in the LCBO. Perhaps more so in Quebec.

Readily available here.

Yep that sounds like me , although wouldn't want to be isolated, need to be fairly close to civilization for our kids & work.
How high is the humidity in the summer? So if you stay away from stagnant water, then the bugs aren't too bad, or do you still get eaten alive just going for a walk in the countryside, or sitting in your garden of an evening?
The beer sounds good!

The humidity can be brutal. July mostly.

The bugs congregate near standing water and are at their most active early morning and early evening. DEET is effective, as is Skinsosoft body oil (the company doesn't advertise the fact but it's known to be true).

Without any form of protection, you would need a blood transfusion in about ten minutes.

We live on ten acres next to a few thousand acres of public land thirty miles from the centre of a small town, Guelph. Guelph has work and basic facilities, the location works for us though we go to Toronto, 90 minutes, for shopping once a fortnight or so. Guelph probably has enough to keep children amused and there's limited public transit from there to Toronto so older children could get to concerts and whatnot. I personally would not want to live in Ontario outside Toronto with children as that implies driving them to absolutely everything and then buying them each a car when they're 15 or so; just when they get into drink and drugs. However, allowing for distances being long in Canada, I suppose our location meets your criteria. A rural feel closer to more civilisation is available but costs more.

Depends on the location of your garden! Breezy is good. It's common for houses to have screened in porches, gazebos and the like, I think that tells you the whole story about sitting out in the evening. As far as walking goes, we always aim to be climbing up something in a open area - I wouldn't go into any woods and, when camping, always aim for a site on the beach rather than set back in the trees.

Beer certainly helps.

A screened gazebo is a must. We pretty much live in ours during the summer.

We do too here in Fredericton otherwise the wife would swell to look like the Michelin man, she reacts badly to bites of any insect.

We live about 45 mins outside of Ottawa in a small village (Almonte) on 1 acre with 200acres of wood and farmland surrounding us. Although the temperature wasn't that great yet so far (which I don't mind) the mosquitos are awful and I swear they get bigger every year. Humidity in July can easily be in the 90%s plus temperatures in the 30s makes it feel like in the 40s but pool, lakes, rivers make it manageable. I don't mind the winters either although last we got loads of snow (approx 7-8 feet) and I spend most mornings shoveling our drive (before we moved out into the sticks) and neighbour's who was snow birding in Florida . I like it out here, it's pituresque, has the main amenities, a few bigger villages/towns in 10-25 mins distance, Ottawa not far and for the sake of nature and tranquility I am willing to drive the kids around. For the moment