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Possible 2 year secondment to Toronto
Hi my husband possibly has the opptunity with our current uk employer to take up a 2 year secondment in Toronto, I work for same employer and a job should be available for me aswell. I have lots of questions before I can consider if this is feasible ! We’d probably look to rent our uk home. Employer sorts visas, some relocation costs , has a destination team in place to help with finding somewhere to live , schools when we arrive . We have 2 children age 7 and 15 I’m concerned as my 15 year old (16 November this yr) would obviously miss her GCSEs but not sure how she would fit into Canadian system and obtain qualifications ? I wouldn’t want her not have enough time to complete them and then return in 2 years and have no qualifications. I also have a 7 year old , that would need before and after school care for some days of the week - is this readily available and reasonable cost. I’m struggling to understand how we’d arrive in Canada and get schools and childcare sorted within a matter of days ?! My eldest is also part way through dental treatment (braces ) I’m assuming we’ll have to pay for this once in Canada and it’s expensive ? The head office is Markham, and told possibly areas of Richmond hill are nice family areas to look at - is this an easy commute ? Is a car essential or is public transport efficient ? Thanks in advance |
Re: Possible 2 year secondment to Toronto
Lots of good stuff to think about there!
I'll throw in an opinion/thoughts on a couple of things... Turning 16 this year means Grade 10 right now, and starting Grade 11 in September. Grade 11 and 12 marks are the ones that Universities here look at, whereas Grade 9 and 10 are kind of prep for the Grade 11 and 12 stuff. The negative is that she won't be used to the system as such. Possibly she could do a few things over the summer (e.g. Gr10 careers and civics), depending upon what they think her current education equates to in terms of pre-requisites. If you're staying for 2 years, then Grades 11 and 12 means she will "graduate" high school, but if you're in for the long term and want good academic grades etc, given that she would be one of the youngest in her class (yes that's right - and one of the oldest in the UK), you might consider putting her into Grade 10 in September instead (you know your kid - and whether that would be an advantage or a boredom). Then she'd get the prep and do the normal stuff to go into Uni. Another option is to plan to do Grade 13 (i.e. an extra year), and spread out the courses a bit. There's always iGCSE's I suppose if you want to stay UK-centric on qualifications, or even the IB (although going into Grade 11 IB without prep might be ill advised). IB you might get in a state school if you can get a good report from home, but iGCSE's isn't going to be curriculum here. As for the orthodontics. Yes, it is probably going to cost you (sadly) a few thousand dollars. We found one who could continue to work with the UK braces (had worked there previously), but that wasn't in Markham. Hope that helps you somehow! |
Re: Possible 2 year secondment to Toronto
Originally Posted by enak
(Post 12625771)
Lots of good stuff to think about there!
I'll throw in an opinion/thoughts on a couple of things... Turning 16 this year means Grade 10 right now, and starting Grade 11 in September. Grade 11 and 12 marks are the ones that Universities here look at, whereas Grade 9 and 10 are kind of prep for the Grade 11 and 12 stuff. The negative is that she won't be used to the system as such. Possibly she could do a few things over the summer (e.g. Gr10 careers and civics), depending upon what they think her current education equates to in terms of pre-requisites. If you're staying for 2 years, then Grades 11 and 12 means she will "graduate" high school, but if you're in for the long term and want good academic grades etc, given that she would be one of the youngest in her class (yes that's right - and one of the oldest in the UK), you might consider putting her into Grade 10 in December instead (you know your kid - and whether that would be an advantage or a boredom). Then she'd get the prep and do the normal stuff to go into Uni. Another option is to plan to do Grade 13 (i.e. an extra year), and spread out the courses a bit. There's always iGCSE's I suppose if you want to stay UK-centric on qualifications, or even the IB (although going into Grade 11 IB without prep might be ill advised). IB you might get in a state school if you can get a good report from home, but iGCSE's isn't going to be curriculum here. As for the orthodontics. Yes, it is probably going to cost you (sadly) a few thousand dollars. We found one who could continue to work with the UK braces (had worked there previously), but that wasn't in Markham. Hope that helps you somehow! |
Re: Possible 2 year secondment to Toronto
Originally Posted by Fraserl
(Post 12625756)
The head office is Markham, and told possibly areas of Richmond hill are nice family areas to look at - is this an easy commute ?
Is a car essential or is public transport efficient ? |
Re: Possible 2 year secondment to Toronto
Originally Posted by dbd33
(Post 12625916)
One, perhaps two, cars would be essential. Another option might be to live in Toronto and commute out, that would reduce the car dependency, especially if there's transit or a car pool to work.
You'd be surprised how fast you can get things done on landing, especially if you have the company's staff to help (don't hesitate to get a second opinion on here though, some seem to value giving their mates business more than looking after your interests). Thing that worries me most is moving the kids- especially the 15 year old. My oldest is 13 and heading to highschool this coming school year... (UK makes the jump at 11?) and I suspect there's a difference at age 16- does the UK still split into GCSE school leavers and the A level stream? |
Re: Possible 2 year secondment to Toronto
Originally Posted by Pizzawheel
(Post 12628720)
I work in Markham, live in Scarborough. Markham is effectively outer suburbs of Toronto whereby a car (if not 2) is essential. The south western corner of Scarborough is, like central toronto, on the TTC so transit is possible.
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Re: Possible 2 year secondment to Toronto
Originally Posted by Pizzawheel
(Post 12628720)
I work in Markham, live in Scarborough. Markham is effectively outer suburbs of Toronto whereby a car (if not 2) is essential. The south western corner of Scarborough is, like central toronto, on the TTC so transit is possible.
You'd be surprised how fast you can get things done on landing, especially if you have the company's staff to help (don't hesitate to get a second opinion on here though, some seem to value giving their mates business more than looking after your interests). Thing that worries me most is moving the kids- especially the 15 year old. My oldest is 13 and heading to highschool this coming school year... (UK makes the jump at 11?) and I suspect there's a difference at age 16- does the UK still split into GCSE school leavers and the A level stream? My 15 year old is my biggest worry she is due to take GCSEs next year but would miss those- we’ve contacted a few schools who think based on her report predicted grades she could start grade 11 sept- I’m not sure if that’s too much pressure I wouldn’t take the decision lightly but she is desperate for us to go ! If she went in at grade 11 she could get qualifications that she can use when we return in 2 years (my understanding) |
Re: Possible 2 year secondment to Toronto
Originally Posted by Fraserl
(Post 12628778)
. We also have an office in Oakville and that’s look a nice area so also looking at that area and me working that office and husband commute to Markham |
Re: Possible 2 year secondment to Toronto
Originally Posted by dbd33
(Post 12628785)
Try it once. Then forget about it.
It is about 70 km one way and most times the fastest route is a toll road. The journey is mind crushingly dull and often subject to lots of traffic due to volume or weather. https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&...t&q=%23onstorm What about Stouffville north of Markham. A bit of a horsey place but probably more affordable than Markham and Oakville. |
Re: Possible 2 year secondment to Toronto
Originally Posted by dbd33
(Post 12628785)
Try it once. Then forget about it.
|
Re: Possible 2 year secondment to Toronto
Originally Posted by Fraserl
(Post 12628800)
haha ok that’s a no go then ! Very hard trying to work it out blind ! What about Vaughan or Richmond hill to Markham , is this doable easily on go transit ? |
Re: Possible 2 year secondment to Toronto
Originally Posted by Fraserl
(Post 12628800)
haha ok that’s a no go then ! Very hard trying to work it out blind ! What about Vaughan or Richmond hill to Markham , is this doable easily on go transit ? https://www.yrt.ca/en/index.aspx# FYI..not sure if this is an issue to you but Vaughan has parts that are quite Calabrian in their demographics while Richmond Hill has parts quite Persian and equally parts that are friends of Jerry Seinfeld. The elusive cradle Canadians are hard to find these days there. |
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